“Sure.” She gave him a quick look. His voice was strained, and he looked as though he hadn’t shaved that morning. “You’re here awfully early.”
“I didn’t sleep at all last night. What’s wrong with April? She would hardly talk to me.”
Nancy sighed. “Trevor, I need to ask you some questions,” she said delicately, realizing he could easily take what she was about to say the wrong way.
“Ask away.”
“Well, I was talking to April, and apparently one of the CCU nurses overheard a conversation between you and April’s father.”
“What kind of conversation?”
Nancy explained to Trevor what April had told her, finishing with “The nurse apparently reported the conversation to Dr. Rayburn.”
At Nancy’s abrupt silence, Trevor glanced away. “I remember. Lots of patients talk like that, Nancy. They get depressed. You have to encourage them, and as they get better, they get over their depression.”
“But, Trevor, we’re talking about a patient who suggested a mercy killing!”
A dark flush moved up Trevor’s neck. “It wasn’t like that.” His gray eyes fixed on Nancy’s for the first time since she had made her suggestion. “You don’t seriously believe I would perform a mercy killing, do you?”
“No. I don’t.”
“But someone else does, right? Who?” Trevor demanded, growing angry. “Who said that? Dr. Rayburn? He knows I’d never do anything like that!”
Nancy hardly knew what to say.
“No, wait. I get it. You talked to Suzanne yesterday, didn’t you? She somehow found out about that conversation. She won’t leave me alone.”
“It wasn’t Suzanne,” Nancy admitted reluctantly, “although I do need to talk to you about her.”
“Then who was it?” Trevor demanded, ignoring Nancy’s attempts to divert the conversation. At Nancy’s continued silence his face slowly changed. “Oh, no. Not April.” He looked shocked.
“April’s upset about her father,” Nancy said hurriedly. “I think she’s been hiding her feelings, trying to bury them. It didn’t work and now she’s a wreck. She said she even feels guilty.”
“Nancy.” Trevor’s eyes were full of pain and disbelief. “Does April believe I killed her father? Is that why she was so distant last night?”
How do I get myself into these things? Nancy wondered unhappily. “She knows you love her, and she thought maybe, because you knew how much it hurt her to see her father suffer . . .” She trailed off, not wanting to hurt Trevor further.
Trevor stared at Nancy for several moments, then slowly climbed to his feet. He left without saying goodbye. Nancy felt terrible. She went back to work, but could hardly concentrate. When Glen Waters called from the morgue, she listened only halfheartedly.
“Hey, look, security really tore this place apart from top to bottom. Dr. Shaw’s body just isn’t here,” Glen said. “But there is something kind of strange.”
“What?” Nancy asked.
“Well, Sam Hughes, the night man at the morgue, remembered that his keys were missing for a while the other night. He couldn’t find them the whole shift. Then just as he was about to leave—bingo—they were on the floor beneath the counter. Sam says he’s positive they weren’t there earlier. He looked.”
“Thank you, Glen,” Nancy said, excited. “You just solved one mystery for me!”
At lunchtime Nancy met Ned in the cafeteria. She told him about Glen’s message. “I’m sure that’s how the body snatcher got into the morgue. He lifted Sam’s keys, made duplicates, then replaced them. He waited until the morgue was deserted, then let himself in and stole Dr. Shaw’s body.”
Ned bit into his hamburger. “But why?”
“Maybe an autopsy would reveal something he doesn’t want known,” Nancy guessed. Recalling her conversation with Trevor, she sighed. “I really feel bad for Trevor.”
“So do I,” admitted Ned.
“The only thing to do is wrap this investigation up as soon as possible and prove his innocence.”
As they left the cafeteria a few minutes later, a familiar feminine voice sounded somewhere ahead of them in the corridor. Nancy looked up, listening. “Ned,” she whispered. “I think that’s Suzanne Welles.”
Before Ned could respond, Suzanne sauntered around the corner. Gone was the serious woman of yesterday. She looked happy and bright.
To Nancy’s amazement Trevor appeared right behind Suzanne. Before either Nancy or Ned could react, Suzanne slipped her arms around Trevor and planted a long kiss on his lips. And Trevor didn’t fight back a bit!
Chapter
Nine
NED MURMURED in Nancy’s ear, “Talk about a lip lock.”
Nancy was so surprised she didn’t answer. Trevor finally surfaced from the kiss. When he saw Nancy and Ned, his face reddened. “Oh, hello. What are you two doing?” he asked, embarrassed.
“We just ate lunch,” Nancy murmured.
The starry-eyed look on Suzanne’s face made Nancy uneasy. What was going on? she wondered. The last she’d heard, Trevor didn’t want Suzanne anywhere near him. But that kiss told a different story!
“Let’s go, Trevor.” Suzanne linked her arm through his. She seemed anxious to steer him away from Nancy and Ned. Trevor glanced back once, then disappeared around the corner.
“Now, what’s that all about?” Ned wondered aloud, staring after them.
“I’m almost afraid to find out.” Nancy made a face. “I didn’t tell you before, but last night April said some pretty outrageous things about Trevor.”
“You mean they’re having a fight? What kind of things?”
“She thinks Trevor may have been responsible for her father’s death after all. April’s afraid he might have performed a mercy killing, because he knew how unhappy her father’s illness was making her.”
“What?” Ned’s jaw dropped. “No way! Trevor would never do a thing like that. Not for any reason!” Nancy’s continued silence prompted him to add, “You don’t seriously believe her, do you?”
“No. But it is possible. Trevor admitted to me that Dr. Shaw asked him to end his suffering.”
Ned stared at Nancy in shock. “And . . . ?”
“Trevor said he wouldn’t even consider it,” Nancy assured him. “A lot of people say things they don’t mean when they’re depressed.”
“Like April herself?” Ned suggested, lifting a brow.
“Yes, like April. She’s been under a lot of pressure too.” Nancy shook her head. “I just can’t seriously consider Trevor a suspect. He wouldn’t take such a risk, even for April.”
“If Trevor loves April,” Ned said slowly, “why is he with Suzanne?”
“He was pretty upset when he found out what April had said to me. He might be with Suzanne because he’s hurt.” Another thought struck Nancy, and she felt cold inside. “Or maybe April’s right, and he’s with Suzanne because he’s got a guilty conscience where April’s concerned.”
“Don’t even think of it,” said Ned, but the look on his face suggested he was worried, too. “I don’t want to be around when April finds out about Trevor and Suzanne,” he added quietly.
“Neither do I. Come on, let’s get back to work.”
They parted at the elevator. “I’ve got to race to the administration building,” Ned said, holding her face between his palms and kissing her lightly. “Today’s a late one. I won’t be out until after six.”
“Okay, that’ll give me a few hours to do some detective work. I’ll meet you in the lobby later.”
• • •
The emergency room was a madhouse. An afternoon auto accident had the whole staff working frantically. Nancy raced around to help, filling out forms, directing patients into the examining rooms, and guiding them to the X-ray department whenever necessary.
While she worked, her mind kept turning over the riddle of this particular case. Who would want to ruin Trevor’s career? Suzanne, for all her talk, was clearly still
interested in Trevor. Would she have altered the files? Could she have? And now that Trevor seemed interested in Suzanne, would she change her tactics?
Then there was David Baines. He held a grudge against doctors in general and, it seemed, against the Shaws in particular. Nancy thought his bitterness might have something to do with having been expelled from medical school. And what had David meant by asking Dr. Rayburn about St. Louis?
The emergency room slowly cleared out. Nancy was surprised to see it was after four; she’d worked an hour overtime. Nancy finished up quickly and dashed for the door.
It was time to confront David Baines. He’d been underfoot during this whole investigation, needling April, talking to Dr. Rayburn. He’d even been on the cardiology floor just before Nancy had been attacked.
Thinking she might still catch him at the hospital, Nancy asked the switchboard operator to page him. The page went out over the loudspeaker, and Nancy waited over ten minutes, but Baines didn’t show.
“He should be here,” the receptionist informed Nancy. “His name’s on the afternoon worksheet for the fifth floor.”
“Thanks. I’ll see if I can find him.”
Nancy searched the fifth floor from end to end, going through the east and west wings several times. At the nurses’ hub, she asked if anyone had seen him.
“Yeah, just a few minutes ago,” a young R.N. answered. “He was called to Room five fifty-three.”
Nancy hurried to Room 553. Peeking inside, she saw an elderly man napping in the hospital bed. There was no sign of David.
Back at the nurses’ station, the same young nurse flagged her down. “He was just here! I told him a reddish blond candy striper was looking for him, and he said he’d find you.”
Well, then, where is he? Nancy asked herself. She prowled the halls several more times, but David Baines wasn’t around. Could he be avoiding her?
Nancy punched the Up button on the elevator. When the doors slid open, however, she changed her mind, and took the stairs instead. She couldn’t find David Baines on the seventh floor, but Dr. Rayburn might still be in his office. Of the two, Dr. Rayburn seemed more likely to tell Nancy what he and David had been discussing. Nancy rapped on the gray door to Rayburn’s office. There was no answer, so Nancy let herself inside. Dr. Rayburn’s secretary wasn’t at her desk; apparently she’d gone home for the day.
This time the door to Dr. Rayburn’s inner office was open a crack, and Nancy knocked again. “Dr. Rayburn?” she called, but without much hope. The door swung open wider. The room was empty, but a navy blue sports coat hung on the brass coatrack.
He must be coming back, Nancy thought, so she hovered in the doorway between Dr. Rayburn’s inner office and his secretary’s anteroom. To pass the time, she let her gaze travel over his medical diplomas and awards.
“Medical school in Boston,” she murmured. “Well, that certainly doesn’t have anything to do with Saint Louis.” Maybe her theory about David Baines was all wet.
It was a quarter after six before Nancy gave up her vigil. She returned to the lobby, but there was no sign of Ned.
“Oh, Ms. Drew,” the evening switchboard operator said, reading Nancy’s name tag. “There’s a message for you.” She held out a pink slip.
Nancy took it from her hand and read: “Meet me at the administration building. Will be late. Ned.”
Nancy walked down the corridor to the side exit door, pushed the bar, and stepped into the dusky evening air. The parking lot security lights were just flickering on.
The administration building was west of the hospital. Nancy walked along the sidewalk, then cut across the parking lot to save time. Her steps echoed on the pavement. She thought she heard the scrape of a sole behind her.
Glancing back, she let her gaze sweep the surrounding cars. A red Porsche was parked in the northwest corner of the lot. Baines’s car!
Nancy hesitated, biting her lip. Ned, she decided, was going to have to wait. Turning, she hurried toward the gleaming red car. It was the latest style and year. “Must have cost him a fortune,” she thought aloud.
Suddenly a gloved hand jerked Nancy off balance. Before she could yell, she felt a hand clamp over her mouth! Her arms were wrenched behind her back. Stunned, she immediately struggled, but her attacker was strong. He held her in a bone-crushing grip.
“Stay away from the hospital, Nancy Drew,” a man’s voice snarled viciously in her ear. “Unless you want to end up in the morgue!”
Chapter
Ten
NANCY KICKED BACK HARD, connecting with the man’s left shin. Her attacker yelped with pain but kept dragging her toward the bushes near the dark corner of the parking lot.
Nancy twisted and fought, her heart pounding wildly. Her arms were held so tightly she couldn’t free herself. The man was strong but slender. His voice sounded somewhat familiar. If only she could get a look at his face!
“Hey!” someone yelled from near the administration building.
At the same moment Nancy bit down on her attacker’s hand. “Help! Somebody help me!” she screamed when he let go of her mouth.
The sound of footsteps came pounding toward them. Her captor didn’t wait. He threw her to the ground. Nancy hit the pavement and a loud groan escaped from her as the heels of her palms skidded against the asphalt. She scrambled almost instantly to her feet. Her attacker was zigzagging among the parked cars. Nancy ran after him, but by the time she got into gear, he was just a memory.
She stopped in the center of the lot, panting. Doubled over, she drew several long breaths, willing her heartbeat to slow down.
“Are you all right?” a voice asked.
“Yeah. Fine.” She straightened up to see a worried-looking man in a lab coat standing beside her. “Thanks. He, uh, got away.”
“You’d better come back inside the hospital and report this, miss. Have you still got your purse? This parking lot’s getting dangerous!”
Nancy smiled an agreement. She let her would-be rescuer think this was just a random mugging, but she knew better.
Ned was pacing the hospital lobby when she returned. “Nancy! Where were you?” Seeing her torn dress and scraped palms, he asked, “What happened? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “I was just on my way to the administration building to meet you when a guy attacked me from behind.”
“What guy? What do you mean, the administration building? I got a message you were going to be late.”
Nancy blinked. “You got a message I was going to be late?”
He nodded. “I picked it up here at the front desk.”
Nancy turned to the two people at the desk. “Both messages were just dropped on the desk,” the receptionist informed them when Nancy asked. “That’s how it’s done. People just pile them up and we route them to the right person or office.”
“Someone wanted you to be outside alone,” Ned said grimly to Nancy. “He meant to attack you!”
“I know,” Nancy answered in a low voice, pulling Ned toward the door. When they were out of earshot of the others, she told him about her attacker’s warning. “Ned, I’m not positive, but I think the guy who grabbed me was David Baines.”
“Baines!”
“His voice was just a growl, but it sounded familiar. I got a look at him as he was running away. This guy had David’s slender build and dark hair. It could have been someone else, I suppose, but I think it was David.”
Ned’s gaze narrowed. “Let’s get out of here. We can pin Baines down tomorrow. I just want to get you home safe and sound.”
Seeing that Ned was worried, Nancy agreed to wait until the next day to talk with Baines. They walked outside together in silence. Ned’s car was parked near the largest dorm. As they approached it, Nancy stared ahead. Just visible far across the parking lot was a red Porsche.
“I’m sure that’s David’s car,” Nancy said, pointing it out.
Before Ned could answer, they both noticed a brown-haired wom
an in a white lab coat as she walked down the sidewalk toward them, her head bowed. “Is that April?” Nancy asked Ned, peering through the gloom.
“If it is, we’re saying hello. Then we’re making tracks out of here. Agreed?”
“It is April,” Nancy said, slipping from Ned’s arms. “April!” she called, hailing her down.
April barely raised an arm. She walked over to Nancy and Ned in silence. There were tears glittering on her cheeks. She wiped at them and said in a trembling voice, “Trevor—is—with—Suzanne!”
Nancy appealed silently to Ned, who said softly, “April, I think Trevor’s just reacting out of anger. He cornered Nancy this morning and wanted to know why you were so upset with him last night.”
April stared at Nancy. “You told him what I said?” she gasped.
“I’m sorry—I had to,” Nancy admitted. “I don’t believe Trevor did anything wrong, but I have to consider every possibility.”
“It doesn’t matter.” April sighed. “If he loved me, he wouldn’t have gone back to Suzanne.”
“I don’t think he’s really gone back to Suzanne,” Nancy said.
“Oh, no?” April dug inside her purse for a tissue. “Then how do you explain the gold necklace Suzanne showed me when I ran into her in the cafeteria? It was a present from Trevor! That’s a pretty expensive gift from someone who supposedly doesn’t care about her!”
Nancy’s lips parted in surprise. “Who told you Trevor gave it to Suzanne?”
“Suzanne did.”
“Maybe she’s lying. She struck me as the kind of person—”
“Thanks, Nancy. Really. But I don’t want to talk about it. My father just died, and I’m still in shock. I can’t take this, too.” She drew a sharp the breath through her teeth, exhaling it slowly. “I’ve asked the med school for a few days’ release from classes, and they’ve given me a leave.”
“What are you going to do?” Nancy asked, worried.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll leave town for a while. I need some time away to take care of my father’s affairs and to put things in perspective. Thanks, Nancy, for all you’ve done.” She managed a crooked smile and shook hands with Nancy and Ned. Then she walked into her dorm without a backward look.