“Oh, no, not again. I’ve lost two pairs already this week. Someone’s been stealing shoes,” the redhead exclaimed.
“But why?” the first girl wondered. “I mean, whoever took them couldn’t possibly wear all those shoes. Besides, no one would want to use someone else’s pointe shoes. There’s no way they’d be able to dance in them.”
“Hey, pass me one of those carrots,” said the girl who liked Robert Sierra.
Her friend handed her the bag, and pretty soon the group was busy talking about the guys in the company again.
But Nancy had stopped listening. Stolen pointe shoes. She’d been hearing a lot about stolen shoes since she’d gotten to CBT. She remembered how Katya had asked Bridgit if she’d found a pair of her shoes. And the first time she had come to the dancers’ lounge, some of the ballerinas had been saying they, too, had lost shoes. Katya’s missing shoes in the costume shop that day were probably just another example of the same thing.
Nancy remembered the torn piece of silk she and Ned had discovered in the costume storage room. She hadn’t been sure if it was part of a costume or a small bit of a pointe shoe. Now she was convinced it was from a dance slipper. A slipper that the black-clad intruder had ripped apart in his wild search for the diamond.
Slowly Nancy began to develop a theory. The diamond must have been hidden in a pair of pointe shoes. That was how the thief had smuggled the diamond past the police and out of the new theater. If the jewel were wrapped up in lamb’s wool—which the dancers used to pad the toes of their pointe shoes—and stuffed in a slipper, it would be the perfect way to safeguard the stolen pin and smuggle it past the police.
But when the costume people carried the costumes back to the old theater, the thief must have lost track of the shoe with the diamond. And no wonder. There’d been costumes, personal possessions, and makeup to move. And that included pointe shoes belonging to thirty women!
Quickly Nancy calculated. If each girl owned five or six pairs, that would mean three or four hundred individual shoes to pack up and bring back to the old theater! It wasn’t at all surprising that the thieves had lost track of the right one!
Okay! Nancy told herself excitedly. All I have to do is find that shoe and I’ve got the diamond!
But Nancy knew it wouldn’t be at all simple. After all, the thieves had been searching among the shoes for four days already. They had a very big head start, but, she consoled herself, they hadn’t found it yet. She still had a chance. It would be a huge undertaking, but after the thieves had tried to kill her that morning, she was more determined than ever!
Her theory didn’t tell her who had stolen the gem, but at least she could recover the stolen property.
Nancy quickly checked to see if Katya was still there. There were some important things she wanted to ask the group of dancers, and it would definitely not be a good idea to do it in front of one of her prime suspects. But the older ballerina had already left.
Nancy leaned in toward the girls. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help hearing what you said about your pointe shoes disappearing lately. Maybe I can help you out.” And if I’m lucky, she added, you’ll be able to help me out.
“Oh, you’re the detective who’s investigating the diamond robbery,” the redhead said. “Sure, it would be great if you could find our shoes for us. It’s very painful breaking in new shoes.”
“Well, the first thing I need to do is take a look at some of your shoes.”
“Okay,” the girl said. She pulled two pairs out of her bag and handed them to Nancy.
“What’s so special about these?” Nancy wanted to know. “I mean, why wouldn’t any other dancer want to wear them?”
“Pointe shoes aren’t all the same,” the dancer explained. She turned one slipper over and pointed to a tiny letter engraved in the middle of the hard leather sole. “See, that letter stands for a particular shoemaker. Each one sews the slippers slightly differently. T’s shoes feel great to me, but Sondra here gets horrible blisters from them,” she said nodding at one of the other girls.
“Well, it’s possible that the ballet shoe thief is really looking for a pair of slippers she lost earlier,” Nancy suggested. “So if I help find those slippers, maybe the thief will leave your shoes alone. Now, where might the person who’s looking for her shoes have put all of yours?”
The red-haired dancer shrugged. “If we knew that, we’d go get them. But I guess you could try the dressing rooms, the studios, anyplace and every place. Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but I just don’t know.”
“Well, in that case I’d better get started looking right away.” Nancy grabbed her purse and hurried out of the lounge.
“Good luck,” she heard one of the dancers call after her.
• • •
By the end of the day Nancy’s feet ached. She had been all over the CBT building searching for shoes, but she hadn’t found anything.
And somehow, while she was looking, she had mislaid her purse. She was incredibly annoyed at herself. She shouldn’t have been so careless. Her money, her car keys, her driver’s license—everything was in that bag. If she didn’t find it, she was going to have to leave her car in Chicago all night and try to catch a ride home with Ned. Nancy sighed. This definitely hadn’t turned out to be a very good day. Nancy dragged her feet down the steps to the lobby.
All of a sudden she stopped short. Sitting in the middle of a couch in the middle of the lobby was her purse! “I know I didn’t leave that down here,” she exclaimed out loud. Picking up her pace, she hurried to the couch.
Nancy grabbed up her purse and cautiously opened it. There, as she had guessed, was another square of folded white paper—another note from the thieves! Slowly she opened it and read.
Either you’ve developed a foot fetish, Nancy Drew, or you’ve finally figured out where the pin is hidden. But stay on your toes because I’m looking for the diamond, also. Too much is at stake for me to let you get it before I do. So be warned, I’ll do anything to keep you from ruining my plans. Anything!
Chapter
Fourteen
NANCY PRESSED HER lips passionately against Brad’s. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him on the Drews’ couch.
“Mmm,” he murmured. “This is absolutely the perfect way to spend a Thursday night.”
Nancy responded with yet another kiss. “When I was little, I used to hate the times Hannah was out and my dad worked late at the office. But now that I’m older, I realize that it does have a few advantages.”
Brad leaned back against the sofa, and Nancy rested her head comfortably on his shoulder. “So,” he asked, “what movie did you rent?”
Nancy coughed. “Uh, I thought we’d watch a video I taped off the TV.” She knew Brad wasn’t going to like her choice of entertainment.
“Sure, anything you want,” Brad said, stroking Nancy’s hair lovingly. “I guess it really doesn’t matter what we put on the VCR.” He laid another kiss on the top of Nancy’s head.
Nancy squeezed Brad’s hand, then stood up and popped the cassette into the VCR. She pushed the play button and the TV screen lit up with a view of the stage. Soon three dancers—Katya, Belinda, and Andre—came whirling onstage, moving through the carefully choreographed steps of CBT’s now notorious pas de trois.
“Nancy!” Brad yelled, totally frustrated. “You’re doing more detective work! I thought we were going to have the evening to ourselves—no father, no interruptions, and most of all, no mystery! Don’t you ever take a night off?”
Nancy shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry, Brad. I guess until this case is over, you’re just going to have to learn to appreciate ballet.”
Brad crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to. And I don’t want to help investigate this crazy mystery, either. Can’t we have just one night alone?”
Nancy dropped back onto the couch. “Not yet, Brad, but soon, I promise. Just as soon as I’ve solved it.”
“All I wanted was a
nice easygoing relationship and what do I get? A live version of an Agatha Christie novel.”
But Nancy was already so engrossed in the moving figures on the screen that she barely even heard him. The clue that would solve the mystery had to be here. And this time she’d catch it!
Nancy checked every tiny detail, her eyes jumping from the dancers to the background to the Raja diamond sparkling on Katya’s bodice, searching for the smallest, most easy-to-miss clue. But there was nothing out of place. Everything seemed to be perfect.
Finally the lights went out at the end of the dance, and when they came back on, one ear-splitting scream and a few moments later, the Raja diamond was gone. Katya woke up from her faint, then slowly limped toward the wings with Belinda and Andre supporting her on either side. The picture made by the exiting star ballerina was quite beautiful and poignant. Her head was bowed, and the ribbon of her pointe shoe trailed behind her.
“Hey, wait a minute,” Nancy cried suddenly. “I think I’ve found my clue!” Jumping up, she pushed the rewind button on the VCR, then quickly pushed the play button once again. She studied the three dancers for an instant before stopping the machine. “I was right!” she exclaimed. “Brad, look!”
Brad sat forward, a confused expression on his face. “What, Nancy? I don’t see anything wrong.”
“That’s exactly the point,” Nancy said excitedly. “Here”—and she poked the play button once again—“at the beginning of the dance, everything is all right. Now look at this.” She pushed the fast forward button and the machine sped forward to the last shot of Katya leaving the stage. “Katya’s right ballet shoe! It’s untied here! But it wasn’t before.”
“So?” Brad asked. “What’s the big deal?”
“Think—pointe shoes don’t just untie themselves. Someone did it on purpose. And the only person who could have done it was Katya!” She scrutinized the dancer. “And there’s something else that’s most important. Katya’s limping on her right side. But today in the dancers’ lounge, she was putting ice on her left ankle, and she said that was her weak ankle.
“Brad, that’s it! While the lights were out, Katya untied her shoe and put the diamond in it. But then, of course, she couldn’t help but limp. She covered it up by claiming it was her bad ankle, and no one ever caught on that it was the wrong leg!”
“But I still don’t see how she got the diamond past the police,” Brad said. “I mean, they searched all the costumes, right?”
“Yes, but the dancers got out of those costumes in their dressing rooms, first. Even with a policewoman watching her, it wouldn’t have been hard for Katya to exchange her pointe shoes with the diamond in them for an old pair. It would have taken only a second. And then she could just walk out of the theater with the diamond in her shoes and the shoes in her bag—no suspicion. The only thing I don’t understand is how she then lost the shoes.”
“It’s a good theory,” Brad said. “I think it actually could have worked!” A gleam of enthusiasm began to show in his gray eyes.
“And it explains why the shoes I found attached to Katya’s costume in the costume shop were old ones, obviously not the clean new ones she wore during the performance. So Katya has to be the one who stole the diamond. And Colby’s in on the heist with her. He probably planned the whole thing to get back at James for letting him go at the end of this season and then convinced Katya to help him pull it off.”
“Nancy!” Brad cried. “I think you’ve done it! You’ve solved the mystery!” He threw his arms around her and gave her a huge hug. “Finally, we’re going to be able to get back to normal around here!”
Nancy pushed Brad back gently. “Not quite yet. I’ve still got a lot of work to do. I won’t be finished until I find the diamond and have Colby and Katya arrested.”
“But now you can go to the police and let them handle the rest of the case, right?”
Nancy shook her head. “Sorry. It’s still my responsibility. Besides, laying my hands on that pin is going to be the most satisfying part of the mystery! I definitely won’t give up that moment.”
Brad groaned. “You have got to be kidding.”
Nancy stared at Brad, her gaze holding his. “No, Brad. I’ve never been more serious in my life. I’m going to find that diamond. Nothing’s going to stop me now. Nothing!”
• • •
Nancy had been so excited Thursday night that she had barely slept at all. She had just kept going over her theory again and again. Even after she had been through the whole scenario half a dozen times, she couldn’t find any flaw in her thinking.
At the theater the next morning she was determined to get the evidence she needed to put Colby and Katya away—and she was determined to get the diamond. That meant keeping a close eye on the two thieves.
Tentatively, she knocked on the door of the studio where Colby was rehearsing Katya for a new solo piece. “Who is it?” came Colby’s voice from inside the studio.
Nancy opened the door and stuck her head into the room. “Hi,” she said. “I heard you two were working together in here. If it wouldn’t bother you, I’d really love to watch. I’ve never had the chance to see anyone with your talent rehearse before.”
Colby hesitated, then turned to Katya. The tall, blond dancer broke into a smile. “Certainly, dear,” she said, her Russian accent heavy.
Colby looked puzzled. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Of course,” the dancer replied. “Come in and have a seat.” She motioned to a chair in front of the mirrors.
Nancy stepped inside and shut the door firmly behind her. “Thanks,” she said. She had the feeling Colby and Katya knew she was stalking them, but for some reason they didn’t seem very worried. Or at least Katya didn’t. Why? Nancy wondered. Could they have found the shoe with the missing diamond in it?
She was pretty sure they hadn’t because the warning note she had gotten the day before said they were still looking. It wasn’t likely that they’d found it since then. At least she hoped they hadn’t.
Colby walked over to the tape deck and pushed the play button. Lush symphonic music poured out of the speakers. “Okay,” he said to Katya, “let’s take it from the beginning of the second section.”
Katya marked a few steps, her movements very small, until the music came to the right spot. Suddenly she broke into full, smooth dancing. The result was breathtaking. To Nancy, it looked flawless.
But after a few moments, Colby clapped his hands to stop the dancer. “The extension in arabesque should begin on the count of five, not four. Let’s try it again.” He rewound the tape, and Katya began a second time.
The two artists ran through the dance over and over, making minor corrections, arguing over the rhythm of the steps and searching for that tiny extra bit of stretch that would make the dance perfect. To Nancy, it was a fascinating process.
She could see that both Colby and Katya pushed themselves very hard. They weren’t satisfied with the piece until they’d been over it countless times. They were incredibly dedicated and talented. It was unthinkable that James had decided not to rehire the two of them. Nancy could almost sympathize with them for stealing the diamond in order to get back at James Ellsworth.
Almost. But not quite. All Nancy had to remember was their attempting to kill her in the empty elevator shaft.
“What do you think, Katya?” Colby finally asked after an hour and a half of nonstop rehearsing. “Should we call it quits for the day?”
“No! I think the piece could use quite a bit more work. Let’s continue.”
“Okay,” Colby replied. He rewound the tape once more, and Katya began all over again.
Nancy listened to the short conversation intently. All through the rehearsal Colby and Katya had been having little exchanges like that. Colby would turn to Katya and ask her opinion. Then, whatever Katya decided, they would do, just as when Nancy had asked to watch the rehearsal. Colby hadn’t decided until he checked with Katya first.
And she rem
embered how Katya had persuaded Colby to let her and Brad go when they’d been caught eavesdropping. It was becoming very clear to Nancy that Katya really knew how to control the artistic director.
Also, it was becoming increasingly difficult to imagine Colby as the brains behind the diamond theft. As it was hard to imagine Katya being manipulated by him. Katya’s personality was much stronger than Colby’s.
And finally something Katya had said kept coming back to Nancy. “One little object like that shouldn’t be able to make so many problems.” She had said that the first day they had met in the video room. Finally it dawned on Nancy that she was the one who had used the word object to describe the gem. And that meant she had written the threatening letters, not Colby.
Nancy felt like shouting. Colby didn’t plan the robbery, Katya did!
Nancy watched the beautiful dancer extend her leg perfectly. Of course, Nancy told herself, I should have seen it long ago. Colby’s so devoted to Katya that he’d do anything for her—and he probably has. Like luring me into the elevator shaft!
I’ve got to finish this case once and for all, Nancy thought urgently. Katya’s private dressing room—I’ve got to search there. Suddenly Nancy felt as if she couldn’t wait one more second. I have to search that room—now. And since Katya and Colby are going to be rehearsing for another hour, I’ve got the time to do it without being caught!
The next time the dancers stopped for a moment, Nancy spoke up. “Uh, thanks for letting me watch. I’ve really learned a lot! But I’ve got some stuff to do myself, so I think I’ll be going. Thanks again.”
“See you later,” Katya called as Nancy hurried out of the studio.
It didn’t take Nancy more than a few minutes to find Katya’s dressing room and jimmy the lock. She stepped in and closed the door quietly behind her. Seven or eight pairs of pointe shoes lay under the vanity table and Nancy went for those first. But, as she already knew, there was nothing inside any of them.
Nancy turned the slippers over and inspected the numbers and letter on the hard leather bottoms. “Size five, double A, made by X,” Nancy said softly to herself. “That information might come in very handy later.”