The Silent Suspect Read online

  “Hey, I just remembered something,” Richard said. “I’ve got some extra clothes and a blanket in my car.”

  “Great!” Nancy said enthusiastically. She tugged at her clammy sweatshirt. “Anything would be better than this.”

  Richard hurried back to his car to get the clothes. The others stayed with Nancy. When Richard returned, Nancy went into the ladies’ room on the ship. There she changed quickly and dried her hair with the blanket.

  “Feeling better?” Ned asked when she came out.

  “Much,” Nancy said. “It’s good to be dry again.” She twirled around to show off her baggy black sweatpants and a huge sweatshirt with San Rafael University printed across the front. Everyone laughed.

  “Listen,” Nancy said, suddenly serious. “We can’t waste any more time thinking about me. We have to go to the police and tell them about Toomey. He knows we’re on to him now. He has to be more desperate than ever. Now that he knows we know about him, he’s got nothing to lose.”

  “Why don’t we all walk Laurel to her car?” Ned suggested. “Then Nancy and I can go with her.”

  “Fine,” Richard agreed, and the five of them walked quickly off the ship.

  “It’s in this direction,” said Laurel, turning down a side street. “Boy, I’m glad I parked it here, out of the crowds. I’m in no shape to negotiate some of the busier streets right now.”

  But as she led them quickly along the sidewalk, Laurel suddenly stopped. “Look, there’s a phone booth across the street,” she said. “I’d better call Dad. He’ll be wondering where we are.”

  “Good idea. And’ you’d better tell him about Toomey, too,” said Nancy. “Your father should know that Toomey is dangerous.”

  “Right,” said Laurel. She slipped her arm away from Lisa’s and began crossing the street.

  “Wait, Laurel!” Nancy called after her. “Let me come with you!”

  There was a sudden loud clanging of bells as a cable car whipped around the corner. It was going so fast that Laurel had to leap out of its way. Nancy started after her.

  “Watch it, Nan!” Ned said. He grabbed Nancy and pulled her back to the curb. The cable car passed safely between them and Laurel.

  “But, Ned,” Nancy cried. “Laurel’s on the other side of the street.”

  “It’s okay,” Ned said reassuringly. “She’ll be there for only a minute.”

  It seemed to take much longer than that for the cable car to pass. Finally it was gone. Nancy looked anxiously across the street to the phone booth.

  “Oh, no!” she gasped.

  The door to the phone booth hung open. The booth was empty, and the receiver was swinging at the end of its cord.

  Christopher Toomey was standing next to the booth. One of his hands was over Laurel’s mouth, and the other was wrapped tightly around her waist. Laurel’s eyes were wild with terror, and she was struggling desperately to get away.

  “Laurel!” Lisa screamed. She started for the curb with Nancy, Ned, and Richard right behind her.

  Toomey gave Laurel a vicious yank backward. “Don’t come any closer!” he shouted. “Or it’ll be the last time you ever see Laurel alive!”

  15

  Terror Trap

  “I’m warning you!” Toomey yelled again. “Keep away, or I’ll do something crazy!”

  “He is crazy!” Ned muttered under his breath.

  “Please, Christopher, don’t hurt my sister!” Lisa begged. Tears were running down her cheeks.

  I’ve got to do something, Nancy thought. But what?

  Before she could collect her thoughts, Toomey pushed Laurel into the phone booth again. Then he stood in front of it, leaning against the door. “Don’t any of you come over here,” he growled. He glared over his shoulder at Laurel. “And don’t you even think about making any calls, or I’ll finish you off right here.” Inside the phone booth Laurel collapsed in sobs.

  “What do we do now?” Ned whispered to Nancy.

  “I’m not sure—we don’t know if he has a weapon. I don’t think Toomey knows what to do, either.” Nancy frowned a little, thinking rapidly.

  “I have an idea,” she said after a moment. “Can you keep Toomey talking for a while?”

  “I’ll try,” Ned answered. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going across the street,” Nancy said quietly. “You keep Toomey’s attention so he doesn’t notice me. I’ll try to sneak around and come up behind him.”

  “Then what?” quavered Lisa.

  “Then I’ll just have to think of something.” Nancy squeezed Ned’s arm and slipped behind him.

  No one had been on the street when Toomey had grabbed Laurel, and the few people walking down the block now didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. Toomey was leaning against the door of the phone booth as if he were waiting for Laurel to finish a phone call.

  Nancy walked quickly down the sidewalk about twenty feet. When a minivan rumbled down the street, she waited until it pulled past her, then darted across the street behind it.

  To her intense relief, a group of tourists was coming down the other side of the street. She walked as inconspicuously as possible into the middle of the group. Now there was little chance Toomey would spot her.

  Suddenly one of the women stopped in front of a restaurant, next to a small alley. “This looks like a nice place,” she said to her friends.

  “It’s fine with me,” said one of her companions. Chattering happily, the group began walking into the restaurant.

  Nancy walked in right along with them. If she didn’t, Toomey would surely spot her. A couple of the women in the group looked curiously at her, but she ignored them. Then she made straight for the rest room sign. Maybe there would be another exit out of the restaurant that way.

  The sign led her down a hall. At the end of the hall, past the telephone and the bathrooms, there was a door. It was halfway open, and Nancy could see it let out onto the alley.

  She slipped out the door and tiptoed to the end of the alley, keeping flat against the wall of the restaurant. The telephone booth was straight ahead of her. Toomey was still leaning protectively against the door of the booth.

  Nancy could see Lisa and Richard still on the other side of the street. Ned must have persuaded Toomey to talk to him because he had crossed the street and was now about ten feet from Toomey.

  Nancy could just manage to hear what Ned was saying.

  “You were very clever,” Ned said admiringly. “That trick with the tire—smart.” He edged ever so slightly closer to Toomey as he spoke.

  “You figured that out, did you?” Toomey answered.

  “Yes, but it took us a long time,” said Ned.

  “I’m impressed,” said Toomey. “What else have you figured out?”

  Ned inched closer. “Everything, I think,” he said in a matter-of-fact voice. “But I’m not sure why you set those fires.”

  “You’re not sure!” Toomey let out a strange, high-pitched laugh. “I’ll tell you why. Because no one paid attention to me!” Now his laugh sounded more like a sob. “I’m the smartest one in that office, and no one would ever admit it!”

  He’s going off the deep end, Nancy realized. She’d have to move fast.

  She tiptoed up to the very end of the alley and peeked out again. Toomey was ranting now, and Ned was listening with a sympathetic look on his face.

  “Even Mr. Franklin never paid attention!” Toomey shouted. “I was practically like a son to him! And let me tell you—”

  Nancy waved her hand to get Ned’s attention. He noticed and gave a tiny nod. She motioned to him to get Toomey away from the phone booth.

  Ned took a step to the right, frowning as if he were thinking hard.

  “You know, you’re right, Mr. Toomey,” he said. “You are a smart man. I don’t think my uncle appreciated that.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to say!” Toomey exclaimed excitedly. He took a few steps toward Ned. “That’s what I’ve been trying to say t
he whole time!”

  Nancy picked up a little pebble from the edge of the sidewalk. She tossed it against the phone booth and Laurel looked up, startled.

  Nancy put a finger to her lips, motioning to Laurel not to say anything.

  Then she took a few careful steps toward the phone booth. Toomey was still deep into his conversation with Ned. He seemed to have forgotten all about Laurel.

  Keeping a watchful eye on Toomey, Nancy sneaked toward the telephone booth.

  “Now!” she yelled, hurling herself straight at Toomey. He fell like a sack of potatoes, with Nancy on top of him. Laurel yanked the door open, jumped over Toomey’s fallen form, and raced across the street to her sister.

  “No!” Toomey screamed as he saw Laurel escape. He shook Nancy off and struggled to his feet. Nancy grabbed him around the ankles, and Ned tackled him, bringing him down again.

  This time he sprawled face first on the sidewalk. By now Richard had raced across the street.

  Ned was holding Toomey down, and Richard pinned Toomey’s arms behind his back. “Don’t even think of going anywhere,” Richard said.

  Toomey twisted his head around and glared up at Nancy. His face was a contorted mask of anger and hatred. “I’ll get you for this!” he said.

  “I don’t think so,” Nancy answered. “I think you’ll be going to jail.”

  Across the street Lisa had her arms around Laurel and was holding her tightly. Nancy smiled at them. Then she went to the phone booth and dialed the police.

  • • •

  Nancy settled back against the comfortable couch and sighed contentedly. After taking a long, hot bath, she had changed into fresh clothes and eaten a huge dinner. Now she was sitting with the Franklins, Ned, and Richard in the living room. Everyone was sipping coffee or hot chocolate, and at last everyone was relaxing.

  Ned leaned toward Nancy and handed her a second cup of hot chocolate.

  “You’ve got to build up your strength,” he teased.

  “You’ve certainly done a lot on our behalf,” said Mr. Franklin seriously. “I can never thank you enough, Nancy.”

  “You don’t have to thank me,” Nancy replied. “I’m just glad we found out about Toomey before anyone got hurt.”

  “He was an awful man,” Lisa said. “But I still can’t help thinking what a sad story it is. Jealousy can be a terrible thing.”

  She turned to Laurel. “You know, there’s room for two more architects in the Franklin family.”

  Laurel blushed. “I was pretty jealous,” she admitted. “I don’t blame you for being angry at me.”

  “I’m not angry at you,” Lisa said. “I never was.”

  Laurel looked puzzled. “Then why were you so mad?” she asked.

  “Because no one ever asked me what kind of work I wanted to do,” Lisa replied. “But I did want to protect you, Laurel. I saw your mistakes a long time ago. I wanted to tell you about them, but you wouldn’t give me a chance. And I was afraid to tell anyone else. I didn’t know what to do. That’s why I went to the site the night of the first fire. I was going to destroy the calculations.”

  “It’s always better to admit your mistakes, no matter how bad they might seem,” Mr. Franklin said.

  “You’re right about that, Dad,” Laurel said.

  “Well, we all make mistakes,” Mr. Franklin said briskly. “The truth is, I’ve always been proud of both my daughters.”

  He patted Laurel’s hand. “I gave you a lot of responsibility, Laurel. Maybe too much. But that was because I had so much faith in you. I should have told you that. And I will tell you, from now on.

  “Then I can still work in the office?” Laurel asked timidly.

  “Of course! I wouldn’t have it any other way,” her father insisted.

  Suddenly Richard, who had been drinking his coffee in silence, spoke up from the sofa. “Sir, you’d be proud of Lisa’s school project, too,” he said. “She’s got great ideas. You should see the model we made.”

  Mr. Franklin hesitated for a minute. “You’re right,” he said at last. “I will go and see it. All this trouble has made me realize that I’ve never appreciated Lisa’s originality. It’s about time I started picking up a few new ideas, even at my age. I’ll drive out to San Rafael tomorrow and take a look.”

  Lisa beamed at him. “Fantastic! I know I’ve got a lot more to learn, too,” she added. “But you and Laurel can help me.”

  “We will,” Laurel and Mr. Franklin answered in unison. Everyone laughed.

  In a few minutes the conversation turned to architecture, and the new designs for Franklin Place. Well, what would you expect? thought Nancy. With four architects in one room, it was probably impossible to avoid the subject.

  Nancy reached for Ned’s hand. “We never did get much of a vacation,” she said quietly.

  “Well, we still have a few days left,” Ned said. “And starting tomorrow, I’m going to have a great vacation with the best detective I know!”

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A MINSTREL PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  A Minstrel Book, published by

  POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 1990 by Simon & Schuster Inc. Cover art copyright © 1990 Linda Thomas Produced by Mega-Books of New York, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  ISBN: 0-671-69280-1

  ISBN:-13: 9-781-4814-0403-7 (eBook)

  First Minstrel Books printing June 1990

  NANCY DREW, NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES, A MINSTREL BOOK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.