Tall, Dark and Deadly Read online

  She was dressed and ready when Ava’s parents showed up. After hearing the page, she went downstairs to the lobby to meet them.

  Mr. and Mrs. Woods were perched on a sofa, looking uncomfortable. When she saw Nancy on the stairs, Mrs. Woods jumped up and ran over.

  “How are you, dear?” she asked anxiously. “The police captain said you’d been hit on the head. We were very worried.”

  “I’m fine.” Nancy smiled and took a seat across from the sofa. “It was just a bump. I want to talk to you about something else, though. I heard you turned the investigation over to the police.”

  “Oh, Nancy, don’t take it badly. Captain Miller insisted. There’s a murderer on the loose.” Nancy heard Mrs. Woods’s voice falter. “I’m terrified for Ava,” she confessed.

  “There’s still reason to hope,” Nancy said. “Why didn’t you tell me Ava wanted to go to Mardi Gras?”

  Mr. Woods coughed and looked away from Nancy.

  “Well,” his wife said, her face red, “we weren’t sure it was connected. And Ava would be furious if she knew we asked the police or you to look for her at Mardi Gras. Ava can be impulsive, but we didn’t know she’d just take off like this. We thought maybe you could figure out where she went.”

  Nancy nodded. “But now that there’s been a murder, you’re going to let the police handle the case.”

  “We can’t let you get hurt,” Mr. Woods said. “We’d never forgive ourselves.”

  “I’d like to keep looking into this on my own,” Nancy said. “I think I have some leads.”

  Mr. Woods shook his head. “Hand them over to the police. I don’t want you in any trouble.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Nancy insisted. “I want to check out a few things, and I have an advantage over the police, because I look like a student. Besides, the more people we have helping, the faster we’ll find Ava.”

  Mrs. Woods turned to her husband. “Craig?” she asked. “What she says makes sense.”

  “All right,” Mr. Woods said at last. “But don’t put yourself at any risk. I mean it.”

  Ava’s parents didn’t have any more to tell Nancy about Ava’s friends or her date. They traded promises to call the minute they heard something. Then Nancy saw them to their car.

  When they were gone Nancy reviewed her plans. Betsy was in class, so her first target would be Vince, she decided. How was she going to explain her questions? Talking to the off-campus students would be easy—she could say she was doing a survey for Campus Connections. But with Vince, she’d have to do some fast thinking. Unless she came up with a plan on the way.

  Nancy had a quick breakfast and headed down to the hockey rink. Practice was just winding up when she got there. She took a seat in the bleachers and waited, admiring the skill and speed of the players on the ice.

  Remembering her conversation with Darien, she turned her eyes to the goalie. Covered by a mask and pads, Vince Paratti was an impressive sight. As Nancy watched, one of the other players sent the puck sailing straight toward his face, and he deflected it without flinching. Nerves of steel, Nancy thought. At least in the rink.

  The coach signaled the end of practice, and Vince skated lazily toward the side gate, pulling off his mask as he came. He was quite handsome, with dark wavy hair and fine features. Nancy could see why all the girls at school were in love with him.

  She jumped up and went over to him as the team headed toward the locker room. “Hi,” she said, giving him her best smile. “Can I talk to you a minute?”

  Vince stopped and looked at her. His eyes were black and intense. “What about?”

  “Hockey,” Nancy said, improvising. “My name’s Nancy. My, uh, my little brother is thinking of coming here next year, and he wanted me to find out about the team.”

  Vince wasn’t responding to her charm. She could see that. “Ask the coach,” he said, starting to move away.

  “My brother wants to talk to someone on the team,” Nancy said, starting after Vince. “He’s a goalie.”

  “Tell him to call me, then.”

  “Great!” Nancy said enthusiastically. She could see she was losing him. “What’s your name?”

  “Vince Paratti.”

  “You’re kidding!” Nancy exclaimed, trying to prolong the conversation. “I know you! I mean, I know all about you. You’re Ava’s boyfriend. I’m a friend of hers.”

  “Not a good friend, obviously,” he snapped. “I haven’t seen Ava in months.”

  “You know what I mean,” Nancy said, trying to blush. “And, anyway, I thought you saw Ava the other night.”

  “No such luck,” he said. “Look, if your brother wants to talk about hockey, he can give me a call. I’m in a hurry.”

  Nancy watched as Vince skated off. He was not very friendly, to be sure. But a murderer? Bess might find out more tonight, she decided.

  She went back to her car. Checking her lists, she saw that two of the Jims registered with Campus Connections lived off campus. She’d visit them in alphabetical order. Jim Merriman, she said to herself, here I come.

  Nancy followed a street map to a run-down town house several miles from the campus. The front door was painted purple. She rang the bell.

  A redheaded guy answered the door. He wore a white shirt and baggy jeans.

  “Is Jim Merriman here?” Nancy asked politely.

  “Jim!” the guy yelled toward a flight of stairs behind him. “Jim, it’s for you again.”

  Nancy stepped inside gingerly and waited. A pleasant-looking guy with light brown hair and green eyes came running down the stairs. “Yes?” he asked, seeing Nancy.

  “Could I talk to you a minute?” Nancy asked. “I’m from Campus Connections.”

  Jim groaned, gesturing for her to follow him into the living room. “Campus Connections,” he said unhappily. “Man, I wish I’d never signed up.”

  “Why?” Nancy asked, sitting on the sofa.

  “Well, it’s certainly been more trouble than it’s worth,” he said. “And I never even met anyone I liked.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “What kind do you think?” he asked. “You, for one thing.”

  Nancy thought quickly. She had no idea what he was talking about. “Me?” she asked.

  Jim ran his hands through his hair and leaned back. “Let’s do this your way,” he suggested. “What can I do for you?”

  “I wanted to ask you about your dates,” Nancy said. “An informal survey. Where you go, whether you see the people again—”

  “And where was I on Friday night, right?” he asked playfully. “Did I go out with Ava Woods?”

  Nancy struggled to keep her face neutral. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because you’re late,” Jim said with a small smile. “You should have been here an hour ago. But I’ll give you the same answers I gave him. No, I never dated Ava Woods. No, I’ve never met Ava Woods. I was at the dance Friday night, and everybody saw me there. Sorry to disappoint you.”

  Nancy smiled despite herself. “I’m certainly sorry to bother you,” she said, standing. “I didn’t realize the police would talk to you, too.”

  “Wait,” Jim said quickly, the humor fading from his face. “The police? What are you talking about? I thought this was some kind of a joke.”

  Nancy stopped. “It’s not a joke. Who came by here?”

  “Oh, man,” Jim said, shaking his head. “I ditched some friends Friday night, and I thought they set this up. You mean there really is an Ava Woods?”

  Nancy nodded. “We’re trying to locate her,” she said. “Who did you talk to?”

  “Some guy. He said he was a reporter. He had, let’s see, dark eyes and dark hair.”

  “What was his name?”

  “I don’t remember. I don’t think I even asked,” Jim said. “I thought it was a joke.”

  “Well, if you remember or you see him, I’d be interested in knowing,” Nancy said, jotting down the phone number of the dorm for him. “Were you really at
the dance on Friday?”

  “Yes, you can check.”

  Nancy smiled. “Thanks,” she said. As she headed back to her car, she wondered who the mysterious reporter was. An awful lot of people had dark hair and dark eyes, including Vince Paratti and Darien Olivares. Nancy had just left Vince. Darien, on the other hand, seemed to be very much interested in Nancy’s movements. Could he have questioned Jim?

  Nancy went to see the other guy on her list, Jim Schaberg. He lived in an apartment about a mile away.

  The door opened six inches to Nancy’s knock. She could see a chain holding the door close to the frame. One blue eye stared at her. “Yes?”

  “Jim Schaberg?”

  “Yes?”

  “My name is Nancy Drew. May I come in?”

  The door shut, and Nancy heard him undo the chain. When it reopened, Jim Schaberg stood looking at her suspiciously. He was slender, with a shock of bright blond hair hanging in his face.

  “What do you want?”

  “I wanted to ask you a question or two about Campus Connections,” Nancy began.

  Jim’s face darkened. “I don’t know Ava Woods. I never dated Ava Woods. And if you don’t leave immediately, I’m going to call the police.” He slammed the door in her face.

  Nancy stared at it for a moment, stunned. She knocked again. The door stayed closed.

  “Jim?” she called through the door. “Did a reporter come by here?”

  “Go away.”

  “Please,” Nancy insisted, “it’s important.”

  She waited, but there was no reply. “What was his name?” she asked, hoping he was still there.

  After a moment Jim’s voice came back through the door. “It was Fabian, or something like that.”

  It was Darien, she thought. Aloud she called, “Please open the door for one minute.”

  “I’m calling the police,” he responded.

  Nancy backed off. Darien had destroyed any chance she had to get information, but he just might know more than she did, she realized. She’d been too busy with Luke and the dating service to worry about Darien. Was he trying to sabotage her efforts? And where was he getting his information?

  Nancy headed back to the dorm. She’d missed both breakfast and lunch, and she was starving. The girl on duty in the dorm was reading a newspaper when Nancy walked in. She glanced up casually, then looked harder at Nancy, an odd expression on her face.

  “Is something wrong?” Nancy asked.

  “You’re the one in the Banner,” the girl said.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nancy said, shaking her head slightly.

  “It’s you,” the girl insisted. She pointed to a pile of student newspapers near the elevator. “See for yourself.”

  Nancy walked over to the pile and picked one up. Her stomach sank. “One Dead, One Missing!” the front-page headline screamed.

  Nancy’s stomach sank even further when she saw the photograph. It was a picture of her being escorted into the police car.

  Chapter

  Eight

  NANCY QUICKLY SCANNED the newspaper story. “On Friday night a sophomore named Ava Woods was spirited away and has not been seen since,” the article began. “Only days later the prime suspect lies dead. Halloway finds itself shrouded in danger and mystery, and no one feels safe.”

  Nancy grimaced and looked at the byline. “By el Espía” was all it said. Espía was Spanish for “spy,” Nancy knew. Darien the spy, she thought to herself. Darien the reporter. His story about helping the police was a lie, she realized. He must have come to the police station just to talk to her. Had he also snapped her picture? she wondered. And how did he get there so fast?

  So Darien was tracking her to get a story, Nancy thought, climbing the stairs.

  Reaching her room, Nancy scanned the rest of the article. It said the Campus Connections computer had been wiped clean of all information. To her relief, the story didn’t mention that Nancy was a detective. Still, with her name and picture plastered all over the paper, it wasn’t going to be easy for her to be discreet, she thought, feeling a headache creeping up the back of her neck.

  Nancy checked her watch and realized Bess would be back in about an hour, which didn’t give her time to do much of anything. She could get in a nap, though. The events of the night before had exhausted her more than she wanted to admit. After kicking off her shoes, she curled up on her bed and closed her eyes.

  Bess’s knock woke Nancy an hour later. “Coming,” she mumbled as she went to the door.

  “Nancy!” Bess exclaimed. “Did you sleep all day? Maybe we should take you to the hospital.”

  “I was just taking a nap,” Nancy protested, yawning. “Don’t worry, I feel great.”

  Bess smiled at Nancy’s tousled hair. “Well, you don’t look great. What did you do today?”

  “I talked to two of our Jims, but Darien Olivares got to them first,” Nancy said. “Neither one seemed much like a murderer, but then, I haven’t had a chance to check their movements on Friday night.

  “Oh, and I met your date,” Nancy continued. “He’s very handsome, but he’s not what you’d call outgoing.”

  “He’s handsome?” Bess’s eyes gleamed. “That’s all that matters. I’m outgoing enough for both of us.”

  Nancy smiled. “I guess I’d better get dressed for your date,” she said, wandering over to her closet. “One small suitcase doesn’t give me much of a wardrobe to choose from. How was your day?”

  “Boring. Did you know people throughout history have always thought twins were either evil or magic? I learned that in class today. I’ve always wanted to be a twin.”

  “Just think, you could go on twice as many dates,” Nancy teased.

  “Yeah, and I wouldn’t have to clean other people’s houses for you.”

  Nancy whirled. “They gave you Ava’s job?”

  “Yup! I’m an Elderly Assistance assistant,” Bess said proudly.

  “Why didn’t they give it to me?”

  “They said something about suddenly having an opening,” Bess offered.

  “But they told me there was a long waiting list,” Nancy said, shaking her head.

  “Maybe they thought I could do a better job,” Bess suggested with a grin.

  “Well, at least one of us is in,” Nancy said. “Talk to the other assistants. Find out what you can about the clients and Ava. See if anyone mentions a box.”

  “Nancy”—Bess laughed—“I’ve helped you before. I’m no beginner at this.”

  Nancy checked herself. “I know, Bess. Sorry. Did you see the Banner?”

  Bess shook her head, and Nancy handed her the paper. “Oh, you poor thing,” Bess wailed as she looked at the picture.

  Nancy finished dressing while Bess read the article. She chose black slacks and a bright blue angora sweater that highlighted her eyes. Silver earrings and just a hint of blusher completed the picture, she decided, looking in the mirror. “I feel like a real person again,” she declared.

  “We’re only going to get pizza,” Bess said doubtfully, surveying her own jeans and sweater. “Do you think I should have worn something, you know, more glamorous? I already told him what I would be wearing so he would recognize me.”

  “You look great, Bess. You always do.” Nancy guided Bess toward the door. “I’ll go first,” she said. “I don’t want you alone with this guy. When you get there, sit somewhere where I can hear you. And don’t leave with him!”

  Bess gave Nancy ten minutes to get to the pizza parlor before her. It was just past the edge of campus, so Nancy decided to walk. When she arrived she saw no sign of Vince. The place was large and noisy, though. She’d have to be fairly close to Bess to hear the conversation.

  She ordered a soft drink and some spaghetti at the counter, chose a booth, and sat down to wait. When Bess arrived a few minutes later, she ordered a soda, then managed to get a booth nearby, and began waiting.

  Vince walked in about fifteen minutes later
wearing a sweat suit. Not exactly dressed for a date, Nancy thought. He looked around the room uncertainly and finally saw Bess.

  “Bess Marvin?” Nancy heard him ask.

  She could see Bess grin. “You must be Vince,” she said gaily. “Sit down.”

  He shifted his feet restlessly. “Listen, I’m sorry to do this to you, but I can’t go on a date tonight,” he said in a strained voice. “I tried to reach you by phone, but the dorm switchboard said you weren’t in your room.”

  “No, I wasn’t,” Bess said. “Listen, I ordered a drink. Could you stay for just a minute? I mean, so I don’t have to drink it alone?”

  “For a minute,” he agreed, lowering his large frame into the booth across from Bess. His back was to Nancy.

  “Are you okay?” Bess asked him, concerned. “I mean, I don’t know you, but you seem a little upset.”

  “Yeah,” Vince said, “I’m not going to be much fun tonight.”

  Just then a waiter brought Nancy’s spaghetti to her and took Bess’s soda to the other booth.

  “Order a drink, at least,” Bess urged. “It won’t take long, I promise.”

  Nancy saw her smile encouragingly, and Vince studied the menu for a moment.

  “A cola and some garlic bread,” he told the waiter after a moment.

  Bess gave him a brilliant smile. “Do you want to tell me about it?” she asked gently.

  Vince shrugged. “Tell me about you, instead.”

  Nancy concentrated on her food while Bess talked about herself. Her light banter made Nancy smile. Bess was describing her travels with Nancy, leaving out the mysteries they solved. Nancy couldn’t meet Bess’s eyes as she listened to stories about her golden life, ranging from a summer in the Hamptons to a trip to Hawaii.

  By the time Nancy finished her meal, Bess and Vince were laughing over the time Bess tried waterskiing. “You’re really fun,” she heard Vince say. “I’m glad I came, after all.”

  “I’m glad I made you feel better,” Bess said with warmth in her voice. “You looked pretty down when you walked in.”

  “I was.” Vince hesitated. “Don’t take this wrong, okay? I just heard a friend of mine is missing. An old girlfriend, actually.”