Rendezvous in Rome Read online

  “That’s a good idea,” George said. She gave Nancy a probing look. “Are you sure you’re not upset about this?” she asked. “I mean, if you need my help investigating those necklaces . . .”

  “We’ll be fine,” Nancy and Bess said at once.

  Grinning at her friends, George said. “Thanks, guys. You’re the best!”

  • • •

  “You have to fill me in on some of this, Nan,” Bess pleaded early the next afternoon. “I didn’t understand half the words! I was going to pull out my phrase book, but I was too embarrassed.”

  After seeing George off with Daniela and the others at the train station, Bess and Nancy had visited the two friends of Signora Fiorello who had also had Etruscan jewelry stolen. Now they were sitting down to pasta at a small, family-run restaurant near the Forum.

  “Well, neither of their houses looked as if it had been broken into,” Nancy said. “And both have alarm systems that weren’t triggered. Neither woman had been away for any length of time, either, their vacations are scheduled for August.”

  “I understood what Signora Bellini said about everybody knowing they have the jewelry, thanks to the paparazzi,” Bess put in, referring to the photographers that swarmed around the social events where the women often wore their jewelry.

  Just then the waiter brought steaming plates of pasta to the table and set them down.

  Bess picked up her fork with relish. “This is fantastic!” she said, smacking her lips. “I love this spicy sauce. What do they call it again?”

  “Arrabbiata,” Nancy said. “Mine is great, too.”

  Bess speared some of the short, tubular pasta with her fork, then popped it into her mouth. “I didn’t understand what Signora Bellini said about Fabio Andreotti, though,” she said, getting back to the case. “And Signora Cresci mentioned him, too, right?”

  Nancy nodded. “I asked if anyone had shown a special interest in the jewelry, and they both mentioned Andreotti,” she told Bess. “Signora Bellini said that he has offered to buy her necklace so many times that it’s become a formality—part joke and part compliment.”

  “Do you think he wanted their jewelry badly enough to steal it?” Bess looked doubtful. “He seemed so nice.”

  “I don’t know,” Nancy admitted. “Most of the people we’ve met think the world of him, including Sandro’s mother. But I think we should find out more about him.”

  • • •

  “Would you believe I think I’m going to fall asleep?” Bess declared as the girls left the restaurant a short while later. “Didn’t Claudia say there’s an Italian tradition about napping after lunch?”

  “Yesterday was a long day,” Nancy said. “And we’re going dancing tonight, remember?”

  “That’s right! I can’t possibly fall asleep at the disco. I’d die of embarrassment.”

  “All right.” Nancy laughed. “A siesta it is.” The girls chugged down the streets on their Vespas to their pensione. After locking the Vespas they entered the building. The lobby felt cool and slightly damp as they walked in. Their footsteps echoed as they went up the stairs.

  When they reached the second floor the family that ran the pensione was nowhere in sight. The front desk of the hotel was empty.

  “Maybe we could check out Fabio Andreotti later this afternoon,” Nancy suggested as they walked down the hall to their room.

  “Sure,” Bess said, putting her key in the lock and pushing open the door. She stepped forward and stopped, staring inside.

  “Nancy?” she asked in a small voice.

  “Hmm?” Nancy looked over Bess’s shoulder—and gasped.

  Bess’s bed was overturned. Clothes and belongings were strewn across the floor and furniture. The room had been ransacked!

  Chapter

  Five

  IT’S THE NECKLACE,” Bess whispered in a horrified voice. “The thief is after us!”

  “Maybe not,” Nancy said, although she suspected Bess was right. “See if you can find out what’s missing, but don’t move anything. I’ll get help.”

  Nancy ran down the hall to the front desk and rang the bell. A few minutes later the young woman who managed the pensione poked her head sleepily from behind a curtained door. She had curly, dark hair and a round face. Seeing Nancy, she stepped out to the desk.

  “Signora Verona,” Nancy said, remembering the woman’s name from when the girls checked in. Quickly she explained what had happened and led Signora Verona back to the room.

  “I don’t think anything was stolen,” Bess said, straightening up. “But the room’s a mess.”

  Nancy nodded, then turned to Signora Verona. “Did anyone come in looking for us?” she asked, speaking in Italian. “Did you see anyone acting suspiciously?”

  The woman shook her head. “No. Only our guests. I didn’t see anyone else.”

  “But you weren’t at the desk when we came in,” Nancy pointed out gently. “Maybe someone got in without your seeing them.”

  “The front door is locked at night and when we aren’t on duty,” Signora Verona replied. “Every guest has a key, so I don’t always look out when I hear the door.”

  Nancy frowned. The outside door had been ajar when she and Bess had come in just now, she remembered. It could have been that way all afternoon. If not, anyone with a key to the pensione door could have broken into Bess’s room.

  “Could someone have seen our room number?” Nancy asked.

  The woman shook her head vigorously. “My rooming list is in the back with me,” she said. “No one came in there. I’d better call the police,” she continued.

  Nancy remembered how unhelpful the police had been. “Would you mind if we talked to some of the other guests ourselves instead?” she asked. She would probably get more information that way.

  The young woman pressed her lips together. “I will talk to the guests,” she finally decided. “But if any other rooms were disturbed, I will have to call the police.”

  After Signora Verona left, Nancy helped Bess get her mattress back on the bed frame. “Who knows our room number?” Nancy asked, thinking out loud. “Did you tell Massimo or Claudia?”

  Bess shook her head. “I didn’t tell anyone. I barely know what the room number is myself!”

  “Well, if other rooms were hit, we’ll know soon enough,” Nancy said. “If not, it looks as if the necklace really was the target.”

  “So someone knows I have this real Etruscan necklace,” Bess said anxiously. “And whoever it is must be a criminal to tear our room up like this to try to get it.” Nodding toward her knapsack, she added, “Carrying this necklace around is really making me nervous, Nan.”

  This case was definitely starting to heat up, Nancy had to agree. “I’ll keep it in my shoulder bag from now on, if you like,” she offered. “Meanwhile, let’s go ask Signora Verona if anyone saw anything.”

  The girls found the pensione manager at the front desk. The other guests were mostly young students on vacation, Signora Verona told Nancy. None of them remembered seeing or hearing anything suspicious, and none of the other rooms in the pensione had been disturbed.

  After Signora Verona retreated into the back room, Bess flopped down onto a chair next to the lobby desk. “Now what?” she asked Nancy. “I mean, that proves that the break-in is directly tied to the necklace, right?”

  “I’d like to talk to Paola Rinzini, the owner of Preziosi,” Nancy said. “Maybe she knows where the real necklace came from.”

  “But Claudia told us the store’s closed today,” Bess said, frowning.

  Nancy walked over to the pay phone next to the pensione door. She took some Italian coins out of her pocket. “Oh, I forgot!” she exclaimed. “This phone only takes those special coins, gettóni.” When they had called Claudia on Friday night, Signora Verona had sold them one of the phone tokens. “I’d better buy a few of them,” Nancy said. “We’re probably going to need them.”

  The girls called out to Signora Verona again, and she s
old them some gettóni. Then they called Claudia and got Paola Rinzini’s home telephone number.

  “Paola’s not home,” Nancy said, hanging up the phone after trying the woman’s number. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow, I guess.” There was a determined glint in her eyes as she added, “But I’m going to keep my eye on Massimo while we’re dancing tonight.”

  • • •

  Nancy and Bess had arranged to meet Claudia, Sandro, and Massimo at a club in Trastevere, a neighborhood filled with colorful nightspots. As the pounding beat of the music bounced off the ceiling and came down around them, Nancy tried to spot their friends through the whirling crowd on the dance floor.

  “I don’t see them,” she said, leading the way to the bar. “Let’s get some sodas.”

  Bess grimaced as she spotted a familiar face at one of the tables. “It’s Karine,” she moaned. “I hope Massimo didn’t ask her to come here, too.”

  Just then the crowd surged around them, and Massimo stepped out of it. “You both look fantastic!” he said loudly, fighting to be heard over the music. “Are you ready to dance for your necklace?” he asked Bess.

  “I’ll dance all night,” Bess replied, giving him a flirtatious look. From where she was standing Nancy had a clear view of Karine Azar. The girl was looking right at them.

  “Before we do, let’s tell Claudia and Sandro that you are here,” Massimo said. He lightly touched Bess’s back as he guided the girls around the dance floor. “They have a table for us.”

  If Massimo knew Karine was there, he was ignoring her, Nancy decided as she watched the sparks fly again between him and Bess.

  Claudia and Sandro were whispering, heads together, when Massimo and the girls approached. “So what did you do today?” Claudia asked, pulling herself away from Sandro as Nancy and Bess settled themselves at the table.

  Nancy and Bess quickly told the others about their room being ransacked, and the three Italians chorused their alarm.

  “You should move to my house,” Claudia said firmly when Nancy and Bess finished talking. “You cannot stay in that dangerous place.”

  “I’d rather have someplace to put our valuables, including this necklace,” Nancy said, patting her purse discreetly. “Until I do, I’m not going to let this bag out of my sight.”

  “Well, Sandro’s safe was not a good place,” Claudia said, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder. “And my family does not have one. I want to help you, but there is no place I would trust. Unless you want to go back to the police?”

  “Things can disappear there as well,” Sandro warned. “Evidence sometimes gets misplaced at the police station, especially if it’s expensive.”

  Standing up, he offered, “Can I get anyone a soda?” After taking everyone’s order, he headed off for the bar, the multicolored lights playing over his light brown hair.

  “Have you figured out where the necklace came from yet?” Massimo asked Bess. “And what you did with the one I gave you?”

  “Massimo,” Claudia said, “that necklace must be from you! If it is not the one you gave Bess at the stand, then she accidentally switched it with one from the last package you sent to Preziosi.”

  Massimo looked at Claudia. “What package? I didn’t send any package over.”

  “Yes you did. You gave it to Sandro the other day.” Claudia’s dark eyes flashed impatiently.

  “The other day,” Massimo said slowly, raking his hand through his wavy black hair. “Oh, I know what you mean. The other week is more like it.”

  “Stop fooling around!” Claudia demanded, her voice sharp. “When did you give it to him?”

  Massimo jumped to his feet, looking insulted. “Everything is so suspicious for you!” he said angrily. “If you want to give me credit for giving Bess an expensive necklace, fine. She is certainly worth it! Come on, Bess, dance with me.”

  Nancy watched Bess and Massimo move onto the floor. She had to admit they made a handsome couple. If only she could be sure he had nothing to do with the jewelry thefts. But his evasions and denials certainly seemed suspicious.

  Sandro returned with the soft drinks a moment later, breaking into Nancy’s thoughts. Seeing that Bess and Massimo were on the dance floor, he invited Nancy to dance. She moved easily to the music, but she couldn’t keep her mind from dwelling on the missing jewelry. After the first song she signaled that she wanted to sit down.

  “Sandro,” Claudia asked when he and Nancy had returned, “do you remember that package of necklaces you brought to the store for Massimo? When was that, two days ago now?”

  Sandro nodded.

  “When did he give them to you?” Claudia’s voice was casual, but her eyes stared intensely.

  “I’m not sure, um . . .” Sandro narrowed his eyes as he thought. “It was a couple of days before that, maybe more.” He gave the girls a sheepish look. “I didn’t exactly hurry over with it. I was busy at work.”

  Great, Nancy thought dejectedly. Sandro was only adding to the confusion. Was there a reason Claudia couldn’t get a straight answer out of either guy?

  The music picked up again. Bess returned to the table alone as Sandro and Claudia got up to dance.

  “What a hunk!” Bess said, following Massimo’s broad shoulders with her eyes. He had stopped to talk to some friends at a nearby table.

  “Now that you’ve let him go, Karine may grab him for a dance. She was really staring at the two of you when we came in,” Nancy said, nodding toward the table where Karine and her friends sat.

  Bess shrugged. “Massimo told me all about her. He had a crush on Karine for years, but she just wanted to be friends. Now I guess she’s regretting her decision.”

  “So it’s official between you two, then?” Nancy asked, her eyes gleaming. “Is it love?”

  Bess seemed to consider Nancy’s question for a moment. “You know, I don’t think so,” she finally said, taking a sip of her soda. “I mean, he’s gorgeous, but there’s something missing.”

  Nancy stared at Bess in surprise. “But you two look crazy about each other.”

  “Sure, we flirt, but somehow it feels more like we’re just friends,” Bess said. “I know it doesn’t sound like me at all,” she added, giggling. “Maybe he’s just not my type.”

  “Not your type? Is Bess Marvin turning her back on romance?” Nancy looked around in mock panic. “Quick, someone get a doctor!”

  “Is that so surprising?” Bess asked. “I mean, you’re always turning down romance. Just look at Mick. I know you liked him, but you just said ciao and took off for Rome.”

  Nancy fell silent, remembering their time in Geneva. “I didn’t know where the relationship would go,” she said softly. “I couldn’t ask him to come with us because, well, that would have meant too much, too fast. I guess I didn’t want to make a decision, so I let the train make it for me.”

  After a moment Bess asked softly, “What about Ned?”

  Nancy sighed. “That’s the million-dollar question,” she said ruefully. “I only wish I knew how I felt about him.”

  She looked up as a guy with dark hair and bright blue eyes asked her to dance. “Sure,” she decided. Anything to stop thinking about her confused love life. A stream of cute guys swept her into one dance after another, and Nancy didn’t have a second to think about Ned or Mick or the stolen Etruscan necklaces.

  At about midnight she found herself dancing with Massimo. In the middle of a long medley of songs she began feeling drowsy. At first she thought she was tired because it was so late. She tried gamely to keep dancing with the beat, but her arms began to feel heavy.

  “Nancy, are you okay?” Massimo asked, noticing her distress. He helped her back to the table.

  The room was spinning even after Nancy sat down. She looked for Bess, Sandro, and Claudia but didn’t see any of them among the dancers. Resting her head on the table, she tried breathing deeply.

  Massimo put his arm gently around her shoulders. “You do not look well,” he said. “
Let me take you home.”

  “I hate to ruin everyone’s evening,” Nancy said weakly. Strange tingling sensations began crawling up her legs. Her body, which had felt so heavy a moment ago, now seemed very light.

  “Come on, we should go,” Massimo said, grabbing Nancy’s purse and raising her to her feet.

  “The bathroom,” Nancy said, bracing herself on the table with her hands. “Let me splash some water on my face. Where’s my shoulder bag?”

  Massimo handed it to her. “I really think we should leave instead.”

  Nancy gritted her teeth and headed for the bathroom. She wove unsteadily, stumbling a. few times as bobbing dancers bumped into her. Dizziness hit her in waves.

  This is not exhaustion, Nancy said to herself as she fought to make it to the bathroom. Just inside the door she felt the floor pitch beneath her. Helplessly, Nancy looked around, unable to call out. With a little moan she felt herself falling as blackness closed in around her.

  Chapter

  Six

  NANCY!” Bess’s worried voice reached into the inky dizziness in Nancy’s mind. “What happened?”

  Nancy forced her eyes open. She was lying on the bathroom floor, her head on Bess’s lap.

  “I can’t . . .” Nancy began weakly, trying to say she couldn’t move. The words wouldn’t come.

  “Shush,” Bess said. “You’re lucky I was here. I’ll go get some help.”

  Nancy closed her eyes as she felt Bess slip away. I’ve been drugged, she told herself. Was someone trying to get to the necklace? If so, the thief was definitely among their little group. They were the only ones who knew she had it.

  Bess was returning with Massimo. Nancy tried to warn Bess to watch her bag, but Bess told her not to speak. Nancy was dimly aware of Massimo picking her up and carrying her out of the club.

  “We will go to the hospital,” he told Bess as he placed Nancy gently in a cab a minute later.