Stay Tuned for Danger: Circle of Evil Read online

  Carefully putting the receiver on its side, Bess gestured wildly at Nancy and then the phone. “It’s Rick!” she whispered excitedly. “Hang up for me, okay?” With that, she ran into the bedroom.

  Nancy turned to Mattie. She was pale and her glamorous face was drawn tight. Staring vacantly toward the bedroom, her enormous eyes began to fill with tears.

  Nancy replaced the receiver. “Mattie . . .” she murmured gently, “you still love him, don’t you?”

  Mattie collapsed back into her chair. “Yes, I do. Heaven knows why,” she answered. “Just a habit, I guess. I’ve loved him since I first saw him. We’ve been through a lot together.”

  Nancy put her hand comfortingly on Mattie’s arm. As they listened to Bess giggling happily in the other room, Nancy could feel Mattie’s grief. If a girl were talking with Ned like that, she’d be crushed, too.

  “But then,” Mattie said with a sad smile, “Rick obviously doesn’t feel the same way. Well, I’d better go. I might as well get some sleep. We’re still having brunch tomorrow morning, right?”

  Nancy nodded and walked Mattie to the door, watching as she went down the stairs to her garden apartment. Just as the actress was about to disappear, Nancy remembered what she had been thinking before the phone rang.

  “Mattie! Wait!” she called.

  The actress looked up from the stairwell. “Yes?”

  “How could I get into Dwayne Casper’s office? I’d just like to take a look around.”

  “Well,” said Mattie, her brow wrinkling as she thought, “I suppose you could set up an appointment and say you were an aspiring actress. You could even say we did a show together once.”

  “That might work. I don’t think he ever noticed me before. Whenever I saw him I wasn’t near you or him. But I don’t have any pictures or résumés,” she reminded Mattie.

  “Oh, that’s okay,” Mattie assured her. “Just tell him you’re new in town. Ask him for advice—he loves that. Dwayne’s really good with newcomers, and he’ll be flattered that you came to him for guidance. If you call first thing Monday morning and say I told you to call, I guarantee you’ll get in. But I promise you, Dwayne is harmless. I should know—we’ve been friends for years.”

  “I hope you’re right. But if Dwayne’s got anything to do with this, I’ve got to find out. And, Mattie,” she said softly, “don’t worry about Bess. I know her. She falls in and out of love all the time. She’ll get over Rick as soon as she gets back home, you’ll see.”

  Mattie stared into the distance, trying to hide her feelings. “Maybe,” she murmured softly. Giving Nancy a strange look, she disappeared down the stairwell to her apartment. Nancy could hear her door close behind her.

  That night, tossing and turning in her bed, Nancy couldn’t sleep. Her eyes kept popping open, and she’d lie still and stare at the ceiling while her mind was in high gear and she worked through detail after detail. If only they added up.

  Rick Arlen. She could picture his handsome face with that winning grin of his, and those sparkling azure eyes. Someone wanted him dead, but who? Rick might not win any popularity contests among the people who knew him best, but only one person hated him enough to want him dead.

  It took a very clever person to conceal such powerful hatred so successfully. Nancy tried to imagine who it might be, but there were so many people wishing him ill: Pappas, Casper, Lillian Weiss, and who knows how many others there were just on the set alone. Nancy had had cases this difficult before, and she’d solved them successfully. But this time there were so many possibilities; which one should she investigate first?

  As she drifted to sleep, the shadowy figure of Rick came back into her mind. He was signing autographs for a crowd of fans. A monstrous figure walked toward him, slowly stalking him. Nancy tried to cry out, but her voice was caught in her throat. The figure turned toward her, seeing her for the first time. Eyes of indescribable evil glowed at her, paralyzing her with fear.

  Then the figure drew a long and sharp knife that glinted in the dim light. Nancy tried to scream, but nothing happened. The shadowy figure was getting closer and closer—

  Nancy awoke with a gasp and sat up in bed. The clock-radio by her bed read 5:05 A.M. It was only a dream, thank goodness! she thought, her heart racing. But it was so real.

  Sighing with relief, she turned over, ready to go back to sleep. That’s when she noticed that Bess’s bed was empty.

  In an instant, Nancy was up and out of bed. She hurried into the kitchen—no Bess. She checked the bathroom, the living room, then ran back to the bedroom. Nothing. It couldn’t be, but it was.

  Bess was gone!

  Chapter Ten

  THE SOUND OF a car pulling up in front of the building sent Nancy to the window. Opening it and leaning out, she saw a shiny black limousine gleaming in the light of a streetlamp.

  A second later Bess stepped out onto the sidewalk. She was followed by Rick, who wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “You won’t mind if I don’t walk you to the door, will you?” he asked, just loud enough for Nancy to hear.

  Bess twirled around and leaned closer into his arms. “Of course not,” she said. “I had a great time. It was fun, zipping around the city, just the two of us. Thanks.” They fell into a kiss that seemed as if it would never end.

  Standing at the window, Nancy was alarmed. As flighty as Bess could be, it wasn’t like her to sneak off in the middle of the night. Rick had gone to Bess’s head like bubbly champagne. Nancy could only hope her friend wasn’t in for a nasty “hangover” when it was all over.

  “Nancy!” Bess called out in surprise when she saw her friend waiting for her at the door to the apartment. “What are you doing up?”

  “Excuse me,” Nancy answered in a low voice, careful not to wake her aunt. “But what are you doing up is the question.”

  Bess’s eyes were sparkling. “Oh, Nancy,” she said breathily. “New York is so wonderful! I’ve never really noticed before how incredible it is. I just have to live here someday. Soon.” Turning to her friend, Bess continued, “We went everywhere. We rode around Wall Street and went to the South Street Seaport and then to this incredible disco, Le Grandine. Absolutely everyone there knew Rick. And he likes me. I mean, he really likes me! This could be it! This could be the man I’ve been looking for all my life!”

  “Bess,” Nancy began as gently as she could, “didn’t you think it might be just a little dangerous to be going out with Rick in the middle of the night when someone is trying to kill him?”

  Bess looked annoyed. “Don’t spoil this for me, okay?” She walked past Nancy into the apartment and went to their room.

  Nancy glared at her friend as she disappeared down the hall. Bess could be so irritating sometimes. Earlier that day she had narrowly missed getting herself killed, and here she was laughing in the face of danger. “You think I’m being silly?” Nancy asked, following after her.

  “Of course I do! They arrested the guy, didn’t they? Rick convinced me that the runaway cab was only an accident. Besides, nobody would mess with Rick. You should feel his muscles—they’re like steel!”

  Bess slipped out of her satiny dress and kicked off the slingbacks she had worn to go dancing. Too tired to change into a nightgown, she fell back on the bed in her lacy pink slip.

  “Oh, Nancy,” she murmured excitedly. “He’s so wonderful—and so cute.” Reaching over, she snapped off the light between their beds. “Am I going to have happy dreams tonight!”

  As Nancy lay in her bed, watching the light of dawn brighten the room, she couldn’t help worrying about Bess. This was obviously more than just a schoolgirl crush. And Nancy was more convinced than ever that this fairy-tale romance was not going to have a happy ending.

  The clock by Nancy’s bed read 9:04 A.M. Bess was still asleep, a contented smile on her lips. Nancy figured she’d be out for a few more hours.

  The apartment was quiet. Looking out the window, Nancy saw only one person on the street. The whole city seem
ed to still be asleep. At eleven, she’d be going out to brunch with her aunt and Mattie, but that was still two hours away.

  After pulling on her favorite jeans and slipping her new yellow sweater over her head, Nancy decided that a walk might be just what she needed to help her think and unwind.

  Stepping out onto the street, Nancy took a deep breath of the fresh spring air. The birds were singing, and the golden-green leaves on the trees swayed in the morning breeze. On this quiet Sunday morning, with church bells ringing in the distance, New York seemed like a small nineteenth-century town. Nancy loved it. As she walked, she imagined she was part of that older, simpler time.

  After a while she came to a tiny park tucked between two buildings. The morning sun was just beginning to warm the benches, and a few people were out with their children, pushing them on swings and watching as they ran and played. Nancy couldn’t help herself; she sat down on a bench and let the sun warm her face, relaxing for the first time in days.

  A minute later the touch of a hand on her shoulder made Nancy jump. Glancing around, she found herself looking into the dark eyes of Lillian Weiss.

  “Well, if it isn’t our fair rescuer,” Lillian smirked. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  Nancy was puzzled. New York was a huge city. The odds of running into someone that she knew were small, to say the least.

  “Mind if I sit down?” Lillian asked casually. “I’m dead tired. Haven’t slept all night.”

  Nancy moved over to make room for her. She felt uncomfortable in the company of such an unpleasant person, but she didn’t want to be impolite.

  “Are you still trying to save Rick Arlen’s life?” Lillian asked suddenly, looking right into Nancy’s eyes.

  She certainly is blunt, Nancy thought. Well, I might as well be blunt right back. Whoever was trying to kill Rick already knew that she was on the case. “Still trying,” she admitted.

  “You really shouldn’t bother,” Lillian said. She looked down at her feet, so Nancy couldn’t read her expression.

  “I don’t understand,” said Nancy, prompting her.

  Lillian looked at her curiously, as if she were sizing Nancy up. After what seemed an eternity, she fixed her eyes on Nancy. “Rick is going to die, and there’s nothing you can do about it. And I’ll tell you something else—whatever happens to him, he has coming. He got where he is by stepping on a lot of people, but he made one mistake. Along the way he stepped on the wrong person, and he’s going to pay for it.”

  Nancy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this a confession? A warning? She wasn’t sure how to take Lillian’s statement.

  As suddenly as she had appeared, Lillian stood up to leave. “Well,” she said, fingering the hem of her purple lamb’s-wool sweater, “nice running into you.” She gazed at Nancy with a tight smile. “I’ll say one thing for you—you’ve got guts.”

  Nancy watched as the strange young woman walked, away. She was sure now that Lillian had deliberately arranged to run into her. But why? Nancy was more in the dark than ever.

  “The restaurant we’re going to isn’t far away, Nancy. We’ll just ring for Mattie on our way out.” Eloise was standing in front of the hall mirror, fussing with a teal blue silk scarf. “Is Bess ready yet?”

  “Bess!” Nancy called as she knocked on the door of the room where her friend lay sleeping. “Don’t you want to have brunch with us?”

  The answer was muffled, so Nancy opened the door. “Leave the address,” was all Bess could manage. “I’ll meet you there.” With that, she flopped over and buried her face in the pillow.

  Nancy closed the door. Eloise waited by the main door of the apartment while Nancy wrote down the address and left it on the telephone table. “Ah, youth,” Eloise said, smiling wistfully. “I used to be able to sleep like that on weekend mornings. Now I’m always up at the crack of dawn!”

  With a wink, Eloise tugged on Nancy’s arm. “Shall we? If I wait for my morning coffee much longer, I won’t be worth knowing.”

  As they sat in the restaurant eating eggs Benedict, Nancy couldn’t stop thinking of her conversation with Lillian Weiss. The look in her eyes had been so intense. Could it be that Lillian was the one who was trying to kill Rick? Or maybe she was just hiding the identity of the person who really was.

  Nancy decided not to mention running into her. Still, she had to know what Lillian’s personal situation regarding Rick was. “Mattie,” she began offhandedly, “tell me more about Lillian Weiss. I know you said lots of people hate Rick, but she seems to hate him more than most.”

  Mattie looked up, amazed. “You don’t think she’s behind it all, do you?”

  “I don’t really know,” Nancy replied. “But I’d like to know more about her.”

  “Lillian’s the one Rick broke up with me for,” Mattie blurted out. She looked down at her plate unhappily. “I couldn’t believe it when he fold me. I mean, I’d stuck by him through all the bad times. When he finally made it, he just dropped me. It was so—” she paused for a moment, unable to go on “—so humiliating.” She took out her handkerchief and blew her nose. Suddenly Mattie laughed. “But that’s Rick for you. They were only together for two months. He stuck with her till she introduced him to the film people she knew, then he dumped her. I really can’t blame Lillian for hating him. I just wish she’d get on with her life. She’s Just—I don’t know—the kind of person who nurses a grudge. The kind that never lets go of anything, know what I mean?”

  “Yes,” said Nancy thoughtfully. “I think I do.”

  “Oh, do I dare try one of these?” Eloise was asking with a smile as the waiter held up a plate of miniature pastries.

  “Oh, go ahead, Eloise,” Mattie said with a grin, trying to put all thoughts of Rick and Lillian behind her.

  Eloise looked at the pastries and thought for a moment. “Why not?” she quipped, lifting a small one onto her plate.

  Just then, the manager came up to the table. “Excuse me, ladies. Is there a Nancy Drew at this table?”

  “Why, yes,” Eloise answered, looking at her niece.

  “Ms. Drew, you have a phone call,” the manager said. “You can pick it up at the main desk by the coatrack.”

  “It must be Bess,” Eloise guessed. “She probably woke up and realized she’d never be able to make it here after all.”

  Nancy thanked the manager and made her way to the phone.

  “Hi, Bess,” she said into the receiver.

  But it wasn’t Bess. A raspy electronic voice warned her, “Stay away from Rick Arlen, Nancy Drew! And tell your little friend she’d better stay away, too!” With that, the phone line went dead in Nancy’s trembling hand.

  Chapter Eleven

  “BY APPOINTMENT ONLY!” “Put Your Picture And Résumé Under The Door!” “Do Not Ring Buzzer Without An Appointment!”

  Nancy read the signs and gulped. Although she’d called earlier and left a message on Dwayne’s answering machine, Nancy felt she’d have a better chance of seeing him if she went in person. But getting inside Dwayne Casper’s office wasn’t exactly going to be easy.

  With a sigh and a deep breath, she pressed the buzzer. For a moment it was so quiet that she wondered whether anybody was in the office at all. Then, crisp footsteps sounded on the other side of the door.

  “Do you have an appointment?” Dwayne’s voice was all business.

  “Well, no,” Nancy replied. “Not exactly.”

  “In that case, I suggest you learn to read!”

  “But, Mr. Casper!” Nancy said in her most polite voice. “I left a message on your machine. Mattie Jensen said you would talk to me. My name is Diane Elliot. . . .”

  Nancy heard a click as he unlocked the door. It swung open, and a smiling Dwayne Casper greeted her. “Well, why didn’t you just say you’re a friend of Mattie’s?” he asked. “Come in! You must understand that if I opened the door to every struggling actor in this town, I’d never be able to get any work done.”

  “Oh, than
k you, Mr. Casper,” Nancy said, sounding grateful. In the front reception area was a large empty desk. No receptionist, Nancy noted.

  “Right this way,” Dwayne said with a sugary smile. He led her into his plush office. “How do you know Mattie?”

  “Oh, well, I was an extra on ‘Danner’s Dream,’ and she was kind enough to talk to me. She did say she’d call you about me. But I guess she got busy.” That much was true Nancy thought.

  Dwayne settled into his chair and looked at her appraisingly. “So you know Luther Parks too?”

  “Well, no. Not personally, that is.”

  “I see. Has Mattie ever seen your work? Apart from extra work, that is.”

  Here we go, Nancy thought. Time to start lying—and lying big. “Oh, yes,” she assured him. “We did a production of The Sound of Music together in the Midwest. Mattie played the oldest daughter, and I played one of the younger children.”

  An amused look passed over Dwayne’s face. “That must have been at least eight years ago. Mattie wasn’t more than a kid herself, back then. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see that production.”

  I know, Nancy thought. That’s what Mattie told me.

  Dwayne leaned back in his swivel chair. He seemed warm now, even friendly. “So, let me guess, you’ve come to the big city because you want to be a real actress.”

  Delighted that the agent had bought, her story, Nancy threw herself into her real-life acting role. “Yes, sir,” she answered breathlessly.

  “Well, well, well— What shall we do about that?” Dwayne pursed his lips, thinking. Then he stood up, walked to the door, and locked it. “So we won’t be disturbed,” he explained.

  A sudden chill made its way down Nancy’s spine. If the electronic voice on the phone yesterday had been Dwayne’s, she was now trapped.

  “What did you say your name was?” Dwayne had a pen poised over a small pink index card.

  “Diane Elliot,” Nancy said, looking the agent squarely in the eye. “With two Ls and one T.”