Trevor opened his mouth, then clamped it shut. He strode away without answering. Nancy realized she didn’t have time to follow him. It was time to show up at the emergency room.
The afternoon passed quickly; as the head nurse had said, Fridays were really busy. Ned appeared at five o’clock, ready to leave. “The week’s seminar is over,” he said, smiling. “Now I’ve got to decide if this is the kind of work I want to do. You know, I really should take you on a tour of some of the labs and classrooms before we leave. All you’ve seen is the hospital. This place is huge. I even got to see one of the refrigerators where they keep organs for transplants.”
Nancy made a face. “I think I’ll pass on that. Besides, I have seen more than the hospital. I’ve been to the administration building.”
“I wish you were off duty,” Ned said wistfully. “You could make good on our dinner date.”
“Too bad I’m stuck here until eleven,” Nancy said, disappointed.
A voice laughed behind her and Nancy turned to see Emily Richards. “You can go if you want,” she said, smiling. “It was really unfair of me to ask you to change your schedule. You’re not even employed here.”
“But I thought you were shorthanded.”
“We are, but it’s really nurses we need. I’ve managed to find some who want to earn overtime pay. Don’t worry, Nancy. I’ve got enough candy stripers. Go enjoy yourself.”
“So where do you want to eat?” Ned asked, once he and Nancy were in the corridor outside the emergency room.
Nancy untied her candy striper apron and pulled it over her head. “Ned, I know you’ve heard this before, but I’d like to stay at the hospital a little longer. I want to try to see David. He’s our strongest link in this case.”
Ned considered. “Well, okay. As long as you make it up to me later.”
She smiled. “Maybe over dinner we can brainstorm about where Dr. Shaw’s body could be.”
Nancy and Ned headed for the third floor. It wasn’t hard to find David’s room. A gray-suited security guard stood outside the door, his beefy arms folded across his chest. Just looking at him made Nancy’s hopes sink. He didn’t seem the type to bend the rules even a little.
Nancy hovered at the corridor juncture, turning her back on the guard so he wouldn’t get a good look at her.
“What do you want to do?” Ned whispered in her ear.
“I don’t know, but I’ve got to get in there somehow. If only I were a doctor, or something,” Nancy murmured, thinking aloud.
“Well . . .” A gleam of mischief entered Ned’s eyes. “You can be a doctor for a while. At least you can fool people into thinking you are.”
“How?”
Ned led her toward the elevator. “Follow me.”
He guided her to a locker room next to the operating rooms. “Check out the lockers,” he told her. “Some aren’t locked. On our tour I noticed some of the doctors left their lab coats hanging up.”
“Ned, you’re wonderful!” Nancy cried, pushing open the door.
The fourth locker produced results. Inside was a white lab coat with a lapel pin attached. Nancy slipped it on and met Ned in the outer hall.
“Dr. Marcia Smythe,” Ned read, when she rejoined him in the hall.
A pair of glasses were nestled in the coat pocket, and Nancy stuck them on her nose after she pulled her hair back. “Do I look old enough?” she asked anxiously.
“Not really. But the hair and the glasses help.” They headed back to floor three. “I’ll keep a lookout at the corner of the corridor in case you get in,” said Ned. “If anyone comes, I’ll create some kind of distraction to give you time to get out.”
“Wish me luck,” Nancy murmured, straightening her shoulders.
“Luck,” Ned said softly. “And be careful.”
Nancy strode purposefully down the hall, glancing around. Two doors down from David’s room, a gurney covered with a sheet was waiting outside an open door. The rest of the doors were closed. Only she and the security guard were in the corridor.
Nancy’s heart was pounding in double time, but she hid her nervousness behind a tight smile. “If you’ll excuse me,” she said, pulling open the door to David’s room with authority. She looked carefully at the guard. Would her disguise work?
The security man simply nodded and let her pass. With a silent sigh of relief, Nancy let herself into the room. She slipped the glasses back into the coat pocket.
The room was dimly lit. Light from the outside parking lamps filtered in through the blinds. David lay on the far bed, a bandage around his head, one side of his face bruised and scraped. He was tossing restlessly under the covers.
“David,” Nancy whispered, glancing nervously over her shoulder to the door. “Can you hear me?”
“Doctor . . . Rayburn . . .” he muttered.
“No, it’s Nancy Drew,” she said swiftly, touching his arm. “You were talking to me outside the emergency room last night. Do you remember?”
His eyelids fluttered open. He seemed to focus on her. “The ambulance,” he mumbled.
Nancy nodded encouragingly.
David licked his lips. “It was in Saint Louis. . . She was dead. . . .”
“Anna Treadway?” Nancy asked quickly.
A small sound escaped David’s throat. “Not my fault. Not my fault—it was an accident—Dr. Shaw . . .”
“How did it happen?” Nancy asked. “How did the accident happen?”
David sighed deeply and seemed to sink into a deeper sleep. His breathing became slow and regular. His eyelids closed.
“David?” Nancy whispered. “David?” Outside the door she heard cushioned footsteps coming down the hall. Anxiously she searched for a place to hide. But the guard already knew she was in the room!
Nancy heard Ned’s voice outside, speaking loudly. “Hey, I’m lost. Can you tell me where ICU is?”
Nancy’s heart nearly stopped. He was warning her!
Gathering all her courage, Nancy swung open the door and strode into the hall as if she owned the place. A nurse was standing next to Ned, holding a tray of small white paper cups. The patients’ evening medicine. She glanced up at Nancy, her brows raised as she brushed past and entered Baines’s room.
The gurney Nancy had spied in the hallway was now standing just inside a room with an open door. Nancy glanced back at Ned. To her dismay she saw Dr. Clemmons just rounding the corner! She had to get out of sight before her cover was blown!
Nancy’s eyes darted wildly in all directions. Nowhere to hide. Turning into the open room, Nancy stopped short. An orderly was making up one of the beds. A patient lay on the other bed, asleep. Nancy pressed herself against the wall, heart thudding. Where could she hide?
The gurney.
Without another thought, she lay on the gurney and pulled the sheet over her head.
“You’re Nancy Drew’s friend, aren’t you?” she heard Dr. Clemmons demand loudly.
“That’s right,” Ned answered.
“Well, where is she? You were with her a little while ago.”
“She’s not here.”
“Who do you mean?” the security guard asked.
Nancy’s heart sank. Here it comes.
“I mean a red-haired girl who doesn’t know how to obey hospital rules,” Dr. Clemmons said angrily. “We’re talking about a patient’s life! If I find she’s inside this room, I’ll make certain she’s removed from this hospital!”
Nancy drew a quiet, shallow breath. Seconds later, she nearly jumped when Ned whispered near her ear, “Nancy?”
“Can I help you?” The orderly who had been tidying up the room asked.
Nancy froze.
“I, uh, was just looking for a friend,” said Ned.
“No one here.” The gurney suddenly lurched away from the wall. Nancy had to fight back a gasp. To her horror, she realized the orderly was pushing her out of the room! “Excuse me, I have to take this body down to the morgue.”
The morgue?
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“Er, this body?” Nancy heard Ned ask.
“Yeah, buddy. You got a problem with that?”
Nancy nearly choked as the gurney was pushed from the semidark room to the brightly lit hallway. The wheels clattered and squeaked as she felt herself being pushed in the direction of David’s room!
“A red-haired girl?” the guard was repeating thoughtfully. “Reddish blond hair?”
“Is she in there?” Clemmons demanded. Nancy heard a flurry of footsteps. Grimacing, she realized Clemmons wasn’t going to wait for an answer. He was heading straight into David’s room.
There were more footsteps. The gurney stopped short. Nancy realized the jig was up.
“All right, Ms. Drew.” Dr. Clemmons’s voice boomed with suppressed anger. “You’re coming with me! The chief of staff won’t appreciate your having gone against direct orders!”
Chapter
Thirteen
NANCY COUNTED her heartbeats and waited for Clemmons to yank the sheet back.
“What are you doing, Dr. Clemmons?” a female voice asked.
The nurse! Nancy realized with relief. That’s who Clemmons was addressing, thinking she was Nancy!
“I—I—” Clemmons sputtered, confused.
The gurney lurched into motion again. Nancy felt herself being wheeled away from David’s room. She had to hold back her laughter as she heard Clemmons’s embarrassed apology.
“Hey!” Ned called, his footsteps falling into step beside the orderly’s.
“Get lost, buddy,” the orderly growled impatiently. “Go make a nuisance of yourself somewhere else.”
Nancy was thinking fast. When she felt the wheels turn the corner, she threw off the sheet. The orderly, a young man with red hair, shrieked.
“Miraculous recovery,” Ned said with a grin, grabbing Nancy’s arm.
They dashed down the hall to the stairway and took the stairs at a run. Halfway to the first floor Nancy collapsed in a fit of laughter. “Did you see the orderly’s face?”
“Yeah.” Ned grinned. “But you should have seen Clemmons’s face when that nurse walked out of David’s room! He turned bright red. Did you get a chance to talk to David?”
“No, but he was mumbling in his sleep. He brought up Saint Louis again. The key to the mystery’s got to be what happened to Anna Treadway.”
Ned thought for a moment. “Do you suppose David moved Dr. Shaw’s body to cover up the fact that he’d killed him? He could have stolen Sam’s keys and removed the body.”
“That means he killed Shaw for revenge, but it doesn’t explain where the body is now. And it doesn’t explain who was driving the ambulance that ran David down.”
“Who else do you think could be involved in this Saint Louis business?” Ned asked.
Nancy reflected for a moment. “Well, maybe Dr. Rayburn. David did say something to him about Saint Louis outside his office, and April said Rayburn worked at the same hospital. He might have a grudge against David, too.”
“It’d have to be a pretty serious grudge to give him a motive for killing them,” Ned reasoned.
Ned was probably right. “What about someone connected with Anna Treadway?” Nancy suggested, looking for an alternative, “I mean, she was killed. Maybe one of her relatives blamed David and Dr. Shaw for her death. April told me Treadway’s husband threatened to file a malpractice suit.”
“Well, whoever’s behind all these incidents is in pretty tight with this hospital. Could one of Anna Treadway’s relatives be employed here?” he asked.
“I’ll check it out.” Nancy frowned; she felt very frustrated. “But why would one of her relatives want to frame Trevor? It keeps coming back to that. And why involve the hospital at all? If someone wanted to get rid of David or Dr. Shaw, there are a lot easier ways to do it than at the hospital.” Ned opened the door to the first floor as Nancy continued. “I need more information about what happened to Anna Treadway. I’m going to call Detective Ryan to see if he can help me.”
Nancy was heading for a pay phone when Trevor walked into the first floor lobby. He seemed a little embarrassed at seeing them. “Seminar’s over, right?” he said to Ned, not knowing what else to say. “So how did you like it?”
“Okay, I guess. Although I’m glad it’s you in the anatomy lab, not me.”
“Detective Ryan’s not in this evening,” a female voice told Nancy. “Can someone help you?”
But Nancy wasn’t listening. Her thoughts were buzzing. Anatomy lab! she thought excitedly. Dr. Shaw’s body wasn’t in the morgue, but it had to be hidden in a cold place! “Uh, thanks, no,” she managed to say into the phone before hanging up.
“Nancy, I need to talk to you,” Trevor said, sighing. ‘I’ve been such a jerk. I shouldn’t have kissed Suzanne,” Trevor went on. “You were right. I was just mad. I mean, how could April think I killed her father! I’m a doctor, for crying out loud. I would never do anything like that.”
“April’s just upset,” Ned said.
Realizing they were both looking at her, Nancy surfaced. “Do you think April could have performed a mercy killing herself?” Nancy asked Trevor.
He looked incredulous. “No way!”
“Suzanne thought she might be capable of it.”
Trevor’s eyes sparked with fury. “I’m beginning to see Suzanne would do anything to hurt April. What an idiot I’ve been!”
“You’re sure April’s innocent?” Nancy asked.
“Absolutely.” Trevor’s face was serious. “April loved her father. She hated to see him suffer, but she would never have ended his life. She cared for him too much.”
Trevor’s words rang with sincerity. Nancy smiled. “I believe you,” she admitted. “I never really took Suzanne’s accusations seriously, but I wanted to hear how you felt. What about Suzanne? Could she have murdered Dr. Shaw? As a way of putting the blame on you?”
“That’s reaching even farther. Suzanne would never jeopardize her career that way. Her work is too important to her. A lot more important than I ever was,” Trevor added.
“So who did it?” Ned asked.
“I’m not sure,” Nancy said slowly, “but I think I know where to find Dr. Shaw’s body.”
“I can almost hear the gears turning in your head,” Ned said, grinning. “Out with it, Ms. Drew.”
“You’re the one who keeps talking about the anatomy lab.” Nancy laughed. “Isn’t there a dissecting lab in the classroom building? And doesn’t the medical school use cadavers in anatomy class?”
“Well, yes,” Trevor answered. “But we only work on authorized bodies.”
“But an unauthorized body could be hidden among the cadavers, couldn’t it? Isn’t there some kind of cold storage place where cadavers are kept?”
“Well, sure, there’s a freezer, but—”
“That’s right!” Ned snapped his fingers. “A huge walk-in freezer. The classroom building used to be the old hospital. The freezer there is right next to the dissecting lab!”
“There are cadavers in the freezer,” Trevor admitted. “But I’m sure it’s been searched.”
“The search has really only taken place at the hospital,” Nancy reminded him. “And it would be a simple matter to change the name on a body. No one would be the wiser.”
Trevor nodded, blinking rapidly. “That’s true,” he said with dawning amazement. “Nancy, you’re right! Listen, I’m still on duty, and I’ve got to check on one more patient before I take a break. Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you at the freezer.”
“Ned and I’ll wait for you there,” said Nancy. “We’ll need you to identify Dr. Shaw’s body.”
Trevor nodded. “Okay. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, maybe a little longer if I run into a snag or two. I can’t afford to mess up on my duties right now, or I’ll be suspended.” He turned, then hesitated, glancing back. “Want me to call security?”
“Let’s wait to see if my theory pans out,” Nancy suggested.
“Right.
” Trevor tried to smile.
Nancy and Ned hurried to the nearest exit. Ned guided her across the campus to the classroom building, which housed the anatomy lab. It was in the oldest section of the school, an ivy-clad brick building with poor lighting. Just thinking about the task in front of them had Nancy looking over her shoulder.
“Think we’re being followed?” Ned asked, glancing around suspiciously.
“I don’t know. This building’s a little creepy. Didn’t you say something about tunnels under it?”
“Yeah, they run from here to the hospital. It’s a great way to move bodies without upsetting visitors.”
“That’s how our body snatcher did it, then,” Nancy declared. “He must have moved the body through a tunnel from the hospital to the anatomy lab. Which floor is the lab on?”
“Third. I checked after April quizzed me the other day.”
They hurried upstairs. Nancy caught the smell of formaldehyde as soon as they pushed open the door to the third floor.
“It’s right down here,” said Ned, indicating a door with Anatomy written across its pebbled glass window.
“It’s locked,” Nancy said, trying the handle.
“Should we just wait outside?”
Nancy nodded, and they stood quietly outside the door. Nancy’s thoughts were on David Baines. “David could have moved the body,” she muttered. “Maybe he murdered Dr. Shaw and was afraid the autopsy would prove it.”
A slight noise from inside the anatomy lab interrupted Nancy’s thoughts.
“What was that?” Ned asked softly.
“Someone’s in there!” Nancy whispered. She quickly pulled her lock-picking kit from her purse and quietly worked the lock with a slim metal tool. The tiny clicks she made sounded to her like pistol shots in the dead quiet of the hall.
Seconds later the knob turned noiselessly in her hand. Pressing a finger to her lips, she squeezed inside the room. Row upon row of tables filled the enormous classroom. A thin light glowed beneath a far door.
Ned’s hand clamped down on her shoulder. “Stay here,” he mouthed to her. Nancy vehemently shook her head, but Ned ignored her. His running shoes made no noise as he crept across the linoleum floor. Nancy had little choice but to watch him steal toward the far door. Someone needed to stand guard.