The Suspect Next Door

  “What do you say we just get a couple of slices to go and eat them on my porch?” Nancy suggested softly.

  “Fine with me,” he replied, kissing the side of her head. “Sounds kind of romantic, actually. Pizza on the Porch for Two.” With a wink at Nancy, he turned and placed their order.

  • • •

  Nancy and Ned set up their late-night picnic on a wicker table on Nancy’s front porch.

  “Pizza, a full moon, and you,” Ned said, and sighed. “I love it. Come here and sit down,” he said, patting the spot next to him on the love seat.

  “Last time we spent an evening on the porch, we were up talking till two in the morning,” she recalled.

  “Not just talking,” Ned reminded her, kissing her tenderly on her lips.

  “Mmmm,” Nancy breathed. “You Royal Mounted Police are all so romantic. And you also know how to make a girl hungry. Where’s the pizza? I’m starving.”

  “Hey, I was just getting started over here!” Ned said, holding out her slice and a napkin. “Do you mean to say pizza is more important to you than me?”

  “A girl’s got to eat,” Nancy said with a shrug and a laugh. “Besides, there’s nothing like food to make a person feel romantic.”

  “Is that so?” said Ned, arching his eyebrows. “Well, then.” Brushing his hands together, he reached for his slice. “Let me at it.” Ned folded his pizza wedge, winked at Nancy, and took a big bite.

  As they ate Nancy watched a beat-up old car stop in front of the house next door. Nancy recognized Nikki Masters and her boyfriend as they got out of the car. “Remember those two from the park?” Nancy whispered to Ned, throwing him a knowing look.

  Ned nodded. He and Nancy munched quietly, watching the young couple as they strolled up to the Masterses’ house and said their good-nights. The boy had his arm around Nikki, and he leaned his head very close to hers.

  “Love springs eternal,” Ned said in a soft whisper.

  Nancy was about to answer when, suddenly, Nikki wrenched free from her boyfriend’s grasp and ran up on the porch.

  “I told you, no!” Nikki said forcefully.

  “Nikki! Wait!” the boy shouted, following her. He caught up to her and grabbed her wrist. Nancy and Ned couldn’t help hearing what they were saying.

  “Please!” the boy said. “Please take it!”

  “I told you I can’t!” Nancy could tell that Nikki was really upset.

  “But you’ve got to take it!” the boy insisted. “Please.”

  Nancy and Ned were embarrassed to be in on such a private moment. But there was really nowhere they could go without making the couple aware of their presence, and they didn’t want to interrupt.

  “Let me go! Please!” Nikki cried suddenly, pulling her hand out of the boy’s grasp. Ned had moved as if he were going to Nikki’s rescue, but Nancy put a hand on his knee to restrain him. Nancy didn’t feel right about nosing in on her neighbor’s business—unless Nikki needed help.

  The boy had let his arms drop to his sides. “Don’t you care if I live or die?” he demanded. “I’m telling you, Nikki, I can’t make it without you! Please.”

  “Oh, stop it! Stop it!” Nikki pleaded, “Dan, please! Leave me alone! I can’t stand it anymore! I wish you the best, I really do. But I just don’t want all this trouble.” Nikki ran for the door.

  This time Dan didn’t try to stop her. Instead, he shook his head and stared at the ground. “You don’t understand, Nikki.”

  “I guess I don’t, Dan. I’m sorry, I r-really am,” Nikki stammered, turning to face him. “But I just can’t handle all your problems.”

  Dan’s eyes opened wide. In the light of the Masterses’ porch, he looked more afraid than angry, but when he spoke, the anger was definitely there. “Why don’t you just admit it? You don’t care! You wouldn’t even care if I died!”

  Nancy knew Nikki’s face must be reddening. “Stop trying to make me feel guilty, Dan Taylor! Leave me alone!” she said firmly and coldly. “If you don’t I just might kill you myself!”

  Chapter

  Three

  NIKKI SLAMMED THE DOOR behind her as Dan Taylor skulked back to his car and drove off. Exchanging a look, Nancy and Ned put down their half-eaten slices of pizza and breathed out loud.

  “Whew.” Ned sighed. “What do you suppose that was all about?”

  Nancy thought for a second. “I don’t know, Ned,” she admitted, “but those two seem to have some serious problems. Do you think I should—”

  “Do I think you should get involved?” Ned finished for her. “Absolutely not.”

  “But Nikki’s my neighbor, Ned. I’ve known her for a long time. She’s always been so levelheaded and sure of herself. I’ve never seen her upset like that.”

  “Come on, Nan,” Ned said with a sigh. “It’s young love. First-time romances are always stormy.”

  “I don’t know.” Nancy didn’t feel right about it. She knew Ned was probably right. Some young couples had fights every day. She and Ned had had a few spats during the first months they were together.

  But the exchange Nancy had overheard didn’t sound like a simple spat. Nancy couldn’t help worrying about Nikki. Something was really upsetting her. Maybe if Nikki had a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to . . .

  Nancy knew Nikki wasn’t prone to threatening people. Still, Nikki had sounded as if she meant it. Nancy decided that the next time she saw Nikki she’d find out if there was anything she could do to help her.

  • • •

  Kate Hayes was waiting anxiously when Nancy got to Vanities the next morning. “I’ve got to take care of things in my two other stores,” she explained quickly. “Fortunately, there haven’t been any thefts there. Here’s a list of my employees,” she said, handing Nancy a piece of yellow legal paper. “I’ll check in with you later. Meanwhile, Trisha will help you out.”

  Trisha nodded her assent. “Right, Ms. Hayes. Don’t worry. I’ll handle things here. And I’m sure Ms. Drew will hold up her end.”

  “Please call me Nancy,” Nancy corrected her when Kate Hayes had gone.

  “Sure,” Trisha said, barely managing a smile. “Well, what do you want to start with? I’ve got a lot of work to do back in the stockroom, so—”

  Nancy noticed that the minute Kate Hayes left the store, Trisha’s eager attitude dropped away. “If you don’t mind, I’ll just tag along with you, to get a feel for the place,” Nancy said.

  “That’s up to you,” Trisha said with a shrug, leading her back through the door to the stockroom.

  “What kind of security system do you have here?” Nancy asked.

  “Oh, Vanities is well-protected,” Trisha answered, pointing to electronic devices spaced along the walls up near the ceiling. “We have a supersophisticated alarm system, complete with video cameras. There are magnetic tags on most of the merchandise and electronic locks with codes on the front door and the door to the loading area in back.”

  “Then it would be pretty hard to break into from the outside,” Nancy murmured. “How many hours a week is Ms. Hayes here?”

  “About three hours a day, on the average. Except when she’s on a buying trip. Then she can be gone for up to two weeks at a time.”

  So there really was no efficient way of preventing an inside job, Nancy thought as they made their way past racks of clothing.

  She wondered if there was a way of keeping track of when each employee was in the store. “Are the people who work here on a set schedule?” she asked.

  “Not really. There is a schedule, but it’s always being changed. Most of the sales help is part-time. There’s no logging-in system on the registers, or anything like that. Ms. Hayes mostly leaves us alone to get our work done.”

  Nancy realized that meant it would be relatively easy for anyone who worked there to tamper with the camera system and sneak merchandise out the back way to the loading dock.

  “Who knows the electronic code on the doors?” she asked.

&nbs
p; “Just Ms. Hayes,” Trisha answered. “And me, of course. One of us is always here to open the store. But the codes are changed weekly.”

  From the police the day before, Nancy knew that the amount of merchandise stolen was large. Too much for one person to smuggle out during working hours. Someone must have found out how to open the coded locks, disarm the security system, and rob the store while it was closed.

  “Is there somewhere private for me to interview the rest of the staff?” Nancy asked when they stepped into Trisha’s small inner office.

  “Sure,” Trisha answered. “You can use my office.” Although she was being cooperative, Trisha’s manner had not warmed up. She went to her desk and took out a few sheets of paper. “I’d better go up front and open the cash register. We really don’t have that many people working here. I’ll start sending them in right away.”

  In the brief time Nancy was alone, she checked out Trisha’s office. On the desk were inventory sheets and employee records. In the top drawer was a huge account ledger. Everything relevant to the store’s business was probably in this office. Nancy would have to go through it all later.

  She wondered about Trisha. After all, who in the store was in a better position to carry out a series of thefts? But if Trisha was behind it all, why would she have blown the whistle? The thefts might have gone undetected for a long time, but she had called them to Kate Hayes’s attention instead.

  Nancy heard a knock on the door. Charlene Rice was standing in the doorway, looking nervous. “Trisha said you wanted to see me. I really don’t know anything. I didn’t even know there’d been any robberies until Trisha told me.” The words spilled out of Charlene. From the way she looked at Nancy, it was as if she thought she were about to be sentenced.

  “Well, come on in, anyway. There’s a lot I need to know about the store and how it operates,” Nancy said with a friendly smile.

  Charlene stepped into the little room. To Nancy’s surprise, a large man with bushy dark eyebrows and a thick crop of wavy black hair came in after her. Nancy recognized him as another employee.

  “This is Tony. Tony Selby,” Charlene explained. “He’s a salesman for the men’s clothing line we’ve just added.”

  “Hi, Tony,” Nancy greeted him. “I’m looking forward to meeting everyone on staff. Would you mind waiting until I’ve talked to Charlene?”

  Tony didn’t move. “It’s okay,” he stated flatly. “If you got a question for Charlene, you can ask her in front of me.”

  “Tony’s my boyfriend,” Charlene explained in a trembling voice. “He’s just trying to protect me.”

  “Oh?” Nancy’s eyebrows jumped up. “Is there something in particular you need protection from?”

  Tony tensed, but Charlene put a hand on his arm and said, “Well, I was kind of in the middle of it yesterday, when the dresses were found missing.”

  “Listen! If you think Charlene took those dresses, you’re nuts,” Tony put in. “And I didn’t steal them, either. So go ahead and ask your questions, okay?”

  “Sure.” Nancy cleared her throat. “Well, you two know a lot more about Vanities than I do. Who do you think is stealing from the store? Any ideas?”

  Charlene bit her lip nervously, shook her head, and studied the toes of her shoes. Tony stood there glaring at Nancy. A silence descended over the office. Nancy was determined not to be the first to break it.

  “I have an idea all right,” Tony finally told Nancy. “You ever hear of an insurance scam? That’s what I think is going on. I think she’s saying these things are gone so she can collect for them.” Tony looked proud of his theory.

  “You mean Kate Hayes, of course,” Nancy asked.

  Tony nodded. “That happens a lot, you know.”

  Charlene put her hand on Tony’s arm to quiet him. “You won’t repeat any of this to Ms. Hayes, will you, Ms. Drew? Tony’s just a little upset because of the way Ms. Hayes treated me. But I understand. She’s been under a lot of stress lately.”

  “I won’t say anything,” Nancy said, her eyes moving from Charlene to Tony. Obviously, if she wanted to question Charlene, she’d have to do it when Tony wasn’t around. “Well, thanks, you two. That’s all for now,” she said.

  “Detectives,” Nancy heard Tony muttering as they left. “What does she think? That we’re criminals or something? Why would we be slaving away here if we were thieves?”

  “I agree,” an unfamiliar voice just outside the door said. “Well, I guess I’m next.”

  “Good luck, Max,” Charlene said.

  Max Hudson had to be the best-looking stockboy in the world, Nancy decided when he stepped into the room. He had strong, handsome features, tousled wheat-blond hair, and a bodybuilder’s physique. He shot Nancy a wry grin and flopped down in the chair beside the desk.

  “Here I am,” he announced. “What do you want to know? I’m Max, by the way.”

  “Max Hudson, right?” Nancy asked, double-checking the name against Kate Hayes’s list.

  “Yup.” Max sounded totally bored.

  “Well, Max,” said Nancy, “I’d like to ask you a few questions about the robberies here, if you don’t mind.”

  Max shrugged. “Go ahead,” he said, leaning back in his chair.

  “Max, who do you think is behind the thefts?” Nancy asked, putting the question as bluntly as she could.

  “Beats me” was all Max had to say in return.

  Nancy waited for him to volunteer more. He didn’t

  “Did you ever notice that anything was taken?” she probed.

  “Nope. I only see the boxes. I don’t open them. Stuff comes into the store, I put it in the stockroom. After that, I don’t know a thing.”

  That’s strange, Nancy thought. Stockboys usually unpack the boxes and log in the merchandise.

  “I heard there were several boxes of jewelry taken a couple weeks ago. Did you ever see them?” she asked.

  “I remember a few boxes were taken, but that’s all.”

  “You never actually saw the jewelry, then?”

  “No, just the boxes.” Max couldn’t be less cooperative. As he talked to Nancy, his piercing blue eyes wandered around the room like those of a schoolboy waiting for recess.

  “Thanks, Max. That’s all for now.”

  Max got up with a cursory nod and shuffled out of the room, a hint of a smile on his otherwise sullen face.

  Nancy gave a quick shudder. He knew more than he was telling. Those terse replies of his told her he was holding back.

  “Knock, knock.” Nancy looked up and saw Trisha standing in the doorway.

  “Is that everybody?” Nancy asked her.

  “That’s it for full-time employees,” Trisha confirmed. “We used to have more, but most of them didn’t work out for one reason or another. It’s hard to find good help, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

  “Well, I’d like to go over the employee records, past and present, if that’s okay. And the inventory sheets.”

  “That’s fine,” Trisha said, “but not now. A big shipment just came in, and I’m going to be needing the office for the next couple of hours. And I couldn’t let you take the books out of the store without Ms. Hayes’s permission.”

  “I guess I could come back later,” Nancy suggested. “What time do you close?”

  “Tonight, at eight,” Trisha answered brusquely. “If you come back then, I can give you the books and teach you the security code so you can lock up when you’re done.”

  “Great. Will you have time for a few questions then?” Nancy asked.

  Trisha smiled coldly. “Sure,” she said. “I’m probably your number-one suspect, right? Store manager, knows the whole operation . . .”

  “Right now everyone is my number-one suspect, Trisha,” Nancy said wryly.

  “That’s all you’re going to say? Well, I’ll be happy to answer any questions,” Trisha told her wearily, an edge to her voice. “I want this thing solved just as much as Ms. Hayes does. My reputation’s on the
line, too, you know. See you later.”

  • • •

  Nancy slid into the front seat of her Mustang and fitted the key in the ignition. The car purred into action, and Nancy rolled out of the parking lot and onto the street. What a perfect late-summer day, she thought. Too bad she’d had to spend so much time in the store.

  Heading for home, Nancy considered the situation at Vanities. Tony Selby was definitely suspicious. He acted proud of his classic tough-guy stance. Nancy couldn’t help wondering why Charlene, who seemed so shy and sweet, would be mixed up with a guy like him. Could his looks and manner be deceiving? Of course, it was possible that he and Charlene were working together.

  Max Hudson might have both the brains and know-how to organize the robberies. It was hard to tell, he’d been so tight-lipped. She remembered feeling that he was hiding something. Heading for the wealthier side of town, Nancy felt a pang of regret that she couldn’t go undercover on this case.

  Then there was Trisha Rapp. There was a girl with brains and know-how to spare. And she had made it clear she didn’t want Nancy snooping around. But, assuming she was guilty, why would she have told Kate Hayes about the thefts in the first place? And why would she still be working in the store? Wouldn’t that be risky?

  As for Kate Hayes, surely a woman who owned three clothing stores might be able to run a scheme to defraud her insurance company. If she were an unethical person, that is. But judging from Vanities, Nancy decided Kate wasn’t in any financial difficulty. An insurance scam seemed a slim possibility.

  Nancy sighed and turned the car onto her street. So much for what she didn’t know.

  There was only one thing she was sure of. Whoever was behind the Vanities thefts couldn’t be operating alone. Goods had to be trucked from place to place and turned into cash down the line. Nancy had to be looking for a partnership, not a single criminal.

  Lost in thought, Nancy got out of her car and began heading up the front steps of her house. It was extremely quiet. Her dad was away on a business trip, and Hannah Gruen, the Drew family’s housekeeper, was visiting her sister. Nancy knew she’d be alone that night.