My Deadly Valentine (9 page)

Nancy frowned thoughtfully. “So not every girl who rushes gets a bid, right?”

“Right,” Kristin said. “Lots of sophomores who didn't receive bids as freshmen choose to rush again, and some of them are given bids the second time around.” She lowered her voice. “The funny thing was, Marina threw a fit when she didn't get a bid from us. She told Denise, our rush chairperson last year, that we'd regret it.”

“That's kind of creepy,” Bess said.

Kristin nodded. “I know rejection is hard to take, but most girls are good sports about it.”

Nancy was only half listening to Kristin's explanation. Max's daughter had been rejected by the sisters of Theta Pi! The man—and his daughter—had a motive for the crimes against the sorority. Maybe they were working together.

“This sheds a new light on Max as a suspect,” Nancy said quietly. “We'll need to do some checking on Marina. And I still want to confirm Casey's whereabouts on Tuesday night.”

Just then Marina emerged from the kitchen and brought their sandwiches to the table. They changed the subject to the charity auction.

“I still haven't come up with an angle for my valentine,” Nancy said.

“Not me,” Bess said. “I'm all set. As long as Kyle makes it to Emerson in time.”

The girls tried to keep the conversation light as they ate, especially since Marina seemed to be hovering nearby. Afterward they paid the check and hurried off to the supermarket to pick up the items they needed.

While Bess and Kristin waited in line at the checkout counter, Nancy went across the street to the Video Zone, where Casey claimed to have spent the latter part of Tuesday night. The guy on the phone had told her to check back on Friday, but since she was nearby, she thought it was worth a shot.

“A friend of mine was here late Tuesday night,” she told the guy on duty. “Is there anyone I can talk to who might have seen him?”

The guy looked around the quiet arcade and shrugged. “Not right now. You need to talk to Tiger.” He gave her an aloof smile. “Are you the girl who called yesterday? Ha!” He laughed. “You must be really stuck on Tiger if you keep dreaming up bogus reasons to talk to him.”

“I—” Nancy started to argue, then realized it was useless. This guy wasn't going to give up. “Yeah,” she said dreamily. “I'm wild about Tiger.” She pulled a notepad out of her shoulder bag and scribbled the number of the Theta Pi house on it. “Here,” she said, handing the guy
the slip of paper. “If Tiger happens to turn up before tomorrow, would you have him call me?”

He shrugged. “I'll give him the message, but there's no guarantee. Tiger's a popular guy.”

• • •

“Thank goodness you're back!” Brook exclaimed as she greeted the girls at the front door of the Theta Pi house. She took the grocery bags from Nancy and Bess.

When Nancy had called the house, she hadn't given details. Now Brook gasped as Kristin described the near accident. “I guess Cupid's struck again.” She shook her head. “I can't bear to even think about it now. The rushees will be arriving in fifteen minutes, and we specified tea attire. You'd better change.”

“What about the coffee urn?” Kristin asked. “And the music? Did Etta pick up the flowers?”

“It's all under control, Madam President,” Brook said. “Your sisters wouldn't let you down. But you'd better get cleaned up—unless you want to meet the rushees in your snowboots.”

Nancy, Bess, and Kristin bounded up the stairs, peeling off their mittens and jackets along the way. They dashed into their bedroom, then stopped short when they noticed Mindy curled up in her bed.

“Hey, sleepyhead!” Kristin teased. “Up and at 'em! It's almost time for the rush.”

“I feel lousy,” Mindy said. She rolled over to face them, and Nancy could see that her face was
flushed. “My stomach's rocky, and my head hurts. Maybe I'm coming down with the flu.”

“That's a shame,” Nancy said.

“Anything we can get you?” Bess asked.

Mindy shook her head. “No, thanks. But you'd better hurry, or you'll miss the greeting.”

Bess was already taking a cherry-colored sweater and matching skirt out of the closet. “I didn't realize we'd be dressing up for this,” she said. “Do you think this is okay?” she asked Mindy.

“Perfect,” Mindy said, clutching her knees.

“Some of the rushes are informal,” Kristin explained as she sat on the edge of her bed and tugged off her boots. “Today's just happens to be one of the fancier occasions.”

Kristin finished changing first. Like a shot, she was out of the room and down the stairs. Not long after that, Bess had wound her blond hair into a sophisticated French twist.

“You look great,” Nancy said as she pulled a gold-and-black brocade vest over her black wool dress. She followed Bess out the bedroom door. “That's got to be a record breaker for you, Bess. Completely transformed in less than ten minutes.”

“I'm so glad to be included in a sorority rush. I don't want to miss a single second,” Bess said as they hurried down the stairs.

When the doorbell rang, four of the sisters lined up at the foot of the stairs. As the front door
was opened to the guests, the quartet sang a chorus of a Theta Pi song in four-part harmony. Other sisters took the rushees' coats and escorted them to the coffee and tea service in the dining room.

“Each rushee will get a carnation as she leaves, along with a booklet explaining the goals of Theta Pi,” Kristin explained as Nancy and Bess looked on.

“Anything we can do to help?” Bess offered.

“With Mindy sick, we're a little light in the kitchen,” Kristin said. “Do you mind?”

“No problem,” Nancy said, turning toward the back of the house.

“Just make sure you're not stuck back there when I give my speech,” Kristin called after them. “It's a real showstopper.”

In the kitchen, Denise put Nancy to work filling sugar bowls and arranging tea packets in baskets. “And put these on here,” she said, handing Bess the heart-shaped box of chocolates and a silver embossed tray.

“Someone's been sneaking some of the secret admirer's candy,” Bess said as she removed the satin-covered lid from the box.

“That must have been Mindy,” Denise said. “She's notorious for her sweet tooth.”

Bess transferred some of the round chocolates to the platter, taking care not to dislodge them from their creased brown wrappers. She leaned close to the platter and sniffed. “They look like
chocolate-covered cherries, but they smell like peanuts.”

“Maybe they're assorted flavors,” said Denise.

“We'll soon find out.” Bess lifted the silver platter and ducked out of the kitchen.

Nancy tucked packets of raspberry tea into a basket, then paused. Something was nagging at her mind. The chocolates had an unusual odor! . . . a few were missing . . . and Mindy was sick.

A handful of tea bags went flying as Nancy raced out of the kitchen. She pushed past Kristin and Etta, then skidded to a halt in the dining room. Beside the buffet, Bess stood, poised and charming, as she extended the platter to two guests.

“Change of plans,” Nancy said, plucking a chocolate from one girl's hand. “We're going to save the best till last.” Ignoring the girls' confused looks, she wheeled Bess around.

“Nancy?” Bess frowned. “What's going on?”

“You can't serve those chocolates,” Nancy whispered, tugging Bess back toward the kitchen. “I think that candy's been poisoned!”

A
RE YOU KIDDING
?” Bess gasped as Nancy took the tray from her hands and strode into the kitchen.

“Did you serve the chocolates to anyone?” Nancy asked her.

“You caught me before I had a chance.”

In the kitchen, Nancy dumped the chocolates back into the box and turned to Denise. “I think these chocolates were doctored. There's a rat poison called Rodenticide that smells like peanuts. Spread the word among the sisters and find out if anyone else has tried them.”

“How awful!” Denise exclaimed. “I'll go tell Kristin and the others.”

“What about Mindy?” Bess asked.

“If she ate this candy, I'm taking her straight to
the hospital,” Nancy answered, tucking the box under her arm. “Let's go upstairs and check.”

Nancy and Bess found Mindy curled up in bed, still feeling nauseated. “Did you eat any of the candy from the ‘secret admirer'?” Nancy asked her.

Mindy nodded, “Just a few pieces. Not enough to give me a stomachache.”

“I'll bet you anything I'm right,” Nancy said, pulling their coats out of the closet. “Someone tampered with those chocolates! We'd better get you to a doctor fast.”

While Kristin gave her speech to all the guests in the dining room, Nancy and Bess quietly helped Mindy down the stairs and outside.

Denise followed them to the porch, her breath forming a puff as she spoke. “None of the other sisters tried the candy.”

“Thank goodness!” Bess said.

“We'll call you from the hospital,” Nancy told Denise. They climbed into the Mustang, and Nancy drove straight to the Emersonville hospital. Fortunately the roads had been cleared, and Nancy was able to drive quickly.

Mindy was checked into the emergency room, and a nurse wheeled her inside for an examination.

“We think it was this candy that made her sick,” Nancy said to the attending physician, placing the heart-shaped box of chocolates on the
counter at the nurses' station. She opened the box and examined a few of the candies. There was no sign that any of them had been glazed or broken. But she knew that a poison could have been injected with a needle, leaving only the tiniest of holes.

As Nancy went on to explain about the problems that had been occurring at the Theta Pi house, the attending physician lowered his clipboard and listened closely. He was a young, soft-spoken man with brown, curly hair and a neatly trimmed mustache.

“We'll need to get a sample of this candy to the lab immediately,” he told a nurse.

“Right away, Dr. Feldman,” the nurse said.

“And you should notify Sergeant Weinberg at the police station,” Nancy added. “If this candy was poisoned, he'll want to investigate.”

After Dr. Feldman went inside to attend to Mindy, Nancy and Bess settled into chairs in the waiting room. For what seemed like an eternity, they waited, their eyes glued to the examining room door.

“I just wish we knew she was okay,” Bess said, as she got up and paced back and forth.

Bess went to a pay phone to call the sorority house. Nancy noticed that Sergeant Weinberg had arrived and was speaking to a nurse at the reception desk. Nancy joined them, filling in the officer on her suspicions.

“When I realized that the candy smelled like
peanuts, I remembered reading about a rat poison with that distinctive odor. It's called Rodenticide,” she explained. “Since Mindy was the only one who ate the chocolates, and she wasn't feeling well, it seemed likely that the candy had been tampered with.”

The nurse said she would give the name of the rat poison to the attending physician and the lab.

“Your suspicions were correct,” the doctor said a few minutes later as he entered the reception area. “We've treated Mindy for poisoning. She's going to be fine, but we're admitting her for observation. The nurses are trying to work it out so that she can share a room with her friend, Rosie Lopez.”

“Thank goodness she's all right,” Nancy said, taking a deep breath.

“Have you determined the source of the poison yet?” the sergeant asked.

“We believe it's the candy, although the lab hasn't had time to identify the toxic substance yet,” Dr. Feldman explained. “We'll test it for traces of Rodenticide, as well as other substances.”

“And I'll need a few samples to take to the police lab,” Sergeant Weinberg added.

Dr. Feldman's brown eyes were serious as he turned to Nancy. “It's a good thing you got that candy out of circulation. We could have had a lot of very sick students in here.”

“Nice work, Ms. Drew,” the officer agreed.
“But this case—a sorority stalker . . .” He shook his head. “It's too dangerous. I have to call Dean Jarvis, and I'm about to recommend that he suspend all student activities on campus until we catch this psycho.”

“Cancel the Sweetheart Ball?” Bess asked, as she approached the group. “That would include the valentine auction, too. People would be so disappointed.”

“At least they'd be safer,” he said.

“I don't think this guy is going to back off if a few events are canceled,” Nancy said as she thought out the situation. “But I wish I had a better lead on who the stalker is.”

“Don't we all,” Sergeant Weinberg agreed.