“There may be a way for us to get back in,” Owen began. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“I don’t know,” George said. “Mr. Berry seemed pretty upset about the whole thing.”
“George is right,” Owen said. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, then looked up knowingly at Nancy, Bess, and George. “There is one person who might help, though.”
“Who?” Bess asked.
“Zoe,” Owen answered.
“She’s always liked you,” George agreed.
“And she seemed pretty embarrassed about what’s been going on,” Nancy added, remembering Zoe’s public humiliation. “She might like the idea of having us continue the investigation. It would help her save face,” she pointed out.
Owen nodded silently, while George’s face lit up. “I think it’ll work, Nancy,” she said. “Meanwhile, how about some more cocoa?”
Everyone nodded yes except Bess, who covered her cup with her hand. “None for me, thanks. All that sugar will make me blow up like a balloon.”
• • •
At ten o’clock the next morning Nancy found herself outside Zoe Spelios’s office. She had thought about calling Zoe ahead of time, but didn’t want to risk being told by the zookeeper not to come. Instead, Nancy decided to take a chance that Zoe would be in.
“Can I help you?” A woman dressed in a business suit and high heels had come up to Nancy just as she was about to knock.
“Is Zoe Spelios here?” Nancy asked.
“I’ll get her.” The woman knocked on Zoe’s office door. “Someone here to see you.”
Zoe looked beyond the woman and noticed Nancy. The confused look on her face quickly disappeared. “Thanks, Robin. I’ll see her,” Zoe said. As Nancy went in, she explained, “I’ve fallen so behind on my paperwork that I had to get a temporary secretary.”
Nancy noticed, once again, how chicly Zoe was dressed. She wore a tailored coatdress of red wool with large black buttons down the front, and matching black onyx earrings. The outfit seemed a little formal for her position at a zoo, but Zoe managed to pull it off.
“Now, what can I do for you?” Zoe asked, breaking in on Nancy’s thoughts. “I assume you have a good reason for being here after what Maurice Berry told you last night. You could get in a lot of trouble if he knew you were here.”
Nancy opened her mouth to answer, but Zoe went on. “Don’t worry—I won’t tell him.”
Deciding to trust the zookeeper, Nancy dived into her story. “Actually, I was hoping we might be able to help each other. If you arrange with Mr. Berry for me to be allowed back on the zoo grounds, and I find the missing civets, that will help you, right?”
Zoe leaned back in her chair and gave Nancy a small smile. “So you want to reach an agreement, then? You’re very smart for your age, Ms. Drew.”
Nancy gave Zoe a thoughtful look. This all seemed like a game to the zookeeper. She took a deep breath and went on. “I was hoping we could include Owen, too. Let him continue with his work,” she added. “It’s very important to him.”
Zoe nodded sympathetically. “He’s a good researcher,” she said. “Believe me, I’m sorry to lose him, but there’s nothing I can do. Maurice is in charge of all the work-study students, and he’s dead set against having Owen remain.”
“But Mr. Berry must realize by now that we weren’t stealing the civet. We were returning it,” Nancy said. “Couldn’t we ask him to reconsider Owen’s case? When we explain what happened last night—”
Zoe cut her off. “It’s very nice of you to come to Owen’s defense, but I can tell you right now that Maurice won’t listen.”
The phone rang, and Zoe reached out to answer it. Her hand froze in midair as the secretary picked it up in the other room. “I’m not used to having someone take my phone calls,” she said with a little laugh.
“I’m sorry, you have the wrong number. This isn’t Classic Sense,” Nancy heard the secretary say. The girl’s voice grew more agitated. “Yes, I’m new here, but I know perfectly well what—”
Swiftly Zoe stood up and called out, “Is there something wrong, Robin?” She said to Nancy, “Excuse me, but I don’t want her getting all upset her first day.”
“Of course,” Nancy agreed.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Zoe said. “Make yourself at home.”
After Zoe left, Nancy looked around the zookeeper’s office. Except for the photographs and memorabilia she’d noticed the day before, everything was very businesslike. There were papers and files everywhere.
On a table by the desk Nancy spotted a thick, obviously expensive book with a fancy marble-paper cover. It looked so out of place among the papers that she went over for a closer look.
The book’s title was Fit for a Queen. She was about to leaf through it when Zoe returned. Nancy quickly stood back from the table.
“Now, where were we?” the zookeeper asked brightly. She glanced at her watch. “Oh, dear, I can’t really spare you any more time, Nancy.”
Nancy started to protest, but Zoe just smiled and walked her to the door. “I’ll tell you what,” she said. “I’ll talk to Maurice about Owen and get back to you. And maybe I can get you reinstated on the case,” Zoe added. “You could help me by finding those missing civets.”
“That would be great,” said Nancy. Things were looking up. “Could I call you tomorrow?”
“Uh—why don’t you give me a couple of days?” Zoe said. “I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get to him,” she explained.
Nancy had no choice but to agree. “Thanks again for your help,” she said.
“No problem,” Zoe said with a smile. “Now be sure to leave right away, and don’t let anyone see you.”
Nancy walked quickly out the way she had come, keeping her head down to avoid being noticed. She frowned as she ran over the meeting with Zoe in her mind. Nancy didn’t really trust Zoe’s promise of help. The zookeeper was friendly enough, but she didn’t seem in a hurry to talk to Mr. Berry.
Zoe could just be giving me the brush-off, Nancy thought, slipping into her car. If she wanted results, she’d have to talk with Mr. Berry herself.
Nancy was about to get back out of her Mustang when she saw a sleek white sports car start to back out of its space. The driver turned sharply, then roared in Nancy’s direction at what seemed like a hundred miles an hour.
As the car shot past her, Nancy glanced into the driver’s seat, catching a glimpse of red wool. It was Zoe, and she was obviously in a big hurry.
Instantly abandoning her plan to see Mr. Berry, Nancy turned the key in the ignition and followed in the direction the white car had taken. Zoe drove like a maniac along the quiet back roads, running stop signs and taking turns at top speed. The roar of her engine, punctuated by squeals as she hit the brakes, broke the stillness of the winter morning.
Does she always drive like this? Nancy wondered, struggling to keep up, but maintaining her distance. Her Mustang handled like a dream, even on the twisting roads, but the sports car was powerful, and Zoe had a big lead, which she managed to keep.
After several minutes of winding roads, Nancy followed Zoe into a more residential section of town. There the zookeeper had to slow down a bit. Nancy made up some of the distance between them, being careful to stay out of Zoe’s sight.
Then, abruptly, Zoe swung her car into a shopping center and screeched to a stop in front of a drugstore. Just my luck, Nancy thought, pulling up a short distance away. She takes me on a breakneck chase, and she’s just going to get some cough drops.
But what Nancy saw next made her sit up and take notice. A man came out of the drugstore, hurried over to Zoe’s car, and leaned into the now-open passenger window. His face was turned so Nancy couldn’t see it.
As Nancy watched, the man took what looked like a gun out of a bag he was carrying and waved it at the zookeeper. Nancy gasped. Was the man threatening Zoe at gunpoint?
Instead of acting afraid, Zoe stuck her hand out the
window and took the gun from the man.
The two talked for a while in what looked like an intimate way. Nancy quelled her curiosity. There was no way for her to get closer without being seen by Zoe and the mystery man.
Finally the man handed Zoe the bag, along with another object that Nancy couldn’t make out.
Waving goodbye, Zoe drove away in a cloud of exhaust. The man remained where he was and watched her go.
Slowly Nancy inched her car forward until she could see the man’s face.
It was Owen!
Chapter
Twelve
OWEN WAS LOOKING around nervously, so Nancy ducked her head below the windshield.
Satisfied that no one had noticed his conversation with Zoe, the blond college student walked to his car and drove away. Nancy drove after him, her mind spinning.
Why had Owen given Zoe that gun? Obviously it was the same tranquilizer gun he’d used on the civet the night before. Had Zoe lent it to him, and was he returning it? If so, why?
Nancy flashed back to her conversation with Owen the night before. He had been pretty sure the zookeeper would be sympathetic to his case, she remembered.
Still thinking, Nancy followed Owen’s car through the center of town. There were two possibilities, she thought, neither of them very attractive. Zoe and Owen could be working together to steal the civets. That didn’t explain why Zoe would bring Mr. Berry down to “catch” Owen and the rest of them, though. Unless she was trying a double-cross.
The second possibility was that Zoe and Owen were secretly involved. Maybe the college student was infatuated with his elegant boss, Nancy thought unhappily. Zoe could be the mastermind behind the thefts, with Owen doing her bidding.
He might have a big enough crush on her to do anything she asked, even letting her set him up for the thefts. Zoe could have told him that she’d protect him, and that the thefts were somehow necessary to the civets’ well-being.
Nancy shook her head, realizing that her thoughts were going off in wild directions. There was no proof of a connection between Zoe and Owen, just one meeting that Nancy happened to witness. Still, she couldn’t discount the possibility.
Nancy followed Owen’s car around a corner and onto a familiar road. He was going to George’s house, Nancy realized. Poor George! If Owen had something going with Zoe, it would break her friend’s heart.
Nancy watched as Owen’s car pulled up to George’s door. The blond boy got out, ran up the walk, and pressed the bell. As the door opened, Nancy drove off. She didn’t want George to see her.
Nancy drove home slowly, not sure what to do next. Was Owen capable of leading George on? She just didn’t know. As Nancy let herself into the empty house, she was feeling frustrated and confused. Absently she hung up her jacket, then noticed the message light blinking on the answering machine.
She rewound the machine and played the messages back. Two people had called for her father. She wrote down their names and numbers, noting the time of the calls.
Then, just as she was about to turn the machine off, the deep voice of Ned Nickerson filled the room.
“Hey, Drew, it’s been a while since I’ve heard from you!” the recording said. “Hope you’ve been thinking about me, even if you can’t find time to call.” Then her boyfriend’s voice grew softer. “Seriously, I wanted to find out how everything’s going. Don’t forget, I’m here if you need me.”
The message clicked off. Nancy tried calling Ned back, but his roommate said he’d gone to class. “Tell him I got his message just when I needed it most,” she said. She hung up, after promising to call again later.
Nancy smiled to herself—Ned was so sweet.
Sometimes when things got rough, she did forget he was there, but he always managed to remind her.
She stood thoughtfully by the phone for another minute, then dialed Bess’s number. She needed to talk to someone about Owen—and when it came to boys, Bess was the expert.
Bess answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Nancy. Can I come over? I need to talk.”
Her friend’s voice warmed up. “I’m here.”
“I’ll be over in ten minutes,” Nancy said. As she hung up the receiver, she chided herself for letting the case get her down. She’d solve it yet—with a little help from her friends.
• • •
“That jerk! That unbelievable heel!” Bess was nearly shrieking. Nancy had just filled her in on Owen’s meeting with Zoe. “How could he do this to George?”
Nancy tried to calm her down. “We don’t know for sure that he’s done anything,” she pointed out.
“I knew there was something wrong the minute I met him,” Bess continued, ignoring her. “He’s too slick and sure of himself.” She impatiently tapped her fingers on the table. “Boy, am I going to give him a piece of my mind!”
“So you think he could have a crush on Zoe?” Nancy asked.
”Think it? I’m practically positive!” Bess cried. “What are we going to do about it?” she demanded.
“I don’t think we should do anything yet,” Nancy said, not feeling as sure as Bess that Owen did like Zoe. “We don’t have any proof.”
“You saw them together!”
“It could have been anything,” Nancy said. “Zoo business, or a coincidence—although it definitely didn’t look like a coincidence,” she admitted.
“This is going to kill George, just kill her,” Bess said bitterly. “I don’t think she’s ever fallen so hard for a guy before.”
“Bess, I really don’t think we should tell her yet,” Nancy said firmly. “She’s going to be really upset, so what’s the point?” She leaned forward. “There are still a lot of pieces missing.”
“Like what?” Bess asked. “Zoe is stealing the civets, and Owen’s so crazy about her that he’s helping.”
“Maybe. But what about Tyler Mack? He’s obviously involved somehow. And what about the guy with the sunglasses?”
“What about them?” Bess asked. “No matter where they fit in, Owen is still a skunk. And we’ve got to tell George about it before she gets even more involved.”
Nancy sighed. “There’s another thing to consider.” She spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. “If we tell George, she’ll probably want to confront Owen. If he is involved and she talks to him, it could wreck the whole investigation.”
“So we’ll ask her to wait,” Bess said. “What’s the big deal?”
“I just don’t think we should risk it,” Nancy said. “I think we should wait and see if we find definite proof.”
Bess was silent for a minute, tapping the tabletop. When she spoke again, her voice was hard with determination. “I’m going to tell her about it. I’m sorry, Nancy, but George’s feelings are a lot more important to me than an investigation.”
“They’re important to me, too. Don’t you see, that’s why I think we should wait,” Nancy pleaded. Bess was already putting on her coat.
“I’m going to George’s house right now,” she said. “Are you coming or not?”
Nancy nodded. “I’ll ride over with you.”
Bess was tight-lipped, obviously still furious. She stared straight ahead as she drove, refusing even to glance at Nancy.
Nancy’s thoughts were in a whirl. Was her desire to get to the bottom of the case really more important than George’s feelings?
“Pull up slowly,” Nancy cautioned Bess as they approached George’s block. “Owen may still be there.”
Bess said grimly, “I hope he is. I’ve got a few things to say to him.” When they got to George’s house, Owen’s car was gone.
Bess parked and bounded up the walk, followed by a reluctant Nancy. George answered the door almost the minute they rang the bell.
“Back so soon? Oh, it’s you,” George said. “I thought you were Owen. He was just here and forgot his scarf.” She held up a red-and-gray wool muffler. “I thought he was coming back for it.”
Bess looked at th
e muffler in disgust. “Get that away from me,” she said. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“With Owen?” George looked baffled. “What are you talking about?”
Without hesitating, Bess went inside and spilled out the whole story, including their suspicions that Zoe and Owen were romantically involved. When she got to that part, George flinched and looked as if she’d been hit in the stomach.
When Bess had run out of steam, there was a long silence. Then Nancy started to say, “I’m really sorry—”
George interrupted her. “Bess, how do you know all this?” she asked. “About Owen and Zoe supposedly seeing each other?”
“Nancy was following Zoe,” Bess explained. “She saw them meet in front of Kirkland’s Drugstore.”
“So this whole thing was your idea?” George asked, turning to Nancy.
“I don’t have any proof,” she answered honestly. “I was worried when I saw Owen and Zoe talking, so I told Bess about it.”
“That’s not all you did, is it?” George asked her. “You also followed Owen to my house earlier. I thought I saw your car, but when you didn’t come in, I figured it must have been someone else.”
Nancy nodded, reddening, as Bess looked at her in surprise. “You didn’t tell me you followed him,” she said.
Before Nancy could answer, George cut in. “You were spying on us, weren’t you?” she said angrily. “You know, Nancy, your detective work is a lot more important to you than your friends.”
“How can you say that?” Nancy asked, upset by her friend’s accusations. She’d only taken on this case because of George!
“Because it’s true!” George shouted at her. “You don’t care about me. The only thing that matters to you is the case.” She spat out the words as if they were choking her. “I’ve had it with you and your suspicions. And I’ve had it with being your friend!”
Chapter
Thirteen
GEORGE RAN OUT of the room as Nancy remained standing, stunned. She had never imagined that George could react so bitterly.