Power of Suggestion

  Ned promised he would. Nancy gave him an encouraging smile, while Bess kissed him on the cheek. “We’ll see you in the morning,” Bess promised. Then Easterling led Parker down the hall.

  A police officer drove Nancy, Ned, and Bess back to the Emerson campus, letting them off at Packard Hall. During the ride, Nancy sat silently, going over Wayne’s murder and Parker’s arrest in her mind.

  “Hey, Nan, you’ve been very quiet since we left police headquarters,” Ned said, pausing outside the dormitory.

  Nancy took a deep breath. “I know you both like Parker a lot,” she began cautiously, “but so far all the evidence points to him as Wayne’s murderer. He was the only one in the lab, his prints are on the gun, and he doesn’t have an alibi.”

  “Then the evidence is wrong!” Bess declared.

  “Bess is right,” Ned added. “Parker wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

  Nancy hoped her friends were right. But she couldn’t rid her mind of the doubts about Parker’s innocence.

  • • •

  “I’m so glad Parker is free again!” Bess exclaimed as she, Nancy, and Ned left the Emersonville courthouse at nine the following morning.

  “Me, too. I’m sure it meant a lot to him that so many of the brothers showed up,” Nancy added, nodding toward the group of guys walking down the courthouse steps in front of them.

  Ned nodded proudly. “The guys really wanted to show Parker that we’re behind him,” he said. “I couldn’t believe how much bail the judge ordered, though. It’s a good thing Parker’s lawyer was able to post bail—the Omega Chi emergency fund wouldn’t have been nearly enough.”

  Nancy saw Parker just ahead of them on the steps. During the arraignment, he’d still seemed a little dazed to her. Now he was talking with his lawyer, a distinguished, gray-haired man named Mr. Caputo.

  Looking ahead, Nancy saw a bearded, middle-aged man wearing a tweed hat and an overcoat getting out of a car. When the bearded man saw Parker, he peered at the young man through thick glasses.

  “Professor Edberg,” Parker said, looking startled. It was the first sign of animation Nancy had seen on his face all morning.

  “Parker, how could you!” Professor Edberg shouted. “I knew you and Wayne hated each other, but to kill him in cold blood!”

  Parker blanched. “I didn’t—” he began to protest, but the professor shoved past him.

  “That young man was the most promising researcher I’ve ever worked with,” Edberg went on. “He was worth ten of you! And you snuffed him out without a second thought—”

  “Come on now, Professor,” Lieutenant Easterling interrupted. He had been walking behind the group but hurried over to Dr. Edberg when he began speaking. He smoothly guided Edberg around Parker, and the two walked toward the courthouse entrance.

  Parker recoiled as though he’d been slapped. Immediately Bess, Nancy, Ned, and some of the fraternity brothers gathered around him, but the look of shock remained on his face.

  “Let’s go back to the house, buddy,” Ned said, putting an arm around Parker’s shoulders. “After what you’ve been through, you need some food.”

  The group waited while Parker spoke briefly to his lawyer. Then Mr. Caputo left, and a small caravan of cars made its way back to Omega Chi Epsilon. Soon Nancy, Bess, Ned, and Parker were sitting at a long table in the fraternity’s dining room, eating a breakfast of bagels, rolls, eggs, and bacon.

  “Another bagel, Nancy?” Howie Little offered from across the table.

  “Thanks, no. I couldn’t eat another bite,” Nancy told him. “How about you, Bess?”

  Bess held up her hand in refusal, her mouth too full to respond.

  Since they’d arrived, a constant stream of fraternity brothers had passed through. Some sat down for a full breakfast, while others just raced in, grabbed a bagel or a roll, and dashed off. Everyone had an encouraging word for Parker, Nancy noticed.

  After they’d all eaten, Nancy turned to Parker, an inquisitive look on her face.

  “Oho, I know that look,” Ned spoke up from Nancy’s other side. “Detective Drew is about to swing into action!”

  “Are you going to help me, Nancy?” Parker asked eagerly. “Can you find out who really killed Wayne?”

  Nancy flashed Ned a quick look. She knew he meant well, but she couldn’t try to prove Parker innocent when she wasn’t certain herself that he hadn’t murdered Wayne. Better take it slow, she thought.

  “I’d like to, Parker,” she said carefully. “But first I need more information. What did Professor Edberg mean about you hating Wayne?”

  “He’s wrong—I didn’t hate Wayne!” Parker burst out. “I respected him. He was trying to help me, I knew that. He just had a way of going about it that drove me crazy.” Parker was emphatic, almost wild, and Nancy realized just how tightly wound he was.

  “Wayne did that to everyone,” Howie added, reaching for another bagel. “I took one of Edberg’s classes last year. Wayne was the teaching assistant, and he was really hard on all of us. For a guy studying psychology, he didn’t have much in the way of people skills.”

  Nancy thought back to the rude way Wayne had spoken to Parker. “Still, there seemed to be something special about the way he singled you out, Parker,” she persisted.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Parker said. “He really came down hard on me when I started flunking his quizzes. It all came to a head after he talked to my dad.”

  “He called your father? Teachers do that in college?” Bess asked, looking surprised.

  Parker shook his head. “No—I visited my folks one weekend. A psych quiz fell out of my notebook, and my dad found it. He got real angry at me. Dad called Edberg’s office, but he got Wayne on the phone instead.”

  “Uh-oh. Sounds like trouble,” Howie remarked.

  “You bet,” Parker agreed. “Wayne really gave him an earful. I don’t know exactly what he said, but after they spoke, Dad threatened to cut off my allowance and take away my car. Later that night Edberg called. I guess Wayne had spoken to him. He and my dad talked—and that’s how I ended up in the study group.”

  “What happened after that?” Bess asked.

  “I confronted Wayne,” Parker replied. “I told him he’d gotten me in big trouble, and he called me a lazy, spoiled rich kid. I guess he’d worked all his life. . . .”

  As he spoke, Parker twisted his mug of cocoa on the table. “Anyway, I got mad and said some things I shouldn’t have. Then he got madder. We were just about to start swinging at each other when Dr. Edberg came in and broke it up.”

  “You got into a fistfight with a teaching assistant?” Craig Watson asked.

  Parker nodded sheepishly. “But we worked it out the next day. I apologized for losing my cool, and he said he was sorry he got me in trouble. Look, we never really liked each other, but he was helping me out, and I sure didn’t hate him.”

  “This isn’t good, Parker,” Nancy said. “Your argument gives the prosecution a motive. They can say you killed Wayne in a fit of anger. They can say you two fought again, and this time you cracked.”

  “No way!” Parker protested. “That’s not how it happened. I’m sure it’s not!”

  “If you want me to try to help you, maybe you’d better tell me what did happen in the psych lab last night,” Nancy said gently.

  “But that’s just it!” Parker wailed. “I’m sure I didn’t kill Wayne—I know I didn’t—but maybe I did. I don’t know!”

  Bess, Ned, and the few fraternity brothers who hadn’t left yet stared at Parker from around the table. Nancy could see that they were all taken aback by his outburst.

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?” Nancy asked carefully.

  “I mean, I don’t know! It’s like I told the police, everything from when I left you guys to when you found me outside the psych building is a blank. I feel as if my memory’s been erased. I can’t remember a thing!”

  Chapter

  Five

  HOW COULD YOU forget everything
?” Nancy asked.

  She saw that no one was eating any longer. Everyone was staring at Parker. He was becoming more wild-eyed, and he began to perspire. His breath was coming in quick, shallow gasps.

  Bess took his hand soothingly. “Hey, Parker, it’s okay. Calm down.”

  “Sometimes a severe shock can have this effect,” Nancy explained. “A person sees something he or she can’t deal with, so that person experiences amnesia about the incident. My dad once told me about a case he had like that.”

  Parker’s breathing slowed, and he looked at Nancy. “Really?” he asked. “I thought I was the only one. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.” He sat up straighter in his chair. “But I want you to know I could never kill anyone. Never! And I’ll help you prove that, any way I can.”

  Nancy felt a wave of compassion for Parker. “I’ll definitely do whatever I can to find out what really happened,” she told him.

  “That would be great!” Parker said. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t get too excited,” Nancy cautioned, holding up a hand. “We don’t know where the investigation might lead. But I promise I’ll do my best to get at the truth.”

  Parker grinned at her. “That’s all I can ask. Now, how can I help you?”

  “I’m afraid you can’t help, Parker,” she replied. “You’re the prime suspect in a murder case. The best thing you can do is keep a low profile and stay out of trouble.”

  She gave him a careful look. “There is one thing you can do right now, though,” she added.

  “Tell me!” Parker said eagerly.

  “Go to sleep. You look exhausted.”

  With a weary nod, Parker said, “I didn’t get much sleep at all last night,” he admitted. “But if I miss my morning classes . . .”

  “We’ll cover for you,” Ned cut in. “Give me your class schedule. I’ll make sure someone takes notes for all your classes.”

  “You should definitely take it easy today,” Bess chimed in. “Tomorrow’s Saturday, so you won’t have to worry about classes for a few more days.”

  Parker looked as if he might object, but a yawn swallowed his words. “Okay,” he said, giving in. “I guess I do need to sleep.”

  As he went upstairs, Bess turned to Ned. “Will you make sure he tries to relax today?” she asked.

  Ned and the other fraternity brothers promised to keep an eye on Parker for the rest of the weekend.

  “I’m so glad you’re going to take Parker’s case,” Bess said to Nancy.

  “I don’t know what we’ll find,” Nancy cautioned, “but I do know where to start.”

  “Where?” Ned wanted to know.

  “Upstairs. Dave Webb said last night that he’s in Parker’s study group. I don’t think he’s left for class yet—I’ve been watching for him.”

  “I’ll go get him,” Ned said, jumping up and heading for the stairs.

  One by one the boys drifted off, leaving Nancy and Bess sitting alone at the dining room table. “Come on, Bess, let’s clean up,” Nancy suggested. Together they piled up the dishes. They were just about to start carrying them to the kitchen when Ned returned.

  “You don’t have to do that,” he said. “You’re our guests.”

  “The guys will take care of the dishes,” Dave Webb agreed. He stood next to Ned. He was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a sweatshirt.

  “Maybe you can start by telling us about Dr. Edberg’s study group,” Nancy suggested as the four of them moved into the living room and settled on the sofas and chairs near the fireplace.

  “What do you want to know?” Dave asked.

  Nancy paused for a moment, thinking. “Well, how does it work? What do you do in the group?”

  “There are six of us—three guys and three girls. We all meet together on Wednesday nights in a regular study session with Dr. Edberg and Wayne.”

  “To study psychology?” Ned asked.

  “Not just that. We each review our notes from other classes for the previous week.”

  “But last night was Thursday,” Bess put in.

  Dave nodded, brushing his hand across his blond crew cut. “Yeah—we also have individual sessions. Parker and I come in for an hour each on Thursdays.”

  “What do you do in those sessions?” Nancy asked. “I saw a chair in the middle of the room.”

  “Yeah. It’s weird but really relaxing. That’s the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in. It’s got dozens of different positions. I sit in the chair, get comfortable, put on headphones—and listen to music.” Dave shrugged. “That’s all for the whole hour. Dr. Edberg said that there are subliminal messages on the tapes, telling us how to be better students, but I never heard them.”

  “That’s because you only hear them subconsciously,” Nancy said. “Did it help?”

  Dave shrugged again. “I guess so. My grades have started to go up and not just in psych. It’s as if I’m listening better in all my classes.”

  “Couldn’t that just be because you’re spending extra time studying?” Bess asked.

  “Maybe,” Dave said. “I guess I never thought of that. Edberg did say that some students might get a tape with no subliminal message—so he could measure whether people who heard the message actually did better in school than people who didn’t.”

  Nancy tried to turn the conversation to Wayne’s murder. “About last night,” she began. “Did you see Parker?”

  “No,” Dave replied. “He was supposed to come in at the end of my session, but he never showed. Edberg was really ticked off. He wanted to throw Parker out of the group, but Wayne wanted to give him another chance. I said he might be in the student union, since that’s where everyone hangs out. So Wayne went to look for him.”

  “What about Dr. Edberg?” Nancy asked.

  “We walked out together,” Dave told her. “I think we were the last people in the building. We said good night in the parking lot. Then he got into his car and drove away. I walked around a little, then came back to the house.”

  So far, Dave wasn’t giving Nancy anything new to go on. “Think carefully, Dave. Did you see anyone else at all in or around the building?”

  Dave wrinkled his brow and clasped his hands behind his head. Then his eyes lit up. “Come to think of it, there was someone. He was going in as we were leaving!”

  “Who was it?” Ned asked urgently.

  “Just some bald middle-aged guy in an overcoat. I never saw him before—figured he was a professor,” Dave answered.

  “I’m sure that some of the professors fit that description,” Ned said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should look through the faculty photos in a yearbook.”

  “Dr. Cohen is balding,” Bess put in.

  “You mean from the infirmary?” Dave asked. “He does the team physicals. It wasn’t him.”

  Bess frowned. “I wonder who it was, then?” she asked. “I mean, if he was still in the building, he could be a witness!”

  “Or a killer—don’t rule that out,” Nancy added grimly. “Dave, keep an eye out for that man, okay?”

  Dave promised he would, then got up to go. “I don’t want to be late for class,” he said. He was heading for the closet when Nancy stopped him.

  “Oh, Dave. You said there were three girls in the group.”

  “Yeah, pretty ones, too,” he replied, grinning. “One of them isn’t on campus right now—her father died. The other two are roommates, Janis Seymour and Diana DeMarco. They live over in Packard.”

  “That’s where we’re staying,” Bess said.

  “Diana DeMarco,” Nancy repeated, searching her memory. “Wasn’t she the girl who stopped Wayne in the student union last night?” she asked Ned.

  Ned snapped his fingers. “That’s right! She seemed pretty angry with him, too.”

  “I think we’d better talk to Janis and Diana next,” Nancy declared.

  • • •

  “I hope they’re here,” Bess said later that morning. She and Nancy were standing in the first floo
r hall of Packard, knocking on the door to Room 106. Ned had gone to class, leaving the two girls to investigate on their own. After walking to the dorm, they had gotten the number of Janis and Diana’s room from the directory inside the entrance.

  A few moments after Bess knocked, the door opened, and a slim, pretty girl peered out. Although it was late morning, she still wore a bathrobe, and her short black hair was uncombed. She had enormous brown eyes, which were rimmed with red, as though she’d been crying.

  The girl sniffled, then asked, “Yes?”

  This definitely wasn’t the brunette Nancy had seen with Wayne at the student union. “Janis Seymour?” Nancy guessed.

  “Yes. And you are . . . ?”

  Nancy quickly introduced herself and Bess, then said, “We’re friends of Parker Wright. Would you mind if we ask you a few questions?”

  “You know Parker?” Janis’s brown eyes widened. “Then this must be about Wayne.” As she gestured for Nancy and Bess to enter, tears slipped down Janis’s cheeks.

  Nancy glanced around as she entered the room. The walls were covered with posters, and bottles and tubes were scattered across the dresser tops. There were two desks, both covered with books and papers. A laptop computer sat on one desk, and a small electronic typewriter was on the other.

  “Sorry about the mess,” Janis said with a wave of her hand. She sat on one of the beds, while Bess pulled up a desk chair and Nancy leaned against a desk.

  “I guess you’ve heard about Wayne Perkins’s death,” Nancy said, getting down to business.

  Janis nodded. “Everyone was talking about it in the hall. I’ve been a wreck ever since I heard!”

  “I guess word travels fast, huh?” Bess said.

  “It’s a small school—it’s hard to keep secrets here,” Janis agreed. “I’ve never seen you two around, though. Are you students here?”

  “No, we’re just up for the weekend. I’m trying to learn a little about Wayne,” Nancy explained.

  “Nancy’s a detective,” Bess explained.

  Nancy shot her friend a warning look. She had learned that it was often better not to announce being a detective when she was on a case.