The Chocolate-Covered Contest
“Dear Ms. Cassella,” she read. “Thank you for your
interest in applying for an educational grant from Royal
Chocolates. It is with regret that I must inform you Mr.
Castle has declined to grant you an interview.
“However, we are pleased to provide you with
discounted tickets to Kings Commons so that you may
share the Royal Chocolates experience with your
students. We also hope that you will enjoy the candy
bars I have enclosed. Please note that these do not
contain nuts, so there is no need for concern regarding
your food allergy.
“We look forward to seeing you at Kings Commons.
Please stop in the office and say hello when you visit.
“Sincerely, Joyce Palmer.”
Nancy printed out this letter and tucked it into her
purse. She moved on to the next file, which was a
similar letter to Diana. This one thanked Diana for her
interest in producing marketing materials for Royal
Chocolates. Joyce added that she hoped Diana and Phil
continued to be loyal consumers of Royal Chocolates,
and she was enclosing several chocolate bars for their
enjoyment.
Wow, Nancy thought. Joyce must have sent a
winning wrapper to Andrea, and another one to Diana.
She was the one who ruined Royals contest. Nancy
couldn't believe she hadn't realized it before. Who
better to pull all the strings than the person in charge
of the contest?
Furthermore, Joyce knew about Andrea's peanut
allergy. She must have been behind the Kings Cup
mix-up. Earlier that day, Joyce had told Nancy that she
didn't remember talking with Andrea and had no
records of such transactions on file. She must have
been lying. And this letter proved that Andrea was
telling the truth. Besides giving Bess the winning
wrapper, she'd done nothing to deceive anyone.
Nancy sent this file to the fancy color printer and
heard a high-pitched ding. For a moment she thought
it was the computer. Then she realized it was the
elevator. The elevator was coming to the fifth floor.
Nobody was supposed to be there. Was it Joyce? Was
she coming back already?
Nancy turned off the flashlight and ducked behind
Joyce's desk.
Soon she heard whispered voices. “I can't believe
we're actually breaking into the corporate offices,” said
one.
“What else were we supposed to do? No one's going
to help us. We have to help ourselves.”
“I think all this chocolate has made us behave in
ways we never would have dreamed possible.”
“Give me a break. It's not the chocolate. It's the
million dollars.”
Diana and Phil, Nancy thought. They must be trying
to get to the bottom of the mystery, too. Just as she'd
been convinced that Diana had forged the winning
wrapper, Diana must think Bess had, Nancy realized.
“That money's ours, and we're obviously not going to
get it unless we do something drastic. Not only did
Bess Marvin and her friends cheat, they went and got
Joyce on their side.”
“You don't know that for sure, Di.”
“When I met with John Tumey today, he practically
admitted it,” Diana replied.
So that's what she and Mr. Tumey had talked about,
Nancy thought.
“It makes me so mad,” Diana continued. “I thought
Mr. Tumey would be impartial, and that he would
understand why I wanted in on the investigation. But
he just kept saying the matter would be handled
internally. I definitely got the impression he doesn't
like Joyce, though. I think she's on her way out.”
Nancy tried to make herself smaller as Diana and
Phil passed by the door to Joyce's office. She breathed
a sigh of relief as they walked by without stopping.
“At least one good thing came from your meeting
with John,” Phil pointed out. “You watched him punch
in the building access code, so we could let ourselves
in.” He sighed. “I just wish there were some other
way.”
“We don't have time to waste,” Diana said. “We're
going home tomorrow. The Royal people aren't trying
to get to the truth. That means we've got to do it
ourselves. Otherwise, we might never get that prize.
Even worse, they might make us look like criminals.
What if they try to say we forged the wrapper? Have
you thought about that, Phil? I mean, our business is
publishing. Royal turned down our proposal to do work
for them, so we should hate them, right? We couldn't
look much guiltier.”
“They could never prove it,” Phil said. “We didn't do
anything wrong.”
“I bet they could find a way. At the very least, they
could tie up our money for a very long time. It's our
money, Phil.”
Nancy strained to hear Phil's reply as they moved
farther down the hall. Then she heard a door close.
They must be looking in the cabinets behind Mr.
Tumey's door, Nancy thought. Now was her chance to
sneak out. She didn't want to risk being caught. She
stood and stretched gingerly. Then there was a
creaking noise behind her. Before she could turn
around, a heavy object was smashed over her head.
Everything went black.
When Nancy awoke, she had no idea how much
time had passed. Her hand went to an egg-size lump
on her head. The big flashlight lay beside her, and the
door to the supply closet was open, with Crown Jewels
tote bags spilled onto the floor.
“Get up,” Joyce ordered in a fierce whisper. “Let's
go.”
Slowly Nancy held on to the desk and pulled herself
upright. Joyce was holding a pointed object against her
back. In the darkness Nancy couldn't tell for sure
whether it was a knife. But her head was throbbing so
hard she knew she could never get away. She couldn't
outrun Joyce; she didn't think she could run at all.
Joyce led her down the back stairs and into the
parking lot. Nancy shivered. The moon was a slender
crescent, and the stars were dim. The world seemed
cold and dark and silent. The dinner must be over,
Nancy thought. The park was closed—the factory
deserted.
Joyce shoved Nancy into her car. A white, midsize
car identical to John Tumey's.
“Company car,” she explained.
Nancy closed her eyes. “Where are you taking me?”
she asked.
“You'll see,” Joyce said.
Nancy's head felt as though it were floating above
the rest of her. She could hear her heart pounding in
her ears. She fought the fuzzy feeling, fought to stay
awake, but she could not.
When she came to again, she felt something moving
beneath her. It wasn't an automobile this time. She felt
the wind in her hair. She opened her eyes and saw
blackness. Then she felt herself plunging down into
darkness, and her
stomach moved into her throat. She
was on Royal Pain. She didn't know how, but she was
on Royal Pain, alone and in the dark. The car was
pitching ahead, carrying all its momentum forward as it
thundered into the first loop. Nancy felt instinctively
for the restraint across her chest. There was none. She
was unprotected against the force that would rip her
from the car the moment it turned upside down. In
that split second she realized she was about to be flung
from the car onto the ground so far below she could
not even see it.
14. Recipe for Danger
Nancy jerked her hands over her head and pulled the
restraint down and across her chest just as she felt the
world turning upside down. Her entire weight caught
against the bar and then she was whipped backward
against the seat.
Now the hills and loops passed in a blur as Nancy's
mind raced along with the ride.
Would the car stop by itself? What if it didn't? What
if she rode again and again, in an endless cycle?
Then Nancy felt the brakes pull, and the car stopped
abruptly. She took a deep breath as she squinted into
the darkness. The ride had halted several feet from the
gate. Her knees trembling, she stepped out of the car.
Slowly, clutching the cars for support, she crawled
along the track until she reached the solid wood
platform.
She stood for a moment, peering out over the
darkened park and listening to the night sounds of
Jungle Kingdom animals and cars on the distant
highway.
Was Joyce still out there? Nancy asked herself. She
didn't know, but she definitely wasn't going to wait to
find out.
There was no new sound or movement as she
climbed down the steps and slipped unnoticed into the
night.
Nancy knew there were no guards, no friendly park
workers to run to. There were phones, though, and she
had to get to a phone.
In the distance, something at the chocolate factory
caught Nancy's eye. She thought she saw a beam of
light in a second-story window. Almost instantly, it
disappeared. Had she imagined it? Nancy wondered.
But then she glimpsed it again. Now it was in the next
room, its reflection bouncing and flickering off the
glass. Someone must be walking through the building.
Probably with a flashlight, she thought.
Nancy squinted at her watch. It was midnight. No
one should be in the factory at this hour. What was
going on?
Then Nancy spotted two shadowy figures running
toward the building. Even in the distance, Nancy
recognized the loping stride of George and the small,
hurried footsteps of Bess. What were they doing here?
she thought. She hoped they wouldn't go into the
building. What if Joyce was in there? Nancy touched
the spot where Joyce had smashed the flashlight into
her head. What if Bess and George were about to find
themselves face to face with the woman who had just
tried to kill her?
Nancy's breath came in gasps by the time she
reached the pay phone. Her head was pounding. She
had no money, and her purse was somewhere in
Joyce's office. Her emergency change must have fallen
out of her pockets on that horrible ride. Nancy knew
there was only one thing to do. She picked up the
receiver and dialed 911.
“I need police assistance at the Royal Chocolates
factory,” Nancy managed to say. “I was just assaulted.”
“Stay on the line, please,” the operator instructed. “I
need you to tell me exactly what happened.”
“No time.” Nancy struggled to catch her breath.
“Lives may be in danger. Please hurry.”
She left the receiver dangling in her haste to get to
the factory. She had to stop Bess and George before
they found Joyce.
By the time she reached the factory entrance, Bess
and George were nowhere in sight. Through the door,
Nancy heard the whir of conveyor belts. She smelled
freshly melted chocolate. The security keypad was lit
up, and the door had been left ajar.
What was going on? Nancy wondered. Who had
unlocked the door? Who had started up the machinery
in the middle of the night? Was somebody trying to
lure her inside?
Nancy was inclined to ignore her natural curiosity
and stay outdoors until the police arrived, but she was
worried about Bess and George. If they had gone
inside, she had to find them.
She pulled open the door and slipped inside.
There was a scream and a purse came crashing down
on Nancy's head.
“Nan!” Bess shrieked. “I thought you were a
criminal. I'm sorry.”
Nancy put a hand up to her aching head. “It's okay.
It's just me.”
“George and I thought you were in here. We
thought you were in trouble,” Bess said. “I'm so glad
you're all right.”
“She's not all right,” George said. “Can't you tell
she's in pain? When have you ever known Nancy to
moan?”
“I'm not moaning.” Nancy shushed Bess as she
opened her mouth to say something. She listened
intently. “I do hear it, George. Someone needs help.”
“Help!” A female voice echoed weakly in the
enormous, empty room. Then came a long, soft
whimper.
“Wait.” Nancy stopped Bess and George. “I called
the police. The safe thing to do is to go outside and
wait for them to come.”
“Yeah, right,” Bess said. “Like you're going to leave
someone in trouble.”
“It's coming from over there.” George strode toward
the cooling tunnels.
Nancy put a hand on George's shoulder as she felt
along the wall for the lights. “Be careful.”
“Okay,” George said. “Nan, what's going on here?”
“It's a long story,” Nancy answered. “But I don't
know what happened to Phil or Diana. The last time I
saw them, they were in danger without realizing it. I'm
afraid they may be hurt.”
“What about you?” Bess asked. “We were so afraid
something happened to you.”
“How did you know?” Nancy said. “What made you
decide to come back to Kings Commons?”
“We said we'd call you when we got home, re-
member?” Bess steadied herself as her feet found an
uneven patch of floor. “When you weren't back in your
motel room by nine, I started to get very nervous.
That's when I called George. I was sure she would tell
me I was being paranoid, but she was just as worried as
I was. Within ten minutes, she was at my house. We
got here in record time. It was the scariest ride of my
life.”
Nancy chuckled. “Don't talk to me about scary rides.
You wouldn't believe the one Joyce just treated me to.”
“Joyce?” Bess gasped. “Oh, Nan—are you saying
Joyce is behind all this crazy stuff? Joyce is the
corporate spy?”
Nancy nodded. “At any rate, she just tried to kill me
by sticking me on Royal Pain without a restraint when I
was unconscious.”
“Unconscious?” Bess tried to look into Nancy's face
in the dim light. “Nan, are you okay?”
“I think so,” Nancy murmured. “I wish I could find
this light switch.”
“I'm sorry we didn't get to you sooner,” George said.
“When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw that
there was somebody in the chocolate factory. We knew
something must be wrong. And we were afraid
something bad had happened to you. We never
thought to look for you in the amusement park.”
“It's okay. I can't believe you came at all. Anyhow,”
Nancy said brightly, “all's well that ends well. I think.”
“That's where you're wrong,” said a voice from the
corner of the room. Joyce's voice.
The moaning stopped when Joyce began to speak. It
was Joyce all along. She was trying to lure them inside
and trap them, Nancy thought. She'd wanted them to
come inside the factory. What was she going to do to
them now?
“The police are on their way,” Nancy told Joyce. “If
you try to hurt George and Bess, you're only going to
find yourself in more trouble.”
“Do you know what the police are going to find
when they get here?” Joyce asked. “A wonderful treat.
A new flavor of Royal candy. Chocolate Nancy.”
Joyce reached out and flipped a switch. Nancy heard
the grinding of machinery overhead. She looked up to
see a huge vat moving forward. Thinking back to the
chocolate factory tour, Nancy remembered that that
vat would be filled with melted chocolate heated to
150°F. Now it was being tipped forward, and a stream
of churning, boiling chocolate came pouring down,
straight toward their heads.
15. Wrapping Up
Nancy saw that Bess was rooted in place, unable even
to scream. Nancy shoved her into motion and out of
the path of the molten chocolate. As she and George
dove for cover, Nancy felt a few scalding drops brush
against her face as wave after wave of burning liquid
plopped harmlessly onto the floor.
Next came the sound of running as Joyce tried to get
away. Before Nancy realized what was happening,
George leaped through the air and wrestled Joyce to