Nancy thought for a moment. “Most people pick a password they won’t have trouble remembering. What about ‘Pines’?”
She typed in the word and pressed the Enter key. “Invalid password. Please try again,” the system responded.
They had two more chances.
“How about ‘Karl’?” George suggested. “It is his name—chances are, he wouldn’t forget it.”
Nancy laughed and typed in the name. “ ‘Invalid password. Please try again,’ ” came the reply.
Neither George nor Nancy spoke, but they both knew they had only one more chance. Nancy closed her eyes and tried to think. “What’s the most important thing in Karl Reismueller’s life?”
George thought for a moment. “His wife!”
Nancy smiled and typed in “Sheila.” The computer began to whir.
“We did it!” George crowed as a menu appeared on the monitor.
“Let’s try the general ledger system,” Nancy said, entering the code from the menu. Another menu appeared, asking her which company records she wanted to see.
“Wow! Karl owns a lot of companies.” George started to read the list of names. “All-State Printing, Toys-for-All, Well-Heeled Cobbler. Is there any business he’s not in?”
Nancy selected Tall Pines and began reviewing the financial information. “There are a lot of loans,” she told George as they studied the screen. “Actually, I’m not surprised. That’s pretty normal for the first year in business.”
“What about the other companies?”
Nancy returned to the menu and asked for information about Karl’s printing company. She stared at the screen for a minute, then inquired about the chain of toy stores. The answer was the same for each.
“Every one of these companies has borrowed money to the limit,” she said. “I don’t understand. If he’s doing well, he shouldn’t have so many loans. Where’s Karl’s Midas touch that everyone talks about?”
“Do you think he’s in financial trouble?” George asked.
“It sure seems like it.” Nancy flipped to another screen. “More debt. Opening Tall Pines must have strained Karl’s finances to the breaking point. Hey”—Nancy looked up at George—“I just remembered. The other night at dinner Sheila was about to say something about money problems when Karl cut her off.”
George nodded her understanding. “No wonder Karl was so upset by the theft. He couldn’t afford to lose fifty thousand dollars.”
“That was covered by insurance,” Nancy reminded her. “But the rest of Karl’s businesses don’t seem to be doing well, either.”
“I wish we could find the bank records,” George said. “They might explain a lot.”
“We still don’t know why they’re missing,” Nancy agreed. “Or who took them.” She scrolled through several screens but couldn’t find a single menu directing her to Tall Pines’ bank records.
George leaned over her shoulder and watched while Nancy worked. “So what does this all mean?” she asked.
“Reismueller has financial problems,” Nancy said, leaning back in her chair. “Someone’s got the bank records. That someone could be Dave.”
“I don’t follow,” George said. “You’re way ahead of me.”
“What if Dave is working with Watson, and they stole the money to cause Karl trouble?” Nancy suggested. She was piecing together her theory as she spoke.
“But you just said he got the money back from the insurance company, so I think that whoever stole the money really needed it. I don’t think that person was just causing Karl trouble,” George said.
“That’s true,” Nancy agreed. “But Dave and Watson could still be working together. The money for renovations, and the sabotage to drive people away from Tall Pines.”
“But how’s that connected to the records?” George asked.
Nancy thought for a moment. “Dave could be holding the records as a way of blackmailing Karl. Maybe Karl found out about the theft and threatened to turn Dave in.”
“I guess that makes sense,” George said. She bit on a fingernail. “Still, it doesn’t really explain why someone tried to poison you specifically and why all the attacks have been made against you.”
George had a point. So far Nancy didn’t have any proof that Dave was capable of poisoning her. The only person who had the knowledge to do that was—
“Sheila!” Nancy cried. “I completely forgot.” She rushed to turn off the computer and pick up her flashlight. “Come on, George.”
“You completely forgot what?” George asked, following Nancy out of Karl’s office.
Nancy told George about Sheila’s appointment with the strange man who’d called earlier that day at the Reismuellers’ condo. “It’s almost ten now. We’ve got to get to the skating pond.”
“What does it mean?” George asked.
Outside the administrative offices a light snow had begun to fall, and it was pitch-black. “I don’t know,” Nancy answered, “but I’m going to be there to find out.” She started walking in the direction of the pond.
“I’m coming with you,” George announced.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Nancy said. “Bess is probably worried about us.”
George ran her hands through her dark curls. “I don’t know, Nancy. You might be in danger.”
“It won’t be the first time,” Nancy said with a laugh.
“Okay.” George took a deep breath. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Aren’t I always?” Nancy said. With that she said goodbye to George, arranging to meet back at George and Bess’s room at the main lodge.
In a few minutes Nancy had reached the skating pond. The whole area between the pond and the snack bar was dark, lit only by the moon and stars. As Nancy approached the unfinished snack bar she checked carefully in all directions. No sign of either Sheila or the man. She sprinted the last few yards and stood outside the door of the building, listening carefully. There was no sound, and the building seemed empty. Carefully she eased open the door and slipped inside.
Nancy looked around, searching for a place to hide. Her eyes lit on a pile of wood paneling stacked along one wall. Perfect! If she hid behind it, she’d be able to hear the conversation without being seen.
She moved toward the paneling. As she did she heard a sound coming from behind her. Someone else was in the snack bar!
Nancy turned, but it was too late. She saw a tall, dark figure, a raised arm. Before she could move there was an instant of blinding pain, then darkness.
Chapter
Thirteen
NANCY MOANED SOFTLY as she came to in the cold and dark, not sure where she was. Then memory rushed back. She had come to the snack bar to find Sheila and the stranger. Instead, someone had found her.
Sitting up, Nancy held her head in her hands, trying to fight the wave of dizziness and nausea that came from the throbbing pain at the back of her head. That must have been where she was hit. The dizziness passed, and Nancy took in her surroundings. The building appeared to be empty. There was no sign of Sheila or the man, nothing to indicate that anyone else had been there except the faint scent of perfume.
Nancy took a deep whiff and frowned. The fragrance was unmistakable. As far as she knew, only one person at Tall Pines wore that spicy mixture of roses and lilies: Sheila Reismueller.
It had happened so quickly that Nancy hadn’t recognized the person who hit her. She didn’t even know if her assailant had been a man or a woman. It could have been Sheila, the man she was meeting, or anyone else, though Nancy doubted the third possibility. All she knew for sure was that someone didn’t want her nosing around at Tall Pines.
As Nancy stood up her foot kicked a hard object, and she bent down to pick it up. It was a flashlight. She was pretty sure it hadn’t been there when she’d come into the snack bar. It must be what she had been struck with, Nancy thought, slipping the flashlight into her belt pack.
She made her way out of the building,
on the watch for Sheila or the man she’d been meeting. Nancy figured they were both long gone—she wasn’t sure how much time had passed—but she needed to be sure. The question was, which of them had knocked her out, and why?
• • •
“How’d it go?” George asked when Nancy appeared at their door.
Nancy took off her coat and sat cross-legged on one of the beds. “To make a bad pun,” she said with a smile, “it was a stunning experience.”
After Nancy explained what had happened, Bess was truly alarmed. “Nancy, I’m worried. There’s a criminal running around, and he’s determined to hurt you. First the poison, now this.”
“I think ‘he’ is a ‘she,’ ” Nancy told her friends. “Sheila knows enough about flowers to have poured the water in my soup, and that was definitely her perfume I smelled. But I still don’t understand what Sheila doesn’t want me to know. It didn’t make sense that she would be involved in stealing from her husband’s resort. The success of Tall Pines seemed so important to Sheila.”
“Maybe the meeting between her and the stranger had to do with Karl’s shaky finances,” George suggested. At Bess’s perplexed expression George told her cousin what she and Nancy had found out in their search through Karl’s computer earlier.
“Wow!” Bess said. Then her expression changed. “I don’t get it, though. What could Sheila possibly have to do with the missing bank records or the theft?”
Nancy explained her theory about Dave’s blackmailing Karl with the bank records. “Maybe Sheila was meeting with someone who was going to take care of the Reismuellers’ problem with Dave,” she suggested.
“You don’t mean . . .” George asked, her voice trailing off.
“Getting rid of him and Rob . . .” Nancy shook her head to clear her thoughts. “The only way to find out is to confront Sheila or trick her into revealing what’s going on.” She pulled the flashlight out of her belt pack. “I found this on the ground next to me. I think she or the man she was meeting used it to knock me out.”
“You’re not going to show it to her, are you?” George asked, deadly serious. “If you’re right about your suspicions, it could be dangerous to confront her.”
“George is right, Nancy.” Bess got up from the couch and paced the room. “Sheila could be trouble. Besides, if you’re going to confront anyone, it should be Dave Kendall. If your theory is right, Dave’s the one behind all the attacks.”
Nancy thought for a moment. Bess and George had a point—if Dave really was the thief. She still hadn’t ruled Jody out as a suspect, though. That brand-new car didn’t fit with her saving for college. Thinking about it, she realized she didn’t have enough clues to confront anyone.
She let out a long sigh. “I guess you’re right,” she admitted. “Besides, it’s too late to do anything.”
“What can we help with tomorrow?” George asked eagerly.
“I want you to check out Jody,” Nancy said. She told her friends about Jody’s new car. “Call around and try to find out whether or not she paid cash. I’ll check out Dave.”
Bess put her arm around Nancy. “Don’t worry,” she said as if she sensed Nancy’s frustration. “We still have a couple of days to get to the bottom of this.”
• • •
When Nancy woke up the next morning she saw that the message light on her phone was lit. She dialed the operator, who told her that George and Bess had had to make an emergency trip home. Apparently something had happened to Bess’s parents, and the cousins had left first thing that morning.
Nancy showered and got dressed. She tried calling the Marvins’ house, but there was no answer. As she left her condo she found herself hoping that everything was okay with Bess and George. She realized, though, that there was nothing she could do to help them. She had her hands full trying to help herself.
Nancy decided to start with Jody since Bess and George couldn’t. She was heading past the ski shop on her way to the main building when she heard a familiar voice.
“Just the person I wanted to see,” Ben called. “Come on into the ski school.”
Nancy followed him inside and over to the ski school counter. He pulled a pair of skis and poles from behind the counter. “Look what I’ve got for you.” He handed Nancy the set, along with boots and a folded sheet of paper.
“It’s from Jody,” Nancy said as she read the typewritten note dated the day before. “She said the equipment’s from the latest shipment.” Looking at Ben, Nancy asked, “Do you know where Jody is? I want to thank her.” She also wanted to question Jody, but she didn’t want to tell Ben that.
“It’s her day off,” Ben answered. “Sometimes she comes here and skis, but I think I heard her say something about staying home today.”
Nancy tried to hide her disappointment. She’d have to find Dave first now. She thanked Ben and asked if he could keep her new equipment there for her. “I have a few things to do. Maybe I’ll be back later to ski.”
“No problem,” Ben said, putting the equipment against the wall behind the counter. “Let me know if you want another lesson.”
Nancy excused herself and went to the administration building to find Dave. But when she reached the office, both his door and Karl’s were closed and locked.
“I think Dave’s out skiing this morning,” the receptionist said in response to Nancy’s question. “If you want to see him, you might try the Cascades trail. It’s one of his favorites.”
Nancy hustled back to the ski school to pick up her equipment. Outside she tightened her boots into the ski bindings and slid her hands into the pole straps, then skied gracefully to the trail head.
For a few minutes Nancy just concentrated on skiing. The new skis were shorter and the poles longer than the ones she had used before. Ben had told her it would be the perfect equipment for skating, but it took Nancy a few minutes to feel comfortable with it. Soon, though, she was gliding along the trail, pushing off with her left ski and gliding on the right as Ben had taught her. There was no doubt about it. The new equipment was terrific, and she was soon skiing at a fast clip.
The beginning of the trail was easy, and her arms and legs were moving in a tight, comfortable rhythm. Nancy kept her eyes peeled for Dave, and as soon as Aerie split off she took Cascades. After only a few minutes on the trail Nancy spotted a man with a Tall Pines jacket in the distance. She put on the speed, sure that it must be Dave Kendall. When there was only twenty feet between them Nancy called out his name.
“Dave! Wait for me!”
The man turned—it was Dave. Instead of slowing his stride, though, Dave quickened it, shooting farther away from her.
Nancy wasn’t going to let him get away that easily. She slid both skis into the tracks and resumed a diagonal stride. She stretched her right arm out, gaining the maximum distance she could with her pole. As she pushed off with all her might, pulling the pole behind her, her other arm swung forward.
The distance between Nancy and Dave shortened. She reached forward again, putting more power into her poling. It was the only way she knew to gain real speed. If she could just keep going, she’d catch him.
With a final burst of energy Nancy began to double-pole. She reached forward with both poles at the same time, pushing off with every ounce of energy she could muster. The trail dived down into a deep forest. Dave was closer. In a few more strokes she’d be down the slope next to him. She reached forward and dug her poles into the snow.
Then suddenly, without warning, Nancy felt herself fall forward. One minute she was skiing—the next, the binding on her right ski had snapped open.
Nancy tried to control herself, but it was no use. She fell to the ground, head over heels—and started rolling and tumbling downhill, headed straight for a huge tree.
Chapter
Fourteen
NANCY CONTINUED to hurtle through the air. Moving instinctively, she tucked her body into a ball and shifted her weight to the right.
It worked! Nancy rolled
in the snow and slid to a stop just inches from the tree.
“Are you okay?” Dave Kendall’s skis sprayed snow as he stopped next to Nancy.
She took a moment to catch her breath, then stood up carefully. “I’m fine,” she answered, brushing the snow off.
Before she could say anything more Dave headed back up the trail. When he returned a minute later he was carrying Nancy’s skis under one arm. “These must be yours,” he said as he handed them to her.
Nancy took the skis and checked them out. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the binding that had snapped open, no reason why it should have failed. But as Nancy looked more closely she saw that the front screw, the one that held the binding to the ski, was missing. It must have been loose when she started up the trail, and the extra force she put on the skis racing downhill toward Dave had caused it to come out.
“You could have been seriously hurt,” Dave said when Nancy showed him the binding.
Nancy gave Dave a long look before she spoke. “I’ve been involved in an awful lot of ‘accidents’ since I came to Tall Pines,” she said. “A jammed sauna door, mysteriously switched trail signs, poisoned soup, and now a broken binding. I’m beginning to wonder why someone’s trying to hurt me.”
“I guess you never thought being a reporter could be such a dangerous profession,” Dave said, raising his eyebrow. “Or that a ski resort could be such a treacherous place.”
With that, Dave turned around in the trail and started to ski off, leaving Nancy to walk back by herself. Nancy instantly weighed the consequences of dropping her cover. It was something she had to do if she was going to get anywhere with him and her questioning.
“I’m not a reporter, Dave,” she called to him evenly.
He turned around to face her, his nervousness and anxiety apparent. “You’re not?” he asked.
Nancy let her ski drop to the ground. “No. I’m a detective.”