False Moves (8 page)

B
RAD,
I
HAVE
a very important assignment for you,” Nancy said.

“You do?” Brad answered doubtfully.

“Uh-huh.” Nancy pulled photocopies of the two threat letters out of her bag. “We need to check the type on these notes against that of the different typewriters around the CBT offices. If we can match the letters, we'll have a good lead to the thief.”

“Great,” Brad said enthusiastically.

“All you have to do is get samples of print from a few offices—especially James's and Colby's. It
shouldn't be too hard. Meet me back here in the lobby in a half hour, okay?”

“Okay.” Brad gave Nancy a kiss, then hurried up the broad lobby steps toward the main CBT offices. He seemed very intent on his mission.

He was so serious, in fact, that Nancy almost felt like laughing. By getting Brad busy doing something, she was free to investigate without being held back by him. Because of the challenge the thief had thrown at her the day before, Nancy was more determined than ever to find the pin.

Right then, Nancy's goal was to go to the dancers' lounge to talk to some of the dancers who weren't on her suspect list. It was possible that they'd seen something on the night of the robbery, something that they didn't even realize could be important. The relaxed atmosphere of the lounge should help people to talk freely.

Nancy opened the door to the lounge and found herself in a large, comfortable room with many couches lined up against the walls. About a dozen dancers were sitting around, reading, relaxing, or eating their lunches. Most of them looked pretty young—sixteen or seventeen.

“I've got to get some new pointe shoes,” one of the dancers was saying. “A brand-new pair of mine disappeared yesterday.”

“I lost some, too, along with my favorite unitard,” her friend replied. “Someone's been stealing things lately.”

Sure! Nancy said to herself. And the Raja diamond was the thief s major haul! She looked around for someone to quiz about the night of the robbery. In one corner she saw the girl Katya had called Bridgit in class the day before.

“Hi,” Nancy said as she sat down next to her.

“Hi.” She looked up from the magazine she was reading. “My name's Bridgit. You're Nancy Drew, the private detective, aren't you?”

“That's me,” Nancy said.

“What an exciting thing to do!” Bridgit exclaimed. “It must be the greatest job.”

Nancy couldn't help but laugh. “You know, watching all you dancers makes me think
you've
got the greatest jobs.”

Bridgit nodded. “It is fun, but it's also exhausting. Sometimes I get so sore and tired I feel like quitting and hiding in bed for a month. But I suppose it's easier to see the good points of someone else's job.”

“I guess so,” Nancy agreed. “Right now, my investigation isn't going well, so
I'm
discouraged and feel like hiding in bed.” Both girls laughed. “Actually, I was hoping you might be able to help me. Did you see anything the night the diamond disappeared? Anything strange or out of the ordinary?”

“Not really,” Bridgit responded. “We were all busy getting ready for the big piece that was supposed to go on after the trio. Of course, we
never got to perform it that night. So I'm sorry, but I didn't see anything.”

Nancy was grateful, anyway. “That's too bad. I really need some clues. By the way, do you have a hunch about who stole the gem?”

Bridgit shook her head. “I think it could have been any one of the three dancers onstage. Andre keeps to himself a lot, so you never really know much about him. Katya will be retiring before too long, and I hear she's really worried about money. And Belinda is such a snob that she acts like the world owes her something. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she turned out to be the thief.”

“Really?” Nancy asked. “You don't like her?”

“Nope. And neither does the rest of the company. She's a real flirt, too. She's always ogling my boyfriend when he picks me up after a concert.”

Nancy frowned. I know what you mean, Bridgit, she thought.

“Anyway, I'm sorry I can't help you,” the dancer finished.

“That's okay,” Nancy told her. She glanced quickly at her watch. Why had she told Brad she'd meet him in half an hour? She wasn't going to have time to talk to anyone else. “Well, I've got to meet
my
boyfriend now,” she said. “It's been fun talking to you, Bridgit. I'll see you around.”

Nancy left the lounge and hurried down the long, empty corridors. She was eager to meet Brad and find out if the print from any of those
typewriters matched the mysterious letters. Maybe that would finally provide the important clue she was searching for.

Because she got lost, Nancy accidentally found herself in front of the costume room. The padlock was still missing. Hadn't anyone replaced it after it had been smashed two days before? Or was the thief back again? Gently, Nancy leaned against the door and listened. She could hear voices coming from inside the room.

Being careful not to make a sound, she pushed the door slightly ajar and peered in through the crack.

Two people were pulling costumes off hangers and frantically inspecting them. Ana! Nancy recognized the petite woman's long dark hair. And the man with the wavy sandy hair was Andre!

“We
must
find the diamond,” Ana said hysterically. “The pin has to be here in a costume! It's the only way it could have been smuggled out of the theater.”

Andre threw aside a tutu glittering with rhinestones and began grabbing props off the shelves. Top hats, canes, even a plastic skull for the ballet of
Hamlet
flew onto the floor. He snatched up a blue felt bag and ripped it open.

All at once Andre stopped his wild searching and stared at something in his hands. He waved it excitedly in the air. “I've found it!” he cried. “Ana darling, look!”

Ana was at Andre's side in a flash. She snatched the sparkling pin from his hands and examined it greedily. Nancy's heart sank. They had the diamond. They had found it even before she had figured out they were the thieves.

Disgusted with herself, Nancy watched as Ana studied her prize. Nancy had no idea what to do. Should she rush in and confront the duo? No, Andre was incredibly strong and in fantastic shape; she wouldn't have a chance against the two of them. But if she ran to get help, Ana and Andre might be far away by the time she returned.

But as Nancy continued to peer through the slightly open door, she was shocked by what happened next.

Gently, Ana laid the jewel on the floor. Then slowly she raised her foot. With one sudden, violent movement, she brought the heel of her shoe down on the gem.

And the diamond shattered into a hundred pieces.

A
NA AND
A
NDRE
stared silently at the shattered diamond. “Fool!” Ana hissed. “That was only a glass copy!”

Andre looked horrified. “I—I forgot that the company had a pin made of fake stones for the performances when we didn't have the real diamond to use.”

“You forgot!” Ana said, raising her voice. “Well, you had better not forget any more important details.” Nancy decided she wouldn't like to have Ana angry at her, and she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Andre.

“Please, Ana sweetheart, don't scream,” Andre
pleaded. “Someone will hear, and we're going to be in big trouble if they catch us in here.”

“Until we recover the Raja diamond, I really don't care about anything,” Ana replied, but Nancy noticed that she did lower her voice.

It seemed pretty clear to Nancy that Ana and Andre were dating, but she didn't have time then to wonder about their personal lives. She had to deal with their professional lives—which seemed to include big-time jewel heists.

Nancy tried to reason calmly. Ana and Andre hadn't actually said they had stolen the diamond. But it looked as though they had. But
why
would they be looking for the diamond if they had stolen it? Perhaps in the confusion of that night they had slipped it into a costume hanging on a rack and now couldn't remember which one. But why was Andre looking through the props? None of it really made sense, but Nancy still felt they had to be guilty.

She sighed. She needed help. Someone had to help her keep an eye on those two. Someone who could actually stop them if they tried to leave the theater.

James! Since Ana and Andre appeared to be the thieves, the managing director was cleared as a suspect for the moment. And he certainly wouldn't let the thieves get away because it would cost the ballet company so much money. But she had to notify him immediately.

Nancy took off to get Brad before heading for James's office. She ran down the back stairs to the lobby and pushed through the door with a bang. Brad was waiting. “Come on,” she called. “I'm on to something important. We have to get moving,” she said, running over to Brad and then turning to run up the stairs to the second floor.

“What's going on?” he asked, trailing behind her a couple of steps.

“I caught Ana and Andre destroying the costume storage room, looking for the diamond. It looks like they're the thieves. So now we've got to convince James to help us stop them—even without proof,” she said over her shoulder.

“Uh, Nancy,” Brad asked, stopping for a minute, “is this going to be dangerous?”

Nancy rolled her eyes and looked at him. “We're just going to talk to James. But we've got to do it now. Time is essential. Don't worry, we'll be fine.”

They trotted down the second floor hallway to James's office. But when they got there, the managing director's secretary told them they'd just missed him. “I'm not sure where he went,” the woman told them. “I think he might have gone to see Colby. Why don't you try his office?”

“Thanks!” Nancy called over her shoulder as she and Brad hurried to Colby's office next door.

No one was in the outer reception area, so when Nancy heard two hushed voices coming from
Colby's office, she went to the door to listen. Neither voice was James's. Nancy started to move away from the door, but then she heard something that made her stop.

“This company deserves every bit of bad publicity it gets.” Colby had raised his voice and it drifted out clearly through the door.

“Come on, Nancy. You just said we needed to find James,” Brad said.

“Ssh,” Nancy told him sharply. “Listen.” She motioned toward the office. “This conversation just might convince me that we've got another pair of suspects.”

Nancy walked soundlessly back toward the office door so that she could hear every word. As Brad followed her, a floorboard creaked. “Be quiet,” Nancy whispered. “We can't let them hear us.”

“It's outrageous,” Colby was saying. “James shouldn't be able to push you into retirement. But then he doesn't care about dance,” he added bitterly. “All he's interested in is money. Money and publicity stunts!”

“Unfortunately, he has the power to do anything he wants with this company,” the woman in Colby's office was saying. That Russian accent! Nancy recognized it immediately. It was Katya Alexandrovna! “If James Ellsworth wants to fire me, there's no one who can stop him. Because of
James, neither of us is going to have a job next year.”

“Unless
he gets blamed for the missing Raja diamond. The board of directors wouldn't keep him around after that.”

Nancy caught her breath. Could Colby and Katya have stolen the pin to get revenge against James? If so, it was a brilliant plan. But just like Ana and Andre, they hadn't come right out and said they'd taken it. Either couple could still be guilty.

Oh, no, Nancy thought. Now I have two pairs of suspects—but no concrete proof against either of them. And even worse, no idea as to where the diamond could have been hidden.

Nancy could hear Katya's voice again. “The police are already—” But at that moment Brad coughed—very loudly. Katya's voice broke off in midsentence. “What was that?” she asked sharply.

“Come on, Brad,” Nancy whispered urgently. “We've got to get out of here. Now!”

But before they could move a step, the door to Colby's office flew open. The artistic director and the ballerina stood glaring at them.

“Just what do you think you're doing here?” Colby yelled. With one smooth motion, he grabbed Brad with one hand and Nancy with the other.

Colby was extremely strong and his grip was quite painful. Nancy stared at him, horrified, as he squeezed her arm still tighter. What was he going to do to them? If he
was
the thief, he'd never let them go after what they'd heard. Somehow he'd have to get rid of them.