“Why?” Cass asked, grabbing her purse and rushing after Nancy.
“I’ll explain on the way. Oh!” Nancy stopped, already halfway down the steps. “I don’t have the keys to the car!”
“I’ve got Line’s,” Cass said, her voice echoing the urgency she’d picked up from Nancy. “It’s out back.”
Maria started down. “What about Ned?”
“Can’t wait,” Nancy called up. “Stay until he gets back. Tell him to get to the hospital fast! Chapin’s white jacket was a lab coat! He’s on his way to kill Line!”
Chapter
Seventeen
THEY PULLED INTO the hospital parking lot and hopped out.
“We’ve got to get past the two nurses working Line’s end of the hall,” Nancy said, thinking aloud. “Here’s what we’ll do.”
As they stepped into the elevator Nancy outlined her plan. Cass listened carefully and finally said, “If it’s our only chance to save Line I’ll do it.”
“You’ll do fine.” Nancy gave her arm a squeeze of encouragement.
The elevator doors opened on the sixth floor.
They were in luck. As they peered in the windows of the doors of the Intensive Care Unit, one nurse hurried into a room, pushing a cart.
“Terrific!” Nancy said. She stepped back into the waiting room where she couldn’t be seen.
Cass stuck her head in to catch the attention of the remaining nurse, one they had seen before during a visit. “Here she comes,” Cass whispered.
The door squeaked, and Nancy heard the nurse. “Sorry, honey, but you’re too late. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
“I know. I had car trouble or I’d have been here on time. How’s Line doing?”
“Fine, except he’s very upset because we won’t let him use the phone.”
“The phone! He’s awake?” Cass’s voice rose to a squeak.
“Didn’t you know? He woke up right after you and your friend left. I told your friend when he called a little while ago.”
“What friend?”
“He said his name was Ned.”
A heartbeat of silence went by. Both girls knew Ned hadn’t called. “When did he call?”
Nancy relaxed a little. Cass was asking all the right questions.
“About an hour ago,” the nurse answered. “I told him Mr. Sheffield was awake and doing very well.”
“Does Line remember what happened to him?”
“If he does, he shows no signs of it. Head injuries are funny. He may never remember, or it may come back eventually or in a flash. You just never know.”
“Hey!” Cass said suddenly. “Are your patients allowed to wander around like that?”
“Like what?” the nurse asked, alarm in her voice.
“Like the one who just went through that exit at the end of the hall.”
“Excuse me,” the nurse said. Her footsteps became fainter.
“Now!” Cass whispered. “Hurry, Nancy!”
Nancy scooted out of the waiting room and onto the ward. The nurse disappeared through the door at the end of the corridor as Nancy darted into Line’s room. To her relief, the curtains were drawn at the window that looked out onto the hallway. She could not be seen.
“Who’s there?” a hoarse voice croaked.
Nancy spun around. The room was dark. She could barely see him. “Line? Shhh. I’m Nancy Drew. Ned Nickerson’s girlfriend, remember?”
“Ned? Ned, is that you?” It was obvious that Line was still a little confused.
“It’s not Ned; it’s Nancy—” The sound of footsteps sent Nancy scrambling for the tiny bathroom.
“Ned. Glad you’re here,” he murmured sleepily. Then he was silent.
Voices filtered through the door as the nurses discussed the person Cass said she’d seen. “Uh-oh,” one said. “Mrs. Troop’s monitor’s gone haywire again. I’m going to need help with this.”
“Okay,” her coworker said. “I can spare a minute.”
They moved away and Nancy relaxed. Obviously, so had Line. He was sleeping. Nancy could tell from the sound of his breathing, which was slow and even.
After listening for a moment, Nancy opened the door. With lightning reflex, she pulled it closed almost immediately. Someone had slipped silently into the room. She was sure it wasn’t Cass. Her job was to keep the nurses distracted. Could it be Ned?
She opened the door just far enough to see. A tall man in a lab coat and baggy white pants. A doctor? Opening the door another inch, Nancy stared at the figure at the bed.
It was Chapin! And now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she could see the object in his hand: a hypodermic needle. It was poised to inject Line with something that would undoubtedly finish the job he’d failed to complete in the bell tower!
Nancy punched the call button on the wall to summon the nurses. At the same instant, she shoved the door open wide. The registrar wheeled around in surprise. Throwing herself at him, she slapped his hand upward and sent the syringe flying.
Recognizing her now, Chapin snarled and grabbed her around the throat, his long fingers closing around her neck. Pushing her backward across Line’s body, he began to squeeze.
The impact woke Line and he gasped in pain. He moaned, “My ribs! Hey, what—Mr. Chapin!” His voice quavered, full of terror. “It was you—Help! Nurse!”
But Line was far too weak to be heard beyond the walls of his room. Nancy hoped one of the nurses would show up soon. Chapin’s strong hands were tightening around her neck. She gasped for air. She had to break free or in seconds she would black out.
Clasping her own hands together, she slashed upward, hitting him squarely under the chin. His head snapped backward, and his fingers loosened their hold around her neck. Nancy jerked out of his grasp, rolled toward the foot of the bed, and stood up. She spun around and delivered a vicious karate chop to the back of Chapin’s neck. He slumped to the floor, unconscious.
The door flew open. “What is it, Mr. Sheffield?” One of the nurses reached in, and light flooded the room. She gaped at Nancy and the man on the floor. “How’d you get in here? What happened to Doctor—” She moved closer. “Who is that? He’s not on staff here!”
Line, one hand pressed against his side, gasped, “That’s Mr. Chapin, the registrar at Basson. He pushed me out of the carillon. I guess he came back to finish me off, and he just tried to kill Nancy, too.”
Nancy examined Chapin closely to make sure he was really out. Then she looked up at the nurse. “Would you call the police, please? This man is wanted for murder.”
• • •
The next day was New Year’s Eve. Line had been moved to Room 429. Nancy, Ned, Cass, Maria, and Marty tiptoed up to his door. On cue, they started serenading him with a New Year’s song. Then, laughing, they piled into his room. Cass handed him a bouquet of flowers.
Line smiled sheepishly at Cass. As they sat down, Dr. Garrison poked his head in the door. “Hey, go easy on the patient, guys,” he joked. “And you,” he continued, pointing at Nancy. “You owe me a story.”
“She saved my life,” Line said.
“I didn’t do it alone,” Nancy reminded him. “Everyone helped.”
“You’re being modest,” Ned said and draped an arm around her shoulder. “Tell him, Nan.”
“Okay. Well, thanks to Jim Pickering, I know the whole story now,” Nancy said. “He talked as soon as the police brought him in and he saw Chapin in cuffs. I heard every word.”
“Mr. Chapin never opened his mouth,” Cass added, “except to yell for his lawyer.”
“He’ll need one,” Nancy said. “Apparently, this whole scam started fifteen years ago. An old Basson student who’d been caught cheating on an exam and was kicked out his senior year called Chapin. This guy offered Chapin a thousand dollars for a diploma.”
“Why?” Dr. Garrison asked.
“He had lied to his employer about his degree and had to come up with a copy of it or lose his job. Chapin faked one
for him and realized he had stumbled on a money maker.”
“How did Pick know all this?” Line asked.
“Chapin used to do a lot of his work on the Fish Tank computer, before he got his own terminal. When Pickering figured out what Chapin was up to—he found some of Chapin’s papers—he demanded a cut of the business. And then he had the idea of picking Maria’s brain to come up with a security system. So Chapin was glad to have him.”
Line shook his head admiringly. “Some system. It had me stumped.”
“But Chapin thought you’d cracked it,” Nancy told him. “When he trailed you from the Fish Tank to the tower, he assumed you knew about the printer there. That’s why he tried to kill you.”
“But I was only there to meet you and Ned!” Line protested. “I was sitting on a bench waiting and someone hit me from behind. I came to just as Chapin was pushing me out the tower window.”
“All this mayhem, at Basson,” Marty grumbled. “It’s hard to believe.”
“Their operation was going fine until Doc saw Bladinsburg at that banquet,” Nancy said. “But Doc knew Bladinsburg hadn’t gone to Basson, so he started to investigate.
“The night he died, he did something to trigger the alarm on Chapin’s terminal,” she went on. “Chapin rushed over to the Fish Tank. Doc showed him a printout of what he had discovered—not knowing that Chapin himself was the person responsible! So Chapin just took Doc home for coffee, slipped him some knockout drops, and staged his suicide.”
Line slumped against his pillows. “I knew he hadn’t killed himself. I knew it.”
Nancy told Line and Dr. Garrison about the many attempts Chapin and Pickering had made to get the incriminating printouts from her and her friends. She concluded with an account of their adventures of the night before. “They weren’t about to let us stop them. They had a good scam going, and they were prepared to get rid of all of us rather than give it up.”
Just then Dr. Garrison’s name was called over the PA system. “Uh-oh, got to run,” he said, going to the door. “Well, this has been incredible. You’ve all done a great service for the university and the community. It’s been a treat meeting you.” And he was gone.
“I’m glad I asked you two to come,” Line said.
“Look, Line,” Cass said. “I have a bone to pick with you. Why didn’t you tell me—”
Line raised his hand to stop her. “I know what you’re going to say. I didn’t tell you what was going on because I knew it was dangerous. They’d already killed Doc. I’m sorry, Cass, but I just couldn’t risk losing you, too.” He took her hand. “You mean too much to me. Okay?”
Cass blushed and looked at Nancy with a happy smile. “Okay,” she said.
“We’d better go,” Marty said. “I’m taking a brilliant computer programmer to lunch.” He and Maria exchanged a private smile, then slipped out with a wave for the others.
“We’ll go, too,” Ned said, gathering up his and Nancy’s coats. “It looks as if you’re in good hands, Line.”
Line brought Cass’s hand to his lips. “The best,” he said with a smile.
“All this romance in the air,” Nancy commented, and she and Ned walked to the elevator. “And in a hospital, of all places!”
The elevator doors slid open. “What’s wrong with a hospital?” Ned asked, grinning.
“Well, it’s so sterile,” Nancy said. They stepped in. Ned pulled her close as the elevator began to descend.
“Want to try some romance in a hospital?” he asked softly. Then he kissed her.
“Mmm,” Nancy murmured breathlessly. “Okay, okay, so I was wrong. But—”
The rest of her sentence was lost as Ned kissed her again. As they broke apart Nancy sighed with pleasure. It was going to be a great new year!
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1988 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights Reserved.
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NANCY DREW and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-6716-4699-8 (pbk) / ISBN: 978-1-4814-2481-3 (eBook)
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Carolyn Keene, 032 High Marks for Malice
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