Nancy bit her lower lip. “Try to think, Randy. Who could it be? Do many people have your phone number?”
“Just the whole campus,” he replied. “There’s a directory of students. Anyone could get it.”
“I see. But out of all the team members,” Nancy went on, frowning, “why would you be targeted specifically?”
“If anyone can throw a game, it’s the quarterback,” Randy pointed out. “I hope you don’t think I’m a wimp. I mean, at first I figured the whole thing was a joke. A few nasty calls were easy enough to ignore . . .” He trailed off, glanced around the gym, then met her eyes directly again.
“Until the fire at the pep rally tonight,” she finished for him.
Randy nodded. “When I nearly got burned, I began to add things up. I think that kerosene was dumped on the stage on purpose.”
“You may be right,” Nancy told him. “Who do you think could be making these threats?” she asked again. “Would anyone be that desperate for Emerson to lose?”
Randy hesitated before saying, “I know it seems obvious, but I think some of the Russell Pirates are behind this. Russell is on the other side of town, and we run into their students all the time. I can tell you that their quarterback, Zip Williams, is a shark. The guy has killer instincts on the field.”
“Do any of the Wildcats have a grudge against you?” she asked him, thinking out loud. “Or can you think of a reason why any of them would want Emerson to lose?”
Randy seemed shocked at the suggestion, so Nancy decided to check out that possibility on her own before pursuing it with him. Besides, it didn’t seem very likely that any of his teammates would want Emerson to lose.
“Okay. What about the school officials?” she pressed. “Have you mentioned these threats to Coach Mitchell or to any of the deans?”
Randy shifted uneasily. “Not yet,” he admitted. “I was afraid they’d take me out of Sunday’s game—and there’s no way I’m going to pass up my first chance to be starting quarterback. The administration is pretty straight. They refused to bend on Josh’s probation, even though it would sew up our chances of winning if he were quarterbacking this weekend. I didn’t want them to pull me from the game, too.”
“I’ll start investigating right away,” Nancy assured him. “I hope I’ll find out who’s behind these threats soon, so you won’t have to worry about being benched.”
“Thanks, Nancy,” Randy said gratefully. “I really appreciate your help.”
“But if you’re in danger, the administration needs to know about it,” she warned him. “If anything else suspicious happens, promise me that you’ll report it. And be sure to call me, too. Every bit of information helps.”
Randy gave her a quick salute. “You got it.”
“Can I hold on to this for safekeeping?” Nancy asked, holding up the note between her thumb and forefinger.
“Sure, anything you want.” As they started back toward the bleachers, Randy said, “You know, when I made first-string quarterback, I thought it would be my big break. But it’s turning out to be the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
Nancy punched his arm lightly and said, “I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of this soon.” Then, as Randy wandered off across the gym, she rejoined her friends in the bleachers.
“What was that all about?” Bess asked.
“Where’s Jerry?” Nancy asked. She was dying to tell Bess and Ned about her new case, but she didn’t want anyone else to hear about it yet.
“He went to get some punch,” Bess replied.
Putting a finger under Nancy’s chin, Ned turned her to face him. “Uh-oh. I can tell by that look that something is up, Drew,” he said.
Nancy nodded excitedly. “Keep this under wraps, but I promised Randy I’d do a bit of sleuthing for him.”
“Another case!” Bess squealed as Ned let out a loud groan.
“Shh!” Nancy gave Bess’s knee a nudge. “Let’s not announce it to the whole campus,” she cautioned. Lowering her voice, she told her friends about the threats Randy had received. “After that fire at the pep rally, he’s pretty shaken up,” she finished.
“Wow,” said Bess, her eyes wide. “I don’t blame him. I’d be scared to death!”
“So much for kicking back and relaxing,” Ned complained. “I wonder if you’ll ever have a visit here that doesn’t turn into a major mystery.”
Nancy just grinned at her handsome boyfriend. “I guess I’ll just have to keep visiting until I do!”
“So where do you begin,” Bess asked. “Any suspects?”
“Just the entire Russell football team,” said Nancy wryly. Turning to Ned, she asked, “Do you know any of the Pirates?”
Ned shook his head. “Not personally. Their quarterback is dating one of our cheerleaders, so he hangs around on campus occasionally. He gets a lot of ribbing about dating the opposition, but he seems to take it in stride. His girlfriend is Tamara Carlson, the girl whose sister we met this afternoon.”
“Right,” Nancy said. “With the crowd tonight, he or anyone from the Pirates might have been able to sneak up undetected and dump that kerosene. I’ll have to find a way to meet him. In the meantime, I have a few questions for Danielle Graves. She did threaten Randy this afternoon.”
“But why would Danielle want Emerson to lose?” Bess pointed out. “She’s a cheerleader.”
“That’s something I’d like to ask her,” Nancy admitted. “I need to find some answers—and soon. The game is only three days away.”
She stood up when she noticed Jerry returning with punch. “In the meantime, this is a party—and you haven’t asked me to dance yet, Nickerson.”
“I haven’t had much of a chance, have I?” he said. Grabbing her hand, Ned led her to the dance floor, and for a long time, Nancy forgot everything except how wonderful it felt to be in Ned’s arms.
“You’re pretty terrific, Nickerson,” she said, winding her arms around his neck for a slow song. “It seems like forever since we’ve spent any time alone together.”
Ned’s eyes shone as he tenderly brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “If you’re going to be on a case, at least it’s here at Emerson, where I can still see you.”
Nancy nodded. Sometimes her cases took up so much time that it seemed as if there wasn’t a minute left over for her and Ned. But every second she did spend with him, Nancy felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
“You and Jerry danced nearly every song together,” Nancy said to Bess in the lobby of Packard Hall. Ned and Jerry had just said good night after walking them home from the gym. “I hope you’re planning on asking me to be a bridesmaid at the wedding.”
“Nancy!” Bess exclaimed in a shocked tone. Then she giggled. “I did have a lot of fun.”
They were halfway across the lobby when Bess noticed a line of vending machines. “I could use a snack.” She fished some change out of her pocket. “Want something?”
“No, thanks,” Nancy replied, glancing ahead at the elevators. Two cheerleaders were standing there waiting. Nancy started as she recognized the girl with long black hair.
“There’s Danielle,” she whispered to Bess. “I’m going to ask her a few questions.”
As soon as Bess got her candy bar from the machine, she and Nancy joined the other girls.
“You guys were great tonight!” Bess said.
“Thanks,” said Danielle, smiling. She shook the pom-poms in her hand, and the purple- and orange-foil ribbons shimmered.
“Too bad about the fire,” Nancy commented casually.
“I’ve never seen anything like that!” the other cheerleader, a tall red-haired girl, exclaimed. Nancy noticed that Danielle merely glanced away and began to tap her foot.
Nancy kept her eyes focused on Danielle as she said, “It’s a good thing that Randy Simpson’s okay. From what I hear, he’s Emerson’s only hope of winning on Sunday.”
“That’s a joke!” Danielle snapped.
An awkward
silence fell over them. “Uh, don’t you think Randy can lead the team to victory?” Bess finally asked.
Danielle’s face became drawn with anger. “I wouldn’t count on Randy Simpson for anything!” she said bitterly.
She threw her raven hair back with a defiant toss of the head and added, “Randy Simpson should have been burned—just the way he burned me!”
Chapter Five
NANCY STARED at the petite cheerleader in surprise. “Don’t you care about Sunday’s game?”
“Not if that creep gets all the glory,” Danielle snapped.
The elevator doors opened just then. The three students inside didn’t even have a chance to get out before Danielle barreled in, the foil strands of her pom-poms fluttering.
The red-haired cheerleader gave Nancy and Bess an embarrassed smile as the other students quickly shuffled out and she stepped in. The door slid closed before Nancy and Bess could make it in.
“Talk about touchy!” said Bess.
“That’s for sure,” Nancy agreed. They waited for another elevator and rode up to their suite. After their long day Nancy and Bess still had to unpack. Nancy was relieved to finally tug on her nightshirt and slippers. Curling up on a chair in the living room, she turned her thoughts to the case.
“After that outburst, Danielle is definitely up there on my list of suspects,” she said.
Wearing a nightgown, Bess wandered back into the living room, the candy bar in her hand. Stretching out on the couch, she unwrapped the chocolate-covered bar and took a bite.
“I’m not sure I really think she had anything to do with setting that fire tonight, though. I mean, this is probably just a case of bad romance.”
“Danielle and Randy didn’t break up until today, so it’s not likely she had anything to do with the phone calls,” Nancy said. “But maybe it’s not a coincidence that the threats suddenly got a lot worse today.”
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Danielle practically admitted that she’d do anything to get even, even if it means that Emerson loses the big game. She could have set the fire and sent Randy that threatening note.”
“There’s no limit to how far a scorned boyfriend or girlfriend will go,” Bess said dramatically, licking chocolate from her fingers. “A broken heart can make people do strange things.”
“I knew I could count on you for the romantic point of view,” Nancy said with a laugh.
There were other suspects, too, Nancy reminded herself, remembering Zip Williams and the other Pirates, as well as the guys on Emerson’s team. Starting the next day, she was going to check all of them out.
“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!” Nancy called from the doorway of Bess’s room. She was already up and dressed, wearing a thick ivory-colored sweater and a suede skirt in a deep shade of green. She held a paper bag in one hand.
Bess cracked an eye open. “What time is it?” she asked, stretching her arms over her head and yawning. “Did I miss breakfast?”
“It’s almost nine. I couldn’t wake you before, so I went and had breakfast with Ned.”
“Guess I was really tired,” Bess said, sitting up in bed. “But now I’m starving!”
“Don’t worry,” said Nancy, grinning as she held up the paper bag. “I brought you some hot chocolate and turnovers. But you have to promise to hurry. We’ve got a busy day ahead.”
After Bess washed and pulled on a denim skirt and pink sweater, she joined Nancy in the living room of their suite.
While Bess ate, Nancy explained her plans. “I have some more questions for Randy, and I want to try to track down Zip Williams at Russell U.”
“What about the homecoming events?” Bess asked, reaching for a flyer on the table. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
Putting a hand on Bess’s arm, Nancy said, “Ned already gave me the rundown. The homecoming queen and king are announced after lunch. Ned says that it’s really no big deal, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it. And tonight, there are lots of parties around campus.” She checked her watch. “If we leave now, we should be able to work on the case and fit in all the homecoming stuff.”
“Great,” Bess said, polishing off a mouthful of pastry. She took one last sip of cocoa and jumped up to get her jacket. “Okay, I’m done. Where to first?”
“I already called Randy’s dorm,” said Nancy. “His roommate told me that he spends every morning working out at the sports center. I want to try to catch him before he leaves for a class.”
Although Nancy had been inside the sports center on previous visits, she knew that the multistoried building contained dozens of rooms, including an indoor track and pool.
“We’ll have to find someone to direct us to the weight room,” Nancy said as she and Bess approached the complex.
Inside the main entrance, a security guard directed the girls to the weight-training room, on the first floor, beyond the gymnasium and down a hallway. Pushing through a pair of swinging double doors, Nancy saw that they were at one end of a sizable room. Huge steel Nautilus machines were lined up along the mirrored wall nearest the girls. At the far end was a selection of free weights and barbells.
She was surprised to find the room so deserted. Two guys were taking turns on a bench press in one corner. Randy was sitting at a machine in the center of the room, pushing at a lever with his feet. His gray T-shirt was damp with perspiration.
Randy was so wrapped up in his workout that he didn’t notice the girls until they were standing right beside him. “Oh—hi, Nancy,” he said, glancing up. Nancy introduced Bess.
“Your roommate told us we’d find you here,” Nancy said.
“Yeah.” Randy pulled his legs back, grunting as he pumped three more times. Then he stood up and wiped the sweat from his face with a towel.
“I like to spend this hour here,” he explained. “The place is packed most of the day, but it’s reserved for the players for this one hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. There’s always a trainer nearby, but he usually leaves me alone to follow my own routine.” He slid the towel around his neck and walked to the far end of the room, where the free weights were.
As the girls followed, Bess gestured around the nearly empty room. “Where are the other players?”
“Most of the guys come after practice, but I love it at this time when it’s quiet.” Randy sat down on a padded bench beside a row of barbells.
Sitting on the edge of another bench, Nancy said, “There are a few questions that occurred to me this morning, Randy.”
“No problem.” Randy lifted a hand to brush his dark, damp hair off his forehead. “Shoot.”
“It’s about Danielle,” Nancy began.
Randy rolled his eyes. “You mean Queen Danielle? I guess you heard we used to date. I never should have gotten hooked up with her.”
“She seems to feel the same way about you,” Nancy told him. “After you two broke up, we heard her threaten to get even with you. Do you have any idea why she’s so angry?”
“Not really,” Randy replied. “It’s kind of embarrassing to talk about all this.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We only started dating a few weeks ago. I got the feeling that Danielle was more into it than I was. I could tell that she really liked being seen with me—as if I were a trophy or something. But I wasn’t sure she really cared about me at all.”
“Do you think Danielle would actually try to hurt you?” Nancy asked.
“No way,” Randy answered without hesitation. “She talks tough, but underneath she’s harmless. Like I told you last night, my best guess is Zip Williams.”
No one is harmless when they have a strong motive, Nancy thought to herself. Getting to her feet, she said, “Well, thanks for talking to us, Randy. Bess and I had better go if we’re going to make it over to Russell U before lunch.” Glancing across the room, she saw that the two other players had just finished their workouts and were leaving.
“Anyway, we should let you get back to your exercises,” Bess adde
d. “I know you need to be in shape for Sunday’s game.”
Randy lay back on the bench and rubbed his eyes wearily. Above him hung a long steel rod with round iron weight disks attached at each end. “I’m not sure a workout is going to do any good at this point,” he muttered in a discouraged voice. “Don’t get me wrong—there’s no way I’ll give in to the jerk who’s threatening me. But the ironic thing is, I’m not an experienced quarterback. The chances are that the Wildcats will lose, anyway.”
“Sometimes games are won from determination and sheer luck,” Bess put in.
Randy shot her a grateful smile. “I know. And I’m going to play the best game of my life on Sunday.” Gritting his teeth, he reached for the bar above his head and lifted it from its Y-shaped resting place.
“Good,” Nancy said. “In the meantime, I’ll do my best to get some answers before . . .” Her voice trailed off as she noticed Randy’s expression change to one of shock and confusion. The rod above him was wobbling in his hands.
Suddenly the weights on the left side of the barbell slid to the end of the bar, and three of them clattered to the floor. Randy grunted as his arms flexed and shifted crazily. He tried to keep the other weights on that side from falling, but the two remaining disks did drop off, hitting the floor with a heavy metallic ringing.
Nancy realized that the weights on the right side of the barbell were now directly over Randy’s head. Before she could even move, those weights started shifting toward the edge of the metal bar.
In another second the heavy iron disks were going to drop off the right side of the rod—and land directly on Randy’s head!
Chapter Six
NANCY LUNGED for the bar. Her hands hit it just as the first weight was about to drop. She shoved with all her strength. A second later the weights dropped off the rod, bouncing off the bench a bare inch from Randy’s head and hitting the floor with more metallic ringing.