It felt great to talk to him, and soon Nancy found herself telling Ned about Matt Glover.
“Yeah, I read about him showing up in the paper,” Ned said when she was done. His voice was filled with concern as he added, “If he’s an impostor, he’s got a lot to lose if anyone exposes him. Be careful, Nan.”
“You know me,” she said in a teasing voice.
He sighed. “That’s what has me worried.”
Nancy said goodbye, then hung up and went out to her Mustang. It was already dark, but the porch light illuminated the outdoor thermometer, which read fifteen degrees. The pond would definitely be frozen.
Raising her eyes, she admired the pale three-quarter moon that was just rising. She thought of the old days Matt kept mentioning. If only she knew whether he remembered them himself, or whether he’d been coached to memorize the details of Matt Glover’s boyhood by someone else. She remembered Sheila McCoy saying that Gary Page had the best memory for detail she’d ever known. Was it good enough to memorize all the details of someone else’s life?
As Nancy pulled up in front of the Environmental Action office, it was just before eight and she stopped thinking about Matt and started thinking about Tony. She frowned when she looked at the office. She didn’t see any lights on. Maybe he’d left right on time that day.
Looking up and down the street, she saw that it was deserted and pitch-dark except for the weak glow of a street lamp a block away. Nancy reached into the glove compartment for her flashlight and flicked it on, before walking through the frigid night air to the office door.
She knocked and called Tony’s name, but no one answered. Next, she tried the door. It opened. Great! She’d just take a quick look around for anything incriminating. Shining her flashlight so she could see where she was going, Nancy went down the short hallway, past the two closed doors, toward the garagelike office.
The door to Tony’s office stood wide open, but the lights were off. In a soft voice, Nancy tentatively called his name again, just to make sure no one was there. Then she swung her beam around the room.
After flipping through the papers on his desk, she opened the top drawer. Nothing there but a candy bar and some old papers that had to do with a local law about industrial dumping into the river.
The other drawers were just as uninteresting, and they were dirty, too. Her nose began to feel itchy from all the dust she was creating.
Just then Nancy felt a prickly sensation at the back of her neck. It didn’t make sense that Giralda had left the building unlocked, so he must be coming back soon. She knew she should leave, but she wanted to check out whatever was beyond the other doors leading off the hallway. Doing so was probably a waste of time, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Quickly she went back to the hallway, swinging the beam of her flashlight back and forth. When she reached the first door, she tried the handle gingerly. The door pulled open with a creak, and Nancy peered into the dim interior. It was a closet, as she’d expected. It contained nothing but cleaning supplies and an ancient-looking mimeograph machine.
At the next door Nancy paused for a moment. Was that a noise she heard? She stood completely still, listening, but there was nothing.
I guess I just imagined it, she thought, shaking her head. This place is starting to get me spooked. Resolutely, she pulled open the door and stepped inside.
All of a sudden Nancy felt herself being roughly shoved forward. She fell to her knees. A second later she heard the door slam shut behind her and the lock turn. She was trapped!
Nancy swung the beam of her flashlight until she found the light switch, then turned it on. Keeping the lights off didn’t matter anymore, since someone knew she was there.
She didn’t have time to wonder who, though, because just then she heard a low growling behind her. Nancy whirled around.
Standing in the back left corner of the room were two very large dogs. They looked part German shepherd and part something else— something wild. Their teeth were bared, and their fierce eyes were trained on Nancy!
Chapter
Seven
NANCY FROZE, trying to remember everything she knew about calming animals. “Good boys.” She tried to keep her voice calm, but she could hear that it was higher pitched than normal. “What good boys, yes. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
The dogs’ teeth were no longer bared, she saw with relief, but they were still growling, so she kept talking. “I don’t blame you for being angry at me. If someone burst into my house as I did into yours, I’d be furious . . ..” She trailed off, peering cautiously at the huge animals. Was it working?
She wasn’t sure. “Good boys,” she said again. The dogs seemed to be calming down, but Nancy wasn’t—especially when she heard a voice outside the door shout, “Who’s there?”
It was Tony Giralda! There was no way she could hide from him now, so she called out, “It’s me—Nancy Drew.”
There was a pause, then the door was unlocked and opened. Tony was standing in the hall, a frown on his face. “What are you doing in there?” he asked. “What are you doing here at all?”
“Get me away from these dogs, first,” Nancy said, stepping quickly around him and into the hall. “I didn’t know you had attack dogs.”
“Attack dogs?” Tony repeated, looking amused. “Fred and Max wouldn’t hurt a flea. They’re high-strung, but they’re sweethearts.” As if to prove it, Tony whistled softly, and the big dogs loped over to him, giving little yowls of happiness when Tony petted them. “Fred was probably terrified when you went in there. He’s afraid of strangers.”
“I didn’t go in, I was pushed,” Nancy told Tony. “Hard.” She gazed intently at him.
Tony’s mouth dropped open. “But nobody was even here. I was out getting dinner. When I came back and saw the door was open, at first I was afraid a burglar was in here. But I guess I just left it unlocked.” He smiled sheepishly. “Sometimes I get so caught up in my work I forget to lock up.”
He led her back to his office, switching lights on as he went and checking out the entire area.
“Whoever pushed you is gone now,” he said as they sat down, Nancy at his desk chair and Tony in a gray metal folding chair. “Did you get a look at the person?”
“No. Anyone could have gotten in the front door.”
“Mmmm.” Tony frowned. “Well, nothing seems to be missing, so I guess if the person was a burglar, you scared him off. Hey, you still haven’t answered my question,” he said. “What were you doing here?”
Nancy watched him for a second before answering. She wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem as if Tony had been the one to push her. He seemed genuinely surprised to see her. Besides, why would he push her into Fred and Max’s room if he knew the big dogs wouldn’t harm her?
On the other hand, if he knew Nancy didn’t know the dogs were harmless, he could have locked her in the room just to scare her or to teach her a lesson.
Nancy frowned. The only thing the incident did was reinforce her feeling that she was right to be looking into the Matt Glover case. Someone didn’t like her snooping around, and someone had tried to do something about it.
“I wanted to see you,” she told Tony at last. It was true, even if she did get in a little snooping while she was at it. “I wanted to ask you some questions.”
“Like what?”
She decided to confide in Tony—up to a point. “I went to the offices of the Clarion in Chicago this afternoon,” she said. “I spoke to Matt Glover’s editor. She identified a photograph of him and confirmed everything he’d said.”
Nancy took out the article Sheila McCoy had given her and handed it to Tony. “Here’s a sample of one of his earliest pieces for the Clarion. He was using the name Gary Page then.”
Tony smoothed the crumpled photocopy and scanned it briefly. He was about to hand it back when something caught his eye. “Jake Loomis!” he exclaimed. “I always wondered what happened to him. He left town a few years ago.”
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Nancy felt a prickling sensation along the top of her scalp. “Jake Loomis used to live in River Heights?” she asked.
“Sure. He was the gardener out at Glover’s Corners. He worked there for years. Wow, this brings it all back! Yeah, Loomis must have left when Matt was about fifteen or sixteen. He always had dreams about setting up his own business.”
“He seems to have succeeded, judging by this article.”
“Yeah.” Tony leaned forward and said in an urgent voice, “Look, this is all beside the point. What I want to know is, what are you doing about exposing this fake Matt Glover? I mean, surely you can see by now that I’m right about him.”
No, Nancy couldn’t. She didn’t know whom to believe. She didn’t really trust Tony or Matt. Tony wanted Matt to be a fake, so that Giralda’s Environmental Action would get a piece of Mr. Glover’s fortune. Since he hadn’t mentioned the money he’d be receiving from the estate, maybe he wasn’t playing straight with her.
She wanted to find out more about Tony’s interest in the will, but she was afraid of pressing her luck. She’d already been accosted once, and she didn’t want to risk it happening again in such a deserted place. She rose to go. “Thanks for the information. I’ll be in touch.”
Tony walked her out to her car. The moon had fully risen, and the gloomy street in front of the office was now bathed in silvery light. Suddenly Nancy had an inspiration. Why not ask Tony to Matt’s skating party? Maybe she could learn something from how Tony and Matt behaved toward each other.
Tony reacted oddly to her suggestion. He seemed shy and unsure of himself. “I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t really been invited. I’m not sure I should come.”
“I’m inviting you,” Nancy said. “If you don’t have skates, there are probably some there you can borrow. Besides, I thought you said you knew Matt like a brother.”
“The real Matt,” Tony muttered. “Not this guy.”
“That’s the whole point. You’ll be able to watch him on what’s supposed to be his home turf. You can’t afford to pass up a chance like this.”
Tony rubbed his chin, considering. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay, I’ll go,” he said, but he didn’t sound as though he really wanted to.
Nancy climbed into her car. “I have to pick up my friends first. Why don’t you go ahead to the Corners and we’ll meet you there.”
Tony still seemed troubled, but he agreed.
Nancy couldn’t help wondering why he was acting so strange. Why would he be reluctant to visit Matt—unless he had something to hide?
• • •
George was ready and waiting, dressed in red sweats and a heavy down vest. Her ice skates were slung over her shoulder, and she was eager to get on the ice. A natural athlete with terrific coordination, George was at her best when she was in action.
Five minutes later they were in front of Bess’s house, and Bess, wearing a short pleated skirt, a pink turtleneck and tights, and a heavy sweater, was climbing into the backseat.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll freeze in that?” George asked, gesturing at Bess’s skirt.
“I have on three pairs of tights,” Bess returned. She added in an anxious voice. “Do they make my legs look too fat?”
“Are you kidding? You look great!” Nancy said firmly. She was a little dismayed, though, because she knew exactly whom Bess wanted to look great for.
As they drove to Glover’s Corners, Nancy told her friends about what had happened at Giralda’s office. “Anyway, I invited him to come skating with us tonight,” she said, finishing her story.
“What!” Bess and George exclaimed together.
“What did you do that for?” Bess went on.
“He has an interest in exposing Matt,” Nancy said. “It may be greed on his part, or it may be something more honest. I have to find out.”
“Oh, Nan,” said Bess from the backseat. “Can’t we forget about the case for tonight? I just want to have fun.”
Nancy smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “Me, too. I’m just going to keep my eyes open, that’s all.” Turning into the driveway, she announced, “Here we are.”
“Oh, it looks more gorgeous than usual,” Bess said as they climbed out of the Mustang.
Nancy had to agree. Glover’s Corners was blazing with light from every window. There were white Christmas-tree lights strung in the bare limbs of the trees around the pond, and the moon had climbed high, shedding a warm glow on the skeletal maple trees and the carefully trimmed evergreen bushes by the house.
Suddenly Nancy blinked. “That’s it,” she said softly.
“What’s it?” asked George.
Nancy quickly explained what Tony Giralda had told her about Jake Loomis’s being the gardener at Glover’s Corners. “You know, I thought there was something funny, and I just realized what it is.”
Nancy took a deep breath, then went on. “All the article said was that Loomis had worked at a private estate. Mr. Glover’s name was never even mentioned, even though, according to Tony, Jake Loomis worked there for many years. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
“Why?” Bess looked confused.
“Loomis is a pretty successful guy now,” George said. “Maybe he didn’t mention Glover’s Corners because he wanted to play down the fact that he used to be a gardener for a rich guy. It might be embarrassing for him.”
“Maybe,” Nancy said slowly. “But what if Gary Page or Matt Glover—whoever he is— purposely didn’t mention Glover’s Corners in the article. What if he didn’t want anything to connect Jake Loomis to the Glover family?”
“What are you getting at, Nan?” Bess was stamping her feet to keep warm.
Nancy took a deep breath. “It’s quite possible that a fake Matt Glover and Jake Loom-is are working together to steal Mr. Glover’s fortune!”
Chapter
Eight
INDIGNATION PLAYED OVER Bess’s face.
“That’s ridicu—” she started to say, but she broke off in midword, startled by a hissing noise from the darkness behind them.
“Pssst!”
Nancy, Bess, and George whirled around to see Tony Giralda step into the light of one of the lanterns lining the front drive. Nancy hadn’t noticed his van when they drove up, but now she saw that it was parked under one of the huge, leafless maple trees.
“Why didn’t you go in?” Nancy asked him.
“I don’t know those people. I was waiting for you.”
“But you must know Mrs. Adams—if you and Matt were such good friends,” she said, studying him curiously. “I thought you said you knew him like a brother.”
The way that Tony scuffed his feet in the gravel told Nancy that he’d been lying. But why? “Well, forget it,” she said after a minute. “Let’s just go in. It’s freezing out here.”
Matt was waiting for them in the library. He looked amazingly handsome in dark pants and a royal blue ski sweater. The fire was roaring, and there was an enormous plate of sandwiches on the low table. The air smelled of cloves and cinnamon, and Nancy realized that Mrs. Adams must have revived one of her favorite recipes, mulled cider.
Matt gave them all a big hello. Then, turning to Tony, he said, “I’m glad you came, Tony. It’s been a long time since we skated together.”
Tony hesitated before he took Matt’s hand, and when he shook it, it was with a strictly formal air. Then he went and sat stiffly in a leather chair.
Mrs. Adams came in a moment later, holding a freshly baked pie. “Hello, girls,” she said. “This is a special night, with the house full of young people again.”
She put the pie down on a silver stand and straightened. Her gaze landed on Tony, and she peered at him with a puzzled expression on her face.
“This is Tony Giralda, Addie,” Matt said smoothly. “You must remember him.”
“Yes,” she said vaguely. “You were here after Mr. Glover’s funeral, weren’t you?”
Tony rose from his seat and nodded, an
embarrassed flush in his cheeks.
So Tony had been lying, Nancy thought. Surely Mrs. Adams would have recognized him from the old days if he had known Matt as well as he’d said he had.
Matt broke the uneasy silence after Mrs. Adams left the room. “I thought we should get in some carbo-loading before we skate,” he said, cutting into the pie and handing out plates to everyone.
“Definitely,” Bess agreed. She took a big bite of her pie. Giggling, she added, “We wouldn’t want to collapse from lack of energy.”
As Nancy dug into her own slice, she couldn’t help but admire Matt’s friendly, easy way. He urged them to help themselves to sandwiches and went to the kitchen to bring back a tray with mugs for the mulled cider. It was easy to see why Bess was attracted to him.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” Matt warned them after a few minutes. He picked up a blue woolen hat and a pair of gloves and pulled them on. “We have some serious skating to do.”
“All right!” said George, jumping to her feet. “Let’s go!”
Nancy chuckled as Bess gazed longingly at the warm fire before saying, “I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I hope I don’t turn into an icicle out there.”
“You’ll warm up in no time once you get moving,” Matt assured her. The way he was looking at Bess, Nancy knew her friend would warm up in no time—from being with Matt, more than from skating.
They all grabbed their skates and made their way out the back door and down the long slope leading to the pond. Nancy was still lacing up her skates, sitting on one of the benches by the pond, when George slid onto the ice and began twirling in dizzying circles. Bess and Matt were the next ones on the ice, and they skated arm in arm. Tony, Nancy noticed, was less steady on his feet. He was wobbling a little as he made his way slowly around the pond.
“Hurry up, Nan, the ice is great!” George called.
“Ready!” She finished lacing up her skates and got up from the bench. Moving to the edge of the pond, she stepped out onto the ice. It was as smooth as glass. There were no twigs or dead leaves to mar it, and she remembered that Matt had gone home from the diner to sweep it especially for them.