Bess’s mother was setting out fried chicken, peas, and mashed potatoes as they went inside. Mr. Marvin was working late at the office, she told the girls.
“I’m trying to get Bess to eat,” Mrs. Marvin said. “You two are just in time to join us.”
“That makes my mouth water just looking at it,” George said hungrily, eyeing the dinner her aunt had spread before them.
Bess greeted them all with quick hugs before joining them at the table.
“Would you two please tell my mom that a kidnapping is no excuse for going off a diet?” she said with a laugh. Then she sighed and reached for a chicken leg. “Well, maybe just this once,” she muttered, taking a bite.
Nancy filled her in on the day’s events. Bess’s blue eyes widened when she heard about Etienne’s death. “Even though I didn’t meet him, it’s awful to hear that he was killed. And you say he was one of the people who abducted me?”
Nancy described the tattoo she’d seen on Etienne’s arm. “It was a green phoenix, rising out of the flames,” she said.
Bess nodded vigorously. “That’s it exactly. It just looked like some kind of eagle to me,” she said.
“Then there’s no question that Etienne was one of your kidnappers, Bess,” Nancy said. “And the other one, the one who probably killed Etienne, is a cold-blooded murderer. The question is, who was his accomplice? And why did they abduct you?”
Bess shook her head, bewildered. “I just can’t imagine how all this happened, or who’s behind it,” she said.
Nancy went on to describe what had happened earlier in the day at the Kragen quarry, including all the photographs that Tom had taken of Bess over the past year, and the fact that he claimed to be dating her.
“Tom Kragen and me? Yuck!” Bess said indignantly. “I’m really going to give him a piece of my mind the next time I see him.”
“The important question is, could he have been involved in your kidnapping? He’s certainly obsessed with you. After we confronted him about lying about his relationship with you, he led us out to a hazardous area and took off, leaving us alone.”
“Yeah, we nearly became mashed potatoes under a boulder,” George said, taking a huge bite of food.
“Is there any connection you know of between Tom Kragen and Etienne?” Nancy pressed.
“Like I said, I’d never even met Etienne, so I can’t imagine a connection at all,” Bess said helplessly. “So Etienne was the one who dropped me off in that alley,” she continued thoughtfully. “I wonder why?”
“He may have realized his accomplice was extremely dangerous, and so he changed his mind about the abduction,” Nancy said slowly. “And he paid for that change of heart—with his life.”
“Poor guy,” Bess murmured.
“What do you mean, ‘poor guy’?” George replied, scoffing. “He abducted you, Bess.”
“I can’t help feeling sorry for him,” Bess said in a whisper.
Nancy’s brow was creased with concentration. “Bess, I’m wondering what else you can recall about what happened last night before you were abducted. Any little thing at all might help. How about earlier in the evening, when you first got to the club?”
“I arrived at the club, and one of the waiters let me in. Then I wandered around, looking for the dressing room. I went down the hallway and walked into the wrong room. I stumbled into some kind of utility room. Lonnie was in there fixing a water tank and talking to that huge doorman. Lucas I think his name is. They acted kind of startled, and I was embarrassed to be wandering around, so I backed out fast. When I finally found the dressing room I discovered Charity Freeborn rummaging through some drawers in the dressing table. She kind of freaked out when I came in.”
“Yeah, she told us she had to sneak in to collect some of her things,” George commented.
Bess nodded. “That’s what she told me, too. We talked a little bit about some dances around town, then she gave me that flyer. I changed into my mermaid costume and went out on the floor.”
“And you stayed there until the club opened?” Nancy asked.
Bess nodded. “That’s about all that happened until the kids were let in. Then Tom Kragen kept bugging me for a date. And after that I spoke with you and George.”
“Not much to go on,” Nancy said. “I still can’t see a connection between you and Etienne and Gaetan Orakuma, or how Tom Kragen might fit in with the other two.” She paused, thinking. “Did you see a fight between Etienne and a tall, dark guy last night, Bess?” She showed Bess the picture of Etienne arguing with Gaetan.
Bess scrutinized the photo uncertainly. “I think I saw him somewhere around just before the lights went out, but I can’t be sure,” she said. “I was too busy fending off Tom Kragen.”
George finished the last of her dinner and pushed her plate back. “I’m beyond stuffed,” she groaned. “That was delicious, Auntie—as usual.”
Nancy rose from the table. “Thanks, Mrs. Marvin. I hate to eat and run, but George and I have to do some more work tonight.”
“Where are you going?” Bess asked.
“To find Gaetan and Charity again, but first I want to make a quick stop at the Kragen quarry,” Nancy replied. “I want to search the office for anything that would tie Tom to the kidnapping, or to any kind of connection with Etienne.”
By now it was dark. The Kragen quarry grounds were dark and forbidding as Nancy and George parked the car on the street nearby. Nancy checked around for any signs of guards or employees, but there was no one in sight. She grabbed a flashlight and her special detective’s tool kit from the glove compartment. Then she and George walked up to the fence that surrounded the quarry. The chain-link fence was secured with a huge padlock.
“How’re we going to get in?” George whispered.
Nancy surveyed the fence. There was no sign that it was wired. “Let’s look for a break in the fence—someplace big enough to squeeze through,” she said. “Otherwise we’ll have to scale it.”
Nancy and George walked around the perimeter of the fence, checking for gaps. As they turned a corner, Nancy saw that the chain wire had separated from one of the metal posts in one spot. She grasped the metal fence and pulled it up and back, opening a gap about eight inches wide. “Let me try first,” she said, bending down and crawling through. Nancy felt a scrape on her arm as the jagged edge of the fence tore her skin. Then she scrambled up on the other side.
George tried to follow Nancy, but found it impossible to squeeze her slightly larger frame through the opening. “Wait for me here,” Nancy said, disappearing toward the trailer office.
Nancy took her flashlight and shined it across the trailer. Seeing nothing unusual, she pulled out her lock pick and jimmied the lock. The door swung open.
Nancy was just about to enter the trailer when she heard a soft popping sound. At that same moment she found herself caught in the brilliant glare of a security spotlight. Then the piercing sound of multiple alarms split the night!
Chapter
Ten
NANCY INSTANTLY REALIZED she had triggered a security alarm when she opened the office door. A security company was probably being summoned at that very moment. Her heart thumped with panic. Nancy figured that she probably had only a few minutes to get away.
Gnashing her teeth because her mission had failed, Nancy wheeled around and sped back toward the fence. George was waiting.
“Nancy, what happened?” George asked as she held open the fence for Nancy. “Did you get inside?”
“I’m afraid not,” Nancy replied breathlessly, crawling out from under the fence. “We’d better get back to the car pronto, George. I’m sure a security company is sending a car around right now.”
The two girls hustled back to the Mustang and pulled away from the curb. When they were less than a quarter mile away from the quarry, they passed a sleek white-and-blue security patrol car. The car’s yellow roof lights were flashing as it headed the other way. The officer at the wheel took no notice of Nanc
y and George.
Nancy breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew, we barely got away that time,” she said.
“What were you hoping to find?” George asked.
“Something solid to tie Tom to the kidnapping,” Nancy replied. “The photos-1 saw in his darkroom earlier, and the fact that he lied about dating Bess, may indicate that he’s been following her, or worse.”
“Do you want to try again after the security patrol leaves?” George asked.
Nancy shook her head. “With that alarm system, it’s too risky to go back unless I’m sure of finding something. Let’s call B. D. Hawkins and find out what he’s turned up so far on Gaetan.”
Nancy stopped at a pay phone to call the police detective. B.D. took her call right away.
“Nancy, I’m glad you called,” the detective said. “I was just leaving for the night.”
“Did you find Gaetan?” Nancy asked.
B.D. sighed. “No, we went to that address you gave me, but he’d already left. It looked as if he left in a hurry, too. There was stuff strewn all over the place.”
Just how a guilty party would respond, Nancy thought to herself.
Nancy chatted with the detective a few more minutes, then hung up and turned to George. “Gaetan’s running from the police. He abandoned his apartment, and B.D.’s tracking him down. In the meantime let’s do a little more digging on our own.”
“Where do we start?” George asked.
Nancy thought for a minute. “Let’s start with Charity’s house, if we can find it. I want to talk with her parents to see if I can get a lead on where she might be staying. And then I remember from Bess’s flyer that there’s another dance party scheduled for tonight at a loft in the warehouse district. We can go there to see if anyone’s seen Charity or Gaetan. It’s a long shot, but worth a try.”
Nancy lifted the phone book that was attached to the pay phone by a thick metal cord. “Freeborn is an unusual last name,” she said, thumbing through the book. “There probably won’t be too many of them. Here it is,” she said, running her finger down the page. “There are two Free-borns listed.”
George peered over her shoulder. “That listing for ‘B. Freeborn’ says they live at Twelve Regent Court. Isn’t that a really fancy part of town?”
Nancy nodded. “And from what Etienne told us, I’ll bet that’s where they live. Let’s head there first.”
B. Freeborn’s house was an elegant, three-story brick dwelling set back on a wooded lot behind a screen of hemlocks. It looked like a replica of a British manor house. Nancy pulled into the circular drive, where a couple of expensive luxury sedans were parked. A uniformed maid answered the doorbell.
“I’m a friend of Charity’s,” Nancy said. “Is she home now?”
The dark-haired maid seemed confused and uncertain. “Um—no,” she said. “I’ll tell Mr. Freeborn that you’re here.” Nancy felt a surge of excitement as she and George followed the maid into a formal living room. She’d found the right house!
The room was furnished with ornately carved, silk-covered furniture. “This room looks like people never use it,” George whispered, taking in the array of expensive porcelain on the highly polished wooden side tables. “I’m almost afraid to breathe in here.”
“I know exactly what you mean, George,” Nancy replied with a grin.
A man cleared his throat in the doorway just behind Nancy. Turning, she saw a tall, patrician man standing there. “I’m Bradley Freeborn, Charity’s father,” he stated simply. Mr. Freeborn was wearing a cream-colored cashmere blazer, and had streaks of gray in his dark hair. He had a serious, but not unfriendly, expression on his face. “You know my daughter, Charity?” he asked, reaching out to shake their hands.
Nancy nodded. “I’m Nancy Drew, and this is George Fayne,” she said. She decided not to reveal the real reason that she was looking for Charity. “We thought we’d stop by to see if Charity was around. There’s a party tonight we wanted to invite her to.”
“Well, I wish I could be of some help,” Bradley Freeborn said with a sigh. “But I simply don’t know where she is.” Nancy could see worry lines etched on his brow. “We had a quarrel—a stupid quarrel over her boyfriend, and she took off without a word. Her mother hasn’t left her bed in days, she’s so worried.”
Nancy felt sorry for Charity’s father. He was obviously distraught over his daughter’s absence. “I saw Charity at a dance last night,” Nancy said, trying to reassure him. “She was fine at that time.”
“You did?” Mr. Freeborn’s eyes lit up. “I’ll tell her mother. That’ll make her feel much better.”
A brass pendulum clock on the mantelpiece over the fireplace chimed eight o’clock. Nancy and George turned to leave. “If I see Charity, I’ll tell her that you want her to come home,” Nancy said softly.
Nancy thought she saw tears welling in the corners of Mr. Freeborn’s eyes. “Thank you, Miss Drew,” he said with a grateful smile.
After saying goodbye, Nancy and George headed for the warehouse district.
The warehouse district, which was normally busy with trucks delivering freight and goods during the day, was almost totally deserted at night. Here and there, the girls could see hunched-over figures pushing shopping carts and the campfires of homeless people glowing in the corners of vacant lots.
“We’re getting off the beaten track, aren’t we?” George observed warily.
Nancy clicked on her high beams to read a street sign ahead of them. “Here we are, I think. This is where the dance is tonight,” she said, turning down the side street.
A row of parked cars stretched along the street in front of them. Nancy pulled into an empty spot, and then she and George followed a group of young people to a nondescript, gray metal door. A guy wearing black baggies and suspenders stood by the door, taking money. “The party’s on the sixth floor,” he announced.
Nancy and George paid their five dollars each and climbed the six flights of stairs to an upstairs loft. The loft was basically one large, open room with redbrick walls. House music was blasting from a set of oversize speakers that someone had hung from the ceiling.
Nancy recognized some of the same faces she’d seen at the amusement park the night before. Underground parties obviously drew from a crowd of regulars. She hoped that someone would have heard of Gaetan and Charity’s whereabouts.
The teens were dressed in their coolest outfits for a special dance competition. The crowd formed a semicircle around the couples who were competing. Nancy and George stood near the back of the crowd, applauding as the male dancer of the couple threw his partner into the air in a spectacular flying twist.
“Those guys are really good,” George commented enthusiastically.
“Why don’t you grab a guy and get out there, George?” Nancy asked with a chuckle.
George shook her head. “I’m all left feet on the dance floor,” she said ruefully.
Getting back to the business at hand, Nancy checked around for anyone she recognized so she could ask about Charity and Gaetan. Then her heart skipped a beat. There was Gaetan, standing talking to the DJ! “George,” Nancy muttered under her breath. “Look over there, by the music console.”
George followed Nancy’s glance. “It’s Gaetan!” she gasped. “That’s pretty amazing that he’d show up in public tonight, with the police looking for him,” she said.
“I’d like you to go find a phone somewhere and call B.D.,” Nancy said. “Tell him that Gaetan’s here. I’m going to have a talk with him.”
“Okay,” George replied. “It may take me a while. I didn’t see too many pay phones around here while we were driving over.”
As soon as George left, Nancy walked toward Gaetan. He spotted her and instantly tried to melt into the crowd. Nancy blocked his retreat by stepping around him.
“Not so fast, Gaetan,” Nancy said swiftly. “You have some explaining to do.”
A scowl crossed his face. “What are you talking about?” he snapped. “Di
dn’t you bother me and Charity enough yesterday?”
“I came to ask you some questions about Etienne,” Nancy replied.
“Why don’t you ask him?” Gaetan replied, turning his back on her. It looked as if he was getting ready to leave.
“I can’t ask Etienne, because Etienne is dead,” Nancy said evenly, waiting for his reaction.
Gaetan froze in his tracks. Then he spun around and stared at Nancy. “What do you mean, dead?” he whispered.
“Etienne was murdered—strangled. I was there today when the police found a threatening message from you on his answering machine,” Nancy explained.
“So the police must think I’m the one who murdered him,” Gaetan said weakly. Nancy nodded. He dropped into a sitting position on a folding chair. “So that was why the police were at my apartment tonight. I was in the process of moving, and when I came back to pick up some things, I saw squad cars all over the place.” He held his head in his hands. “I thought they’d come to deport me because of my visa problems.”
“Why did you threaten to kill Etienne, Gaetan?” Nancy asked him.
Gaetan pulled a white handkerchief from his pants pocket and mopped his brow. “I spouted off while I was angry, but I didn’t mean it. I needed the money so that Charity and I could get married,” he said.
Nancy wanted to believe what Gaetan was saying—that he hadn’t killed Etienne. Maybe he had an alibi, she thought. “Where were you and Charity all day today?”
“I was moving. Charity and I were making trips to my new place in a van I rented,” he said. “I don’t think we spoke to anyone else all day.”
“The police aren’t going to buy that alibi, Gaetan,” Nancy said. “They may even try to tie you into Bess’s abduction. I know for a fact that Charity lied about your not being at the Razor’s Edge last night. I have a picture of you and Etienne arguing at the club.”
Gaetan grimaced. “I know she lied about that. She just thought you were butting into our private business, so I guess she lied to protect me.”