No Laughing Matter

  This sounded like a frame-up, all right—if Matt Goldin was telling the truth. “Couldn’t your lawyer prove you were innocent?” Nancy asked.

  “He tried, but there wasn’t enough evidence to prove I was being framed. I even hired a private investigator, a guy named Keith O’Brien.”

  Nancy’s next question was drowned out by an amplified voice coming from the hallway: “Paging Ned Nickerson. Please join your group in the warden’s office.”

  “I guess that’s our cue to leave,” Ned said apologetically, getting to his feet.

  Nancy paused at the doorway. There wasn’t enough time to ask all the questions swirling in her head, but she had to ask just one. “Matt, do you have any idea who framed you?”

  Matt rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he got up from the bunk. “I hate to even think this, but before my arrest, Peter Sands, my junior partner, was getting more and more dissatisfied. He felt that I wasn’t giving him the big accounts. The truth is, I didn’t think he could handle them yet. He was the one who found the canceled check that was deposited in the Gold Enterprises account. He said that I had accidentally left the check in the file of one of his clients, but I know I didn’t.”

  “So you think it’s possible he was in on the money-laundering operation?” Ned asked. “Or that he was paid off by the people behind the operation?”

  “Anybody with access to the accounting books could have been involved,” Matt told him. “The owner, Johnny, barely pays any attention. He’s mostly there to enjoy the comedy—kind of like a figurehead. Everybody knows him. When I tried to talk to him about taxes and receipts, he turned the conversation to the great old comedians.”

  Matt looked imploringly from Nancy to Ned. “Do you think you can help me?”

  “I’ll check into it,” Nancy agreed, smiling at Matt. She wasn’t sure she could really help him, but she would do her best to get at the truth.

  • • •

  “Matt was desperate for someone to believe him, so I said I’d check it out,” Nancy told Bess over the phone early that evening. She held the phone to her ear with one hand while she applied mascara with the other, peering into the mirror over her dresser.

  “I hope he really is innocent,” Bess’s voice came back over the line.

  Just then Nancy heard a car pull into the driveway. “Ned’s here,” she told Bess. “I have to go. See you at the party.” Cindy Ribelow, a friend of Bess’s, had decided to prolong the holiday season with a post-New Year’s party. When Bess invited Nancy and Ned to come along, Nancy had jumped at the chance. After her morning at Fairwood, she needed some fun.

  Nancy gave a final brush to her long reddish blond hair and quickly surveyed her outfit. Her blue sweater matched her eyes, and the jeans hugged her slender figure. After giving her reflection an approving nod, she ran down the stairs, grabbed her fleece-lined leather jacket from the hall closet, and hurried to the door. She opened it to find Ned standing there, ready to knock.

  “You look great,” he said, bending down to give her a soft kiss that sent a pleasant shudder up and down her spine.

  “You look pretty good yourself,” she returned, glancing at the fisherman’s sweater and corduroys he was wearing under his open parka.

  After they climbed into his car, Ned said, “I need your advice, Detective Drew. I decided that Matt Goldin’s case would be perfect for my business ethics paper, but I’m not sure he’s telling the truth. What do you think?”

  Nancy buckled her seat belt and settled back against the cracked vinyl seat while Ned backed out of her driveway. “I want to believe him, but the only way to prove he’s innocent—or guilty—is to do a little investigating.”

  “Well, I’ve got a head start on you,” Ned said, grinning at her. “Before I came over here, I went to Over the Rainbow and talked to Bianca Engel, the assistant manager. She wasn’t helpful at all. In fact, I got the cold shoulder. She just said that they wanted to put the whole incident behind them and that if I was curious about the case I should read the newspaper accounts and talk to Matt’s lawyer.”

  “She’s right about talking to Matt’s lawyer, anyway,” Nancy said. “But she does sound—”

  “What’s this guy’s problem?” Ned interrupted her, gazing up at his rearview mirror.

  Nancy turned in her seat to check behind them. A van with a pair of powerful headlights was bearing down on them. “The driver’s crazy to be going so fast,” she said, squinting into the glare. Facing forward again, she tugged on her seat belt to make sure it was secure.

  Ned pushed down on the gas pedal to put a little distance between them and the van, but the van quickly closed it. The driver probably just wanted to pass, Nancy reasoned. She saw that Ned was hunched forward in his seat, his jaw set as he concentrated on the road that was leading onto a bridge.

  The van was a few feet from their rear bumper now, Nancy saw as she glanced out the rear window again. The white haze from the headlights made it impossible to see the license plate, but she could just make out that the van was white, with a stripe across the front. Its bumper seemed to be twisted and bent.

  “Ned, maybe you should slow down,” Nancy suggested.

  Before Ned could answer, the van rammed them. Nancy’s heart jumped into her throat as the jolt threw her back against the seat.

  “I’m out of control!” Ned cried as his car skidded and swerved wildly.

  Nancy gasped when she looked out the front windshield. In a moment they were going to crash into the guardrail and plunge into the river below.

  Chapter

  Three

  NANCY HELD her arms straight in front of her, bracing them against the dashboard, her heart pounding like crazy. She heard her own voice talking, but it seemed as if it was coming from someone else. “Easy, Ned. You’ve got it.”

  Ned turned the steering wheel hard to the left, away from the edge of the bridge. A little loose gravel flew out from the screeching wheels, but the tires finally caught and the car swung left. As Ned brought the car to a full stop, the van whizzed past.

  Nancy felt as if an eternity had elapsed in the past few seconds. All she could do was sit still, gulping in air.

  “Are you okay, Nan?” Ned asked, his voice husky. He reached over to touch her shoulder, and Nancy could feel his hand shaking.

  “I-I’m okay,” she replied. “That was some fancy driving, Nickerson.” They both giggled from nervous tension. “I couldn’t get a plate number,” Nancy went on, “but it was a white compact van, with a twisted front bumper. It had a stripe across the front. Blue, I think.”

  Ned looked at her appreciatively. “Only Nancy Drew would notice all that in the middle of being run off a bridge.” He steered the car across the bridge and pulled up on the shoulder on the far side. “Come here,” he said, unbuckling her seat belt. She scooted closer so he could put an arm around her.

  “Ned, who do you think that was?” Nancy spoke into the collar of his parka, then pulled back to take in her boyfriend’s face. “Could someone from Over the Rainbow have followed you? Did you notice anyone behind you before you got to my house?”

  Ned frowned for a moment, thinking. “Wait a second,” he said, slapping the steering wheel. “I do remember seeing a white compact van parked in the lot. I only noticed it because it was taking up two spaces. I didn’t really pay any attention after I left, though. If the van followed me, I didn’t notice.”

  “Well, if it was the same van, my guess is that someone didn’t like your asking questions at Over the Rainbow. And whoever it was was worried enough to scare you. It’s probably a message for you to stop asking questions.”

  “Which makes me think there might be some truth to Matt’s story,” Ned added.

  Nancy drummed her fingers on the dashboard. “Was the assistant manager the only person you talked to? Did anyone else hear?”

  “The bartender was hanging around,” Ned told her. “And a guy with red hair was talking with an older man in a suit. I think the older gu
y was the owner.”

  Nancy shot her boyfriend a worried glance. “Well, someone there has made you a target. This project could turn out to be dangerous, Ned.”

  “Hey, I can handle it,” he said, pulling out onto the road. “But for right now, I’m in the mood to party!”

  • • •

  Cindy Ribelow’s party was in full swing by the time Nancy and Ned arrived. Through the front window they saw a crowd dancing in the living room, while smaller groups hung out, talking and eating.

  “Hi, Nancy!” Cindy said when she answered the door. Nancy had met the energetic blond-haired girl a few times at Bess’s house. “And you must be Ned, right?”

  “Guilty,” Ned told Cindy, grinning. He and Nancy squeezed their jackets into an already stuffed closet, then surveyed the living room while Cindy excused herself to open the door again.

  “Nancy! Ned!” Bess called, waving from across the room. Her bright red jumpsuit stood out in the crowd, and it set off her petite, curvy figure.

  “I’ll catch up with you in a minute,” Ned said, eyeing salads, salsa and chips, and desserts on the dining-room table, just beyond an arched doorway.

  “Try not to inhale everything at once,” Nancy said, grinning at her boyfriend.

  As she made her way across the crowded living room, Nancy saw that Bess was talking to Lisa Goldin, a petite girl with olive skin and sad brown eyes.

  “It’s such a mess!” Lisa was saying as Nancy walked up to her and Bess. “I’m sure that Matt didn’t do it, but it’s so hard to prove.”

  Turning to Nancy, Lisa added, “Bess told me that you saw my brother at Fairwood today. I hope you can help prove that he was set up.”

  “I’m certainly going to check into what’s going on at Over the Rainbow,” Nancy promised. “I want to talk to Matt’s lawyer, too. Do you know his name?”

  Lisa frowned, groping for the name. “Irwin? Yeah, that’s it. Tom Irwin. He’s with a firm called Martel and Donnelson.”

  Nancy wasn’t sure how to phrase her next question, so she just asked it point-blank. “Lisa, do you think your brother is innocent?”

  “I know that Matt didn’t steal that money!” Lisa said adamantly.

  “What about his junior partner, Peter Sands?” Nancy asked. “When I talked to Matt, he said that Peter may have had something to do with framing him.”

  Panic flashed into Lisa’s brown eyes. “Peter’s just not that kind of person,” she said, focusing first on Bess, then on Nancy. “Matt shouldn’t be spreading rumors about him.”

  Nancy was surprised at Lisa’s reaction. Why was she defending Peter so strongly against her own brother?

  “Peter’s working night and day,” Lisa went on coolly. Her attitude toward Nancy had visibly stiffened. “Since Matt went on trial, business has really gone downhill. Peter’s fighting to hold things together.”

  She rubbed her temples wearily, then said, “I have a really bad headache. I’m going to say goodbye to Cindy and go home.”

  As Lisa made her way back toward the foyer, Bess grimaced at Nancy. “I guess we hit a sore spot,” Bess said. “She definitely didn’t like what Matt said about Peter.”

  “Mmm. I wonder why—especially since Peter Sands helped put her brother in jail,” Nancy said, more to herself than to Bess.

  Nancy was quiet as she tried to think of where to start her investigation. Matt had been arrested six months earlier. If he had been set up, it wouldn’t be easy to find evidence. The person who had framed him had had six months to cover his or her tracks. Still, Nancy could contact Peter Sands, Matt’s lawyer, and—

  She snapped her fingers as an idea came to her. “The only way I’m going to get closer to the truth is to get inside Over the Rainbow,” she told Bess. “Do they serve food and drinks there?”

  “Sure,” Bess replied. “They have a great menu. People eat and drink while the comedians are on stage.”

  “Do you think they’d hire me as a waitress?”

  “In a flash,” Bess answered. “I’m sure they need extra help. Over the Rainbow has gotten really popular since they hired a new comic from Chicago, Rusty Smith. He’s hysterical!”

  “You’ve seen his show?”

  Bess nodded. “A couple of times. And I saw him once on one of those comedy channels on cable. He happens to be totally gorgeous as well as funny.”

  “Bess, get a grip,” Nancy said, laughing. “Listen, do you think it’s too late to go over there now to see if I can get a job? I hate to leave the party, but I want to start investigating as soon as possible. Matt’s future could depend on it.”

  Bess nodded across the room to where Ned was talking to a blond-haired guy. They were both devouring brownies. “Do you think we can tear Ned away from the food?”

  “Actually, I don’t think he should go with us,” Nancy said. She briefly told Bess about the white van that had rammed them.

  “Nancy, that’s awful!” Bess exclaimed, her blue eyes wide. “You guys could have been seriously hurt!”

  “It was pretty scary,” Nancy agreed. “That’s why I don’t want anyone from the club to see him. If they realize that we know Ned, we could all be in danger.”

  • • •

  “Here we are,” Bess announced, pulling her red Camaro into the parking lot of a small complex of buildings.

  The complex was in an area that had been run-down until a developer renovated it recently. Now it was a bustling commercial district that was especially popular with teenagers. There was a dance club, a pizzeria, and Over the Rainbow.

  As she and Bess got out in the parking lot, Nancy checked for the white van but didn’t see it anywhere. The girls’ breath made white puffs in the cold air as they hurried to the entrance, which was lit up by a stylized neon sign. When they opened the door, they found themselves in a spacious, rectangular room with exposed brick walls and a stage at one end. Round café tables took up most of the floor space near the stage. At the opposite end of the club were the bar, an old-fashioned jukebox, and double doors leading to the kitchen.

  “Looks like the last show is over,” Nancy said, glancing at the empty stage. People were getting up from their tables, paying their checks, and leaving.

  “I wonder who we should talk to about getting a job,” Bess said in a low voice. “Do you think that manager Ned talked to is here now?”

  As Nancy glanced around the club, her attention was caught by a man and woman behind the beverage counter. The man was tall, with very pale skin, dark hair, and hazel eyes. He was dressed in black jeans and a white button-down shirt, and he was talking urgently to a petite, slender woman with a headful of auburn curls. They were both in their early twenties.

  “So, what did you tell him?” the man asked in a heavy British accent.

  Probably Tony, Nancy decided. The bartender who had caught Matt with his hands in the cash register. Turning to Bess, Nancy put a finger to her lips and took a step closer to the bar. She deliberately turned her back to the man and woman so they wouldn’t suspect that she was listening, but all of her attention was focused on what they were saying.

  “He was asking a lot of questions about what we were doing and when,” the woman replied. “I didn’t answer anything directly.”

  “Well, we took care of him. He won’t be nosing around asking questions anymore,” the guy said.

  Nancy’s eyes widened. It sounded as if they were talking about Ned! She had to hold herself back from whirling around and confronting the guy, but she knew she couldn’t give herself away.

  “We can’t have this leak out,” the woman said. “If Johnny ever finds out, we’re dead.”

  Chapter

  Four

  NANCY’S MIND was whirling. If they were talking about Ned, that could mean that these two had a hand in framing Matt and that there really was a money-laundering operation—or something illegal—going on.

  “May I help you girls?”

  The woman’s voice broke into Nancy’s thoughts. As she t
urned around, Nancy saw that the man and woman were staring at her and Bess.

  “Um, hi!” Nancy said. She introduced herself and Bess, then said, “I wanted to speak to the manager about getting a job.”

  The woman’s face relaxed into a smile. “I’m Bianca Engel, the assistant manager,” she said, sweeping auburn curls from her eyes. “And this is Tony Fry, our bartender. As a matter of fact, we are a little short-handed right now. Do you have any waitressing experience?”

  “I’ve worked in a few different restaurants,” Nancy explained. She didn’t add that it had been when she was working on cases!

  “Well, I’ll know soon enough, firsthand, if you know what you’re doing,” Bianca said. “I won’t bother with checking your references. We open at five and have two shows—one at seven and one at nine. The restaurant starts serving at five-thirty. Come in at four tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll show you the specifics of this restaurant.”

  Tony leaned over the counter and extended his hand to Nancy. “Let me be the first to welcome you formally into our humble family of overworked and underpaid workers. Consider me your partner in crime.”

  Nancy chuckled nervously. She didn’t miss the glare that Bianca shot at Tony. If the two were involved in something illegal, Bianca didn’t want Tony advertising that fact—even jokingly.

  “We’ve got to close up now,” Bianca said. She lifted a hinged panel in the counter and stepped out from behind the bar. “See you tomorrow, Nancy. Nice meeting you.”

  Nancy barely got the word thanks out of her mouth before Bianca headed for a staircase at the back of the club.

  “Ladies,” Tony said, lifting an imaginary hat from his head and bowing slightly. Then he busied himself at the far end of the counter.

  The moment he had stepped out of earshot, Bess let out a breath. “Did you hear what they said?” she asked in a whisper. “It sounds like they’re the ones who ran you and Ned off the road!”