A Talent for Murder Read online

  “It would be pretty wild if it wasn’t related somehow,” Nancy said.

  Ned’s jaw was clenched. “I want to find out who rigged this. Three of us almost died!”

  “For what it’s worth,” Nancy said, “I don’t think the culprit meant to kill anyone, just force the balloon to land prematurely and stop the shooting. No one could count on the wind almost blowing you into the rocks.”

  Ned still looked grim. “Even if the person didn’t mean it, we could have been killed.”

  “I have questions to ask while everyone is still here,” Nancy said. Looking around, she saw the balloon pilot and his crew loading gear into a truck. She went over with Ned and Evan.

  “Did you notice any strangers today who didn’t have legitimate business here?” Nancy asked. “Anyone hanging around your stuff?”

  “I used my regular people,” the pilot replied. “But the commercial guys are new to me. Some of them watched us, but I didn’t see anything unusual.”

  Nancy thanked him and headed over to Keith. She asked him the same questions.

  “There are always rubberneckers,” said the director, thinking back. “Mostly they’re locals. Shooting commercials fascinates people and they love to gawk. I didn’t know the balloon crew. I can’t say I saw anything odd. But I was busy, so I wasn’t observant.” He looked toward his crew. “Tammy! Got a minute?”

  The young woman with the clipboard came up.

  “Did you see anyone suspicious today?” he asked. “Snooping around the balloon?”

  “Just a few bystanders, as usual,” she said. “There are always new faces. But guess what? I was putting papers in the van and found this on the driver’s seat. Is it supposed to be a joke?”

  She gave Keith a sheet of notepaper. He read it and frowned, adding, “It’s a lousy joke, if you ask me.”

  He handed the paper to Evan and walked angrily away. Evan opened it, holding it for Nancy and Ned to read as he did.

  The note had been handprinted in block lettering: Avoid expensive delays and get the best results. Use Top Flight actors.

  Nancy had seen the gray parchment paper before. She could almost guess what would be printed at the top before she saw it: From the desk of Marty Prince.

  Chapter

  Fourteen

  MARTY PRINCE!” Ned exclaimed. “I should’ve known.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions,” Nancy cautioned him. “The note is unsigned, and just because it’s on his letterhead—”

  “ ‘Hot-air balloon rides can be very exciting!’ ” Ned quoted. “That’s what he told us.”

  “You’ve lost me,” Evan confessed.

  “Remember, Nan?” Ned’s voice had an undercurrent of anger. “It was the last thing Marty said to us yesterday. Oh, it was exciting, all right! When we get back to San Francisco, I’ll show him how exciting it was.”

  “Marty said that to you yesterday?” Evan asked. “But that means—”

  “It means he knew Ned was doing a commercial with a balloon sequence,” Nancy said. “We don’t know that it means anything else, for sure.”

  “You don’t understand,” Evan protested. “My question is, how did he find out about Ned getting the job so quickly? He left a note for you at the house early yesterday morning, and you had only signed the contract the previous day.”

  “I asked him that, as a matter of fact,” Ned replied. “He said something about news traveling fast in the small world of talent agencies.”

  “Maybe,” Evan allowed, “but not that fast.”

  Nancy nodded. “I see what you mean. It sounds as if someone connected with JZA has been slipping information to Marty secretly.”

  “Doesn’t the fact that Top Flight’s name keeps coming up in situations like this tell you something?” Ned asked.

  “Yes,” Nancy replied, “but not what you think it does. The first time I heard of Top Flight Artists was when we found Ursula’s body. There was a Top Flight card in her purse, where no one could possibly miss it. It struck me as odd. I mean, if Marty had killed Ursula, or hired someone to do it, he’d be sure to remove anything that connected him to her, right?

  “There are also the notes in Ursula’s apartment,” Nancy added. “Marty’s notes were tucked in with the anonymous threats.”

  “Which signifies what?” Evan asked.

  “Marty’s name keeps popping up in all the wrong places,” Nancy explained. “Evan, you say Marty’s clever. Does a clever man leave such obvious clues to implicate himself in serious crimes?”

  “I suppose not,” Evan admitted. “Is someone trying to set him up for things he didn’t do?”

  “That’s my guess,” Nancy answered, hooking an arm through Ned’s. “This doesn’t mean Marty’s completely innocent, only that he may not be quite as bad as he’s been made to look.”

  “Who’s doing it?” Ned asked.

  Nancy thought back to what she had heard at JZA over the last few days. “I’m not sure yet. When can we head back to San Francisco?”

  “Let’s go now,” Evan offered.

  As they walked back to the car, Nancy turned to Ned. “You can have the backseat all to yourself. Maybe you can get a little sleep.”

  “Sleep?” Ned snorted. “My nerves are still standing on end. I won’t be able to sleep for a month.”

  • • •

  Evan’s car topped a hill and San Francisco Bay suddenly appeared, along with the Golden Gate Bridge. Ned was in the backseat and Nancy was next to Evan. She had been quiet, thinking about the case. Obviously, someone was trying to implicate Marty Prince. Also, someone at Jane Zachary Associates had been passing Marty information to use against JZA. It appeared that someone was trying to help Marty while someone else was framing him. The two things seemed to work at cross-purposes. Something didn’t add up.

  Ned leaned forward and put a hand on Nancy’s shoulder. “What about Sean?” he asked. “Did he attack you last night just to scare you off the case? Or was he trying to get rid of you before you nail him for murder?”

  She put her hand over his. “If Sean’s mallet turns out to be the murder weapon, the odds of him being guilty go down,” Nancy said. “If he did use the mallet to kill Ursula, why would he drop it in her apartment?” She shook her head. “I think it was planted there to implicate him.”

  “Just as Marty’s notes were planted to implicate him,” Ned said.

  “Right,” Nancy said. “And the bottom line is that I have to find out who at JZA is helping Marty Prince. That’s my job, remember? I’d also like to know how Sean knew where to find me.”

  “Can I drop you anywhere before I go back to the agency?” Evan asked.

  “We’ll go with you to JZA,” Nancy said.

  They drove past the Presidio army base and Golden Gate Park. By the time they arrived at the agency, it was afternoon.

  When they stepped into JZA’s main office, Tina Grayce emerged from a work station with an armload of papers. She seemed surprised to see them. “Weren’t you up in Napa doing that balloon thing today?” she asked.

  “We had a little accident,” Ned said.

  “ ‘Little accident’ nothing!” Evan insisted. “Ned’s lucky to be alive!”

  Tina’s delicate features hardened in shock. “That . . . that’s awful,” she said. “How did—”

  “We were almost blown into some rocks by a gale,” Ned explained. “We couldn’t get out of the wind because— Whoops, take it easy.”

  Tina’s papers cascaded to the floor as she gaped at Ned. “You were nearly killed?” she asked.

  “It’s okay,” Ned assured her. “Everyone is alive and well. Can I help you with that stuff?”

  Tina knelt down to gather up the mess. “No, I’ll do it.” Nancy watched her, noting that she seemed quite upset. “Nearly killed,” she murmured, just loud enough for Nancy to hear. “What’s wrong with me?”

  “Let’s fill Jane in,” Nancy suggested.

  “Good idea,” Evan replied.


  “She’s in her office,” Tina said, staring at the floor.

  As Nancy, Ned, and Evan filed through her office door, Jane did a double take and put down the photo proof sheets and magnifying glass she had been working with.

  “Back already?” she said. “I didn’t expect to see Ned for the rest of the day.”

  Nancy told Jane about the balloon’s near-disaster. As Jane listened, Nancy could see that she was shocked and concerned. But her gray eyes lit with anger when she heard about the note on Marty Prince’s letterhead.

  “What did I tell you?” the agent snapped. “Marty is nothing but a thug.”

  Nancy sat down across from Jane, as did Ned and Evan. “How long has Tina worked here?”

  “Tina?” Jane looked puzzled, but answered, “About four months.”

  “Besides fixing machines, what kind of work does she do for you?” Nancy asked.

  “Various odd jobs,” Jane replied. Nancy saw that Ned and Evan were as curious as Jane about the point of her questions. “She does filing, answers the phones. Why?”

  Nancy nodded. Another piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. “So she has access to all the addresses and phone numbers of your clients, as well as information on who’s getting work.”

  Realization dawned on Ned. “Nan, do you think Tina is Marty’s source of information?”

  “It fits,” Nancy said. “Remember the morning you came in to sign the contract? Jane told Tina that you had just signed, and that you’d landed the first commercial you tried out for. Tina was among the first people to know.”

  “That’s right,” Evan said, snapping his fingers. “And the next morning, Marty Prince sends Ned a note.”

  “Do you have a file for Ned, with our local contact information?” Nancy asked.

  “Yes. When Ned signed I started a file on him, with Evan’s address and phone number in it. It was in the client files that morning.” Jane looked incredulous. “But I don’t understand. Why would Tina turn on me? I’ve been her friend, helped her, given her work . . .”

  “Maybe she blames you for her lack of success,” Ned suggested.

  “I was always up-front with her,” Jane protested. “I told her I’d do what I could for her, but that my expectations weren’t high.”

  “But she still wants a big-time acting and modeling career,” Nancy said. “I don’t think she did this on her own. I bet she was working with someone who promised her what you wouldn’t, who was willing to use her, even if she got hurt in the process.”

  Ned nodded. “I knew Marty was a sleaze.”

  “I need to call Lieutenant Antonio,” Nancy said.

  “Be my guest,” Jane said with a smug smile. “Tell him to arrest Marty Prince.”

  “It’s not that simple,” Nancy said as she dialed. “Marty may be guilty of nothing but lying, which isn’t a crime in itself. I want to exchange news with the lieutenant. . . . Yes, this is Nancy Drew for Lieutenant Antonio.”

  When Antonio came on the line, Nancy told him about her encounter with Sean McKearn the night before and the sabotaging of the balloon.

  “Anything new on your end?” she asked.

  “The blood on that mallet is definitely Ursula Biemann’s,” Lieutenant Antonio said. “But the mallet’s handle was wiped clean. There are no prints at all.”

  “So you still don’t have Ursula’s killer?”

  “Not yet,” he said. “But I have a hunch we’re getting close. You watch out now.”

  Nancy’s face was thoughtful as she hung up. “They found Ursula’s blood on Sean McKearn’s mallet,” she told the others, “but there’s no way to know who used it.”

  “My vote still goes to Sean himself,” Ned said. “From what you say about him, I think he’s just the kind of loose cannon that would bludgeon his girlfriend and not think clearly enough to hide the incriminating evidence.”

  Jane stood up abruptly and called her assistant in. “I have to ask Tina,” she said. “I have to know if she’s been helping Marty try to ruin JZA, and why.” When Holly appeared, Jane asked, “Would you tell Tina to come in here.”

  “She’s gone, Jane,” Holly said.

  “Gone?” Jane repeated. “But she said she’d be here for the rest of the day.”

  “When did Tina leave?” Nancy asked.

  “She rushed out just after you three returned to the office,” Holly said. “She seemed upset.”

  “Where was she going?” Jane asked.

  Holly shrugged. “She didn’t say.” Then she added, “She did mumble something odd, though. Something about setting things right while she still has time.”

  “Oh, no,” Nancy said, sinking back into her chair.

  Ned turned to her in alarm. “Nan, are you okay? You look white as a sheet!”

  She grabbed Ned’s hand in her own. “We have to find Tina, right away!”

  “Why?” Evan demanded. “What’s the hurry?”

  Nancy tightened her grip on Ned’s hand as she answered, “Because she killed Ursula. And we have to act fast—or she’s likely to kill someone else!”

  Chapter

  Fifteen

  TINA IS A MURDERER?” Jane stared at Nancy in disbelief. “That poor girl? Nancy, think again. It’s hard enough to imagine Tina spying on me, but a cold-blooded killer?” She shook her head.

  “I don’t think she’s cold-blooded at all,” Nancy said. “I think she’s dealing with more emotion than she can handle. She’s a high-strung, nervous type. Now she’s totally out of control.” She stood up. “We have to find her!”

  Ned was shocked by Nancy’s grim expression. “What makes you say that?” he asked.

  Nancy paced the room. “Did you see how she reacted when you told her about the balloon?”

  “She was shocked,” Ned said. “What’s so strange about that? It was nearly a catastrophe.”

  “That’s true,” Nancy admitted. “But why was she shocked? I think it was guilt. The last thing I heard her say was ‘What’s wrong with me?’ I assumed she meant that her nerves were on edge, but now I think she realized that she’d almost caused the deaths of three more people.”

  “You think Tina tampered with that valve?” Evan asked, raking a hand through his curly hair.

  “Jane, you said Tina is good with machines—that she fixes copy machines and phones.” When Jane nodded, Nancy added, “If she’s that good with mechanical things, something like the valve on that fuel line would be child’s play for her.”

  “That makes sense, I suppose,” Jane said, “but she’s no murderer.”

  “She wasn’t trying to kill anyone in this case,” Nancy pointed out. “All she wanted was to sabotage the commercial. Maybe she saw it as a favor to Marty. That would explain her shock at realizing that she’d almost killed a few people. What time did she get here this morning?”

  Jane thought for a moment. “About ten-thirty.”

  Nancy made some mental calculations—and it added up. “She could have driven to Napa, sabotaged the balloon, and come back,” she said. “There was plenty of time for it.”

  “I’d have spotted her if she’d been there,” Evan protested. “So would you, for that matter.”

  “The pilot told us the balloon crew finished their preflight check at seven-thirty,” Nancy replied. “She could have rigged the balloon and been on her way back here while we were still on the road.”

  “She had no business there,” Ned pointed out. “Someone would have noticed her.”

  “The thing is,” Nancy explained, “there were two groups there who didn’t know each other at all—the production people and the balloon crew. Anyone seeing a stranger would have assumed that he or she was with the other crew. A few seconds to switch the valve is all she needed. If the police show Tina’s photo to the crews who worked on the commercial, someone might recognize her.”

  “Where do you think she’s going now?” Evan asked.

  “If I’m right, and she realizes that she almost killed several peopl
e, I’m afraid she may want to harm herself—or maybe someone else.” Nancy reached for Jane’s telephone and dialed the lieutenant’s number again. “Lieutenant Antonio will want to know about this,” she told the group.

  But the lieutenant wasn’t available. Nancy was eager to share her theory, but she realized that there was no hard evidence that proved it—and it would be impossible to explain everything in a message. “Just ask him to call me here as soon as he can,” Nancy said to the officer who’d answered. Then she left JZA’s number.

  “No luck,” Nancy said as she hung up.

  “What’s our next step?” Ned asked.

  Just then Holly appeared in the doorway, saying, “There’s a call for Nancy, from Sean McKearn.”

  “Sean?” Nancy was astonished. “Calling me here?” She reached for Jane’s phone again.

  Ned’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “How did he know to call JZA?”

  “Good question,” Nancy said, staring at the blinking button on the phone. “For that matter, how did he know where to find me last night? I wasn’t aware that he even knew my name.” She punched the button. “Sean, it’s Nancy Drew.”

  “Listen,” he said in a voice so low Nancy could barely hear him, “get over to my studio right away. No tricks, no rough stuff, I promise.”

  “Can you speak up?” Nancy said. “I can’t—”

  “Tina is here. I don’t want her to hear me.”

  “You know Tina?” Nancy asked. “Since when?”

  “Look, just come, now!” Sean insisted. “She’s talking about blood on her hands, wild stuff like that.”

  “Call the police,” Nancy said emphatically.

  “No!” Sean sputtered. “No cops! Cops and me don’t get along. She says you’re a detective. Help me handle her.”

  “Tina said that?” Nancy suddenly realized that there must be more history between Sean and Tina than she had realized. “Sean, there’s a lot you have to tell me.”

  His voice became shrill with panic. “Hey, hurry, all right? She’s freaking me out. Here’s my address and directions.”

  Nancy jotted it all down. “We’re on our way.”