010 Buried Secrets

  The kitchen was dim, and the refrigerators and pans threw long shadows across the walls and floor. Tucking the tape into the waistband of her running pants, Nancy headed for a door. She’d almost reached it when she saw another shadow—the shadow of a man, hiding just beyond the door.

  Nancy stopped. Mayor Abbott must really be worried, she thought. He’d sent two men after her. Looking around, she spotted another door, one she guessed that probably led up to the rest of the house. She turned quickly and started for it.

  When she was halfway across the kitchen, the tape fell out, hitting the floor with a slap. Nancy bent to pick it up. As she straightened, she looked back and saw that the shadow outside had moved. Standing in the doorway was Mayor Abbott’s skinny “caretaker,” one hand on the door and the other wrapped around his shotgun.

  Before the man could get to her, Nancy climbed back inside the dumbwaiter, sending it up to the tower office. She knew Abbott had someone waiting for her there, too, but she hoped the upstairs guy didn’t have a gun.

  Now she wasn’t in a hurry at all, and the dumbwaiter’s ascent seemed horribly fast. Just before she reached the top, Nancy stuck the tape in a corner. Whoever was up there had probably guessed about the tape. But if he didn’t see it on her, maybe she could pretend not to know anything about it. It’s worth a try, she told herself, taking a deep breath as the dumbwaiter came to a stop.

  “Well, Miss Drew,” Mayor Abbott said as she climbed out. “We meet again.”

  Nancy kept quiet, wondering how much he’d guessed.

  “I see you’ve been very busy since our interview,” the mayor commented, pointing to the tape recorder. “Tell me, does your job always involve stripping down walls?”

  “If that’s what it takes,” Nancy told him.

  The mayor nodded. “Clever. John Harrington was clever, too. But I guess you already know that.”

  Nancy didn’t answer.

  “Come on, Miss Drew, I know you must have discovered a tape on this machine.”

  A tape that exposes you as a murderer, Nancy thought.

  “I didn’t plan to kill Harrington,” Mayor Abbott told her as if he’d read her mind. “I didn’t even plan to hit him. But when he told me that I was finished, that I’d never get a chance to run for office myself, I lost control. I hit him, and when he fell, his head hit an iron doorstop. It was an accident, but I couldn’t let anyone know about it. So I dumped the body out the window.”

  “What about Charles Ogden?” Nancy asked. “How did you get him to go along with your story?”

  “Money,” the mayor said. “Ogden wanted money. I had plenty to give him, so he agreed to tell the police exactly what I told him. Of course, I knew I couldn’t trust him,” he said, shaking his head. “He would always have known the truth. So I had to get rid of him. I’m afraid that right after he left town, Ogden met with a fatal accident.”

  Nancy closed her eyes. She felt sorry and glad for Hannah at the same time. It was going to be awful for Hannah to know that the man she’d thought of marrying had actually taken money to cover up Harrington’s murder. But maybe learning that Ogden wasn’t much of a person would help her get over the fact that he’d been murdered.

  “Miss Drew.” Mayor Abbott broke into her thoughts. “I want that tape.”

  “I don’t have any tape,” Nancy lied. “I didn’t know about any of this until just now, when you told me.” Forget the tape, she was thinking. If he just doesn’t find it, then you can tell the police where it is after you get out of here. If you get out of here.

  “Somehow, I find that hard to believe,” the mayor said. “But it doesn’t really matter. Tape or no tape, I’m afraid that what happened to Ogden is going to happen to you, too.”

  Behind him, in the open doorway, the man with the shotgun appeared.

  “There’s someone downstairs, you know,” Nancy said. “And a gun like that makes a really loud noise. How are you going to explain it?”

  “I’m surprised at you, Miss Drew,” the mayor said. “Did you really think you’d have that ‘accident’ here? You must think I’m stupid. No, you’ll be found some distance from the mansion, and by that time, I’ll be safely back in my office. No one saw me come in here, and no one’s going to see me leave.”

  No one saw me, either, Nancy thought. The best she could do was scream and hope that Barry heard her over the thunder.

  “Please, Miss Drew,” the mayor said, holding out his hand as if he were her dance partner. “I have a very important meeting in an hour. Let’s not waste any more time.”

  Taking a deep breath, Nancy opened her mouth and gave the most piercing scream she could manage. A clap of thunder drowned it out, but in the split-second that the startled mayor and his henchman paused, Nancy pushed the button and jumped into the dumbwaiter.

  She heard a shout followed by a slap. Someone had just hit the panel in frustration.

  Good, Nancy thought. Let’s just hope this crate makes it to the bottom before they do. If it didn’t, she’d be a sitting duck the second the dumbwaiter stopped.

  For a few moments Nancy tried to decide if she could get past the two men. The mayor looked out of shape—one good, unexpected push would probably send him sprawling. But his sidekick? The man was skinny, but he looked strong. Besides, he had a gun.

  Still, Nancy knew she’d have to fight. Go after the sidekick first, she told herself. If you can get him, the mayor’ll be a piece of cake.

  Moving as deeply into the dumbwaiter as possible, Nancy braced her foot against the back wall. She was planning to push out the minute the door opened. If she came out fighting, she might catch them off guard.

  Suddenly the dumbwaiter stopped. It was so abrupt that Nancy fell over, landing awkwardly on her side. Quickly she tried to get back into position before she opened the door, but then she realized that it didn’t matter. The dumbwaiter had stopped, but not in the kitchen.

  The power must have gone off. Either the storm had knocked it out or one of those guys had done it. But however it had happened, the dumbwaiter was suspended somewhere between the floors of Harrington House. And Nancy was trapped inside.

  Chapter

  Sixteen

  NANCY FOUGHT TO keep from panicking. It was one thing to be in that cramped box while it was moving, but to be stuck in it, not knowing how or when she’d get out, was a completely different story.

  Nancy took a couple of slow, deep breaths and told herself to calm down. The power couldn’t stay off forever. If the storm had done it, it might take hours, but it would still come back on. In the meantime, she knew she wouldn’t suffocate.

  What if the mayor had remembered where the circuit breaker was and shut the power off? But what reason could he possibly have to do it? To get her so scared she’d fall apart and actually be glad to see him when he let her out?

  Fat chance, she thought, sitting up straighter. What other reason could he have? If it weren’t for the storm raging outside, all Nancy would have to do would be to scream and kick hard enough, and eventually somebody would hear her. In fact, she wondered, what was she waiting for? It wasn’t thundering every second. If she made enough noise, maybe Barry would hear her.

  With a piercing shriek, Nancy kicked her heels against the floor of the dumbwaiter and banged the walls with her fists, making so much noise her ears started ringing. Then she stopped and listened.

  Nothing but thunder and wind. She started yelling again, and again.

  The third time, the heel of her running shoe stuck. Looking down, she saw that she’d kicked so hard, she’d splintered the floor.

  Pulling hard, Nancy pried her foot loose. A small section of the floor came up with it. She expected to see nothing but air where the wood had been. Instead, she saw what looked like a white box.

  Quickly Nancy reached down and pried loose another piece of wood. She was right—it was a box. Four boxes, in fact, each one the perfect size for a reel of tape.

  Lifting the boxes out, Nancy had to
smile. John Harrington had found the perfect hiding place for his blackmail tapes—a false bottom in the floor of the dumbwaiter, where no one would ever discover them. No one, that is, except a person who happened to get trapped in there during an electrical storm.

  But was she still trapped? After all, if she’d been able to break the false bottom so easily, maybe she could break through the real bottom. It would be a long haul down the cable, but anything was better than sitting and waiting for something to happen.

  On her hands and knees, Nancy began prying up more of the false bottom until she had an opening she thought she could squeeze through. Then, she kicked at the floor beneath. It gave a little. She kicked harder, wishing she could stand up and give it all her strength.

  Finally the wood gave. By kicking again and again, Nancy eventually gouged out a second hole. It was rough and ragged around the edges, but she didn’t care how many splinters she got or how much skin she left behind. Nothing mattered but getting out of there.

  Nancy reached for the tape she’d found on the recorder and tucked it securely into her waistband. She’d have to leave the other tapes behind, but not this one. This one was leaving Harrington House with her.

  On her knees again, Nancy reached through the hole until she could feel the cable. It’s probably seventy-five years old at least, she thought. I hope it doesn’t pick tonight to break.

  Turning around, Nancy began to lower herself feet first into the darkness of the dumbwaiter shaft. She wrapped her legs around the cable, then lowered the rest of her body inch by inch.

  Finally Nancy let go of the floor and put all her weight on the cable. Her hands were slick, and she slid a few inches before she managed to stop. Above her the dumbwaiter swayed slightly, and she had to force herself not to climb back into it. It was an awful place to be stuck in, but at least it was more solid than the empty darkness below her. Just keep going, she ordered herself and began to inch her way down the cable.

  After a few minutes the muscles in Nancy’s arms were shaking badly and her hands felt raw. What she really wanted to do was let go of the cable and drop the rest of the way—anything to stop the ache in her arms. But she had no idea how far she’d come and how much farther she had to go. It can’t be too much longer, she kept telling herself. But she knew that if she dropped too soon, the drop might as well be as far as that from a skyscraper.

  Nancy tightened her legs around the cable and tried to relax her arms for a second. Then, gritting her teeth, she lowered herself a few more feet.

  Suddenly the dumbwaiter swayed hard, bumping against the shaft. Beneath it, Nancy clung to the cable—and felt a nail scrape across her back. The cable slipped from her feet, and for a moment she was hanging by her hands. What’s going on? she wondered. Isn’t a storm bad enough? Do we have to have an earthquake, too?

  Then, above her, Nancy heard Mayor Abbott’s voice.

  “Miss Drew?” the mayor called. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” Nancy gasped. “I hear you.”

  “You sound frightened, Miss Drew.”

  Terrified is more like it, Nancy thought.

  “And I don’t blame you for feeling that way,” he went on as if she’d answered. “So I propose that we make a deal.”

  “A deal? What kind of deal?”

  “Very simple. You forget what you’ve discovered about me, and I’ll see to it that your bank account suddenly starts growing.”

  “That’s the kind of deal you made with Charles Ogden,” Nancy said. “And look what happened to him.”

  “True, but that’s a chance you’ll have to take,” the mayor said. “And I strongly urge you to take it.”

  “And if I don’t?” Nancy asked.

  The mayor chuckled. “Since you can’t see us, Miss Drew, I’ll describe the situation to you. My assistant is standing right beside me here, and he’s holding a hacksaw. Now, the cable to the dumbwaiter may be tough, but it’s old, and I’m sure a few good cuts will slice it right in two. I don’t really have to tell you what will happen then, do I?”

  No, Nancy thought, you don’t. Once that cable goes, I’m gone. Wiping her forehead on her sleeve, Nancy took a deep breath. “No deal!” she shouted.

  “All right, Miss Drew,” the mayor called back. “Have it your way.”

  There was silence, and then the dumbwaiter and cable began swaying again. Without thinking, Nancy held on tight.

  Wait a minute, she told herself. What are you doing? The guy’s hacking at this cable and you’re holding it as if it were a lifeline!

  Well, she’d been wondering exactly how far down she’d shinnied. Now was her chance to find out. If the drop was too far, it wouldn’t matter, anyway. But if she were fairly close to the kitchen, she just might make it.

  The dumbwaiter swayed and thumped again, and Nancy knew it wouldn’t be long before that hacksaw did its job. If she wanted a chance, she was going to have to take it. Now.

  Without counting to three, without crossing her fingers, without holding her breath, Nancy loosened her hold on the cable and dropped into the darkness below.

  Chapter

  Seventeen

  WHENEVER NANCY DREAMED she was falling, the fall always seemed endless. But this time she wasn’t dreaming, and it took only two seconds before her feet hit the floor so hard it made her teeth hurt. If that’s all that hurts, she thought, as she crumpled to her knees, I’m lucky.

  Above her, she heard the dumbwaiter creak. Just seconds before it crashed to the bottom, Nancy had rolled out of the shaft and onto the black and white tiles of the kitchen floor.

  Before she had a chance to catch her breath, she heard someone cross the room. Then she felt a hand on her arm. Gasping, she struggled to break away. But when she realized whose hand was holding her, she stopped.

  “Ned!” she cried, sagging against him. “I was never so glad to see anyone in my life!”

  Ned’s arms were around her, helping her to stand. Nancy wanted to collapse with relief—but she couldn’t. Not yet.

  Nancy stumbled to the kitchen phone and picked up the receiver. The line was dead, knocked out by the storm. The only way to let the police in on what was happening was to tell them in person.

  “Come on,” Nancy said, taking Ned’s hand. “We’ve got to get out of here! Where’d you park your car?”

  “Right near yours,” Ned said.

  “Okay, let’s run for it!”

  Together, Nancy and Ned burst out of Harrington House and started heading for the stone wall. They hadn’t gone more than a few yards when a loud crack filled the air. The storm was still going strong, but Nancy knew it wasn’t thunder she had just heard. It was a shotgun.

  Glancing over her shoulder, Nancy saw the mayor’s sidekick taking aim again. Before he could shoot, the mayor ran up and pushed him away. Then the two of them took off together.

  They’re going for their car, Nancy thought. And if they get us on that cliff road this time, we’ll never make it down.

  “Who was that?” Ned asked, running beside her.

  “If I have anything to say about it,” Nancy told him, gasping for breath, “that’ll be the former mayor of River Heights.”

  Ned raised his eyebrows and whistled, but he kept on running.

  The wind plastered Nancy’s wet hair to her face, and she had to keep peeling it away to see where she was going. She hoped the dogs didn’t decide to show up. The only thing she had to give them was the tape, and she wasn’t about to let go of that.

  Finally they reached the wall and climbed over and into the woods, heading for the road and the cars. “We’ll take your car!” Nancy shouted. “I have a feeling mine may be missing another distributor cap!”

  Ned jumped into his car and had the engine going before Nancy even opened her door. By the time she got in and closed it, the car was moving, its tires squealing as Ned did a three-point turn on the narrow road.

  Ned had just straightened the car out and was about to pull away when he jamme
d on the brakes so hard that Nancy’s seat belt locked against her.

  Looking out through the rain-washed windshield, Nancy saw a long gray limousine. She didn’t recognize the driver, who had jumped out and was gesturing wildly for them to move. But she did recognize the passenger who stuck his head out the window. It was Todd Harrington.

  “What’s the problem?” Todd asked, walking over to Ned’s car.

  “The police!” Nancy told him. “We have to get to the police. You’ve got to move your car!”

  “I have a better idea,” Todd said, gesturing for them to come with him.

  As Nancy and Ned slid into the limousine next to two members of his campaign staff, Todd pushed a button on the back of the seat. A panel slid down. Inside was a telephone. “Why don’t you call them?” Todd suggested with a smile.

  Laughing in relief, Nancy punched the number. When Mayor Abbott’s car pulled up behind Ned’s, a police car was already on the way, its siren screaming as it raced up the cliff road.

  • • •

  “Well, congratulations, Nancy,” Brenda Carlton said over the phone a couple of days later. “You won.”

  “You mean I haven’t lost my touch?” Nancy asked jokingly.

  “Well, I don’t know about that. You have to admit you were awfully lucky.”

  “So were you,” Nancy said, deciding not to argue. “After all, you found Neil Gray.”

  “That wasn’t luck!”

  “You mean it was detective work?”

  “Oh, all right,” Brenda grumbled. “My father knew somebody who knew somebody who knew Neil Gray. That’s how I found him.” She sighed. “Anyway, now he’s safely in jail. I heard his lawyer is going to try for a plea of temporary insanity, but I don’t really know. Well, anyway, since I got you into this little detective contest, I thought I ought to congratulate you for winning it.”

  You mean your father told you to, Nancy thought.

  “But don’t get too conceited about it,” Brenda warned. “I learned a lot on this case. Next time, you’ll have a real battle on your hands.”