The Wrong Chemistry (8 page)

“I-I'm fine.” Coughing and choking from the smoke, Nancy clung gratefully to Ned. He swept her into his arms and stumbled into the hallway.

“We'll get you to the infirmary, Nan. Just hang on.” Ned's voice was choked, from the smoke or his own emotion, she couldn't tell. “You're going to be okay.”

• • •

Nancy sat up in bed late the next afternoon. “The infirmary nurse says I'm just fine now,” she assured Ned. “Look, I didn't even get burned, and I've slept all day.”

She held up her hands, and Ned grabbed them in his and kissed them.

“The invincible Nancy Drew.” He grinned.
“Goes through fire without blinking an eye. I'm beginning to wonder why I ever worry about you.” Ned sank into the chair next to her bed and closed his eyes wearily.

Nancy's eyes clouded with sympathy. “I'm sorry, Ned,” she said softly, “I didn't mean to drag you into this case.”

Ned leaned close, grinning ruefully. “I guess it proves I'd go through raging fires for you.”

How did she get such a wonderful guy? Nancy thought as she burrowed her head into Ned's shoulder. “I don't know what I would have done,” she admitted. Her throat closed as she realized how close she'd come to real danger. “If you hadn't been there . . .”

“Shhh,” Ned whispered. “What I don't understand is how the thief got past both me and Craig in the hall. It doesn't seem possible.”

“It can happen. Don't blame yourself—please. The thief was determined,” Nancy said.

Drawing Nancy close, Ned rocked her gently, landing a soft kiss on her hair. “You smell like smoke,” he said, laughing.

“Ned, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you what this was about,” Nancy began.

“I understand,” he told her.

Nancy decided then it was time to take Ned into her confidence. Clearly, she hadn't learned the thief's identity in time to stop the next CLT
theft. She was willing to admit she needed help. Quickly, she explained everything to Ned.

“Excuse me, I was told you could have visitors.” Nancy and Ned looked up as Dean Jarvis stuck his head into the room. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Dean Jarvis, is there anything new?” Nancy saw him glance at Ned. “It's okay. I told Ned everything. I had to.”

The dean hesitated, then nodded abruptly. “Good. Well, then, I checked with security,” the dean reported. “As soon as Ned sounded the alarm, they shut all the gates and set up checkpoints at all the campus entrances. As far as we know, no one left campus with the CLT. It's in a pretty big container, after all. There's a good chance it's still on campus.”

“I hope so,” Nancy said fervently. “I'd hate to think that I sat in the closet while the thief got away.”

“It couldn't be helped, Nancy,” the dean assured her.

Nancy shrugged. “Did anyone figure out how the thief got in?”

Dean Jarvis shook his head. “No. But don't worry about it. It's not your problem anymore. I'm taking you off the case.”

“What?” Nancy gasped.

“It's too dangerous,” the dean said firmly.
“This person means business. I can't take the chance that you'll get hurt.”

“But, Dean Jarvis, I'm really close now,” Nancy objected. “I didn't really get hurt. I'm okay now. Please—I know I can wrap up the case. I just need a little more time.”

The dean was unmoved. He didn't say a word, only shook his head again.

“Please, sir? It would save you a lot of trouble. And besides,” Nancy added recklessly, “how will it look if you call in the government now? They'll want to know why you didn't report the thefts immediately. If I solve the case and recover the CLT, they can't say a thing.”

“Well, when you put it like that . . .” Dean Jarvis began. He paused. “No, I still can't.”

“I can solve this case for you,” Nancy insisted. “I'm very close already.”

“I don't know.” The dean wavered.

Nancy smiled. “Think of Emerson. Your science program.”

“All right!” The dean threw up his hands. “But only if you promise to come to me at the first sign of trouble.”

Ned waited silently until Dean Jarvis had gone.

“Are you really that close, Nan?” he burst out as soon as the dean's footsteps had faded away.

“Almost.” Eagerly, Nancy swung her legs off the bed. “And I will solve it soon. Right now,
we'd better get over to the lab and find out how the thief got in.”

“There's no use in my trying to stop you, is there?” Nancy shook her head. Sighing, Ned went out to wait in the hall while Nancy got dressed.

By the time Nancy and Ned got back to the lab, the mess from the fire had been cleaned up. She could tell from the fine white dust in the room that the campus police had checked for fingerprints.

The room still reeked of smoke. On the desk Nancy found the walkie-talkie hidden under some papers. The thief hadn't bothered to take it.

“Nothing new here,” Nancy said. “Let's check with your friend Craig.”

Nancy explained to Craig that Dean Jarvis had allowed them to follow up on what had happened. “The story's getting more involved than I thought,” she added when he gave them a confused look.

Craig shrugged and looked as baffled as Nancy. “I checked with all the guards myself,” he told her. “I even had someone watching the fire escape. The elevators, which weren't in service, were locked for the night. I have no idea how he got in.”

“Well, you don't mind if we check around a bit, do you?” Ned asked.

“Not at all. Here.” Craig threw his key ring to Ned. “These keys will open everything in the building. Yell if you find anything.”

Out in the main hall, Nancy and Ned tried to decide where to go next. Ned leaned back against a closet door, thinking.

“It's a waste of time to check the rooms on this floor,” he said. “Security's already checked them all.”

Nancy's eyes lit up and a grin spread across her face. “Maybe not all,” she said slowly. “Ned—take a step toward me.”

“Huh?” Baffled, Ned approached, not sure if Nancy was joking or not.

“That's fine.” Grinning, Nancy ducked behind him. “This closet,” she said. “We've been looking so hard for big clues, we didn't try the little ones.”

The closet was locked. Pulling out Craig's key ring, Nancy tried each key. None of them opened the door.

“Oh, don't worry about that door,” Craig said, coming into the hall. “There's nothing behind it.”

“You mean the closet is empty?” Nancy asked.

“It's not a closet,” Craig said. “It's an old elevator shaft. There was a freight elevator there. You know the kind that works with a key? It hasn't been used in years.”

Nancy's pulse quickened. “Is the elevator still there? Does it work?”

“I don't see how it could. They shut it down years ago because it was unsafe. No one in his right mind would get into the thing, even if he could.”

Nancy was examining the door, inch by inch. “Ned, Craig—look at this,” she suddenly called. “There.”

Nancy pointed to a thin crack. It ran around the perimeter of the door. “Someone used this elevator recently,” she insisted. “When the door opened, it cracked through these old layers of paint.”

Ned and Craig exchanged a look. “You're right,” Ned said. “Good work, Nan.”

Nancy found a piece of wire and went to work on the lock. She twisted it until she felt something give. With a triumphant smile, she opened the door.

The elevator shaft fell off in front of her. Grabbing Ned's hand to anchor herself, she leaned in and peered down. “How do we call the elevator?”

Craig gestured to another lock on the wall just outside the door. “I guess you can pick this lock. You used to need a key to call the elevator.”

Nancy set about trying to open the old lock. Finally it clicked, and she heard the old elevator car creaking up the shaft.

“Sounds like it's been used recently,” she murmured. “The thief must have put it in working order.”

As they watched, a black cage rose out of the gloom and glided to a halt. Nancy grabbed the handle and pulled the iron accordion door to one side. “Anyone coming with me?” she invited.

Craig and Ned looked at each other uneasily. “It's pretty old—do you think it will carry three of us?” Craig asked.

Nancy's eyes twinkled. “There's only one way to find out.”

N
ANCY TRIED
the old elevator lever. It moved easily. Hurriedly, Ned and Craig hopped on, too. She pushed the lever to the right and the cage began to rise. Through the grate, they could see the rough cement walls of the shaft. They passed the fourth- and fifth-floor doors. The elevator stopped on the top floor. The door to the roof level was locked.

“If our thief went to the roof, he'd have to climb down without being seen,” Nancy said. “Not very likely. Let's see what happens when we go down.”

She threw the switch to the left. Seven
floors went by. The elevator settled at the bottom.

“This must be the lobby,” Craig commented as he reached for the door.

Nancy shook her head. “No, the building only has six floors. I counted seven. This has to be the basement.”

Craig looked at her in surprise. “There
is
no basement,” he said.

Ignoring Craig for the moment, Nancy pushed against the outside door. It swung open noiselessly. Stepping out, they found themselves in a small, damp gray room. A light next to the elevator door cast dark shadows around them.

Craig whistled softly. “Well, I'll be—” he exclaimed.

“I'll bet this is the thief's escape route,” Nancy whispered excitedly.

The space was empty except for a cobweb-covered fuse box on one wall. A black hole in the wall directly opposite the elevator led to a passageway. There was another passageway on their right. At the end of each, Nancy saw a thin glow of light.

“These are tunnels!” Nancy said, amazed. “It looks like they connect the basements of the buildings.”

“That's right,” Craig said excitedly. “I've
heard the old maintenance guys talking about using the tunnels in the old days to get from building to building. I thought they'd all been sealed up.”

“They're unsealed now,” Nancy said grimly. She took a step toward one.

“Nan, hold on.” Grasping her elbow, Ned pulled her back. “It's late and it's dark in there. Whoever stole the CLT left almost twenty-four hours ago. Wouldn't it be better to come back tomorrow—with a good flashlight?”

Ned was right, Nancy realized. “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “Let's go back to the dorm and plan our next move.”

They left Craig at the lab and headed over to Holland. Nancy and Ned had barely entered the lounge when Jan and Mike burst into the room with a girl Nancy had never met. She was wearing a bulky white sweater and green wool pants, and she had curly dark red hair that swung halfway down her back.

Breathlessly, Jan introduced them. “Nancy, this is Amber Thomas. She's Angela Morrow's roommate,” Jan explained. “And she's got bad news.”

Nancy and Ned exchanged startled glances.

“We'd better sit down,” Nancy said.

“Nancy, this isn't like Angela at all,” Amber cried. “She was supposed to come back today.
She didn't, so I called her house.” Amber took a deep breath. “Her mom hadn't seen her. Angela never went home.”

“That does it,” Ned declared angrily. “I'm going to find her.”

Nancy knew better than to try to talk Ned out of it. “At this point,” she said slowly, “I think that's the best thing for you to do. But, Ned,” she added, “you should wait until morning, too.”

Ned smiled. “It's a deal. I'd better get to bed so I can get an early start. Good night, Nan. And don't you guys worry—I'll call as soon as I find out anything.”

• • •

After a night of troubled sleep, Nancy was hurrying to the science building. As she passed the infirmary, a commotion in the doorway caught her attention. A girl with a shower of long blond hair was pleading with the nurse at the front door. It was Karen Lewis. A brown bundle lay at her feet. Looking closer, Nancy saw it was an injured dog. Curious, Nancy walked over to see what was going on.

Karen was very distraught. She had found the dog by the side of the road and was begging the nurse to take a look at it.

“But I'm not a veterinarian,” the nurse kept repeating. “I treat
people
. I don't know the first thing about dogs.”

“There must be something you can do,” Karen insisted wildly. “If you don't, the poor thing's going to die.”

Nancy was right behind them now. “Excuse me,” she cut in. Karen whirled around at the sound of her voice. “Maybe there
is
something you could do,” she suggested. “Could you describe the dog's condition to a vet? There must be one in Emersonville we could call.”