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  Nancy’s ears perked up. Bess didn’t miss a beat. “How terrible! What happened?”

  “I don’t really know,” Vince admitted. “I guess she disappeared on Friday, and she hasn’t been seen since.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Bess murmured. “No wonder you didn’t want to come out.”

  “It’s okay. It was over between us a long time ago. It just feels funny and I . . .” Vince paused.

  Nancy saw Bess reach over and touch his hand.

  “I want to help, but there’s nothing I can do,” Vince said. His voice was filled with frustration and pain. “We haven’t seen each other in months. I thought of going to the police, but I don’t have anything to tell them.”

  Bess smiled sympathetically. “I know how you feel,” she said. “I hope she’s okay.”

  Vince really did seem unhappy, Nancy thought. Even knowing how quickly information flew around Halloway, she doubted he knew who Bess was. If he did, he would have offered an alibi for Friday night. No, he wasn’t faking his concern.

  Vince began telling Bess about the hockey team. Nancy decided Bess would be safe for a moment and went to the rest room, avoiding her friend’s eyes as she walked past their booth. When she returned, Bess and Vince were leaning toward each other, deep in conversation.

  A group of six guys had come in while Nancy was gone. They crowded around a small table, chairs cramming the aisle, blocking Nancy’s way.

  “Excuse me,” Nancy said pleasantly, trying to squeeze past a burly guy in a down jacket. He didn’t even look up.

  “Excuse me,” Nancy repeated, louder.

  Bess and Vince glanced in her direction. The guy in front of her raised his head slowly.

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  “I just need to squeeze by here—” Nancy began. She heard a squeal from Bess and looked over at her friend.

  Vince had leapt to his feet, his face dark and furious. In shock, Nancy saw his eyes were trained on her.

  In one explosive motion, Vince charged Nancy.

  “Murderer!” he growled.

  Nancy scrambled back toward the rest room. Vince followed her, pushing easily past the burly guy. He reached Nancy and grabbed her arm. When she tried to twist away, he shoved her against the wall.

  Bess screamed as Nancy’s head and shoulders hit the wall. Nancy stared at Vince.

  He stood over her, one fist poised to strike. “Murderer,” he snarled again. His black eyes bored into hers. “You killed her, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”

  Chapter

  Nine

  BESS THREW HERSELF between Vince and Nancy. “Stop!” she demanded frantically. “Don’t hurt her. She didn’t do anything to Ava!”

  Confusion danced across Vince’s face as he looked angrily from Nancy to Bess. “What’s going on here? Bess, how do you know this girl? And how do you know Ava’s name?”

  Before Bess could reply, the manager of the restaurant came over. “I’m calling the police,” he warned Vince. “Leave this young lady alone.”

  Nancy stepped away from Vince. “We don’t need the police,” she told the manager. “I’m not hurt. It was just a misunderstanding.”

  “Go ahead and call the police,” Vince said darkly. “This girl is a killer.”

  “She is not a killer,” Bess said hotly, grabbing Vince’s arm. “And you’re lucky she’s not pressing charges. Now let’s go outside and sort this out.”

  To Nancy’s surprise, Vince followed Bess out the door. Nancy lagged behind, stopping to pay for their meals along the way.

  Bess and Vince were seated on a bench in front of the restaurant, talking quietly, when Nancy got outside. “We’re still following up leads,” Bess was saying, “but I’m sure we’ll find her soon.” Vince appeared to have calmed down.

  When Nancy reached them, Bess explained. “He saw your picture in the Banner, Nancy.”

  Nancy sat down beside Bess. “Maybe you can help us find Ava,” she said to Vince. “I know you haven’t seen much of her lately, but any information about her personality may help me.”

  “If I can help, tell me,” he said.

  “Well, I may call you if I have any questions,” Nancy said. “Is that okay?”

  Vince nodded, and Nancy stood up to leave.

  He turned to Bess. “So our date was a setup? You were just faking when you said all those nice things?” he asked, ignoring Nancy. “You were investigating me?”

  Bess smiled. “No, none of it was fake,” she said gently. “I think you’re very sweet.”

  Nancy slipped away diplomatically and wandered over to her car. Bess had the car keys, she remembered, so she couldn’t even play the radio while she waited.

  Bess joined her moments later. “Young love,” she sighed, hopping into the car.

  “Who’s in love?” Nancy asked, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

  “For a detective, sometimes you aren’t very observant.” Bess sighed. “Vince is in love with Ava. I mean, it’s obvious. I told him I couldn’t stand in their way. By the way, are you okay?”

  Nancy nodded. “After a thump on the head, being thrown against a wall is nothing.”

  “Good,” Bess said mischievously. “Can we go get something to eat? All I had was one piece of garlic bread.”

  Nancy stopped at a deli, and Bess grabbed a sandwich to go. When they got back to the dorm, there was one more surprise in store for Nancy.

  Betsy poked her head into the hall when she heard Nancy’s key in her door. “Ava got another call,” she said. “It’s on the answering machine if you want to hear it.”

  “Another call about the box?” Nancy asked, joining Betsy inside the room.

  “No.” Betsy shook her head. “Listen.”

  As the tape spun, Nancy heard a beep and then a voice.

  “It’s me,” the voice began. “I checked the place, and I’m assuming you arranged the switch. Otherwise, we’re in trouble. Please call me.”

  Nancy looked at Betsy. The other girl was obviously just as puzzled as she was. “It sounds like the same woman who called about the box,” Nancy said. “What do you think?”

  Betsy shrugged. “I can’t be sure,” she said. “It seems like a long time ago.”

  “She talked about a switch,” Nancy said thoughtfully. “Did Ava switch anything lately?”

  “You got me,” Betsy said. “This message is even more cryptic than the earlier one.”

  “It almost sounds as if Ava’s mixed up in some secret scheme,” Nancy said thoughtfully.

  “Ava would never do anything wrong,” Betsy declared. “She’s a little wild, but she’s got a good heart. She’s not a criminal.”

  “No,” Nancy said, “but she does disappear every once in a while, doesn’t she? Why didn’t you tell me she mentioned going to Mardi Gras?”

  Betsy looked down. “I figured if her folks didn’t tell you, it wasn’t my place to. Besides, I just assumed she’d done something like that again, so I wasn’t all that worried.”

  “Well, I’m worried now,” Nancy told her. “So please let me know if anything occurs to you.” She headed for the door.

  The mention of the switch nagged at the edges of Nancy’s sleep. Was Ava hiding something? she wondered. If so, did that make her a victim or had she committed a crime?

  The next morning Bess and Nancy split up again. Bess’s assignment was to set up a date with anyone named Jim who was registered with Campus Connections, regardless of where he lived. She would also try to check the alibis of Jim Merriman and Jim Schaberg. Nancy headed over to the Banner offices to have a talk with Darien.

  When she asked for him a girl directed her to an office marked Editor-in-Chief. The door was closed. “He’s busy,” the girl told Nancy, “but not with a story. It’s just his girlfriend. Knock if you get tired of waiting.”

  Darien’s office was set slightly apart from the desks in the rest of the room. No one paid any attention to Nancy. Raised voices drifted through the door in waves,
and when Nancy moved closer she could make out some of the words.

  “You promised you wouldn’t do it,” a girl’s voice said.

  A burst of typing from one of the desks drowned out much of Darien’s response. Nancy caught the words “didn’t do it to hurt you.”

  It sounded like a very personal conversation. Nancy was torn between giving them privacy and finding out what was going on. Finally she knocked lightly on the door.

  “Come in,” Darien called irritably.

  Nancy opened the door and saw Darien standing with his arms loosely around a girl who stood with her back to Nancy. “I’m sorry,” Nancy said immediately. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

  Darien gave her a stricken look. “Ah, Nancy,” he said helplessly.

  At his words, the girl in Darien’s arms turned her tearstained face toward Nancy. It was Betsy Campbell! Her jaw fell, and she stepped away from Darien.

  The three of them looked at one another in silence for a moment. Slowly Nancy closed the door behind her. “I’d like to talk to both of you,” she said in a determined voice.

  “Thanks for tipping me off about Vince Paratti,” she continued, looking at Darien. “He came at me last night, and he could have hurt me. He thought I killed Ava.”

  “I told you he had a temper,” Darien said, shrugging. “I thought he was a suspect.”

  “Darien,” Betsy said angrily. “It’s bad enough that you wrote about this. I can’t believe you’ve been giving Nancy false clues, too.”

  “I want to get to the bottom of this,” Nancy said quietly. “Betsy, you said you hadn’t told anyone about Ava being missing.”

  “I lied,” Betsy said. “I told Darien, but I swore him to secrecy once you came.”

  “News is news,” Darien protested. “You can’t keep it quiet. It’s un-American.”

  “So you told him about Campus Connections and the name of Ava’s date,” Nancy prodded. “You told him I was coming to Halloway, and about the car—”

  “What about the car?” Darien cut in.

  Betsy shook her head. “When you came, Nancy, I stopped telling him anything. And I made him promise to stay out of it. At first we both figured Ava would come back. Then, when it began to seem serious, Darien decided to investigate. He thought it could be his big break.”

  “His big break?” Nancy repeated.

  “Darien was a summer intern at a paper, the Boston Record, and he wants a job there,” Betsy said bitterly. “He thinks if he breaks this story, they’ll hire him. That’s why he’s been following you around.”

  “And that’s why you signed up for Campus Connections, then,” Nancy said. “Because you thought you could set up a meeting with me.”

  “Betsy,” Darien said, turning her around to face him. “What about the car?”

  “Ava’s car is missing, that’s all,” Nancy said.

  “What do you mean, missing? I just saw it.”

  Nancy looked at him sharply. “This is no time for more false leads, Darien.”

  “It’s not a false lead,” Darien insisted, excitement creeping into his voice. “I saw Ava’s car this morning.”

  Nancy stood up. “Show me,” she said.

  He looked at Nancy and Betsy. “Come on. It was parked in front of the economics building, as it always is.”

  The three young people dashed out the door and down to the economics building.

  “That’s it,” Betsy said as they approached the parking lot. “I swear it wasn’t here before.”

  Nancy tried the door. “Locked,” she said tensely. Rummaging in her purse, she pulled her lockpick out and opened the door in seconds. Gingerly she searched the car but found nothing unusual. The registration card and insurance form she found in the glove compartment confirmed that it was indeed Ava’s car.

  “Well,” Nancy said, withdrawing her head to look at Darien and Betsy, “someone returned the car.”

  “I don’t understand,” Betsy said.

  “Ava took the car on Friday night,” Nancy said. “She could have brought it back herself in the last day or so and then disappeared again. But it’s not likely. My guess is that whoever she met that night brought the car back to throw us off the track. Either way, this tells us she’s definitely not in New Orleans having a good time right now.”

  “Please let her be okay,” Betsy pleaded in a small voice.

  Nancy gave her a sympathetic look. “We’ll have to report this to the police. It’ll be public knowledge then, Darien, so you can publish it if you have to. I wish you wouldn’t, though. If the person who is responsible for all this knows we’re getting close, he or she may just carry out the threat on my life.”

  “Someone threatened your life?” Darien asked, his eyes round.

  Nancy could see the shock in his face. “Let’s get some lunch and talk,” she suggested. “I need to sort this out.”

  She didn’t learn much over lunch. Darien had followed her to Luke’s office two days before, but when he saw Luke going in, he waited out front. That was how he’d gotten the picture of her coming out of the building with the police. Nancy asked Darien if he’d seen anyone suspicious following her or Luke into the building or leaving before the police came.

  “Well, there were people coming and going, but none of them looked questionable. Of course, if I’d known there was going to be a murder, I would have taken photos of everyone.”

  “What about Jim Merriman and Jim Schaberg?” Nancy asked.

  “Oh, them,” Darien said. “Neither of them has anything to do with this. They both have solid alibis.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been screwing up your investigation, Nancy,” he added sincerely. “I won’t do a thing from now on. If you’re as good as everyone claims you are, maybe you’ll unravel the case and give me an interview.”

  When she finished eating, Nancy excused herself to report the discovery of Ava’s car to the police. Then she headed up to Bess’s room.

  “Come in,” Bess called. Nancy opened the door and saw Bess was not alone. She was sipping hot chocolate with a chunky girl whom Nancy had never seen before.

  “This is Sophie,” Bess said. “She works at Elderly Assistance, and she’s giving me a quick orientation for the job today. The teakettle is hers,” she added, pointing to an electric pot plugged into the corner. “We’re having cocoa. Want some?”

  “I’d love some if I’m not intruding,” Nancy said, smiling at Sophie. “I’m Chris.”

  Getting up to fill the pot with more water, Bess hid her smile when she heard Nancy’s alias.

  “You work for Elderly Assistance?” Nancy asked, watching Bess disappear. “It must feel so good to help people like that.”

  “Uh, sure,” Sophie said.

  “I know Bess was saying that, anyway,” Nancy continued. “She’s really looking forward to it. And Ava Woods—do you know Ava?”

  “Yes. She dropped out, didn’t she?”

  Nancy shrugged, thinking of a way to get Sophie to talk more. “I thought she had a fight with—what’s the name of the guy who runs that program?”

  “Peter?” Sophie’s plain face lit up. “Not Peter. He wouldn’t fight with anyone.”

  “You’re talking about Peter Hoffs?” Bess asked, sailing back into the room. “He’s really cute. Of course, he would never look at me,” she said hastily, glancing at Sophie.

  “That’s okay,” Sophie said, tossing her short brown hair. “Everyone is in love with him.”

  “Really? What’s he like?” Nancy asked.

  Sophie smiled, her pale blue eyes taking on some life. “He’s just so nice,” she said. “So unselfish. He’s very intelligent but also outdoorsy. He likes to sail, but he doesn’t hunt because he doesn’t want to kill animals, you know.”

  “Gosh, it sounds as if you and Peter are great friends,” Nancy said encouragingly.

  “Oh, we are,” Sophie assured her. “We talk all the time.”

  “Have you been sailing with him? Have you been to hi
s house?” Nancy continued.

  “No, he’s a private person,” Sophie answered. “He doesn’t invite people to his home. He sculpts, too. He made the most beautiful statue once,” Sophie continued. “It was a nymph or a water spirit or something. Mrs. Merrick owned a pair of them, but she gave one to her daughter. Peter made a cast of the one she had left and created a new one for her.”

  “Wow,” Bess said.

  The girls chatted further, but Sophie didn’t say anything more about the program. When they had drained the last of their cocoa, she picked up her electric teakettle and left.

  “Chris!” Bess hooted, when Sophie was gone. “I almost called you Nancy about ten times.”

  “I didn’t want Peter Hoffs to connect you with me,” Nancy said mildly. “Sophie seems to be close to Peter.”

  “I think Sophie has an overactive imagination when it comes to Peter. Of course, if he were a little younger, I’d put him on my dating list.”

  “And how is your dating list?”

  “I set up one date,” Bess said, rolling her eyes. “This guy is a real big spender. We’re going to meet for a soda in the school cafeteria.”

  “What time? I’ll go with you.”

  “Nancy, we’re going to the school cafeteria in broad daylight! I’ll be okay. Besides, the guy sounds like a nerd. He studies archaeology or some science.”

  “Nancy Drew,” a voice broke in. With a start, Nancy realized she was being paged over the dorm’s loudspeaker. “Nancy Drew, if you’re in the building, please return to your room. Nancy Drew, return to your room.”

  Bess stared at Nancy, her blue eyes open wide. “Sounds bad. Should I come?”

  Nancy nodded, and the two girls dashed up the stairs. Several girls were clustered in the hall near her door. But as she and Bess approached, Nancy saw that the girls weren’t by her room—they were huddled outside Betsy’s door. Nancy pushed through the crowd and stopped short. The room had been ransacked!

  Chapter

  Ten

  BETSY WAS HUDDLED on her bed with Maura Parker, who had one arm around the frightened girl. Nancy went over to ask what had happened.