must not have seen us,â Lindsay said, looking across the street at her friend. But Nancy knew that wasnât true. Amanda had seen her and deliberately gone the other way.
The traffic light turned to green, and a stream of cars filled the street. There was no break in the traffic and no way Nancy could run across the street.
âWait!â she called.
But Amanda didnât wait. She disappeared through the revolving door of a large building half a block away.
âLetâs go!â
Lindsay was one step behind Nancy as trafficstopped. The two girls raced across the street and down the sidewalk to the building where theyâd last seen Amanda. They pushed the revolving door and found themselves in the lobby of an apartment building.
There was no sign of Amanda.
âIs this where Amanda lives?â Nancy asked.
Lindsayâs expression was thoroughly puzzled. âNo, her apartmentâs out near Fort Richardson.â
âCan I help you ladies?â a uniformed guard asked.
âWeâre looking for a friend,â Nancy explained. âA pretty girl with blond hair and a silver fox jacket.â
The guard shook his head. âHavenât seen her.â
âBut we saw her come in this door,â Lindsay insisted.
âI would have remembered someone like that,â the guard said, shrugging. âSorry. Maybe she went into another building.â
Nancyâs lips tightened in frustration. She was positive now that Amanda was hiding something from her. At that moment, the girl was definitely at the top of Nancyâs suspect list. But how was she going to get to the truth, when her prime suspect had just vanished into thin air?
Chapter
Nine
T HATâS WEIRD ,â Lindsay said. The two girls went back out to the street. âI wonder where Amanda could have gone?â
âMaybe the guard was busy and just missed seeing her,â Nancy suggested casually.
âMaybe.â Lindsay looked doubtful. âWell, Iâd better get my errands done. I want to get home and put in a practice run before it gets dark.â
âOkay. Thanks for taking me crafts shopping. Iâll see you soon,â Nancy said. She waved and headed down the street.
As soon as Nancy had turned a corner and was out of Lindsayâs sight, she ducked into a large office building. She had to find a pay phone.
Nancy dialed the number of the Wilcox house and asked for her father. A moment later he came on the line.
âHi, Dad,â she said. âIâm still downtown. Things are taking a little longer than I thought.â She didnât tell her father about being pushed down the stairsâit would only upset him. âDo you know where Mr. Wilcox is? I need to talk to him.â
âFunny you should ask,â Nancyâs father replied grimly. âI just got off the phone with him. The police asked him to come in for questioning, and it looks like heâll be there all day. He asked me to join him.â
Nancyâs heart sank. Did this mean the police had new evidence? âIâll meet you there, if thatâs okay,â she told her father. She got directions to the police headquarters, then said goodbye.
Since Carson would not reach the city for some time, Nancy retraced her steps and entered the jewelry store sheâd seen Amanda leave. If she was lucky, she could resolve two issues while she was there.
She looked around the store. As she had guessed from its fancy sign and display windows, it was an exclusive shop. The pieces of jewelry shown in the glass cases were obviously very expensive.
âA friend suggested I come here,â Nancy told the manager, who introduced himselfas Mr. Feder. âHer name is Amanda Spear.â
Mr. Feder nodded. âAh yes, Miss Spear. She was here earlier this morning.â
Good. Now Nancy had confirmation that Amanda had indeed been in the expensive shop.
She reached into her shoulder bag and pulled
Tammy Cohen
Tom Bielawski
Ceri A. Lowe
James Swallow
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Steven R. Schirripa
Janice Maynard
Eileen Dreyer
Nancy Holder