George laughed. “After our kiddie coaster
experience, I think that's probably a good idea.”
“Anyone who doesn't want to go on Royal Pain can
come with me,” Bess said. “Instead, we'll go to . . .”
“The haunted house!” Laura shouted.
Nancy glanced at her map. “That would be Castle
Ballyboo. We'll all walk this way, then you go north.”
As they got closer to Royal Pain, Kenny's eyes grew
wide. “I didn't realize it was so . . .”
“Big and scary looking,” Emma said as a car zipped
overhead, the shrieks of its riders hanging in the air.
“I'm not going on that,” Ashley said. “No, thanks.”
“Raise your hand if you're going on Royal Pain with
me,” George asked.
“Well, I guess I'll go to the haunted castle with you,”
Nancy told Bess after she counted only two hands.
They left George, Katie, and Noah at the roller coaster
line, which snaked out of the waiting area, around the
games booths, and back across the drawbridge.
“I bet we can do three rides in the time it takes them
to ride Royal Pain,” Bess said as they approached the
castle door. “And we'll probably still get back to the
motel first.”
“This doesn't seem to be one of the park's more
popular attractions,” Nancy observed. There was no
line at all. In fact, the entire area around the castle
appeared to be deserted.
Nancy struggled with the heavy castle door, which
creaked open reluctantly. She poked her head into the
gray gloom. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling. A cold
mist floated in the air.
A pair of eyes glowed red in the darkness, and organ
music played in a minor key.
“This is so cheesy,” Kenny said. He raced ahead of
the group. “Fake bats, fake blood, fake screams.”
“Kenny! Don't get too far ahead of us,” Bess called.
Her voice echoed back to them, and she shivered.
“It's cold in here. And I don't care what Kenny says—I
think it's creepy.”
They rounded a corner, and Bess paused to examine
a corpse in a crumbling coffin. “Yuck.”
Nancy walked ahead with Laura. “Are you coming?”
she called back to Bess. “Bess?” she repeated.
The only answer she received was Bess's blood-
curdling scream.
10. Touched by a Corpse
“Nancy!” Bess screamed. “Nan!”
Nancy raced back through the narrow passageway to
the spot where she had left Bess.
Bess stood, frozen, as she pointed toward the coffin.
“That corpse. It touched me!”
Cackling laughter filled the air. Nancy felt her skin
prickle as the “corpse” sat up and took a slow bow.
Nancy squinted into the darkness. “Kenny?”
Kenny jumped up and hit his head on the coffin's
lid. “Ow.”
“Serves you right,” Bess murmured.
Kenny ducked under the wooden barrier that
separated the exhibit from the walking path for the
public. “I got you good.”
“You certainly did,” Bess agreed. “That's two near
heart attacks in the last hour thanks to you Sleuths. My
quota for the day has been exceeded.”
Nancy and Bess wound through the rest of the
exhibit and found the other Sleuths staring at a glowing
skeleton.
“Phosphorescence at work,” Emma said. “Who
would think the haunted house could be educational?”
“Speaking of educational,” Bess said, “there's time
for one ride before we go back to the motel so you can
work on your journals.” She turned to Nancy. “I need a
nap,” she whispered.
Nancy nodded. She was tired, too. The sun and the
water had sapped her energy. So had the endless
conversation with the Sleuths.
“You wouldn't believe the wild stuff I found in that
coffin.” Kenny held out his palm. “The back of
somebody's earring. A pacifier. And somebody
obviously didn't like those new Royal gumdrops.”
“I certainly hope you're planning to wash your hands
as soon as possible,” Bess said.
“You're just grumpy because I scared you,” Kenny
replied.
“Practically to death,” Bess agreed. “Do you want to
see my name on one of those tombstones?”
“No,” Kenny said. “But you'll never guess what
name I did see on a grave back there.”
Nancy held up her hands. “You're right. I'll never
guess.”
“Cassella,” Kenny said. “You know—as in Andrea.”
“Hmm.” Nancy's steps slowed as she contemplated
what Kenny had just said.
Bess caught Nancy's eye. “I see those wheels
turning,” she said quietly. “What are you thinking?”
“I was just wondering . . . I know this sounds
ridiculous, but if there is a connection between Andrea
and Robert Castle, could that tombstone have
something to do with it?”
Bess made a face. “That's a pretty far-out idea.
Yikes. I hope not.”
“I hate to say it, but I hope so. I hope Kenny found
us a clue. And I hope Andrea can offer us some kind of
reasonable explanation for all of this.”
After one more ride, Nancy and Bess helped the
Sleuths settle in with their homework at the motel.
Then Nancy called to check on the van. With any luck,
she was told, it might be ready in the morning. Then
she phoned the hospital, only to learn that Andrea was
sleeping—again.
Nancy sighed. “An unconscious witness is not very
helpful,” she told Bess.
“Hey, what's that?” Bess asked, and bent down to
pick up a piece of paper that had been shoved under
the front door. “The desk took a message for you, Nan.
It's from your dad.”
Nancy felt a twinge of fear. She knew her dad
probably wouldn't call her unless it was important. She
hoped nothing was wrong.
Her father picked up the phone on the first ring.
“Nothing's wrong,” he said immediately.
“That's good,” Nancy said, relieved. “So what's going
on?”
“Apparently, a woman called here earlier this
afternoon asking several questions about you,” Mr.
Drew explained. “Hannah thought you should know.
Also, could you please reassure her that you're not
doing anything dangerous?”
“Sure.” Nancy smiled as she waited for her father to
hand over the phone. “I'm fine, Hannah. Don't worry
about me.”
“That's easy for you to say.” Hannah chuckled.
“What did this woman ask you when she called?”
Nancy asked.
“She said she was a reporter doing a story about one
of your cases,” Hannah said. “After she asked a few
questions, I got a bit suspicious. And when I pressed
her for details, she hung up.”
“Hmm,” Nancy said. “Is there anything else you can
tell me about your conversation?”
“As a matter of
fact,” Hannah replied, “I noticed
that there was a lot of noise in the back-ground during
the call. There were people shouting and laughing, and
also some sort of tinny music. It was playing—”
“ Row, Row, Row Your Boat?' ” Nancy asked.
Hannah clicked her tongue. “Nancy Drew, how did
you know that?”
Nancy laughed. “Just a hunch. Thanks, Hannah. You
did great. And everything's under control here. I
promise.”
“What was that all about?” Bess asked as Nancy
hung up the phone.
“It seems that someone called my house and tried to
grill Hannah about me. It also seems that the call came
from Water Wonderland.”
“Diana?” Bess wondered.
“Well,” Nancy said, “we know she was at the water
park earlier today and seemed to be spying on us. We
also know someone was doing research on us online in
the computer lab. Was it the same person? Was it
Diana? I don't know.”
George breezed in just then, her short hair tousled
and her cheeks pink. “That was an awesome ride. It
was definitely worth the wait. We went on it twice.”
“Did Katie and Noah love it?” Bess asked.
“Katie did. Noah said he'll let us know after his
stomach settles.”
“I hope you started them on their homework,” Bess
said.
George nodded. “Do you think I'd forget my
chaperoning duties? Noah couldn't wait to interpret his
data. He thinks Royal Pain is going to edge Labyrinth
for the title of speed queen by a few centimeters per
second.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in!” Bess called.
The door opened a crack. “I'm sorry to bother you,”
Laura said. “I'm stuck on this problem. Can you help
me?”
Nancy pursed her lips. “We're not exactly science
experts,” she said, “but we'll give it a try. What is it?”
“I got a little distracted during the chocolate factory
tour,” Laura explained, “when Andrea got sick. Have
you talked to her?”
Nancy motioned for Laura to sit down. “I was going
to make an announcement at dinner. Andrea was
asleep when I called the hospital, so I didn't actually
speak with her. But she's doing well. She should be
released in the morning. And the van might be fixed,
too.”
Laura seemed relieved. “Thanks, Nancy. It makes
me feel a lot better to know that.”
“So,” Bess said, “what's your problem with this
worksheet?”
Laura pointed to several diagrams on the page. “If
you have this many gallons of milk produced by this
many cows, plus this much sugar cane, how many
pounds of cacao beans do you need to make this much
dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and cocoa butter?”
“Yikes,” Bess said. “Who made up this problem?”
Nancy leafed through Laura's factory tour notes to
find the proportions of ingredients in the different
types of chocolate. With a little guidance, Laura was
able to plug in the correct values and arrive at an
answer.
Laura thanked Nancy for her help. She pressed her
hand against her growling stomach. “Just thinking
about all that chocolate makes me hungry—”
“I'm hungry, too,” Bess said. “Why don't you go back
to your room and get ready for dinner? We'll be going
in a few minutes.”
“What are we eating tonight?” Laura asked.
“Italian,” Bess replied. “Yum.”
“Italian . . .” Nancy's voice trailed off.
“What?” George closed the door behind Laura. “You
like Italian food, don't you?”
“No. I mean, yes, I do. I was just thinking. Joyce said
that the founder of Royal Chocolates was an Italian
immigrant who changed his name, right?”
“Mm-hmm.” Bess ran a comb through her tangled
hair. “And that has something to do with dinner?”
Nancy shook her head. “Do you know if Andreas
Italian, Bess?”
“I think so. Her name sounds Italian. Why?”
“The founder of Royal Chocolates changed his name
to Castle. What if his original name was . . . Cassella?”
Bess gasped. “Are you saying. . . ? Those rich
relatives of Andrea's?”
“The Castles?” George guessed.
“Maybe,” Nancy said. “And maybe, when they
weren't willing to take her calls about funding for the
Sleuths, that made her angry.”
“Angry enough to try to ruin their business?” George
asked. “To crash the van and plan the allergy attack and
make an extra instant-win wrapper?”
“Anger doesn't seem like a very strong motivation to
go to all that trouble,” Bess argued. “Besides, we don't
have any proof—”
“I know,” Nancy said. “I know it sounds crazy. But,
Bess, I just realized. If Andrea really is related to
Robert Castle, I think I know why she gave you the
winning chocolate bar.”
11. Theory of Relativity
“Do you remember those documents Joyce had you
sign?” Nancy asked Bess. “You had to swear you
weren't related to any employees of Royal Chocolates.
If you were, you'd be ineligible to win a prize in the
contest.”
“I get it,” George said. “That means if Andrea really
is a Castle, she'd be disqualified if she tried to claim
the grand prize.”
“We know Andrea's desperate for money to keep the
Science Sleuths going,” Nancy said. “Maybe she hoped
the Castles would donate the money. When they
refused to meet with her or even hear her out, maybe
she decided to go to plan B.”
Bess raised her eyebrows. “Plan B?”
“You know,” George said. “Forge the winning
wrapper, give it to you, drop a hint about donating
some of the money back to the Sleuths, and hope that
you'd be nice enough to do it.”
“Okay,” Bess said, “I admit that that would explain
the rubber cement. It would also explain why Andrea
lied to us about where she got the chocolates. But it
still doesn't convince me she could have forged a
wrapper with the right instant-win code.”
“I think I know how she did that, too.” George held
up a hand when Bess frowned. “Just listen, okay? We
know everybody thinks there's a Pleasant Candies spy
at Royal. If Andrea really does have a grudge against
her Castle relatives, what better way to get back at
them? Royal's had a disastrous year financially. And a
spy who infiltrated the company could have found out
the instant-win code, right? If Andrea was working
with that spy to begin with . . .”
“That makes sense,” Bess admitted.
“Whether Andrea's involved or not, I think we're on
the right track.” Nancy flipped open her address book.
“We've made a lot of educated guesses with very little
actual evidence.
Proof is what we need now. And I
think we'll find that when we find the Pleasant spy.”
“Do you have any idea who the spy could be?” Bess
nodded toward the book in Nancy's hands. “Is that who
you're calling?”
“I wish.” Nancy laughed. “Not only don't I know
who it is, I don't know anything about the person. I
don't know for sure that the spy was the one
responsible for leaking the instant-win code. I don't
know whether he or she knew Andrea, or Diana, or
both. The only thing I do know is where to look for
him—or her.”
Bess inched forward in her chair. “You do?”
“Well,” Nancy said, “the spy has to work for Royal
Chocolates, right? We have a contact at Royal
Chocolates: Joyce, who's also looking for this person. I
say we pool our resources and see what we can find
out.”
Nancy picked up the phone and dialed Joyce's office
number.
“I'm glad to hear from you,” Joyce told Nancy when
she picked up the phone. “Things are really tense
around here. I hope you have some good news for me.”
“Not exactly.” Nancy explained that she had not
been able to speak with Andrea yet. Nor had they been
able to visit the hospital because the van was in the
shop and because Andrea was asleep every time she'd
phoned.
“What about Diana?” Joyce asked. “Did you dig up
anything?”
“Maybe. Just out of curiosity,” Nancy asked, “what
did Diana tell you her occupation was?”
“Publishing,” Joyce replied promptly. “Very
interesting, I know. But if she got hold of the instant-
win code, I don't know how. She doesn't have any
connections to Royal that we can discover. I mean,
besides her attempt to get work with us, which went
nowhere.”
“Wait a minute,” Nancy said. “Diana tried to get a
job at Royal?”
“Well, sort of. Her publishing company does
promotional materials for a number of medium-size
corporations. They tried to recruit us as new clients a
few months ago. They do a nice job, but we have our
own printers. Therefore, we had to decline her bid.”
“How did she react?” Nancy asked.
“Oh, fine. She went out and got herself hired
immediately by Pleasant Candies. If you haven't
noticed, Diana has a true love affair with chocolate.”
“I've noticed,” Nancy said.
151 The Chocolate-Covered Contest Page 7