041 Something to Hide (9 page)

“Okay, then. I’ll be right back!” Nancy hurried away to replay the messages.

The first was from Bess, who said she was feeling much better.

“Nancy, this is Chief McGinnis,” the second message began. “Please call me.”

Nancy jotted down the number he gave and called it right away. He’s probably not there anymore, she thought.

But the chief was there. “Hello, Nancy,” he said in a friendly voice. “Thanks for calling me back. I have just one quick question for you. Did Ned bring me all the samples?”

“That was everything we had left,” Nancy replied. “We gave a lot away on Saturday.”

“I guess you did. He brought an inventory of what you started out with.”

“Any results on the test yet?” Nancy asked.

There was a moment of silence, and Nancy could only guess that the chief was deciding whether or not to tell her. “Well,” he admitted at last, “we have done some random checking on the samples Ned brought us.”

Quickly Nancy pulled a blank sheet of paper in front of her and got ready to take notes. “Was there poison in any of them?” she asked.

“There was. Your theory was right on the mark. Hang on a second . . . Okay, see you tomorrow,” the chief said to someone in the room.

When he returned to the phone, he continued his explanation. “The interesting thing is that not all the samples were tainted. That’s why I wondered if there might be more of them. About a quarter of the ones the lab tested were bad. The rest were perfectly all right.”

“Were they all from the same batch?” Nancy asked. She knew that manufacturers put code numbers on their products to identify when and where a batch had been made. That way, if they were alerted to a problem, they’d have a way of tracing the individual packages.

“Same batch,” Chief McGinnis continued. “The codes looked the same, but we called the manufacturer to be sure. They remembered this group of samples because of its being part of a special project. They also kept part of the batch at the plant,” he added. “When they checked it, it was perfectly all right.”

“Then maybe it wasn’t a problem at the plant,” Nancy said. “Maybe it was deliberate tampering.”

With a shock, Nancy realized the significance of what she was saying. If Spotless had been tampered with, one of Ned’s friends could very easily be the culprit.

“Looks like it,” the chief agreed. “I don’t see any other answer.”

“Did the lab identify the poison?” Nancy went on.

“That was the easy part. When the lab heard that all the victims had had rashes, they had a pretty good idea even without the tests. It was arsenic, Nancy.”

Nancy took a deep breath. Arsenic poisoning was a serious crime. Then she realized that
something just didn’t make sense. Why was Marcia so sick when the other poisoning victims had nothing more than a rash and severe stomach cramps?

“Chief,” she asked slowly, “was there the same amount of arsenic in all the poisoned samples?”

“Exactly the same,” he said. “Ten milligrams.”

Now Nancy really was confused. If all the Spotless samples had the same percentage of arsenic, why was Marcia’s reaction so much worse? What piece of the puzzle was Nancy missing?

• • •

“One moment, please, and I’ll connect you to personnel.”

The next morning Nancy was sitting at the desk in her room. She had just read the morning paper. There was a warning printed on the front page not to use any free samples of Spotless. Also the radio and TV had periodic warning announcements. Nancy wondered when the media would find out she was connected with the case. She hoped it wouldn’t be too soon, as she had several leads to investigate that day.

Nancy tapped her fingers on the desk while she was put on hold. If she was lucky, she’d soon find out if Justin still worked for Asco.

“I’d like to verify employment,” she said when the personnel clerk answered. “The employee’s name is Justin Dodd.”

“I’m sorry, miss,” the clerk said after being gone a moment. “I have no record of a Justin Dodd working for Asco.”

Nancy frowned as she hung up. Even though Justin had just been a summer intern, Asco should have had a file on him.

This case is getting stranger by the minute, Nancy thought as she pulled on her coat and left the house.

She headed downtown to one of River Heights’s biggest drugstores. Nancy knew Mr. Bailey, the pharmacist, would probably be able to test the sample of Spotless she’d received on her doorstep the day before to see if it contained arsenic.

“What can I do to help you, Nancy?” Mr. Bailey asked when Nancy appeared in his store.

She pulled out the sample of Spotless that she’d found on her front step. “I wondered if you could test this,” she said. “I think it might contain arsenic.”

Mr. Bailey had obviously read about the case—he wasn’t at all surprised. “I’d be glad to help you,” he said. “It should only take a few minutes.”

When he returned, there was a grim smile on
his face. “You were right,” he said. “There’s arsenic in it.”

“Do you know how much?” Nancy was still puzzled that Marcia’s reaction had been so severe. Perhaps, for some reason, there were other samples of Spotless that had more poison in them.

“Ten milligrams,” said Mr. Bailey.

The same amount the police had found in the samples they had tested.

“You’re working on the Spotless case, right?” asked Mr. Bailey, and Nancy nodded.

Nancy slid the Spotless sample back into her bag. “I just don’t understand it. How come some kids have gotten only mildly sick from it, and one girl is in a coma?”

“From the cream?” The pharmacist looked startled. “Someone’s in a coma from this cream?”

Nancy nodded,

Mr. Bailey was shaking his head. “That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “If someone used this cream, they might develop a rash or stomach problems, but they’d never become seriously ill. In order to cause something like a coma, you’d need to swallow the arsenic. A lot of it.”

“Are you sure?” Nancy asked.

Mr. Bailey nodded. “I’m telling you, there’s just no way this cream could kill you.”

A
RE YOU
SURE
?” Nancy repeated.

Mr. Bailey looked her straight in the eye. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

“But that means—that means—” Nancy broke off. It meant Marcia must have ingested the arsenic. And that meant the case now went off in about fifty new directions.

“Thank you, Mr. Bailey,” Nancy said. “You’ve been a big help.”

Nancy got back into her car and planned her next move. First, she wanted to try to see Marcia. Maybe her condition had stabilized enough for her to talk. If not, Nancy could always question one of the doctors. He or she
might be able to tell her something she didn’t know about Bess’s poisoning.

As she approached the nurses’ station on Marcia’s floor, Nancy saw she wasn’t the only one paying a visit to the hospital that morning. Nancy spotted Heather walking down the hall ahead of her.

“Hi, Heather,” she called.

Heather turned and gave her a listless imitation of a smile. “Oh, hi, Nancy,” she said. “If you’ve come to see Marcia, they won’t let you in. She’s still in a coma. The nurses told me we can call again this afternoon, but she can’t have any visitors. Isn’t this horrible?”

It certainly was, but at least Heather was treating Nancy like a real person now instead of just someone standing in the way of her getting together with Ned. Nancy wasn’t sure what had brought about the change.

Now that I think about it, though, Heather’s been acting a lot nicer since we heard about Marcia, Nancy said to herself. She hasn’t tried to flirt with Ned once, and she’s even being friendly to me.

Looking more closely, Nancy saw Heather’s fingers gripping the strap of her shoulder bag as though it were a lifeline. She was clearly nervous about something, and Nancy wondered what it might be.

“I guess there’s no point in staying here,” Nancy found herself saying. The doctors could
wait. “Do you want to stop for a soda or something?”

“Oh, well—well, I guess not,” Heather said.

“We can at least walk out to the parking lot together.” There, Nancy thought. There’s no way Heather can say no to that.

In fact, Heather looked as if she was about to protest again, but then she gave a little shrug and started down the hall. “There’s something I just don’t understand,” Heather commented as they walked toward the hospital’s main door.

“What’s that?” Nancy asked, watching Heather’s eyes for some sign of emotion.

Heather answered slowly, as though she was having trouble voicing her thoughts. “We all used Spotless, but only Bess and Marcia got sick. Why them? Why not me or Brad or Justin or even Ned? Who’s singling out Bess and Marcia?”

Nancy shook her head. “I wish I had the answer,” she said. She also wished she knew whether Heather’s distress was real or fake.

What if Heather was somehow involved in the poisoning and now she wanted a way out? With Marcia in a coma, this case had suddenly become very serious. Maybe it had become too much for Heather. Was that why she and Justin had argued?

As Heather got into her car, Nancy remembered Heather telling Justin that she didn’t
want anything to do with it—whatever “it” was. Could it possibly be more poisonings?

She thought about following Heather but then remembered she wanted to talk to a doctor. Instead, Nancy said goodbye to Heather in the parking lot, then turned around and headed back inside.

“The usual form of arsenic poison is ingesting it—swallowing it,” Dr. Perlman, Bess’s doctor, confirmed when he and Nancy were seated in his cluttered office. “That’s why at first I thought that Bess had eaten something with poison in it. But it is possible to become ill from spreading arsenic on the skin.”

“And Marcia?” Nancy asked. “Why is she so sick?”

“Your pharmacist friend is right. The only explanation is that she must have eaten something that contained arsenic. Lots of arsenic.”

• • •

“I’m home at last, Hannah,” Nancy said as she sank into one of the comfortable chairs in the living room. “What a long morning.”

The housekeeper came to the doorway. “How’s your case going?” she asked.

Nancy frowned. “Don’t ask. I thought I was close to solving it, and now I feel as though I’m farther away than ever.”

“Maybe you’re trying too hard,” Hannah suggested. “Can’t you take a day off? You deserve a break, just like everyone—”

Suddenly Nancy jumped to her feet. “Bess! The concert!” she gasped. “How could I forget?” She turned to Hannah. “How would I survive without you?” she asked affectionately.

“What did I do?” asked a bewildered Hannah.

“Ned and I are going to a concert tonight, and I was supposed to ask Bess,” Nancy explained. “I can’t believe it—but I forgot all about it.” She reached for the phone. “I only hope she hasn’t made other plans.”

She hadn’t.

“Nan, that would be fantastic!” Bess exclaimed when Nancy told her about the Last Night concert. “You know I
love
Last Night.”

“And I bet the idea of spending an evening with Brad isn’t too painful, either,” Nancy teased her.

“I’ll make the sacrifice,” Bess said with a giggle. “I guess I should start getting ready now.”

“Bess, you still have hours!” Nancy protested.

“Just because you can get dressed in twenty minutes doesn’t mean I can, Nancy Drew!” Bess said. “Now, I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you tonight.”

Nancy had to admit that Bess’s primping had paid off. When Nancy, Ned, and Brad
arrived at the Marvin house that night, Brad’s mouth actually fell open at the sight of Bess.

“You look great,” he finally managed to say as Bess slid into the back seat.

Bess did. She had gotten her normal color back, her cold was almost all better, and her rash had all disappeared. And the time she had spent deciding what to wear had definitely been time well spent. Her black leather miniskirt and blue silk T-shirt looked fantastic, but what was really making Brad stare was Bess’s hair. Although the riot of blond curls looked artless, Nancy knew they’d taken hours to arrange.

It was wonderful to see Bess looking so healthy—so much better than healthy, actually. Nancy told her so.

“Well, you look pretty impressive yourself,” Ned said with a smile at Nancy’s leopard-print minidress with matching stockings. “I think Brad and I are pretty lucky.”

“I’m glad you like my outfit.” Nancy grinned. “I know it’s pretty daring for me. Hey, we’d better get going. I’d hate to miss any of the concert!”

By the time the four of them had gotten to the stadium, they were all cheerful, and even Nancy had pretty much forgotten about the case.

“So tell me about your family . . .” Brad
said to Bess as the four of them settled into their seats.

“It looks as though we don’t have to worry about either of them,” Nancy said softly to Ned. “They both seem all right tonight.”

Ned put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad about that. Now you and I can just relax and enjoy the concert.” Then he leaned across Nancy to ask Brad, “Do you think they’ll sing ‘Endless Days’?”

“They’d better. It’s my theme song, after all.”