“And I got my scoop,” Darien said proudly. “On the front page of the city section.”
“By el Espía?” Nancy asked wryly.
“By Darien Olivares,” Betsy said, smiling, “investigative reporter.”
“I never asked you how you knew about the key molds, Nancy,” Bess said.
“When I told you that safe-deposit box keys couldn’t be copied, it hit me. Peter had a huge ring of keys on his desk the day I went in to see him. I thought, it’s illegal to copy the keys, but it has to be possible. And when I remembered the statue he made, I realized how he’d made the keys.”
Nancy smiled to herself. “Speaking of forgetting questions,” she said, “I never even asked you how you found us, Darien.”
“After you called to ask me about Ava’s bank, I was worried,” Betsy piped up. “I called Darien, but it took me a while to find him. By the time we finally got to the Middletown Savings Bank, you had already left.”
“But we spotted Peter Hoffs coming in,” Darien said, taking up the story. “And who was with him but Ava! He looked like a thundercloud, and we didn’t dare stop them. But Betsy called the police, and I followed Hoffs and Ava back to his house. I even followed them to the pond, but then I lost them among the trees. So I just waited until I saw Ava again on the ice.”
The group fell silent, listening to the fire.
“What’s going on here?” Vince Paratti asked, entering the room, a tray of steaming mugs held out before him. “I disappear to help with the dishes and everyone starts moping.”
“We’re not moping,” Darien objected.
“In fact,” Ava said, gazing at Vince, “we have a lot to be thankful for.”
Vince passed the chocolate around and sat down in front of Ava’s chair. “Well, you can be thankful that Nancy and Bess are good detectives—even when they have someone like me messing up their investigation.”
“You didn’t mess it up,” Bess said warmly. “You opened the locker where the key was hidden.”
“And I got interrogated by the police,” he added. “And I threatened Nancy’s life.”
“Not seriously,” Nancy said. “Darien was the one who messed up my investigation!” Darien, Nancy, and Bess all laughed.
“So Peter killed Luke Jefferies?” Ava ventured in a small voice.
Nancy nodded. “Peter had to keep Luke from telling anyone about switching the dates. I think Luke called him after I visited, to say he knew something fishy was going on and he wouldn’t cover up. That must have been why he withdrew the money from the student bank. I think he was going to give the bribe payoff back to Peter.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Ava said at last. “Any of you. It was pretty awful.” She lowered her eyes and shuddered. “No matter what Peter said, I wouldn’t tell him where the key was, because I knew he’d keep me alive only until he had it. I kept praying for someone to find me.”
Vince gave Ava a quick hug. “Now you have someone to keep track of you again,” he said softly. “That is, if you want me to.”
Nancy saw Ava’s face soften as she looked at Vince, tears springing up in her eyes. “I want you to,” she whispered.
Darien cleared his throat, embarrassed, and turned to Nancy.
“Why didn’t Maia take all the jewelry at once?” he asked. “If she had, none of this ever would have happened.”
“I can answer that,” Ava said, tearing her eyes from Vince. “Maia wasn’t supposed to take the bracelet. Peter was furious about it. He wanted to take everything all at once, at the end, so they wouldn’t get caught. But Maia was in love with the jewelry and couldn’t resist. So she just took one piece, hoping no one would notice.
“I talked to some of my clients today,” Ava continued. “The police visited most of them to let them know that their things are safe. They were so amazed when they heard what happened. And I think they were sad to hear the program had come to an end.”
Mrs. Woods came to the door. “It doesn’t have to end, sweetheart,” she said, perching on the arm of Ava’s chair. “I talked to Dean Selig today. He said the Elderly Assistance program could become a campus service.”
Ava’s face lit up. “What a great idea, Mom!”
“Well, there’s a catch,” Mrs. Woods said, smoothing her daughter’s hair. “He’ll do it only if you promise you’ll run it.”
Ava hugged her mother. “I’d do it in a minute!” She sat back and surveyed the room. “Of course, I’ll need some employees,” she said mischievously. Her eyes fell on Bess.
“How about you, Bess?” she teased. “Be my first volunteer. I hear you’re great at cleaning.”
“No way!” Bess exclaimed. “I know my strengths, and cleaning isn’t one of them. But if they need someone to help out at Campus Connections, I’d be glad to—I’m terrific at dating!”
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Simon Pulse
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Copyright © 1991 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Carolyn Keene, Tall, Dark and Deadly
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