The Silent Suspect Read online

  Laurel shrugged. At that moment she looked very much like her sister. “I already told you, I don’t know much about him. But I agree with Dad—he’s a bad influence on Lisa.”

  “Even though you don’t know him?” Nancy asked gently.

  Laurel stiffened.

  “I was wondering if you might be a little angry at Lisa,” Nancy continued quickly. She knew this was a risky topic, but she couldn’t see any subtle way to bring it up.

  “Why would I be?” Laurel asked, looking at the floor.

  “Well, I know this is none of my business,” Nancy said, keeping her tone friendly. “But if I were you, I might be a little upset that my younger sister was supposed to take over the business someday.”

  Laurel colored deeply. “Lisa’s very smart,” she told Nancy. “Even smarter than I was at her age.” She leaned forward. “But I really love the architecture business. Lisa doesn’t. It isn’t fair that Lisa should get to run the firm someday. She’s an ungrateful, spoiled brat.”

  There was a sudden noise, and Nancy looked up to see Lisa standing in the living room doorway. It was clear from her expression that she had heard everything Laurel had said.

  Lisa stared at her sister. Then she turned without a word and ran toward the stairs.

  “This time I’ll catch up with her,” Nancy told Ned, starting for the door.

  Lisa was in her bedroom, throwing open the bureau drawers. She didn’t look up as Nancy entered the room. Nancy hesitated, then sat on the end of her bed.

  “Lisa, I’m sorry you heard what Laurel said. I know she hurt your feelings. But you can’t blame her, really.”

  “I don’t care how she feels!” Lisa said angrily. “No one ever asks me what I want, or how I want to live my life. They just tell me what I’m supposed to do!”

  “That is hard,” Nancy said sympathetically. Whatever trouble Lisa might be causing, at least some of her problems clearly came from the way her father was treating her.

  For a moment the guarded look left Lisa’s eyes. When she spoke again, her tone was warmer. “I was rude to you before,” she said. “I’m sorry. Things are just a mess lately. And there’s no way you could possibly understand what’s going on.”

  “Do you feel like telling me about it, though?” Nancy asked carefully. “Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who isn’t part of the family.”

  Lisa looked down as she spoke. “Well, maybe,” she said slowly. “I guess you’ve gotten sort of a—an impression of my father, right?”

  Nancy paused. “He certainly seems to have strong opinions about what you should be doing,” she said.

  “That’s exactly the problem!” Lisa exploded. “I’m nineteen, and he acts like some Victorian father in a book or something! Honestly, I—”

  The words poured out in a torrent. Mr. Franklin didn’t appreciate Lisa for who she really was. He couldn’t imagine that she might want a life of her own. He compared her with Laurel all the time. “Not that I should mind so much,” said Lisa with a bitter laugh. “I mean, I usually come out okay in comparison. But—”

  And so it went. Nancy was sure that Lisa was finally letting out feelings she’d been holding back for months. But Lisa never said anything about what was specifically bothering her.

  After all, Nancy reasoned, probably Mr. Franklin had always been like that. Why was Lisa suddenly so upset now?

  And what had been the meaning of that phone call?

  As Lisa talked, Nancy noticed that Lisa’s mind was wandering. Several times she broke off in midsentence and glanced anxiously around the room. Twice she forgot what she’d been saying and had to start over. Finally Nancy asked, “Is something else the matter?”

  Lisa gave a start. “Oh! No, not really. Sorry, Nancy. I—I was just thinking about something I lost. A bracelet.”

  Nancy saw that the gold bracelet she’d noticed earlier was missing from Lisa’s wrist. “Where did you lose it?” she asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Lisa with a shrug. She sounded as if she were trying to be casual. “I’m sure it’s around somewhere.” Abruptly she stood up. “It’s been nice talking to you, Nancy. Thanks for listening, but I’d like to be alone right now.”

  “I understand,” Nancy said. She left the bedroom and walked quickly down the stairs.

  Ned and Laurel were chatting quietly in the living room. “Well? How did it go?” asked Ned as Nancy entered.

  “I don’t know,” said Nancy. “I don’t think Lisa really told me anything new. She said I couldn’t understand what’s going on.”

  Laurel shook her head. “Lisa may just be making everything into a big deal, the way she always does. She likes attention, if you haven’t already figured that out.” Laurel yawned. “Time for me to get to bed,” she said. “I plan to be at the office early tomorrow morning, no matter what Lisa does. I’ll just stop in at the library to say good night to my father.”

  “So Lisa has more or less told me there is some kind of mystery, and her sister wants me to think there isn’t,” Nancy said after Laurel had left the room. “Whom should I believe?”

  Ned reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “Why don’t you stop thinking about both of them for now?” he said. “Let’s go out, just the two of us. I did promise you some fun while we’re here in San Francisco.”

  “You’re right,” Nancy said. “I’d love to go out. Besides, it’s your vacation. You should have some fun, too.”

  “Let’s go ask Laurel or Uncle Bob if they have any good ideas about a place to go,” said Ned. “And we’ll have to borrow a car.”

  When Nancy and Ned walked into the library, Laurel, her father, and Mr. Toomey were going over building plans together. Laurel wasn’t going to get to bed right away after all, Nancy thought.

  “Hello, kids,” said Mr. Franklin, straightening up. “What can I do for you?”

  “Well, we were wondering if you could suggest—” Ned began.

  Suddenly the phone rang. Mr. Franklin picked it up immediately.

  As he listened, his face turned ash white. He gasped, dropped the phone, and leaned back in his chair.

  Mr. Toomey leapt up and grabbed the dangling telephone receiver. He listened briefly, then hung up the phone.

  “What is it?” Laurel asked.

  There was a look of horror on Robert Franklin’s face. “That was my night watchman,” he said weakly. “Franklin Place is burning down!”

  4

  A Likely Suspect

  “Oh, no!” gasped Laurel. “Dad, what will we do?”

  Mr. Franklin clenched his fists. “I’ve got to get hold of myself,” he said through gritted teeth. Then, with a burst of energy, he jumped to his feet. “Christopher, let’s get over there,” he said.

  “Right away, Mr. Franklin,” answered Mr. Toomey. His thin face was creased with concern as he and his boss ran from the room.

  Laurel raced after them. “Wait, I’m coming too!”

  Ned grabbed Nancy’s hand. “I’ll get Lisa,” he said. “Maybe we can follow in her car.” He ran to the stairs and called, “Lisa! Lisa, get down here fast!”

  Lisa’s face appeared at the top of the stairs. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  When Ned told her, she turned pale. “Oh, no!” she whispered. “It—it can’t be!”

  “Well, it is,” Ned said grimly. “Can you drive us to Franklin Place?”

  Lisa was halfway down the stairs. “Let’s go!”

  But when the three of them arrived, they could see that there had been no point in hurrying.

  Franklin Place was totally swallowed by flames that lit the darkness with a nightmarish orange glow. Lisa parked her car next to Mr. Franklin’s Lincoln. When she, Nancy, and Ned stepped out of the car, the heat was intense. There was a scorched smell of destruction in the air.

  “This is awful,” Lisa moaned, standing next to Nancy. In the orange light her face was filled with horror.

  A firefighter, his face streaked with black, ran towar
d them. “Stand back, please!” he ordered.

  “Is—is it going to burn to the ground?” Lisa faltered.

  “Looks that way,” the fireman answered. “We’re doing all we can, but the building’s too far gone to save much.”

  Nancy could see that he was right. Everywhere she looked, firefighters were aiming powerful hoses at the flames, but the blaze crackled on. The building’s walls were sheets of flame, its steel girders red-hot, and huge sections were crumbling. There was no way to save Franklin Place.

  Then Nancy spotted Mr. Franklin. He was standing stock-still as he watched his beloved project disappear before his eyes. Laurel was right beside him, sobbing. Mr. Franklin patted Laurel’s shoulder absently, but he continued staring straight ahead.

  Mr. Toomey walked up to Nancy, Ned, and Lisa. He looked stunned and sickened. “This is a terrible thing,” he said gravely. “All those months of work, all that money spent—if only there were something I could do.” He gave a short, humorless laugh. “But the firefighters have made it pretty clear I’d only be in the way.”

  “You would be.” Lisa’s voice was harsh. “There’s nothing any of us can do.”

  “Lisa, you don’t have to be so rude!” Mr. Toomey protested. “I mean, we’re all under a lot of stress, but—”

  “Stress? Franklin Place is burning down, and you’re talking about stress?” Lisa shouted. Then she swallowed hard. “I can’t take any more of this,” she said, trying visibly to control herself. “I’m going to wait by the car for a while.”

  “I’ll keep you company,” Ned offered, and Lisa nodded silently. Ned turned to Nancy. “Will you be okay if I—”

  “Go ahead,” Nancy told him. “I want to look around a little anyway.” She looked at Mr. Toomey. “Please excuse me,” she said.

  Not that there was anything she expected to turn up. But her investigations had taught Nancy to keep her eyes open whenever anything out of the ordinary happened.

  Besides, if she wanted to investigate the building site, now was the time. Nancy knew she had to work quickly. Even after the flames had been extinguished, the firefighters would still be working for hours to make sure the fire didn’t flare up again. Ashes could smolder below the ground for days after a fire. The site would be carefully watched. Outsiders would not be welcome. She had to take advantage of the confusion now to make her investigation.

  Nancy felt sweat pour down her face. The heat in the air was terrible. Even the ground was roasting. It was so hot that Nancy could feel it through her shoes. The noise of the fire was terrible, too. There was a crackling of the blaze itself, the hiss of steam, the firefighters’ hoarse shouts, and in the distance, the wails of more engines rushing to the scene.

  Keeping carefully behind the firefighters, Nancy circled the entire building site. She passed a trailer parked behind the site and wondered absently whether it might catch fire, too.

  Nancy moved quickly but kept her eyes down, scanning as much of the ground as she could. It seemed hopeless. She kept stumbling over piles of smoking rubble, and there were many places she couldn’t get close to because of the danger. Finally, she made her way back to the front of the building.

  There she saw Mr. Toomey and Mr. Franklin standing near the fire trucks. Behind them was a group of reporters. They were all listening to a husky man wearing firefighters’ protective clothing and a large badge. He must be the fire chief, Nancy thought.

  Suddenly the chief spotted her. “Hey, get away from that building!” he shouted, waving his arms frantically. “What do you think you’re doing? Come over here!”

  Nancy took one more glance around before hurrying toward him. “Who do you think you are, prowling so close?” the chief yelled.

  Mr. Franklin stepped forward. “This is Nancy Drew. She’s a guest at my house.”

  “I’m sorry, Chief,” Nancy said. “But I was being very careful. I’m a—”

  The chief interrupted her. “Civilians don’t belong around dangerous fires,” he scolded.

  “I’m not exactly a civilian,” Nancy began again. “I’m a private investigator, and—”

  Again the chief cut her off. “Ms. Drew, we’re very busy,” he said. “We have a fire to fight. We don’t have time to play detective. Why don’t you just let us do our jobs?”

  “He’s right, Nancy,” said Mr. Franklin. “Why don’t you and Ned go home with Lisa and wait for me there?”

  “Fine,” Nancy said. But just as she turned to leave, a faint gleam on the ground caught her eye. She reached down to the dirt, and her fingers tangled in a piece of string. She lifted the string, and a hard, bright object came up with it.

  Nancy gave a cry of astonishment. The object was Lisa’s bracelet!

  “What have you got there?” the fire chief asked.

  Nancy held up the bracelet with the string tangled around it. “This,” she said.

  She looked quickly at Mr. Franklin. He didn’t seem very interested.

  Should I tell him and the chief that it’s Lisa’s? Nancy wondered. Somehow it seemed wrong to give the chief that information while Mr. Franklin was standing right there. If Mr. Franklin really didn’t recognize the bracelet, wouldn’t it be better to warn him in private that it belonged to his daughter? Nancy couldn’t just surprise him with a fact like that in public—especially when she still wasn’t sure whether finding the bracelet here was significant at all.

  Nancy handed the fire chief the bracelet. He stared at it for a moment, turning it over in his hand. “Do you think that could have something to do with the fire?” Nancy asked him carefully.

  He shrugged. “Could be, but there’s always a lot of junk around a construction site.” He handed the bracelet back to Nancy. “Why don’t you hang on to this? If I decide it’s important, I’ll give you a call.”

  “Any clues as to how the fire started, Chief?” a reporter called out.

  As the chief began to speak, Nancy walked to the back of the crowd of reporters. She listened for a few minutes, then hurried back to Lisa’s car. Ned and Lisa were waiting for her.

  “Hi, Nan!” Ned said as Nancy came up. “Did you find anything?”

  Nancy nodded grimly. “I did.” She leaned against the car and took a deep breath.

  “Lisa, I have something to say,” she began, “and you’d better listen closely. The fire chief is talking about arson,” Nancy went on. “In fact, he’s almost certain someone set the fire on purpose.”

  "What?” Lisa gasped. “You mean it wasn’t an accident?”

  “That’s right.” Nancy watched Lisa closely. The girl seemed genuinely surprised.

  “But why would someone do that?” Ned asked, puzzled.

  “No one knows yet,” Nancy replied. “First they have to investigate to see if it really was arson. Then the police will be brought in. They’ll be the ones to hunt for a motive.”

  “You mean, a motive for destroying Franklin Place?” Ned frowned. “The owner of the building could collect fire insurance,!’ he said. “That would make Uncle Bob a prime suspect, wouldn’t it?”

  “It might,” Nancy said. She glanced at Lisa, who was biting her lip and staring straight ahead. “But if arson was established, and your uncle turned out to be responsible, he wouldn’t collect a penny. Besides, I don’t think Mr. Franklin would destroy his own work. He was so proud of it. And he certainly doesn’t seem to need the insurance money.”

  “Then who do you think it was, Nan?” asked Ned.

  Nancy looked straight at Lisa. “I hate to say this, but right now I have only one suspect. You, Lisa.”

  “Lisa!” Ned turned and stared at his cousin in shock.

  Lisa’s eyes were wide with fright. “I was afraid of this,” she said in a strangled whisper.

  Nancy eyed her thoughtfully. “I know.” She reached into the pocket of her brown slacks and drew out Lisa’s bracelet.

  Lisa gasped. “You found it!”

  “I certainly did,” said Nancy. “It was right in front of the
burning building. Lisa, I saw you with this bracelet before the fire started. You left the house for a short time and then came back—without the bracelet. You do realize that this bracelet is evidence, don’t you? It places you right here at the site about the time the fire must have been set.”

  “I do realize that,” said Lisa softly. “Do you have to turn the bracelet over to the fire department?”

  Nancy smiled faintly. “Not right now,” she answered. “I did tell the chief the truth—that I had found a bracelet. He didn’t seem to think it was important, but he might change his mind later.”

  Lisa lifted her chin. “Finding my bracelet here isn’t real evidence that I started the fire.”

  “That’s true.” Nancy nodded. “But there are other things to consider.”

  “Such as?” asked Lisa defiantly.

  “Twice tonight you made threats,” said Nancy. “First you said you wished Franklin Place would burn down. And the second time, on the telephone, you were talking about making someone sorry.”

  “You heard that?” Lisa sounded dazed.

  Nancy was about to answer when she saw Mr. Franklin striding toward his car. A short, bald man with glasses was hurrying to keep up with him. He looked as if he were trying to talk to Mr. Franklin, but Mr. Franklin wasn’t listening. Laurel and Mr. Toomey were right behind them, followed by a crowd of reporters.

  When Mr. Franklin reached the car, he paused. “No comment,” Nancy heard him say loudly as he opened the door.

  A woman reporter stepped out of the crowd. “Is it true that the fire department suspects arson?” she called.

  “No comment,” Mr. Franklin repeated.

  The reporter turned to the short, bald man. “You’re Ed Kline, the night watchman, aren’t you?” she asked.

  The man nodded.

  “Did you see anything or anyone suspicious around the building earlier?” the reporter asked.

  “Well, yes, as a matter of fact I—”

  “He didn’t see a thing,” Mr. Franklin interrupted. “Good night, Ed. Come on, Laurel, Christopher. Get in.”

  Suddenly, Ed Kline’s jaw dropped. Nancy frowned. He was looking straight at them. “That car!” he exclaimed. “I saw it here earlier tonight! A red Camaro—I’m sure it’s the same one.”