friend's tape afterward. My musician friend has
recording equipment at a club not far from Jason's
digs.”
Nancy couldn't believe her ears. Had Jason really
kept quiet and not even told his own brother? Or was
Ethan playing dumb?
“I can't wait to hear it!” he said enthusiastically. “I
mentioned it to a couple of rock historians, and they
said that it could be worth a pretty bundle.”
Nancy stared at Ethan. His enthusiasm set off
alarms in her mind. If Ethan was involved in the theft,
that might explain why last night's burglary didn't
match the others. Still, since Ethan had been at the
party, he needed a partner in crime—someone with
the know-how to break into Lisa's apartment.
What about Inez—was there any chance Inez and
Ethan's blowout was related to the robbery? Maybe
both Inez and Ethan were involved. Before Nancy
could mention it, the gymnasium speakers crackled to
life.
“It's now time for the second door-prize drawing of
the day. The holder of ticket number 23928 is the lucky
winner.”
A woman behind Nancy shrieked, “I won. I won!” A
cheer went up from the vicinity of the winner. Then
Jason's voice rose above the general din. “Step back,
step back, everyone. Let me get the lucky lady's
photo.”
Jason backed right into Nancy, knocking her carryall
out of her hand. Everything spilled out.
“Whoops! Sorry—oh, it's you, Nancy!” Jason
apologized. “Let me help you pick up your stuff.”
“Take your picture,” Nancy said, waving him off.
“This is no big deal.”
“Look! I knew it all along—that girls a shoplifter!”
Wes's voice accused as someone gripped the back of
Nancy's arm and yanked her to her feet. She found
herself looking into the stern face of a security guard.
Beside the guard, Wes stood glaring at Nancy.
Wrenching his eyes from her face, Wes bent down
and picked up Nancy's notebook, a blue print scarf, her
car keys, and one last item—a familiar red-and-black
box. Nancy instantly recognized it as Wes's missing
fingerprinting kit!
10. Pretty as a Picture
Stunned, Nancy couldn't find her voice. She stared at
the fingerprinting kit in disbelief. How had it landed in
her bag?
Nancy had no time to figure that out just then. She
faced the guard squarely and declared, “Look, there's
some kind of mistake here.”
“I'd say so—a pretty big one,” Wes sneered. “Yours!”
“You'd better come with me—quietly,” the security
guard urged Nancy. “We don't want to make a scene,
do we?”
Nancy could have laughed out loud. Wes had
shouted his accusations loudly enough to be heard
clear out to the parking lot. Drawn by the commotion,
a curious crowd was already clogging the aisle.
Nancy ignored the gentle pressure of the guard's
hand on her elbow and refused to budge. “I did not
steal that kit from CrimeShoppers. I don't know who
did, but whoever it was must have planted it in my
bag.”
Wes scoffed. “Sure, and the moon is made of green
cheese.”
“What's going on here?” George cried, elbowing her
way to the front of the crowd. Relief swept over Nancy
at the sight of her friend. Right behind George was
Bess, and behind Bess, a familiar tall, dark-haired
figure.
“Ned!” At the sight of her boyfriend, Nancy could
have cheered.
“Nancy?” he gasped, staring first at Nancy and then
at the security guard. “What do you think you're
doing?” Ned asked the guard angrily. “Let her go now!”
“Look, mister, you stay out of this. This girl was
caught red-handed with stolen property.”
“Stolen property?” Bess shrieked. “Are you guys
nuts? Tell them, Jason. Tell them about Nancy.”
“Look, blondie, stay out of this,” Wes commanded.
“Wes,” Jason broke in. “I'm sure there's some
mistake.”
“Tell him Mr. Landowski will vouch for me,” Nancy
urged Jason.
“I'll try to find him,” Jason said, turning to go.
“I'll page him,” the guard said. “Though just because
the girl knows him doesn't prove she's not a thief.” As
the guard punched a number in his pager, Ned sidled
up to Nancy and squeezed her hand.
“What's going on here?” he asked softly.
“A lot's happened since last night. I'll fill you in
later,” she murmured. “Here's Mr. Landowski now.”
Eddie Landowski was pushing his way through the
crowd. “What is going on here, Hugo?” he asked the
guard angrily. Then he spotted Nancy and his eyes
widened. “Nancy, what happened?”
Before Nancy could open her mouth, Wes an-
swered. “She was caught red-handed with goods she
shoplifted from my table.”
“That's crazy.” Mr. Landowski dismissed Wes's
charge with a wave of his hand. “Nancy is no shoplifter.
She's working for me. . . .”
Nancy winced, inwardly begging him not to blow
her cover.
“Under cover, because some small items have gone
missing, and I wanted her to check out shoplifters.”
“Man, no one told me about this.” The guard looked
annoyed.
Mr. Landowski said curtly, “Well, now you know.”
Wes looked disgruntled. “Look, Mr. Landowski, how
do you explain this in her bag?” He showed Mr.
Landowski the fingerprinting kit.
“Maybe a real shoplifter planted it,” George sug-
gested.
“My thought exactly,” Mr. Landowski said. “Are all
the parts still there?” he asked Wes.
Wes nodded reluctantly. “You're not going to let her
get away with this?” he fumed.
Mr. Landowski held firm. “I'm sure this has to do
with her ongoing investigation.”
As the crowd dispersed, Nancy motioned for Ned,
George, and Bess to wait up. “I've got to talk to Mr.
Landowski alone, but then let's head back to the
condo. You can follow us,” she told Ned.
“I don't have a car. We drove up from Emerson in
Russ's car. They dropped me off here to meet you.”
“So we'll all leave together then.” Nancy dug in her
purse for her coat check and handed it to George.
“Why don't you get the coats, and I'll catch up with you
by the front entrance.”
When her friends left, Nancy pulled Mr. Landowski
aside.
“How did that kit get into your bag? I know you
didn't steal it,” Mr. Landowski said.
“Beats me,” Nancy said, feeling angry and used. “It's
a good bet that whoever planted it is onto me.”
“Do you have any leads?” Landowski asked, pushing
up his glasses.
Nancy shrugged. “Yes and no. I have a couple of
suspects. But the clues are still too
vague to put to-
gether. I'll update you later or tomorrow”
“Just keep me posted,” Eddie Landowski told her. “I
don't like the idea that someone is on to you. Things
could get dangerous.”
* * *
Driving back to Lisa's condo, Nancy caught Ned up
on events.
“Your theory that whoever wants you off the case
planted Wes's kit in your bag makes sense,” Ned said.
“Any prime suspect?”
Nancy slowly shook her head. “Not really. Just
strong possibilities.”
Propping her arms on the back of the front seat,
George leaned forward. “When would someone have
had a chance to put that kit into your bag?”
The commotion at the porcelain appraisal table had
given any thief the perfect opportunity to steal
something, Nancy decided. “There was one chance
when I was at Wes's table. And another when I was
talking to Ethan a little later.”
“So Wes was around,” Bess pointed out.
Nancy nodded. “And who's to say he didn't plant the
kit when lie brought the guard over. He picked it up
off the floor—not Jason.”
“Jason was there, too?” George remarked.
“Come to think of it, Jason had two chances to plant
the kit. I saw him near Wes's table before this
commotion started in the crowd. And he was snapping
pictures right before I dropped my bag.” Nancy
paused. “I think he knocked into me.”
“Not Jason,” Bess huffed. “No way. Though I
wouldn't put it past his snobby brother.”
“Who, by the way,” Nancy informed everyone, “still
thinks he's going to hear the tape tonight.”
“You didn't tell him it was stolen?” George asked.
“More to the point, Jason didn't tell him,” Nancy
observed.
“Now, that's hard to believe,” George said. “If I had
a twin, I'd let him in on the fact that the tape he was so
interested in was lost.”
Ned shrugged. “Maybe. But just because they're
twins doesn't mean they get along.”
“Good point, Ned,” Nancy said. “I'm not sure if they
do get along, but I get the feeling that they aren't very
close.”
“So Ethan might or might not have known about the
theft,” Bess said. “But if he did, then he should be a
suspect.”
“Believe me, Bess, I haven't ruled anybody out at
this point,” Nancy said, pulling into the underground
garage at Lisa's condo.
“What gets me,” Ned said as they climbed out of the
car, “is that the other items stolen are so different from
the tape.”
“Part of me thinks the theft of George's tape is just
coincidental,” Nancy admitted as they waited for the
elevator. She handed Bess the paper with the code to
Lisa's apartment. “I've got to check out a couple of
things with the staff here. Why don't you guys get
changed. I'll be up in a few minutes.”
Nancy jogged up a flight of stairs to the basement
level and found the super repairing a screen in his
workshop. She introduced herself as a friend of Lisa's.
“Did you hear about the burglary last night?” she
asked.
“What burglary?” he said in a heavy Russian accent.
“I cannot believe an apartment in this building is
robbed. This place is like—what is the name of that
place with all the money in it?”
“Fort Knox,” Nancy supplied. “I hate to tell you this,
but whoever broke in didn't have any trouble accessing
Lisa's apartment.”
“You mean apartment Twenty H?”
“Yes,” Nancy said. “Do you know who has access to
the door?”
“You mean the code?” The super shook his head.
“No one, unless the girl or her relatives gave it to
someone. Sometimes people do give the code to
someone, to water plants when they are away, or in
case they forget it.”
“How do you get in if there's a plumbing problem,
or if some other emergency comes up when no one's
home?”
The super's smile faded. “You think I do this? All the
time people think because I come from another
country I am not honest. You police?” His eyes nar-
rowed with suspicion.
“No,” Nancy said quickly. “I'm not the police, and
I'm not accusing you of anything. I just need to know if
there's any other way into the apartment, or if someone
can use your code.”
The super shook his head vehemently. “To go into
apartment if there is emergency, I use special code,
like you say, and I need to have another employee of
building with me. Also I have to let management know
by phone that I am accessing apartment.”
So the building security was tight, much as Nancy
suspected. Nancy thanked the man and headed up to
talk to the doorman. She remembered she hadn't asked
the super who had rented the apartment next door to
Lisa's. Well, the doorman might know, she told herself.
What luck, Nancy thought as she approached the
tall, uniformed man leaning on the concierge's desk,
reading his newspaper. The same guy as the night
before was on duty.
He seemed to recognize her instantly. “Ms.
Perrone's friend,” he said as she approached the desk.
Good, Nancy thought, he remembers faces. Nancy
glanced at his nametag. “Carl,” she said, “I don't know
if Lisa told you, but last night something was stolen
from her apartment.”
Carl seemed amazed. “Last night? When? The
police never came on my shift.”
Nancy made a face. “No, and they aren't coming
over. What went missing sort of falls into the category
of petty theft, and I guess they have more serious
crimes to investigate.”
“I hope you filed a report at least,” Carl told her.
“We did. But I wondered if you noticed anything
suspicious last night—or late yesterday afternoon when
we came in. Did anyone you didn't recognize follow us
upstairs?”
Carl shook his head instantly. “No—why?” He
paused. “You think someone saw her punch the door
code?”
“Could be,” Nancy admitted.
“I can't swear no one was lurking anywhere in the
building—I'm not at the desk every minute. When I
take breaks, I lock the front door.”
Nancy walked over to the entrance. The building
had two sets of doors. An outside door led to the
elegantly landscaped drive that led to the front of the
building. Just inside the door was a panel of buzzers. If
the doorman closed the second set of doors, a tenant
would have to buzz any guest in. “So when you're not
here, people have to be buzzed in.”
“Yessss . . .” Carl sighed deeply. “Unfortunately
sometimes tenants have buzzed in strangers—in spite
of the security camera that is tied in to each apartment.
Next to the intercom system is a little TV screen where
a tenant can see who the visitor is.”
“And people still buzz in perfect strangers?” Nancy
was amazed.
“It has happened, though I don't know that there
have been any robberies as a result. The worst thing
that's come out of it was some vandalism in the
garage.”
“But someone could have unknowingly buzzed the
thief in?”
“Yeah,” Carl conceded, “but how they'd crack the
door code is beyond me.”
Nancy started toward the elevator, when she re-
membered. “Carl, one last thing. You know the
apartment next to Lisa's—is it still vacant? She says
someone sublet it recently.”
“Um—yes.” Carl's tone became guarded. “A pho-
tographer rented it—short term—like for a couple of
days,” he added quickly. “Don't know much about it,
though. You might ask the weekday guy.” Carl rushed
to open the door for a tenant.
Nancy continued to the elevator. Why was Carl
uncomfortable talking about that sublet?
Upstairs, she asked Ned. He had found his way to
the kitchen and was microwaving popcorn. “Hey, in
buildings like this there's a good chance he's getting a
little something under the table to let the guy use the
apartment,” Ned told Nancy. “Maybe it's not a real
sublet.”
Nancy nodded. “That would make sense—and I bet
the super's in on it, too. Though if not, that means Carl
knows the code to that apartment.”
“And you're thinking that he might know the code to
this one, too—that somehow Lisa's relatives had given
it to him.” Nancy remembered the super had
mentioned that people sometimes gave codes to
neighbors, just as in a traditional building you gave a
neighbor a key.
“Could be.”
“Oh, Ned,” Nancy complained. “Now I have to add
Carl to my list of suspects. He might have helped
someone have access to the apartment next door. I
wish I could check it out somehow—unfortunately,
that terrace door is locked, unlike Lisa's.”
“Maybe you could break—”
A terrible scream went up from the back bedroom,
cutting off Ned's next words.
11. Caught in the Act
“Bess!” Nancy cried, rushing into Lisa's bedroom, Ned
and George right on her heels. Bess was standing in the