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  “Not bad, huh?” Rob said admiringly.

  “What are their names?” Nancy asked.

  She never got an answer to her question. At that very moment the entire arena was plunged into utter, pitch-black darkness!

  Chapter

  Five

  WHAT HAPPENED?” Nancy asked in the darkness.

  “It must be some sort of power outage,” George said beside her. The blackness was so complete Nancy couldn’t even make out her friend’s silhouette.

  Through the Plexiglas, Nancy heard an anxious buzzing from the arena. “This is very weird,” Mike said. “The audience must be freaked.”

  “Maybe we blew the master circuit breaker,” Rob suggested. “But I don’t know why.” Soft clicking noises told Nancy he was flicking control switches on and off. “I’m not getting anything,” he said. “Could the whole town be having a blackout? Maybe there’s a storm going on outside or something?”

  “It didn’t look stormy when we came in,” George told him.

  “It’s strange that someone isn’t making an announcement,” Nancy observed. “A sports complex this sophisticated has to have an emergency system and plan, don’t you think?”

  “Of course,” Mike said.

  “Hey, why don’t you guys go see if you can find out what’s happening?” Rob suggested. “There’s a power room on this level.”

  Nancy started digging in her purse. “I can’t believe I don’t have my penlight with me,” she groaned. “We’ll have to do without.”

  “Which way do we turn when we get out of here, Rob?” Mike asked.

  “Left,” the technician answered. “When you get all the way around to the other end, it’s almost all the way to the Worldwide press box. It’s marked Danger.”

  Immediately the image of the reporter with the foreign accent who had barreled out of that room flashed into Nancy’s mind. “So that room’s a power control room,” she said to George.

  “Uh-oh,” George groaned. “I wonder if that guy who bumped into you was fooling around with something in there.”

  “Come on,” Nancy said, groping her way to the door. “Let’s go check it out.”

  “Want to come with us?” Mike asked Rob.

  “I have to stay here, no matter what,” the Optoboard operator replied. “Mr. O’Connell’s orders.”

  “Well, we’ll let you know what’s happening as soon as we can,” Nancy said, locating the door handle and heading out of the room. “Follow my voice,” she told the others. “I’m holding the door open.”

  The hall, too, was in pitch-blackness, although two faint points of light could be seen bobbing toward them from around the bend. In the next second the source of the light became apparent as the two Optoboard security guards came back to their post. They moved nervously, their flashlights pointing every which way.

  “I don’t get this,” said the older of the two guards, a burly man with dark skin. “One side of this hallway farther on has lights, and the other doesn’t.”

  His partner, a pale, lanky man, nodded. “The lights are out by us, down the whole left side, and in the arena. But if you look at the right side down a ways, they’re on!”

  “We’re going to the power room to check it out,” Mike told them.

  “We’re staying right here,” the older man said, crossing his arms in front of him. “I don’t like this situation at all.”

  Nancy, George, and Mike continued toward the power room, led by a dim light. By the time they reached it, two bright beams of light came fully into view overhead. The emergency system was obviously working in this area.

  “There’s the power room,” Mike said. A small crowd of maintenance and security people were clustered around it. “I guess they’re working on the problem. I’ll go talk to one of them. Wait here, okay?” Mike said as he picked his way through the crush of people.

  Just then the hall lights came on and the emergency lights faded out. Even in the corridor, Nancy and the others could hear the relieved murmur from the audience in the arena below. A small burst of applause followed.

  From the speakers overhead came an announcer’s voice. “Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. Our electrical problem has been cleared up and we will resume our program in five minutes.”

  The cluster of people around the power control door quickly dispersed.

  “Let’s stick around a minute,” Nancy suggested as Mike walked back over to them.

  The last one out of the room was a man with a large toolbox. He reached back to pull the door closed behind him. He hesitated after he closed the door, his hand still on the knob. “That’s funny,” he said out loud.

  “What’s funny?” Nancy asked.

  The man eyed her ID badge before he shrugged his shoulders and answered. “The door won’t lock. Must be something wrong with it.”

  “Let me have a look,” Nancy said, walking up to the door. She quickly found the reason the door wouldn’t lock. “The lock’s been fixed to stay open,” she announced. “Look at this. It’s been taped.”

  “That explains it!” the man cried. “I thought it was funny that the master switch had been tripped like that and the door was open when we got here. This was obviously a case of sabotage.”

  “Who’d want to sabotage a skating contest?” Mike wondered aloud.

  “Somebody was trying to hurt some of the skaters before this,” George told him.

  Mike seemed genuinely surprised. “You’re kidding!” he said.

  “Come on,” said Nancy to her friends. “We told Rob we’d let him know what we found out.”

  On the way back Nancy noticed something sparkling on the carpet. “How did these get here?” she asked, bending down to pick up a half dozen or so shiny blue sequins.

  As Nancy stood examining the sequins, one of the Optoboard guards came toward them from a hallway off to the left.

  “What’s going on?” Nancy asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be guarding the control room?”

  “During the blackout, we heard a woman screaming for help down that corridor,” the thin guard answered. “But when I went to check it out, I didn’t find anybody!”

  “Oh, no,” Nancy said, dread shooting through her. “We’ve got to get to Rob right away! He may be in danger!”

  “In danger?” Mike was confused.

  There was no time to answer him. Nancy flew around the final curve to the control room. She stopped short when she saw the burly guard slumped to the floor outside the room. The door was standing wide open.

  “Rob?” Nancy called as she hurried into the booth. George and Mike were right behind her. There, her worst fears were confirmed. Rob was slouched limply over the keyboard of his computer.

  “Rob!” Mike gasped loudly. “Rob!”

  “Hmmm?” came the technician’s muffled response.

  A surge of relief rushed through Nancy. At least he was alive. Out in the hall, the thin guard tended to his partner, who was just coming to.

  “Wha . . . ? What happened?” Rob murmured as Nancy, George, and Mike crowded around him.

  “Judging from the lump on the back of your head, I’d say someone knocked you out,” Nancy told him.

  “Whew.” Wincing, Rob felt the back of his head. “All I know is, I was sitting here one minute. Then the door opened and someone came in. I thought it was one of you—and, well, that’s all I remember.”

  The two guards came into the control room, the burly, older one rubbing his head. “I didn’t see or hear a thing,” he said. “Whoever it was hit me from behind.”

  The lanky guard angrily slammed his palm against the nearest wall. “I can’t believe we fell for that trick!”

  “We’d better get you two some ice for your heads,” George said to Rob and the guard.

  All at once Rob seemed to forget about his injury. “Oh, no!” he cried loudly. “The board!” Picking up his head, he stared helplessly at the Optoboard. It was blinking strange patterns and snippets of incomplete in
formation, as three-dimensional shapes jumped crazily across the screen.

  “The circuit board,” Rob gasped. He reached under the countertop and unhinged the compartment that should have held the board. Instantly his shoulders sagged and he let out a low moan. “It’s gone.”

  “Oh, man,” the thin guard said, shaking his head in disgust.

  “Do you know who’d want to steal that board, Rob?” Nancy probed.

  Still staring at the board, Rob answered wearily, “You name it. There’s a lot of money to be made from the board—and its special chips. All sorts of sleazy business types would love to have it without paying for it. That’s why we had this elaborate security system!”

  Rob turned to Nancy. “How long were you guys gone?”

  “About ten minutes,” Mike answered for her.

  “And I was conscious for probably the first five or so,” Rob said. “So whoever konked me knew exactly where to look for the chip. But how?” He rubbed the back of his head. “How did they know?”

  “Does this kill the use of the board completely?” Mike asked.

  Rob stared at the flashing board as if hypnotized, then he shook his head slowly. “No,” he said. “We have a copy of the circuit’s design.”

  “There go our jobs,” the older security man moaned.

  Nancy shook her head soberly. “It sounds to me like this whole thing was a setup, from the blackout to the woman screaming for help,” she said. “Obviously, it was all a ploy so someone could get in here and steal the Opto chips.”

  “Ladies and gentleman,” came the announcer’s voice over the sound system. “Welcome back to the pairs-skating program. Last on the ice will be Suzanne Jurgens and Martin Kroll.”

  As the jaunty couple in matching gold costumes glided onto the ice to take up their starting positions, Mike turned to the others. “I’d better get back to work right away,” he said. “I should check out the sound equipment, just in case there was a power surge.”

  “We’d better call Mr. O’Connell,” the burly guard said, walking to the door with the others.

  “You guys better clear out, too,” Rob told Nancy and George. “I’m fine, really. At least until I talk to Mr. O’Connell.”

  “Nancy,” George said as they headed for the elevator. “Do you think that reporter had some thing to do with the blackout? I mean the one we saw come out of the power room yesterday?”

  Nancy nodded, deep in thought. “Definitely.”

  “So, where to?” George asked when the elevator door swung open.

  “Let’s check out the locker room,” Nancy suggested. “I want to go through the costumes to see if any of them have blue sequins.” She was trying to remember if any of the pairs skaters she’d seen had been wearing blue. She didn’t think so, but she couldn’t be sure.

  “What about that reporter?” George asked.

  “If he’s the one who stole the chip, he may be long gone,” said Nancy. “But if the girl who screamed was his accomplice, and if the blue sequins mean she’s a skater, she’s still around. Maybe we can get to him by finding her.”

  “She’d have to be one of the pairs skaters to be in costume at that time,” George said reasonably.

  “Not necessarily,” Nancy answered. “Sequins can stick to anything. The skater could be a singles skater who had the sequins stuck on her regular clothes. In fact, my guess is that it isn’t a pairs skater, since they were all busy.”

  Taking the elevator to the lower level, Nancy and George hurried to the locker room. Inside, all was quiet. Only Trish was there, packing up some clothes in a garment bag.

  “Hi,” she said brightly. “That was some blackout, huh?”

  Nancy took a big breath. “Bad news, Trish,” she said. “The Optoboard chips have been stolen.”

  “Oh, no!” Trish gasped. “Poor Dad! That’s a disaster! I’ve got to find him right away!” She quickly zipped up her bag and looked around. “Let’s see, I’ve got my costume for my short program, my makeup, and my skates. After what happened to Elaine I decided to take my things home. Did I pack the stuff from my other locker? I’d better double-check.” The skater put her bag down on the bench and went to her second locker and punched in the combination to her lock.

  “Oh!” she gasped the moment she opened the door.

  “Trish, what’s wrong?” Nancy asked.

  Swallowing hard, the skater stepped aside to show George and Nancy the contents of the locker. “I don’t know how this could have happened,” she cried.

  Hanging by their laces was a pair of snow white skates with shiny silver blades.

  “You forgot your skates,” George said, reaching for them.

  “But I didn’t,” Trish said, staring at the skates. “Those aren’t mine.”

  Just then Elaine Devery walked into the locker room and smiled at the girls. “Hi, everyone,” she said, walking to her locker. “That was some blackout, huh?”

  Trish, George, and Nancy were too stunned to speak. Nancy’s eyes went from the skates, to Elaine, and back to the skates again.

  Elaine followed Nancy’s gaze. In an instant she became furious. Her eyes blazing, she accused Trish.

  “Why, you little witch!” she screamed. “You’re the one who stole my skates!”

  Chapter

  Six

  I’M GETTING a federation official right now!” Elaine shouted at Trish, grabbing the skates from Trish’s locker. “I’ll make sure you’re thrown out of this contest!”

  Before Trish could say anything, Elaine stormed out of the locker room.

  “Elaine!” Trish cried, running after the other skater. “I didn’t take them. Honestly, I didn’t!”

  George turned to Nancy. “If Trish had taken the skates she wouldn’t have opened up her locker in front of us,” she pointed out.

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Nancy agreed.

  Walking back from the locker room doorway, Trish pleaded with Nancy and George. “She won’t talk to me. I didn’t take them—I swear I didn’t. You’ve got to believe me.”

  “Who do you think did it?” Nancy asked.

  Trish shook her head. “I have no idea.”

  “Well, until you find out who the real thief is,” George warned her, “you may be in hot water.”

  “I know.” The red-haired skater leaned against a locker and let out a long sigh. “I can’t believe I’m going to get kicked out of the nationals for something I didn’t do!”

  “Let’s go see what we can do about it,” Nancy suggested. “Kathy Soren seems like a reasonable person. Maybe we can convince her to hold off doing anything drastic.”

  Wiping away a tear, Trish nodded. The three girls hurried up to the main arena. Most of the spectators had left for the break between programs. That night, Nancy knew, the men’s singles program would pack the stadium.

  “I see Elaine talking with Kathy Soren over there,” Nancy said, pointing to the front row of seats.

  “Thank goodness there are no reporters around,” Trish murmured. “If this gets into the news, I’ll just die!”

  Elaine’s mother was at her side, looking angry. As they approached, Nancy could hear Mrs. Devery say, “Okay, I understand why you can’t change my daughter’s score on the compulsories, but why can’t you punish Trish O’Connell? Shouldn’t you throw her out of this contest before she has the chance to steal someone else’s skates?”

  Kathy Soren seemed very weary as she pursed her lips thoughtfully. “This is a very serious charge you’re making,” she told Mrs. Devery.

  “I didn’t steal her skates,” Trish broke in. “I would never do anything like that!”

  Ms. Soren shot Trish an impatient look. “Her skates were found in your locker,” she said. “Can you explain that?”

  Trish’s lip began to tremble, and Nancy stepped forward. “I think I can, Ms. Soren,” she said. “My friend and I were there when the skates were discovered. It seemed to us that Trish hadn’t taken the skates. All she had to do w
as keep her locker shut until we left, and none of us would have guessed the skates were inside. But she opened her locker in front of us, and then didn’t even try to hide the fact that the skates were there. She was as surprised to see them as we were.”

  “I agree,” George said.

  Ms. Soren looked from Trish to Elaine and let out a big sigh. “Oh, dear,” she said helplessly. “This is just what we didn’t need.”

  “I don’t see why you’re hesitating,” Mrs. Devery said hotly. “Trish O’Connell should be thrown out of the competition!”

  Ms. Soren put a hand on her hip and shook her head. “Since we can’t prove that you took the skates,” she said to Trish, “I’m going to allow you—for the moment—to continue in this competition.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Trish said. “I swear I didn’t take them. I would never do anything so rotten,” she added.

  Elaine and her mother ignored Trish. “Okay, Elaine,” Mrs. Devery said quietly. “We’ll just have to abide by that decision.” From the strained expression on her face, Nancy thought she was working hard to keep her cool.

  “Elaine, I only hope that the real thief is found,” Trish said. “Honestly, I didn’t take your skates. I didn’t even have a way to get into your locker!”

  Without looking at Trish, Elaine turned to her mother. “I want to go back to the hotel,” she said. “I’m tired.”

  Elaine’s mother put a comforting arm around her daughter’s shoulder and shot Trish a poisonous look. “Let’s go, honey,” she murmured.

  Just then Nancy spotted Brett O’Connell walking into the arena from the lobby. “There’s your dad,” she told Trish.

  “Dad!” Trish cried, waving to him. “He’s already so unhappy, and now I have to tell him about Elaine’s skates.”