Wrong Track Read online

  “A detective!” Dave let loose a peal of laughter. “A detective!”

  This was hardly the response Nancy had expected. “What’s so funny?” she asked, studying him curiously.

  “This whole time I thought you were a reporter.” He paused. “Aren’t you awfully young to be a detective?” he asked.

  “Not really,” Nancy told him, crossing her arms. “You still haven’t explained what’s so funny.”

  Suddenly Dave got serious. “Nothing.”

  Nancy paused. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with that missing bank file, would it?” she asked.

  Before Dave could answer, two skiers came down the trail, and Dave stepped out of their way. As soon as they had passed, Nancy asked him again about the file that was missing from his office. “Where is it, Dave?” she asked. “What’s in it that made you take the file? Does Rob Watson have it?” she bluffed.

  At Watson’s name Dave shot Nancy an angry look. “What do you know about Watson?”

  “Only that I saw you skiing with him last night,” Nancy told him. “And that I suspect the two of you are behind my ‘accidents.’ ”

  “What makes you say that?” Dave asked. He leaned on his ski poles and narrowed his eyes. “What if I told you I was just giving Rob a friendly tour of our state-of-the-art trails?”

  “That doesn’t explain what he was doing in the administration building the other night,” Nancy said, meeting his glance. “Or why you’ve always been near whenever I’ve almost been injured.”

  Nancy ticked off the evidence on her fingers. “Fact: You knew I was going to take a sauna. Fact: You came by my table the night I was poisoned. I’d say it’s probably even a fact that you and Rob stole the money from Tall Pines and framed Rebecca for it—”

  “That’s enough!” Dave stopped her. He held up a gloved hand and shook his head slowly. “I’ll tell you the truth. I did block that sauna door, and I even switched the trail signs. I came by the ski shop right after you and that girl went up on the trails. Ben told me you were skiing Aerie. I came up Cascades and switched the signs.”

  “But why?” Nancy asked. “Lots of people could have gotten hurt, not just Bess.”

  Dave hung his head for a moment, then finally looked at Nancy. “I believed that you were a reporter,” he said, giving Nancy a weak smile, “not a detective. I wanted you to give Tall Pines a rotten write-up. The best way to guarantee that was to cause trouble for you. But I never meant for anything serious to happen—you have to believe me.”

  “The poisoning wasn’t serious?” Nancy emphasized the last word. “You could have killed me!”

  “I dribbled only a couple of drops of the water in your soup when I stood the vase up,” Dave explained. “It was enough to make you sick but not seriously harm you. And I knew someone would come along when you were locked in the sauna. As far as the trails are concerned, I didn’t know your friend was a novice skier.”

  “What about these?” Nancy asked, pointing to the bindings on her skis. “Was this another one of your planned ‘accidents’?”

  “Nope,” Dave said, holding up his hands. He shook his head and leaned forward on his poles to look at the bindings. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

  Nancy narrowed her eyes. “Were you anywhere near the skating pond last night?” she asked.

  “Nope,” Dave repeated. “Why?”

  “Someone knocked me cold, and since you’ve admitted to the other accidents, I thought maybe you were responsible for that one, too,” she said.

  “I wasn’t near the place.” Dave actually smiled now. “Looks like I’m not the only one who wants to give you a hard time, eh?”

  Nancy didn’t think he was funny. She wasn’t sure he was telling the truth. But if he was, there was still another criminal to catch. She kicked at the snow and thought out loud. “You wanted me to give Tall Pines a bad write-up. Why? Was your stealing the payroll cash part of your plan to cause trouble at Tall Pines, too?”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with the theft,” Dave said, suddenly very serious again. “As far as I know, Rebecca Montgomery took the money.”

  “Rebecca denies it, and I believe her.” Nancy told him that Rebecca was the reason she was at Tall Pines. “I honestly believe she’s innocent. In fact, I still think Rob masterminded the theft and you were his accomplice.”

  “What?” Dave’s face reflected his shock. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “No, I’m not. It’s hardly a secret that Rob is making major improvements at his camp. How’s he paying for them?” Nancy looked at Dave for a moment before she said, “I saw the file you have on Rob in your office, and I know how little money he makes. I think you and Rob decided that an extra fifty thousand dollars would help him nicely.”

  “Look, Nancy, I had nothing to do with that robbery, and neither did Rob.” Dave’s voice was low and insistent. “I admit I engineered those accidents, but I didn’t steal anything.”

  “Where did Rob get the money for the construction?” Nancy asked.

  “The same place most people do—the bank. He took out a huge construction loan. I thought he was crazy to start a big project, but sometimes you can’t talk sense to Rob.”

  Nancy watched as a clump of snow slid down a pine bough and landed on the ground. “What’s between you and Rob, anyway? When did you get to be such good friends? I doubt Karl Reismueller will be happy to hear about your friendship,” she concluded.

  Dave was hesitant but finally spoke up. “No, Karl wouldn’t be too happy, especially if he found out I work for Rob Watson,” he said.

  “You work for Watson?” Nancy asked, stunned by the news.

  “Yep.” Dave pressed his lips together. “I know it sounds a little sleazy, and I guess it is. When Rob heard about Karl’s plan to open Tall Pines, he asked me to get a job here and do what I could to sabotage the place. Then, when I told him a reporter was coming to review Tall Pines, he thought it was the perfect opportunity. He told me to make sure you gave Tall Pines a bad write-up. What better way than to make you miserable while you were here?”

  Shaking her head in disgust, Nancy said, “That’s pretty low.”

  “The resort business is competitive, but as in any other business, people don’t always compete honestly,” Dave said with a shrug. “But I didn’t steal that money, and I don’t know a thing about your bindings, or who knocked you out cold, or that missing file you keep talking about. That’s the truth.” He laughed a little. “I know you don’t have any reason to believe me, but I am leveling with you.”

  With that Dave picked up Nancy’s broken ski and studied the binding. “I think I can fix this good enough to get you down the trail,” he said, pulling out a pocket knife. As Nancy watched, Dave moved another screw to the front of the binding.

  “You’ll have to go slowly,” he told her, “but it will sure beat walking.”

  Nancy hooked her boots into the bindings and tried to glide. Though she felt a slight wobbling, the skis seemed reasonably secure.

  “I think it’ll be okay,” she told Dave. “Thanks.”

  He stepped into his own bindings and slid his hands into the pole straps. “I’m not proud of my part in this,” he said as he skied in the tracks next to Nancy. “When I get back I promise I’ll tell Karl I quit. I hope you can keep it quiet about your ‘accidents.’ I really can assure you that I never meant to harm you.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that,” Nancy said. “Because if you weren’t quitting, I would have to press charges against you. I’d suggest you clear out as soon as you can.”

  When they reached the bottom of the trail Nancy returned her skis to the shop, her mind fully occupied. The fact that Dave Kendall was only partially responsible for what had been happening at Tall Pines was frustrating news. It meant that Nancy still had to discover who had knocked her out, sabotaged her skis, and stolen the payroll money. It also failed to explain who Sheila’s mystery man was or who had taken the mis
sing bank file.

  Nancy was about to find Jody Ashton’s home address when her name was paged over the intercom. She picked up a house telephone on the ski school counter and told the operator she was ready for the call. In a second Chief McGinnis’s voice came through.

  “You were right, Nancy,” the police chief told her. “One of those people does have a record. She was picked up for grand theft auto.”

  Theft. It was what Nancy had expected, the repetition of a crime pattern.

  “Who was it?” she asked. “Sheila Reismueller?”

  “No, Nancy. Sheila’s clean. Your car thief is Jody Ashton.”

  Chapter

  Fifteen

  NANCY HUNG UP the phone, her mind whirling. Jody had left her the skis with the faulty bindings. Part of Jody’s employment application was missing from the files—probably in order to hide her criminal past. Although she claimed to be saving for college, Jody had just bought a brand-new car.

  “Nancy?” It was Dave Kendall. He had just come in and was standing next to her, a concerned expression on his face. “Is everything okay?”

  After letting out a deep breath, Nancy nodded and took out her notebook from her belt pack. “I’m fine. Look—I need a favor.”

  “Anything. I owe you at least one.” He leaned toward Nancy and whispered, “Thanks for being so understanding about what I did,” he said.

  “It’s between you and Karl when you leave,” Nancy said. She grabbed a pencil from her belt pack and said, “I need to know Jody Ashton’s address.”

  Dave picked up the house phone and waited for the operator to answer. Within a few minutes he’d gotten Jody’s address and phone number for Nancy.

  Nancy thanked him and headed out of the ski shop and toward her condo. Once she got there she tried calling Jody’s house, but there was no answer. She also called the Marvins’ again, but no one was home there, either. Sighing, Nancy picked up the flashlight and stashed it in her purse. The flashlight might prove useful if she needed to get a confession out of Jody. Nancy was sure she’d smelled Sheila’s perfume in the building, but there was a chance—however slim—that Jody had been the one to knock her out.

  When Nancy reached Monroe ten minutes later it was just noon. She drove through the main shopping area and stopped at a gas station to ask for directions to Jody’s street. The brand-new green sports car was parked in front of the building, so Nancy knew that the girl was home.

  Nancy parked her Mustang and found Jody’s apartment listed on the directory.

  “Hi, Nancy.” Jody gave her a friendly if confused smile. “What brings you here?”

  “Can I come in?” Nancy asked. As she stepped inside Nancy found herself surprised by Jody’s reaction. If Jody had loosened the ski bindings, she should have been startled—even shocked—to see her.

  “Those were some skis you left me,” Nancy said casually, her hands in her jacket pockets.

  “What skis?” Jody seemed to be puzzled.

  “The ones with the new bindings.”

  Jody frowned. “I know I promised you new skis, but the shipment didn’t come in before I left yesterday. I’m hoping it’ll be there when I go back tomorrow.”

  Nancy wondered if Jody could be as innocent as she was acting. If she was, Nancy was obviously on the wrong track. “Jody, Ben gave me new skis with a note from you,” she said.

  This time Jody made no attempt to hide her confusion. “But I didn’t write any note—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Nancy felt for the note in her jacket pocket, took it out, and handed it to Jody. “That’s not your signature?” she asked.

  “No,” Jody said, slowly reading over the note. She grabbed her purse from the coffee table, pulled out a pen, and scrawled her name on the note. Sure enough, the looping script was not at all similar to the angular signature on the typed note.

  “I wasn’t even at Tall Pines today,” Jody went on. “How could I have left you those skis? Why are you asking all these questions anyway?”

  Nancy took the note back from Jody and went to sit on a cream love seat in the middle of the living room.

  “Someone loosened the bindings on one of the skis I thought you’d left me,” Nancy told her. “I was out on the trails and nearly had a very serious accident.”

  Jody blanched. “You think I did it?” There was a note of outrage in her voice.

  “I think you could have,” Nancy answered.

  “But why would I?”

  Nancy decided to make her answer completely straightforward. “To keep me from finding out that you stole the payroll money.”

  “What?” Jody began to pace her living room, her green eyes alive with anger. “I didn’t steal any money! Rebecca did that.”

  “Rebecca was framed,” Nancy said evenly. “You’re my number-one suspect.”

  Jody stopped pacing and was silent for a long minute. When she spoke her face was pale. “What makes you say that?” she asked in a low voice that had a slight quaver.

  “First of all, there’s the unexplained money,” Nancy said. She leaned forward on the couch, resting her forearms on her knees. “You told me how much you needed money for college, then you showed up in a new sports car. One explanation is that you used money you stole from Tall Pines for your car.”

  Two red spots appeared on Jody’s cheeks. “I didn’t take the money,” she declared.

  “Jody,” Nancy said slowly, “I know about your car theft conviction.”

  When Jody spoke her voice was seething with anger. “That’s over!” she cried. “I paid for that, and believe me I learned my lesson.”

  “What happened exactly?” Nancy asked.

  Jody sat down in an armchair across from Nancy. When she spoke it was so quietly that Nancy had to strain to hear her words. “A friend and I took her father’s car for a joyride one night. We got into an accident and did some damage to the car. I don’t know why, but he pressed criminal charges against me. It was booked as grand theft auto, and since I was driving when we got caught, I took the whole rap.” Jody shuddered as she recounted her experience. “I got a light sentence, but even so, it was not pleasant. I’ll never steal again.”

  There was no doubting Jody’s sincerity. Nancy remembered how violently Jody had reacted when she’d first mentioned the theft, and how Jody had declared that Rebecca deserved what she’d gotten. Now that Nancy knew Jody’s background she could understand the outburst. She’d paid for her crime. If Rebecca was the thief, Jody felt that she should do the same.

  “What about the Corvette?” Nancy asked. “Where’d you get the money for that?”

  “The car was a mistake,” Jody admitted, grimacing. “I thought I wanted it more than anything else, so I decided to use my college money for the down payment. Now that I’ve got it, I’ve realized that college is more important than any car. Luckily the dealer gave it to me on a two-day trial. I’m taking it back this afternoon.”

  Nancy flashed Jody a reassuring smile. “I think that’s a good decision.” She paused. There was just one more thing Nancy had to be sure of before she completely ruled Jody out as a suspect. She pulled the flashlight from her purse. “Ever see this before?” she asked.

  “Looks like an ordinary flashlight to me,” Jody said with a shrug. Then she leaned closer to get a better look. “Wait a minute.” Taking the flashlight from Nancy, Jody touched the cracked lens. “This is Karl’s,” she said. “How did you get it?”

  “Karl’s!” Nancy exclaimed. “Karl Reismueller’s? Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.” Jody leaned back in the chair, a smile on her lips. “I’ve seen him use it. I even kidded him about it once. He said he was too busy to get it fixed.” She made a wry smile. “If I had as much money as Karl does, I think I’d just throw it away and get a new one.”

  So it was Karl Reismueller who’d knocked her out—or someone using Karl’s flashlight. All Nancy’s reasons to suspect Jody were now gone. All, that is, except for th
e missing bank file.

  “Jody, I have just one more question,” Nancy said.

  “Shoot,” said Jody.

  “Did you have any reason to take a file of bank records from Dave Kendall’s office?” she asked.

  Jody squinted, obviously thinking about Nancy’s question. “No.” She shrugged. “But if there’s something you need to know, I’m good friends with Alyssa Shelly, one of the managers at Monroe Savings and Loan.”

  Nancy practically hugged the girl. “Perfect. Do me a favor and tell her I’m coming down to ask her a few questions.” Nancy waited while Jody made the call. When the girl finished, Nancy said, “I’m sorry I had to ask you so many embarrassing questions. I hope you understand why I thought what I did.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jody said. She tossed her auburn curls and smiled. “It’s not the first time that stupid mistake has haunted me.”

  Jody walked outside with Nancy. “I want to return this car before anything happens to it,” she said, sighing as they came up to it. “It’s beautiful, but to tell you the truth, driving such an expensive car makes me nervous.”

  Nancy waved goodbye and drove off in the direction of the bank. Along the way she spotted a public phone and decided to try calling the Marvins’ one more time.

  “I don’t understand this whole thing,” Bess’s mother said when she answered the phone. “Mr. Marvin and I got a phone call this morning telling us to go to the hospital. We hurried over there to find Bess. At the same time Bess was here looking for us.”

  Nancy frowned.

  “Are George and Bess there now?” she asked.

  “No,” Mrs. Marvin answered. “They drove back up to Tall Pines. Bess said they wanted to help you with your investigation.”

  As she got back into the Mustang Nancy was relieved that everything was okay, but also worried. The same person had obviously called both Bess and her parents and given them conflicting messages. Was that person Sheila Reismueller? If so, why had she wanted Bess and George out of the way?

  The traffic light was red. While she waited for it to turn green Nancy glanced at the stores around her. A short man in a black and white houndstooth suit and a black fedora stopped in front of one of the stores. Reaching into his pocket, he drew out a key and unlocked the door. Nancy stared at him and knew there was no doubt. He was the same man she’d seen with Sheila!