When Nancy called out a greeting, Susan jumped nervously. “Oh, hi,” Susan said with a halfhearted smile.
“Susan,” Nancy began. “I don’t mean to pry or anything. It’s just that I don’t want you to feel uneasy about our spending time with Rob. We didn’t realize you two didn’t get along—”
“It’s no problem,” Susan cut in. “I don’t mean to be a drag. If you guys want to hang out with Rob Harper, it’s fine with me.”
As Susan bent back over her sculpture, something else caught Nancy’s attention.
“Hey,” she said. “Someone’s been messing with my snowman.” Her two huge snowballs were cracked and lopsided.
“Mine, too,” Bess said. She pointed to a hunk that had been knocked loose from her snow tower. “Talk about nerve!”
“At the risk of sounding like a broken record,” George added, “someone’s been messing with my sculpture, too. I think I can fix it, though.”
Nancy walked slowly around the snow-covered meadow, then returned to her friends. “It looks to me as if about half of the sculptures have been damaged,” she reported.
“I wonder why?” George asked. “Accident? Thoughtlessness? Or just plain malice?”
“Maybe someone wants to win the contest, no matter what it takes,” Bess suggested darkly.
Ned shook his head and chuckled. “If it meant winning a new car or a trip to Europe, I could see it. But as chief judge, I can tell you that all the winner gets is a handshake.”
“Oh, well, it doesn’t matter,” Nancy said optimistically. “I just hope whoever did it doesn’t do it again.”
“Uh-oh,” Ned said, cocking his head to one side. “Do you hear that? I hope our arsonist hasn’t struck again.”
From somewhere in the distance came the wail of sirens. “I think they’re coming this way,” George said.
“That’s not a fire engine,” Jerry reported, pointing up the hill toward the road. “It’s a police car—no, make that two police cars.”
Red lights flashing, the cars pulled up in front of the Emerson Museum. Half a dozen uniformed officers and two men in suits jumped out and ran inside.
“Come on,” Nancy said, taking off across the meadow for the museum. At the road, she paused as another patrol car sped past and pulled up next to the museum. She recognized the two men who got out and hurried inside. One was President Butler. The other was Dean Jarvis, whom she had met during an earlier case at Emerson College.
“What is it?” George demanded as she, Ned, Jerry, and Bess caught up to Nancy.
“I don’t know yet,” Nancy replied, “but it’s important enough to bring the president and the dean on the run.”
The metal doors to the museum swung open just as Nancy reached the top of the hill. A police officer escorted about a half-dozen confused-looking students outside, then closed the door.
“Maybe they know what’s going on,” Bess said.
“They’re bound to know more than we do,” Ned replied. He cupped his hands to his mouth and called, “Hey, Frazier! Over here!”
A guy with bright red hair looked around, then walked over to join them.
Ned introduced Nancy, George, and Bess, then asked, “What’s the story?”
“Somebody robbed the place,” Frazier reported cheerfully. “They actually searched us before they’d let us leave.”
“The museum? Oh, no!” exclaimed Bess.
“Did the thief get away with much?” George asked.
“Yes and no,” Frazier answered. “From what I heard before they kicked us out, he just took one set of jewelry. But it’s one of the most valuable sets in the whole show. A necklace, a couple of bracelets, and a pair of earrings made of diamonds and rubies. They used to belong to some queen.”
Nancy gasped. The Empress of Austria’s jewels had been stolen!
Chapter
Four
OH, NO,” BESS WAILED. “You mean that ruby set I loved so much is gone?”
“At least the thief had good taste,” Ned put in.
Nancy frowned. “What I don’t understand is how the thief got past the guards and the new alarm system.”
Frazier shrugged. “We were just going through the exhibit when all of a sudden the alarm went off.”
Bess’s blue eyes widened. “You mean the thief struck with everyone right there in the museum?”
Frazier shook his head. “Nope. That was a false alarm. Apparently it’s not the first one they’ve had, either. But the noise was driving everyone crazy, so one of the guards turned off the system and went to check out the problem.
“Right after the false alarm, we heard the fire engines going to the boat house. Everyone ran to the windows to see what was happening.”
“The guards, too?” asked George. “I bet they’re going to catch a lot of grief over that.”
“And that’s when the thief struck,” Nancy concluded. “While the alarm system was turned off and the exhibit was empty.”
Frazier nodded. “Neat, huh?”
“But the fire happened over a half hour ago. Why did it take so long for the guards to notice the theft?” Nancy asked.
“This guy must be a real pro,” Frazier cut in. “The cops said he left some costume jewelry in the display case, in place of the real stuff. I guess it took a while for anyone to notice.”
The museum door opened just then, and Dean Jarvis, a bear of a man in a brown tweed suit and trench coat, came out. He paused on the steps and stared out pensively at the landscape. He wore a dissatisfied expression on his face. Then his gaze fell on Nancy and his eyes widened. He hesitated for only a moment before walking over to her and her friends.
“Hello, Dean Jarvis,” Nancy said, smiling. “It’s nice to see you again.”
He nodded to everyone, then said, “Hello, Nancy. I’m glad to see you. You must be here for Winter Carnival.”
“That’s right.”
“I hope you’re enjoying yourself. I suppose you’ve heard about what just happened.”
“The empress’s rubies? Yes. Do the police have any leads?”
Dean Jarvis shrugged. “I’m not in their confidence, but I believe they have the matter in hand. I hope they make swift progress. The exhibition is insured, of course, but this sort of thing is not good for the image of the college.”
“If I can be of any help—” Nancy said tentatively.
The dean shook his head. “Thanks, but I don’t want to put you in danger a second time. This is a job for the police, and I’m sure they’ll do it competently. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”
Dean Jarvis had recently asked Nancy’s help in solving the theft of controlled substances from a top-secret government science experiment being done at Emerson. She appreciated his concern for her safety, but she also felt a stab of disappointment as he left. She was dying to get in on the case.
Ned noticed her reaction. “Never mind, Nancy. You don’t have to solve a crime to have a good time.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “Not if I’m with you, I don’t.” She snuggled up next to him and felt his arm wrap firmly around her shoulders.
“All the same,” Nancy added, “I’m going to keep my eyes open. There are some peculiar things about this robbery. Very peculiar. First the boat house fire, then the theft of the empress’s jewels.”
“Hey, there’s Rob,” George said. “He must be looking for us.” She walked to the edge of the bluff, called out, and waved. From down near the snow sculptures, Rob waved back and started toward the steps. Nancy noticed that he was wearing a tan parka instead of his crew jacket.
“I couldn’t find my jacket at the boat house,” Rob said glumly when he reached them. “Someone must have taken it by accident. I had to go all the way back to the dorm for another jacket.”
“That other jacket had your name embroidered on it,” George pointed out. “Anyone who took it will figure out the mistake soon enough.”
“That’s true.” Rob’s face brightened. Then he
noticed the two police cars. “Hey, now what’s happened?”
Ned told him about the jewel theft.
“You’re kidding!” He looked at Bess and smiled. “I think you have some explaining to do,” he teased.
“Explanations can wait until after lunch,” Jerry announced. “Come on. All this excitement has given me a real appetite.”
• • •
After lunch Nancy, Bess, and George returned to their room to get their ice skates, then rejoined the guys outside the dorm.
Jerry immediately began to stalk a giggling Bess with a gloveful of snow and the clear intention of putting it down the back of her neck.
George’s date was paying a lot of attention to Bess, Nancy thought. “What I don’t understand,” Ned was saying, “is why the thief took only one set of jewelry. Why not grab as much as he could while the alarm was off?”
“For that matter, why take that set at all?” Rob said as George came up. “They were the best-known pieces in the whole show. Anyone who knows about antique jewelry would recognize it. And if the thief breaks it up for the stones, he won’t get enough to make the risk worthwhile.”
Bess stopped and gasped, having overheard. “You mean someone might actually destroy those beautiful works of art just to get the stones? That’s terrible— Eek!” She spun around and brushed at her collar, trying to dislodge the snowball Jerry had just put there.
“So someone,” Nancy said, “—either the thief or someone who hired the thief—must want that jewelry to keep for himself.”
Ned nodded. “An unscrupulous collector,” he added. “It’s the only answer that makes sense.”
“Unless somebody has a grudge against Emerson College and wants to hurt its reputation,” said George. “If that’s the motive, then who knows what he might do next?”
Nancy considered George’s suggestion. She had a strong feeling that the criminal had a different motive than just revenge against the campus. The theft had been too specific for that.
“Uh-oh,” said Ned, breaking into her thoughts. “I recognize that look, Drew. It’s the same one you get every time you start a new case. Sorry, but any detecting will have to wait until we’ve gone skating. Come on. Let’s get down to the lake.” He grabbed Nancy’s hand and started pulling her down the path.
Nancy was the first to get her skates laced. “I want to test out the ice,” she said.
She pushed off and started skating toward the boat house. Behind her, she heard Ned call out something, but she couldn’t make out the words. Taking a deep breath, she started to pick up speed. Skating on a lake was so different from a rink. The ice was bumpier, of course, but the frozen expanse made her feel as if she could skate forever. This was real freedom, gliding along with no effort and no limits.
Oops! About a hundred feet down the lake, someone had placed three striped sawhorses across the ice. A sign hung from the one in the middle. So much for no limits, she thought to herself. She guessed what the sign said even before she was close enough to read the words painted in red: Danger—Thin Ice.
She slid to a halt and looked around, just as Ned skated up and stopped next to her. “I wasn’t sure if they’d put up the barriers,” he said breathlessly, his eyes filled with concern. “There’s a spring under here that keeps this section of the lake from freezing as solid as the rest. When I was a freshman, someone fell through and almost drowned.”
“I’m lucky the sawhorses were there.” Nancy took his gloved hand and gave it a warm squeeze. “Let’s get back to the others.” Still holding hands, they pushed off, falling easily into a rhythm that carried them swiftly toward the rest of the skaters.
As they drew closer, Nancy noticed Rob skating off toward the far side of the lake, in the direction of the boat house. He waved when he saw them. Nancy thought he was probably still worried about the boat house fire. She, too, had been wondering about it. She suspected the fire had been set as a decoy, so that the thief could make off with the empress’s jewels. But as to who the thief was, she didn’t have a clue.
George emerged from the little crowd of skaters and zipped over to Nancy and Ned, spraying up a small shower of ice with her stop. “This is great,” she said. “It’s a lot bigger than the skating pond in River Heights.”
“Hey, take a look at Bess,” Nancy said. “If it isn’t Miss Ice Capades herself!”
George’s smile broadened. “A few minutes ago she was telling Jerry about a figure-skating championship she saw on television last week. I think she’s trying to demonstrate.”
“I can tell you one thing,” Nancy said with a laugh. “She’ll never make it to the Olympics.”
“Don’t tell me, tell her,” George said. “Oops!”
A complicated series of moves had just left Bess skating backward toward Nancy, George, and Ned. She was balancing on one leg and holding the other up behind her. Her arms, out to either side, waved and dipped comically as she wobbled unsteadily backward.
Jerry, skating parallel to her, shouted, “Terrific, Bess!”
Bess turned her head to smile at him, but that turned out to be a big mistake. A sudden dip to the left, another to the right, and Bess was sliding facedown over the ice—still moving backward.
Nancy got to her before she had even stopped sliding. “Are you okay?” she asked, trying to suppress a laugh as she helped Bess into a sitting position. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“I think I bruised my pride,” Bess said, but her blue eyes were twinkling. “But so what? I didn’t even know I could do that!”
“I’m still not so sure you can,” George teased. She bent down to help her cousin to her feet. “Warn me the next time you plan to try it. I’ll bring my camera.”
Bess brushed herself off and straightened up. Suddenly her face became very alert. “What’s that?” she said, sniffing the air. “Do I smell hot cocoa?”
“You bet,” Jerry said. “I saw some guys making a big pot of it. Would you like some?”
“I think I need some,” Bess replied with a big smile. “For medicinal purposes.”
“Sounds good to me, too,” Nancy added.
The group skated toward the shore, where there was a firepit and a pile of wood. A couple of guys had built a bonfire, and a pot of cocoa rested on the embers at one end.
As Nancy and the others were taking off their skates, Rob rejoined them. He rubbed his gloved hands together, then sat down and began to untie his skates. “Mmm, I can’t wait for some of that cocoa.” He elbowed George good-naturedly. “How about you?”
Nancy noticed a police officer standing close by. With her was a man who looked familiar to Nancy, although she couldn’t quite place him. Both of them were scanning the crowd.
The man stared at Nancy and her friends. Suddenly he grabbed the officer’s arm and said something into her ear. The officer stared at them, too, then she and the man began to walk toward Nancy’s group. What was going on?
As they drew closer, Nancy recalled where she had seen the man before. He was the museum guard who had been in the room with the Empress of Austria’s jewels.
“That’s him,” she heard the guard say to the officer. “I’m sure of it.”
The officer stepped over to Rob and said, “Excuse me, sir. Would you mind telling me your name?”
Rob looked up from unlacing his skates. “Me? Robert Harper. Why?”
The officer said, “I’d like you to come with me, please, when you’ve finished with your skates.”
Rob looked baffled. “Come with you where? Why?”
The officer looked at him and replied, “To the police station. We just want to ask you some questions. But I think it’s fair to warn you that you might be a suspect in the Emerson Museum jewelry theft!”
Chapter
Five
NANCY WATCHED with growing concern as the police car took Rob away. Once it was out of sight, everyone standing near the bonfire began to talk at once in subdued voices.
“Why on earth do they wa
nt to question Rob?” George muttered to Nancy.
“The guard singled him out,” Nancy answered. “Remember last night in the museum, the way Rob boasted that he could get around the alarm system? And the way he and Bess kept leaning over the case with the jewels that were stolen this morning? Their fingerprints are probably all over that display case.”
“But that’s not evidence,” George protested. “Dozens of people must have touched that case!”
“I know,” Nancy said. “But don’t forget that one of them was probably the thief. It’s their responsibility to check out everyone who’s the least bit suspicious.”
Bess had been talking to Jerry, her mug of hot cocoa in one hand and a stick with a toasted marshmallow on it in the other. Now she turned to Nancy and said, “We’ve got to do something about this. We’ve got to find out who really stole the jewels.” Before popping the gooey marshmallow into her mouth, she added, “And if I know you, you’ve already got some suspects.”
“I have a couple,” Nancy told them. “But I’m going to need a lot of help.”
“Just tell us what to do,” Jerry volunteered, with a snappy salute that made Bess giggle.
Nancy took a few steps away from the crowd, and Bess, George, Ned, and Jerry followed her. “I’d like you all to talk to people who either visited the museum or attended the boat house dedication this morning.”
“What are we looking for?” asked George.
Nancy grimaced. “I don’t know, exactly,” she confessed. “Find out who they saw and talked to. Beyond that, look for anything out of the ordinary.”
“You think the fire at the boat house was linked to the robbery?” Jerry asked.
“The timing was just too neat to be a coincidence,” Nancy said, glancing at her watch. “We should get on with it. What do you say we meet in the student center in an hour?”
“What are you going to do now?” Ned asked her as the others walked away. “Can I help?”
Nancy shook her head. “I’m going to try to get permission from the college authorities to solve the theft,” she said. “They can’t stop me, in any event, but it would make my work easier if they cooperated.”