039 The Suspect Next Door (13 page)

“Don’t worry, Nikki,” Nancy comforted her. “The case is practically solved. I know who the real killer is now.”

“You do?” Nikki threw her arms around Nancy’s neck. “I knew you’d come through for me.”

Nancy smiled. “But I’m going to need your help to set a trap. We’re going to put on a little show. You, me, and Ned. And you’re going to be the star, Nikki.”

Nikki cocked her head to one side. “But I’m not an actress, Nancy,” she protested.

“That’s all right,” Nancy said. “In this show, you’ll be playing yourself. Can I use your telephone? I want to call Ned.”

Ned picked up the phone after the first ring. “I had a feeling it was you,” he told her. “Is this the call I’ve been waiting for?”

“It sure is, Seargent Nickerson. Can you meet me at the ice-cream parlor in the mall around six-thirty?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said.

“And if you wouldn’t mind, could you pick up a loaded starter’s pistol, and a couple of vials of stage blood? You can get the pistol at a spotting goods store and the Party Store should carry the stage blood.”

“That’s quite a shopping list. What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you right now,” Nancy told him. “But be prepared to do some heavy acting.”

“Come on, Nan, I can’t stand the suspense,” he protested.

“Why, Ned, I thought you loved suspense,” she said coyly. “See you at six-thirty.”

Nancy hung up and felt in her purse for the portable radio/cassette recorder she’d gotten Ned. She’d meant to give it to him on Saturday during their stakeout of Vanities. Now it would be a late anniversary gift. Better late than never, Nancy thought. Meanwhile, the little machine was going to come in handy.

“See you at six-thirty,” Nancy said to Nikki as she left. “I’ll explain everything then.”

• • •

At six o’clock Nancy made a brief stop at Vanities. “Charlene,” she said, calling her over, “can I talk to you a minute?”

The girl nodded her head, and, despite a stare or two from Trisha, moments later the two of them were in the back of the stockroom. “I need your help,” she told the salesgirl. “Max’s, too.”

“Sure!” gushed the now-grateful Charlene. “You’re helping us, so anything we can do.”

“I want you and Max to be out of here by five minutes to seven, okay? And you’ve got to make sure Tony is gone, too. It’s very important, understand? I need the three of you out of the way.”

“Okay, Nancy,” Charlene nodded. “But why? What’s up?”

“I can’t tell you right now,” Nancy said, waving her off. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Checking her watch, Nancy headed over to the ice-cream parlor and waited for Ned and Nikki to show up. Ned arrived at precisely 6:30. “How’s that for punctuality?” he said, giving her a big smile.

“Oh, Ned, what did I do to deserve you?” Nancy said, leaning over the table and planting a kiss on his lips. “Happy anniversary, Ned.” She presented him with the radio/recorder. “Sorry it’s not gift wrapped, but you’re going to need to use it right away.”

“Thanks, Nan,” he said, turning it over in his hands. “So what’s the plan?”

“Let’s wait for Nikki to show up. Then I’ll fill you both in on what we’ve got ahead of us tonight,” Nancy said. She reached out for Ned’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

Within a few minutes, Nikki came breezing in. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, sitting down next to Nancy.

“Do you guys know each other?” Nancy asked.

“We’ve met once or twice. Hi, Ned,” Nikki said. Nancy saw Nikki smile for the first time in days.

“Hi, Nikki, nice to see you,” Ned answered.

“Ned’s going to be your costar.”

“Okay, Nancy,” Ned said. “Enough suspense. Which play
is
it that we’re going to perform in?”

“It’s sort of a melodrama, but if everything turns out right, we’ll end up with the proof we need to send Dan’s killer away for a long time.”

Nancy explained her theory about how Dan Taylor had gotten involved in fencing stolen merchandise for Trisha and her boyfriend in the cowboy hat.

“But we need it on tape—” Nancy pointed to Ned’s gift. “That’s where my trap comes in.”

“So tell us what we have to do,” Nikki said.

After coaching Ned and Nikki on their roles, Nancy looked across the mall to Vanities. She saw Max and Charlene leaving, with Tony between them. Good, she thought. They came through.

“Nancy, it’s six fifty-five,” Ned announced softly.

Nancy nodded. “Let’s go,” she said.

She led them down a stairway to the loading docks, and then up a ramp to the back door of Vanities.

Nancy’s watch read seven o’clock. The store was closing. Everyone would be up front. Nancy pressed the combination and let them all in.

The stockroom was deserted. Ned took the minirecorder out of his jacket pocket, pressed the record button, then slipped it back in. They all took positions behind packing crates to wait.

Seconds later Nancy heard the click of high heels on tile. Trisha Rapp came into view, then
disappeared into her office. Nancy could see her through the open door, going over the day’s receipts.

Nancy gave Ned a signal, held her breath, and watched.

Ned rose quickly from the shadows and moved to the office doorway. When Trisha saw him, she nearly jumped out of her seat.

“Who—who are you?” she gasped. “What do you want?”

“Never mind that,” Ned said in his most threatening voice. “I know all about Dan. And the Denver connection.”

“You—what? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Ned’s act was working, Nancy realized. Trisha was clearly thrown. Push her, Ned! Nancy urged him silently. Don’t let her off the hook!

“I’m talking about a tall guy in a cowboy hat,” Ned said almost as if he’d heard Nancy. “I know you’re in on it together. I know about Dan’s trips to Denver. I know about the envelope.”

“How?” she challenged him. “How do you know?”

“I was a friend of Dan’s. Call me his insurance policy. I know everything,” he snapped, walking over to the desk.

Trisha’s voice was husky with fear. “What do you want from me?”

Ned smiled, and sat down right on the desk.
Leaning over to Trisha, he purred, “I want in. You let me take Dan Taylor’s place, and I keep what I know to myself.”

There was silence as Trisha summed up the situation. The store manager was tough, Nancy thought. She wasn’t quite ready to break.

“I—I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” she insisted.

Time for the cavalry, Nancy thought. She gave Nikki a tap on the shoulder and nodded for her to join Ned.

Nancy shoved a carton onto the floor. It dropped with a thud.

“What was that?” Trisha gasped.

Ned feigned panic. “Who’s out there?” he demanded in a shaky voice.

At that very moment, Nikki emerged from the shadows. “I’ve heard enough!” she shrieked, a realistic edge of insanity in her voice. It raised goosebumps on Nancy’s arms. Nancy could only imagine the effect it had on Trisha Rapp.

“I know you killed Dan!” Nikki raved, pointing her finger at Ned’s face. “You’ll never get away with it! Never!”

Nikki pulled the starter’s pistol out of her pocket and waved it in the air.

“No! No!” Ned shouted, as Nikki aimed the gun at his face. “It wasn’t me! She did it!” he said, pointing at the stunned Trisha.

Nikki hesitated for a moment, as if wondering
whether or not to believe Ned. Then she leveled the pistol at Trisha.

“So you’re in this, too!” she hissed.

Trisha backed up against the wall, terror reflected in her eyes.

“I loved Dan Taylor!” Nikki screamed. “Nobody cared about that. You just killed him in cold blood and left me behind to take the blame! Well, you won’t get away with it. Let them put me away for a thousand years—I don’t care!”

She cocked the gun and leveled it at Ned. He made as if to stop her, but before he could say anything, she fired. With a cry, Ned slumped to the ground and lay motionless. A pool of stage blood spread slowly on the ground around him.

Her eyes wild with triumph, Nikki turned back to Trisha and aimed the gun again.

That was enough for Trisha. “No! No, don’t shoot!” she screamed. “Please, please don’t kill me! I didn’t kill him, I swear it.”

Nikki’s face took on a grim and determined expression. “You’ve got till the count of ten to tell me who did,” she said somberly. “One. Two. Three—”

“It was Alan Harrow—one of our suppliers from Denver.”

So that was his name, Nancy thought, the man in the cowboy hat.

Nancy stepped out from the shadows. “Nice
work, guys,” she said as Ned got up from the floor and handed her the tape recorder.

Lifting up the phone, Nancy dialed police headquarters. “Hello, Chief McGinnis?” she said into the phone. “This is Nancy Drew. Meet me at Vanities right away. I think we’ve solved the Taylor murder.”

D
IDN’T
I
TELL YOU
it was the guy in the cowboy hat?” Bess had her arm around Nancy’s shoulder and was riding her mercilessly. It was the next day, and the Masters family was celebrating. A couple of Nikki’s friends were there, too.

“Yes, Bess, you said it was him, all right,” Nancy answered lightly. “But you also mentioned everyone else on my list. There was no way you could have been wrong.”

Everyone laughed, except Bess. George laughed loudest of all. “She’s right, Bess,” she said apologetically.

“Seriously though, Bess,” Nancy added, soothing her friend’s ruffled feathers, “if you and
George hadn’t gone to Vanities that day, I’d never have known about the Denver connection.”

Nikki came over to them and held up a newspaper. The headline read: “Suspects Arrested in Taylor Murder.”

“I’ll be grateful to you for the rest of my life,” said Nikki, giving Nancy a big hug. “But I’ll never understand how you figured it out!”

Robin, seated on the couch next to Lacey, called out, “Me, neither. Like the watch. Nikki really was with Dan at ten-fourteen, wasn’t she?”

“Nikki was with Dan at ten-fourteen, River Heights time, Robin. Dan’s watch was set for Denver time,” Nancy explained. “He must have forgotten to reset it when he got back into town.”

“But how did the whole robbery scheme work, Nancy?” George asked. “I don’t quite get it.”

Nancy cleared her throat. “Trisha filled me in on that when she was arrested. According to her, she knew Alan Harrow from Denver. They’d been in on little scams before, but this one was their biggest caper yet.

“The idea was this: Trisha stole merchandise from Vanities and sent it to Denver via Dan Taylor. Al paid Dan off and resold the merchandise! Dan took Trisha’s cut back to her, and the whole round would start over again.”

“But if she was behind it, why did Trisha tell Kate Hayes about the thefts in the first place?” Bess asked, confused.

“I asked Kate about that when she came by the store before the police took Trisha off,” Nancy said. “I thought it was strange, too. Apparently, Charlene was about to tell her, when Trisha overheard and pointed it out. I imagine she thought it would be embarrassing for her to be store manager and not know about it.”

George shook her head. “It’s all so weird. I mean, why take the dresses and all if she’s making good money with the stolen jewelry? It seems to me that’s where she went wrong.”

“You’re right, George,” Ned said. “But by the end, there, I don’t think Trisha was thinking too clearly. Maybe she just got greedy.”

“Or maybe Mr. Cowboy Hat put her up to it,” Bess suggested melodramatically.

The room was quiet. Then Nikki spoke up.

“But why did they have to kill Dan?” she asked, heartbroken.

“Trisha knew if Dan accused her of anything, she could point to his reputation as a liar. But she didn’t figure on Dan having enough brains to take out ‘insurance.’ He’d been saving tags, duplicate invoices, anything he could get his hands on.

“It says here,” said Nikki, pointing to the paper, “that they found the envelope in Harrow’s condo.”

Nancy shook her head. “I guess he decided to keep it as insurance against Trisha. Anyway, when Dan told them he was quitting, they got
worried that he was going to go to the police. That’s why Alan Harrow was in town: to shut Dan up. I think Dan knew that. And that’s why he tried to give Nikki the envelope.”

“I can’t help thinking I let Dan down,” Nikki said softly. “Just when he needed me most, too.”

Nancy put an arm around her neighbor’s slender shoulders. “Nikki, you did the right thing, given what you knew. Besides, you might have wound up just like Dan.”

Nikki shuddered. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever get over this,” she said.

“Of course you will,” Nancy told her. “Sooner than you think.”

She motioned for Ned, Bess, and George to follow her outside. It was time for Nikki to get back to her family and friends—to her real, everyday world.

Outside, it was another perfect late-summer afternoon. “Hey, nice new window, Drew!” Bess laughed as they crossed the lawn. “Who was responsible for that little stunt, by the way?”

“Trisha,” answered Nancy matter-of-factly. “She told me in the back of the squad car on the way to the station. She actually seemed sorry about it,” she mused. “Apparently, Harrow freaked when Trisha told him I was on the case and made her do it. After you,” she gestured, allowing Bess and George to go inside.