032 High Marks for Malice, Page 4

  “Actually, I’m glad I caught you. I’ve been trying to get you all morning.” Pickering pursed his lips. “There’s a problem, Cass. I haven’t been able to find a sub for you. I’ve called everyone, but—”

  The color in Cass’s cheeks heightened. “I need this time off, Pick. I’ve got to finish my paper for independent study. It’s due on the second, and I had counted on this time to get it done.”

  “I understand that, but—”

  “This isn’t fair,” Cass protested. “I asked you before Thanksgiving! It’s bad enough, what with Line in the hospital, and—”

  “I just heard what happened,” Pickering interrupted her. “How’s he doing?”

  Cass’s bottom lip quivered. “He’s in critical condition in a coma. I’m scared he’s not going to make it.”

  “Of course he will.” Pickering patted her shoulder. “He’s young and strong. He’ll bounce back. Look, I’ll keep trying to find someone to stand in for you.”

  “Wait a minute,” Nancy said. “Exactly what do you do here, Cass?”

  Cass looked annoyed. “I work in the spa and exercise room, monitoring the equipment and keeping things neat in the girls’ locker room.”

  Seeing a chance to work from the inside, Nancy said, “I could do that for you.”

  Pickering shook his head. “Absolutely not. You aren’t even a student, are you?”

  “No, but why should I have to be? I know my way around exercise equipment.” She fished out her membership card from the River Heights Country Club. “I’m familiar with almost every kind of gym—I’ve even lifted free weights. Cass can fill me in on the routine.”

  Cass stared at her. “You’d do that for me? Why?”

  “Why not? I’ll be here the next few days, with nothing much to do. It’d be fun.”

  “I don’t know,” Pickering said, still undecided.

  Cass eyed her warily, as if uncertain whether or not to support Nancy’s offer.

  “Check me out on the equipment,” Nancy urged him. “I can tell when someone is misusing it or when they’re trying to do too much.”

  Pickering looked thoughtful. “That might be enough to satisfy our insurance company. When can you start?”

  “Is tomorrow okay? I’ll need to go shopping. I didn’t bring exercise clothes with me.”

  “I’ve got a whole wardrobe of leotards and tights,” Cass volunteered, sounding a little unsure still.

  “Well, welcome to the staff, Ms.—” Pickering smiled. “I’m about to hire you and don’t even know your name.”

  “Nancy Drew.”

  “Welcome aboard, Nancy. Drop by my office and fill out an application before you begin. I’ll put you through your paces tomorrow.”

  “Sounds great,” Nancy said, shaking his hand.

  “Nice meeting you.” He stuck his head in the locker room. “Good. Everyone’s out. Excuse me, I’ve got to find the painters.” He walked to the end of the hall and disappeared around a corner.

  “I—really appreciate this,” Cass said, somewhat reluctantly.

  “Consider it thanks for letting me stay with you. We haven’t finished the tour. Where to now?”

  Her hostess paused and glanced at the door of the locker room, then walked Nancy out of the wing. “Do you mind finishing by yourself? I want to get back to the dorm and start on this paper. I’ll meet you and Ned at the hospital at two. Thanks again, Nancy.” She sprinted back the way she had come.

  Nancy started toward the computer lab, pleased with the way things were going. She hadn’t thought she could convince Pickering to let her sub for Cass. But he seemed pretty easygoing.

  The question was, what had Pickering been doing in Line’s locker? It might help to find out what was in it. And for that Nancy would need Ned.

  Nancy went into the computer lab and was surprised by what she saw. Ned was seated at the computer behind the circulation desk, and the dark-haired attendant leaning over his shoulder. Her face was inches from his, her eyes alive and gleaming softly.

  Nancy knew that look. This girl had fallen for Ned like a ton of bricks. It showed in her smile, her tinkling laughter. And Ned seemed to be eating it up!

  Nancy cleared her throat. “Excuse me,” she said loudly.

  Ned swiveled around, his eyes dancing. “Oh, you’re back! You should have stayed. Basson has the most fantastic computer network. Maria was just—” He stopped, realizing the two hadn’t met. “Nancy Drew, this is Maria Arnold.”

  “Hi,” Nancy said. “I hope Ned hasn’t been keeping you from your work.”

  “Not at all. Things are real slow. I’ve enjoyed the company.”

  Maria’s eyes examined Nancy with intense curiosity, but her smile seemed genuine. Her voice was soft, the musical quality of her vowels a sure sign that she was from the South.

  “Do you mind if I borrow him for a minute?” Nancy asked.

  Maria blinked. “Of course not. See you later, Ned?”

  Nancy could swear Maria stopped breathing until Ned said, “You bet. We’ve barely skimmed the surface.”

  Out in the hall Nancy turned to Ned, a wry smile on her lips. “Barely skimmed the surface? Looks like you were deep-sea diving to me.”

  “Huh?”

  Nancy poked him playfully. “It was hard to tell which interested you more, the computer system or the computer operator.”

  Ned chuckled. “Come on, Nan, we were just talking. That girl is really a computer whiz. It looks like she knows as much about computers and programming as Line does.”

  “She also knows how to flirt. And you weren’t doing so bad yourself, Mr. Nickerson.” Nancy grinned and waggled her eyebrows.

  Ned blushed. “Cut it out, Drew. I was only being polite. What have you been doing? Did you find out anything important?”

  Nancy leaned against the railing at the top of the stairs, began with her adventures in the tower the night before, and finished with the announcement of her new position. “It gives me the perfect excuse for being here and lots of chances to poke around.”

  Ned was grim. “I don’t like it. We’re dealing with people willing to commit murder. We don’t even know who they are or what they want.”

  “This is where Line said to check,” Nancy argued, “so there must be something here to find, even though I doubt it will be a body. We need to get into that locker, Ned. I’m sure it was Line’s.”

  “It probably was. Maria mentioned that everybody on the staff has one.”

  “I can’t go back in that locker room, but you can. Do you think you could pick the lock?”

  “I may not have to.” Ned’s eyes lit up. “There are a couple of little keys on Line’s key ring.” He fished in his pocket and pulled them out. “One of these may fit.”

  “Terrific.” Nancy gave him the number of the locker. “You’ll have to hurry. The painters are supposed to start in there any minute.”

  Nancy watched as he took off toward the other wing. She couldn’t blame Maria for falling for him. It wouldn’t be the first time Ned’s smiling eyes and fantastic build sent some poor girl’s head reeling. Nancy just hoped that Maria wouldn’t get too wrapped up in Ned.

  Ned was back in less than a minute, his face tight with frustration. “I didn’t need the key. The locker was wide open. Someone’s cleaned it out!”

  Chapter

  Seven

  IT’S MY FAULT,” Nancy said, fuming. “I should have gotten you to check the locker right away. But I wanted to tell you what happened in the tower first.”

  “Forget it, Nan. It was probably just filled with the usual stuff, anyway. And since Pickering is the manager, it would make sense for him to clean it out—under the circumstances.” Ned sighed. “But where’d he get a key?”

  “Maybe he has keys to all staff lockers. And he might believe Line won’t be back for a while,” Nancy said, choosing her words carefully.

  Ned knew very well what she meant, and his eyes became bleak. “You’re probably right.”
<
br />   “If he was the one who did it,” Nancy said. “It could have been anyone; Line might have other close friends with keys to his locker. We should find out for sure whether Pickering cleaned it out, and what he did with the things.”

  “I could ask, tell him I’d like to take them home for Line,” Ned offered.

  “He probably wouldn’t give them to you. He doesn’t know you. Just because you claim to be an old friend doesn’t mean you are.”

  “What about Cass? We could ask her to do it.”

  “Couldn’t hurt,” Nancy said. “Mr. Pickering must know they’re friends.”

  The door of the computer lab opened, and Maria came out. Seeing them, she smiled perkily. “I’m on a break,” she said. “Have you tried the dining room’s hot chocolate? Marshmallows or whipped cream on top, take your choice.”

  Nancy glanced at Ned and knew they were both thinking the same thing: Maria might be another source of information. “Marshmallows for me,” she said. “How about you, Ned?”

  “Whipped cream wins, hands down. Let’s go.”

  Maybe if I sip it slowly, I won’t burst, Nancy told herself. She was still full from breakfast.

  • • •

  In the cafeteria Pickering was having coffee at a table just inside the door. Nancy gave him a sunny smile as she sailed past but made sure they settled as far from him as possible. She wasn’t sure where he fitted into things, or if he did at all, but the less he heard of their conversation, the better.

  Maria couldn’t seem to keep her eyes off Ned, and as hard as Nancy tried not to let it bother her, it did. It bothered her even more that she was beginning to like Maria. “Where are you from?” Nancy asked her.

  “A little-bitty town in Alabama no one’s ever heard of,” Maria said with a shy smile. “You couldn’t tell from my accent? I didn’t even know I had one until I came up here.”

  “I didn’t notice it,” Nancy fibbed diplomatically. “You didn’t go home for Christmas?”

  “Not this year. I decided to stay and get the overtime for working during the holidays. I need the money.”

  “I see,” Nancy said, nodding.

  Maria shrugged. “Maybe I’ll get home at Easter break. Where are you from, Nancy?”

  Nancy chuckled. “River Heights, a little town in the Midwest no one’s ever heard of.”

  “Are y’all thinking of coming to Basson? It’s a very good school.”

  “That’s what everyone says,” Nancy answered quickly. “I was curious about it, so when I found out Ned would be visiting a friend here, I asked to tag along.”

  “Who’s your friend?” Maria asked Ned. “Maybe I know her.”

  “Him,” Ned said shortly. “Line Sheffield.”

  “Oh! You’re the one he’s been talking about!”

  “Do you know Line well?” Ned asked her.

  “Oh, sure. He’s the sweetest thing. We’re both computer sei majors, so we’ve taken a lot of classes together. And he works the circulation desk, too. But he switched shifts with me after Doc died, so I don’t run into him here as much as I used to.”

  Something about the way Maria had phrased that made Nancy suspect she hadn’t heard about Line’s fall. She looked at Ned. He nodded very slightly. He had caught it, too. His expression tightened at the reminder of his friend’s condition, and he became very quiet.

  “Doc,” Nancy said, covering for him. “That’s the teacher whose class Line took over, right?”

  “Uh-huh. I’m glad he did. It helped take his mind off how Doc died. He was torn up over it. Not that I blame him.”

  Nancy’s curiosity rose. “How did Doc die?”

  Maria’s pixie face filled with pain. “He committed suicide. Line took it really hard. Doc was like a big brother to him—not just a teacher. Line just couldn’t believe Doc would do something like that.”

  “Had Doc been depressed?” Nancy asked.

  “That’s the weird thing. He seemed perfectly normal. I know because I saw him practically every night till the time he died.”

  “Every night?” Ned said, showing interest for the first time.

  “Sure did. The study hall and computer lab are open around the clock, and I was working the late shift then, from six to midnight. Doc helped set up the lab when this building opened, so he popped in now and then.”

  “To see how things were going,” Nancy prodded.

  “Right. After Thanksgiving, he started showing up late every night. Said he had an idea he was checking out on the system. But he had to wait until there weren’t many kids around. If something he did caused the system to crash—”

  “Pardon?” Nancy said.

  “Crashing means something goes wrong that causes the computer to temporarily wipe out all the information in its memory banks,” Ned explained.

  “I see,” Nancy said.

  “Anyway, that’s why he was dropping by so late every night,” Maria went on. She gave a mournful smile. “That was Doc. Once he had an idea in his head, he’d worry it to death.”

  “Like Line,” Ned said, half to himself.

  “Two of a kind. And Doc was really caught up in that project of his. That’s what makes his death seem so—so crazy. I know it sounds awful, but I could swear if he was going to commit suicide, he’d have waited until he’d finished what he was working on.”

  “How do you know he didn’t finish it?” Nancy asked gently.

  “Because Line’s taken up where Doc left off. He’s got Doc’s printouts and everything.” Wide-eyed, she turned to Ned. “Didn’t he tell you?”

  Nancy and Ned exchanged glances. Then Ned answered, “We haven’t had much of a chance to talk yet.”

  Maria shrugged. “Anyway, that’s why he asked me to change shifts with him, so he could finish Doc’s project.”

  “How do you know Line has Doc’s printouts?” Nancy asked. She sensed they had just heard something worth looking into.

  “I saw them. He got them out of Doc’s locker.”

  “Doc had a locker here?”

  “Sure, in the administrative wing. He always carried a lot of stuff, and it was more convenient to stash it here.” Maria blinked, and looked at her watch. “I’m late. I’d better get back right away,” she said nervously.

  “We didn’t mean to keep you so long,” Nancy apologized.

  Maria got up. “Well, I’ll see y’all.” She started away, then looked back at Ned. “If you’re coming back upstairs, I’ll stop by my locker to get that manual I told you about.”

  Ned said, “Why don’t we come with you?”

  “Where is your locker?” Nancy asked.

  “Not far. The administration wing is behind the study hall.”

  “You go,” Nancy said to Ned. Listening to Maria had raised the distinct possibility that Doc’s project might have played a major role in what had happened to him and Line. The professor’s locker was probably empty by now, but if Ned could get its number . . .

  “I’ll be right there,” Ned told Maria as he got up. Then he lowered his voice. “What will you be doing?” he asked.

  “Just looking around. Don’t worry about me. See if you can get Doc’s locker number. How about if we meet at the front door at a quarter to two?”

  “I’ll be there. Okay, Maria, you lead, I’ll follow.”

  “Well, now, that’s the nicest proposition I’ve had all day. Bye, Nancy.”

  If that isn’t flirting, I don’t know what is! Nancy thought. Keep cool, Drew, she warned herself as she got up to leave.

  She took the route back to the main lobby. Just as she reached it, a familiar figure hurried down the steps and out the front door. Cass! Her coat bulged as if she were carrying something. Strange. She should have left over an hour ago.

  Now was the time to see if Cass would be willing to ask Mr. Pickering for the things from Line’s locker. But Nancy didn’t dare yell for Cass. This part of the Fish Tank was as quiet as a church.

  Nancy broke into a run, hurrying through
the front doors. Cass was nowhere in sight. How could she have disappeared so fast? Nancy jogged around the side toward the parking lot. Ah-ha! Cass’s curly red hair was like a beacon, flaming as she ran toward a roped-off section of the lot.

  “Cass!” Nancy called. Her hostess didn’t appear to hear her, she simply moved that much faster. “Cassandra!”

  Cass reached the farthest corner of the lot and stopped at a low-slung foreign car. She pulled a bulky package out from under her coat. Juggling her bundle, she seemed to have trouble getting the door open.

  Why hadn’t she mentioned she had a car? Nancy wondered. “Cass Denton!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

  Cass jerked around toward Nancy. Suddenly papers flew out from the package she carried. The red curls disappeared from view as she scrambled to pick the papers up. Cass’s engine roared to life, and she pulled out of her spot.

  Determined to catch her, Nancy took the shortest route, squeezing through several rows of cars. She reached the last row before the roped-off section and rushed out from behind a van.

  She stepped out onto the main drive and waved at Cass, who was heading her way. But instead of slowing down, Cass sped up. Nancy gasped in horror as she realized the car was barreling straight at her!

  Chapter

  Eight

  NANCY DOVE back behind the van as the car sped by, missing her by inches. She painfully picked herself up. Then she peered out from behind the van to see where Cass had gone.

  Cass turned from the parking lot onto the street on two wheels. Nancy stared after her, astonished. It certainly seemed as though Cass had tried to hit her on purpose.

  Names were stenciled on the back wall of the roped-off section. Nancy crossed to read them. Skelton, Marbury, Pickering. This was the staff’s parking lot. Why had Cassandra left her car here overnight? Nancy approached the slot the sleek car had vacated. The name on the wall was not Denton but Sheffield.

  The car was Line’s! And if it had been there since the night before, then Line must have been in the Fish Tank before he went to the tower. This glass-and-chrome building was becoming more interesting by the minute!