Chapter
One
SHE’S GORGEOUS!” NANCY Drew said unhappily to Hannah Gruen. “No wonder Ned’s crazy about her.” She nibbled on a handful of popcorn as she watched a young ballerina leap gracefully across her TV screen.
Hannah gave Nancy’s arm a sympathetic pat. “I know how you must feel, Nancy,” she said. “It’s so awful to lose someone you love.”
Nancy turned toward the gray-haired older woman seated next to her on the couch and tried to smile. She could see the concern in Hannah’s expressive soft brown eyes. Hannah Gruen had been the Drews’ housekeeper and almost a second mother to Nancy since her natural mother had died years before. Hannah had bandaged Nancy’s scraped knees when she was a kid, had seen her through the traumas of her junior high years, and had slowly become the confidante and advisor she was now.
But what could Hannah say right then? She couldn’t bring Ned back.
“Hannah, I’m so—so jealous,” Nancy admitted. “I hate feeling this way, but I can’t stop myself.” She bit her lip. “It was awful enough when Ned and I broke up. But it’s worse now that he’s going out with someone else.” She turned back to the TV and watched Belinda Morrison, the talented young dancer Ned had started dating. Belinda was a soloist with the Chicago Ballet Theater, Chicago’s top dance company.
Nancy was afraid she’d lost Ned forever to the elegant creature who had just executed three perfect pirouettes. Well, she admitted silently, she had no one to blame for the breakup with Ned but herself. He had been complaining for months that their relationship always came second to Nancy’s work as an amateur detective. And, finally, when Nancy had been investigating a basketball scandal at Ned’s college, she had actually suspected Ned of being involved for a little while. He had been deeply hurt by her accusation and said he needed to see other girls.
Even though she couldn’t blame Ned for dating someone else, she still felt hurt and slightly angry. Especially since she was at home watching TV with only Hannah and a bowl of popcorn for company on a Sunday night.
“But it’s not as if you haven’t been dating,” Hannah prodded softly. “What about Brad Eastman? He seems to really like you—and he’s terrific looking.”
Nancy frowned. “He’s okay, but—”
“He’s not Ned Nickerson,” Hannah finished for her.
Nancy managed a weak laugh. “Hannah, you know me too well.”
She studied the television screen as Belinda slowly stretched one perfect leg into the air. I hope she falls flat on her face, Nancy thought, hating herself for thinking it. But, of course, Belinda didn’t fall. Instead she remained perfectly poised until her partner caught her and lifted her lightly into the air, her satiny pink skirt fluttering gently. The lights made her black hair shine as if it were silk, and her blue eyes looked radiantly happy. Nancy pushed back deeper into the living room couch, feeling completely miserable.
As Belinda and her handsome male partner glided offstage, the audience broke into enthusiastic applause. Then it was absolutely silent as another dancer burst onto the stage in one spectacular leap.
“Hannah!” Nancy said. “Here she is—finally. Katya Alexandrovna!” Nancy had wondered when the star ballerina would make her appearance. She was one of the world’s finest dancers, and Nancy’s favorite.
Nancy pushed the unpleasant thoughts of Belinda and Ned out of her mind and concentrated on Katya’s dancing. “You know,” she mused out loud, “I read that Katya has been having trouble with her ankle and that she’s only going to dance this one last season. Then she’s going to retire.”
“Really?” Hannah exclaimed. “I can’t tell anything’s wrong.”
Nancy couldn’t, either. The dancer’s movements were absolutely stunning! She spun into a series of turning jumps. She makes it look so easy, Nancy thought.
The skirt of the dancer’s pink satin costume flowed gracefully as she pushed off into jump after dazzling jump. Her matching pink pointe shoes, carefully laced around her ankles, accentuated the muscled strength of her legs. And there, pinned to her bodice, was the Raja diamond! It was only because Katya was such a brilliant dancer that Nancy hadn’t first noticed the pin with a diamond the size of a walnut in the center of her costume.
Nancy folded her long legs beneath herself. “Wow,” she exclaimed to Hannah. “Katya Alexandrovna is incredible! I wish we were in the theater right now, watching her in person.”
Nancy imagined herself relaxing in one of the plush velvet seats of the newly built Ballet Concert Hall. Her jeans and sweatshirt were instantly transformed in her mind into a flowing silk evening gown; her shoulder-length reddish blond hair swept up and held in place with jeweled combs. Hannah would be sitting on one side of her, and on the other would be Ned, smiling warmly and looking gorgeous in his favorite blue suit.
Hannah nodded. “It would be wonderful to be at the opening gala. And to see a brand-new dance choreographed for Katya Alexandrovna.”
“The new pas de trois was written for Katya and for the jewel. I think they had the ballet commissioned just so they’d have to borrow India’s most famous diamond. What sensational publicity!”
Nancy pushed herself out of the deep couch and checked the VCR to make sure it was running properly. Her father, well-known lawyer Carson Drew, was out that night, having dinner with a friend, and he had asked Nancy to make a tape of the performance so he could see it later. Nancy sat down again as Katya Alexandrovna was joined by Belinda and the young male dancer whose name was Andre Bernarde.
Andre lifted first Katya, then Belinda, then Katya again in a complicated pattern, which sped up until the two women seemed to be floating through the air as comfortably as birds.
Nancy knew that the steps they were doing weren’t at all easy. She had taken ballet when she was younger, so she understood that even the simplest-appearing dances took long hours of practice to perform beautifully. And to think that Belinda’s only eighteen—the same age as I am—and she’s already a star!
Of course, the way Katya was flying around the stage, it was hard for Nancy to believe that she was so much older than Belinda! While thirty-eight wasn’t exactly ancient for a ballet dancer, Katya’s bad ankle in addition to her age must have been hard on her. But nothing stopped her. She was as good as she had ever been.
Belinda and Katya began a series of fast pirouettes, then Andre joined them in a stretchy, slow section. The lights began to fade as the ballet wound to a finish. When the theater was black, the auditorium exploded with applause. And at home Nancy and Hannah couldn’t help but join in.
“Bravo,” yelled someone in the theater.
“Encore,” shouted another.
“That was beautiful,” Nancy admitted in spite of her feelings.
“That brings this brilliant pas de trois to a dazzling close,” the TV host announced. “The audience is thrilled, and frankly so am I.”
The clapping gradually lessened and then stopped because neither the lights on the stage nor those in the house had come on. The theater was in absolute darkness.
“Uh, there seems to be a minor technical difficulty in the theater,” the television announcer continued.
The TV screen was still completely black, but the audio portion was working, and Nancy could hear the audience mumbling. Suddenly a piercing scream cut through the low murmur.
“Someone get some lights on!” a man, probably from the TV crew, shouted. A few seconds later the harsh stage lights did finally come on. The three dancers were still onstage. Andre, standing off to one side, was anxiously looking at his two partners. Belinda was kneeling in the center of the stage, a light shining directly on her, and in her arms Katya Alexandrovna was lying as if dead. The Raja diamond was conspicuously missing from the bodice of her costume.
“Oh, no,” Hannah gasped. “Is she—is she dead?”
Nancy peered keenly at the ballet star, her eyes picking up a tiny fluttering of Katya’s hand. “She’s alive!” Nancy exclaimed. She let out her breath as, slowly, the dancer came to. A murmur of relief ran through the audience.
As Katya eased her eyes open, Nancy could see fear register across her face. Katya glanced quickly down at her costume to the place where the diamond pin should have been. There was only a tear in the pink satin now. For an instant she looked horrified, but quickly recovered her composure.
As Belinda started to help Katya to her feet, Andre rushed over to them. Supported by the two, Katya walked toward the wings, limping slightly and favoring her right leg. Her ankle must be acting up, Nancy realized. Poor Katya! Instead of her usual proud ballerina’s posture, her head was slumped forward and the pink ribbon from her shoe trailed behind her right foot.
After Nancy knew that Katya hadn’t been seriously hurt in the incident, she was struck with the full impact of what had just happened. “Someone’s stolen the Raja diamond,” she said to Hannah. “That pin is worth millions of dollars, and it’s been snatched in front of thousands of people. Not just the theater audience and the guards who’ve been hired to keep an eye on it, but everyone who was watching the performance on TV!”
Nancy turned to Hannah, blankly. They had just witnessed one of the most daring robberies of the decade, she realized. And in spite of everything she knew about crimes and mystery solving, she had no idea how the thief had pulled it off.
Chapter
Two
THE NEXT MORNING Nancy flicked on the radio that stood by the table in the breakfast nook and took a bite of her whole wheat toast. A stream of pop music blared out before she could twist the tuner to a news station.
“Trying to get some information on the diamond that disappeared from the Chicago Ballet Theater performance last night?” Carson Drew asked with a knowing smile.
Nancy glanced at her father, looking surprised. “Uh-huh. How did you guess?”
Mr. Drew laughed. “Nancy, I can always tell when you’ve changed from a normal, teenage daughter into River Heights’s number one detective. There’s a certain look on your face. And I know you well enough to know that you’d never pass up a chance to investigate an interesting case like this one.”
“Oh, but I’m not investigating the robbery,” Nancy insisted. “I’m just curious.”
“It certainly is an unusual and daring crime,” Mr. Drew commented, taking a sip of his coffee and folding back another page of his newspaper. As her father settled down to read, Nancy listened intently to the radio news report.
“City officials have voted to give themselves a twenty percent salary increase,” the announcer was saying. “And last night, in a startling robbery, thieves stole the famous Raja diamond. The diamond was being worn in a dance created about the world’s most famous jewel. The performance by the Chicago Ballet Theater was the first at the company’s new home, the Ballet Concert Hall. The gem disappeared when the lights were out during a break between pieces.”
Nancy scooped up a forkful of scrambled eggs, thinking hard. The thieves were professionals and smart, that much she knew. They had obviously planned the whole thing very carefully.
“The jewel was stolen from Katya Alexandrovna’s costume,” the announcer continued, “while she was onstage, waiting to take her curtain call! Since access to the backstage area was strictly controlled by security guards, police detectives believe that no one from the audience could have snatched the gem.”
Hmm, Nancy thought, that means the thief has to be someone in the company. Now, how many dancers were there in the Chicago Ballet Theater? The article she had just read about the gala had said sixty.
The announcer continued, “The police searched every person who was in the wings during the robbery, but they found no sign of the diamond.”
“Did you hear that, Dad?” Nancy asked. “This is some case.”
“Believing that the jewel must be hidden somewhere backstage, Chief of Detectives Wilson has closed down the new theater temporarily. The Chicago Ballet Theater will have to perform in its old headquarters, which is right next door, until the new theater has been thoroughly searched.
“CBT’s managing director is furious about this. He claims the company will lose thousands of dollars with every performance unless it can use the new and much larger facility.
Meanwhile, the family who lent the diamond is also furious. Karim Raja, head of the family who lent the diamond, spoke from his home in northern India, saying that he will sue CBT if the pin isn’t found quickly.”
Nancy took a few more bites of her scrambled eggs, but she was concentrating so hard on the radio that she barely tasted the food. The robbery could ruin the dance company if the diamond weren’t found soon.
“CBT has been beset by other difficulties this year,” the newscaster added. “There have been rumors of tension between the company’s managing director, James Ellsworth, and its artistic director, Colby Baxter. A few weeks ago it was announced that Mr. Baxter will be leaving the company at the end of the season—his contract will not be renewed. In addition, the company will be losing its star. Katya Alexandrovna announced that she will be retiring at the end of the season. That’s the news. I’m—”
Nancy clicked off the radio and sat quietly thinking for a moment.
“Do you have any ideas,” Mr. Drew asked, “about who the thief could be?”
“Not a single one,” Nancy answered. “There are sixty people in that company, and it could have been any one of them. It’s confusing, that’s all I know for sure.” She shrugged. “Well, I’m not investigating it, so I suppose I shouldn’t waste my time worrying about it.” She turned back to her breakfast. Her eggs were cold by then, but she finished them anyway.
But she just couldn’t push the robbery out of her mind. Of course, the thief could have been anyone in the dance company or anyone who was backstage during the performance the night before. But the lights hadn’t been out all that long. So it was most likely that the thief was one of the dancers: Andre Bernarde, Katya Alexandrovna—or Belinda Morrison.
Part of Nancy wanted Belinda to be the thief. But another part of her wished that Belinda had nothing to do with robbery—for Ned’s sake. That was the part of her that still loved her old boyfriend. A tiny frown creased her forehead.
Mr. Drew, who had been studying his daughter, put down his newspaper and reached over to touch her arm. “Hey, sweetheart, are you all right?”
Nancy smiled weakly at her father. She could never hide her feelings from him. Because her mother had died when Nancy was so young, she and her father shared a very special and close relationship. Except for Hannah, it had been just the two of them, so Mr. Drew had been both father and mother to his daughter.
“I’m okay, Dad,” Nancy told him, hoping he would accept this without farther questions.
Nancy had to remind herself that since the breakup with Ned her life hadn’t really changed that much. She still had fun hanging out with her friends Bess and George, or spending an afternoon in the library researching old mystery cases, or riding her bike to her favorite lake outside River Heights. She still enjoyed practicing karate each day—a skill that came in handy when she was on a particularly dangerous case. She still smiled at her next-door neighbor when she met her on the street. In fact, only the people in her life who knew her best would have noticed that anything was wrong.
But something was. Nancy was moping over Ned, and she hated herself for doing it. But she missed him and that was the simple truth. Even when she was with her new boyfriend, Brad Eastman, the pain of losing Ned did not go away.
The Drews’ doorbell chimed, and Nancy ran to the front door. “I’ll get it,” she called. She pulled the door open.
“Ned!” Nancy cried in amazement. She had been daydreaming about him so much lately—his wavy brown hair, his loving dark eyes, his strong,
athletic body—that she was surprised to find him standing in front of her in person.
“Hi, Nancy,” Ned said, trying to sound casual. But she could tell by his tone that he wasn’t feeling nearly so relaxed as he sounded. He stepped into the Drews’ entryway. “Mind if I come in?”
“Of course not,” Nancy answered quickly, shutting the door behind him. “Um—” she started, searching for something to say. “How’ve you been lately?”
“Okay. We’ve got a vacation from school this week. And since basketball season’s over and I don’t have to train, I can really take it easy and enjoy the vacation.”
“That’s nice,” Nancy said, feeling uncomfortable. Ned had always spent his vacations from Emerson College with her. But things were different now, and she just had to accept that. “How did the end of the season go?”
Ned smiled, and a bittersweet sensation shot through Nancy. It had been so long since she had seen that sincere, shy expression on his handsome face. “We won our big game with Chicago U.—and I made the final basket.”
Ned tried to act modest, but Nancy could tell how proud he was. She smiled back warmly. “Super. Everyone on campus must have gone crazy afterward. Emerson’s been trying to beat Chicago for years.”
“Yeah, and we finally did it,” Ned said. There was a moment of awkward silence. “It’s good to see you again,” he said finally. His warm brown eyes briefly met Nancy’s and revealed some of the emotion he was trying to hide.
“I’m glad you came, too,” Nancy admitted.
“But to tell the truth,” Ned said self-consciously, “I’m actually here on business.” He hurried on before Nancy could get in a word. “You must have heard about the robbery at CBT last night. Well, they suspect Belinda. They didn’t find the diamond on her when they searched her, but they still think she could have taken it and hidden it! Anyway, she and Andre Bernarde are both being investigated. Katya Alexandrovna was hurt during the attack, so she’s off the hook, at least for now.”