Nancy grabbed another piece of broken glass and began sawing at George’s bonds. By now the smoke was thick and choking, and the heat from the smoldering carpet filled the Dumpster. There was only a fraction of an inch left on the burning fuse!
Frantically Nancy sawed at the ropes on George’s wrists. “I’m free,” George yelled.
“Cut Bess loose,” Nancy commanded, gasping for air. The long dress was hampering her movement horribly, but she managed to pull herself to the top of the Dumpster and drop down onto the loading dock.
With a wrench she swung the side door open.
“Come on!” she said. The other three were choking and gagging. “This thing’s going to go any minute—we’ve got to get away!”
Bess and George yanked Chad out, his hands still tied, and all four of them dived around a corner of the building.
A split second later, the Dumpster exploded in a blaze of white-hot heat and flame, sending shards of shrapnel in all directions.
“Hey, when are you going to get around to untying me?” Chad asked, coughing.
“We’ll untie you after you tell us who you are,” Nancy said.
“I’m an insurance investigator,” Chad said. “Elaine Ellsworth and I work together.”
A broad smile spread across George’s face. “Let’s get him untied, Nancy!”
“Not so fast.” Nancy laid a restraining hand on her friend’s arm. “What about all that chemical equipment in your room?” she asked Chad. “And the file on me? And why did you rent that house, anyway?”
“I use the equipment to test for chemical residues in arson cases,” Chad explained. “I had the file on you because I needed to know as much about you as possible. And my company rented the house for me because Elaine and I suspected that Diana’s dress was the next target.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Listen, we’ve got to be quick. Brent’ll be back here any minute.”
“Okay, George, untie him,” Nancy said. She glanced at the Dumpster. Flames and smoke were billowing out the top; a fire alarm in the hotel had just gone off. “Come on, let’s hide so we can get the drop on our would-be murderers.”
She pointed to a pile of large cardboard boxes in the shadow of the loading dock. “Quick. In those.” She and Bess climbed into one, and George and Chad got into another.
As the lids fell down, the loading dock became noisy with people. Five hotel employees rushed out with fire extinguishers, and two others were pulling a canvas fire hose through the door. Behind them, a half-dozen curious partygoers had gathered to watch. Far in the distance, sirens began to wail.
At one side stood Brent, Diana, and Amanda—directly in front of the cardboard boxes hiding Nancy and her friends. They had no idea they were being overheard.
“I still wish we hadn’t done it,” Diana said plaintively. “Extortion is one thing, but murder—”
“Relax, Diana,” Brent replied. “You’re safe. Nobody’s going to find out what happened.” He laughed a little, as if he were savoring the moment. “Just look at those glorious flames!”
Chapter
Eighteen
BRENT KINCAID,” CHAD said, stepping out of his box. “You’re under arrest.”
Brent whirled around. “How did you—?” As he was reaching for his gun, Nancy grabbed his arm and twisted it behind him. The heavy weapon clattered to the pavement. Diana screamed and threw her arms around Amanda while Bess dived for the gun.
At that moment Mr. Talbot rushed through the loading-dock door, followed by three guards. Elaine was on his heels.
“Nancy! Thank heavens you’re all right!” Mr. Talbot panted. He glanced from the burning Dumpster to Bess, who was training the revolver on Amanda, Diana, and Brent. “What’s going on here?”
“These are our criminals,” Nancy said.
“It wasn’t me!” Diana babbled hysterically. “I didn’t have anything to do with it! I was forced to go along with them!”
Brent threw Amanda a black look. “I told you we couldn’t count on her,” he growled. “But you had to pull off one more. If we’d stopped at two, we would’ve had it made!”
Elaine turned to the guards. “Take these three away and hold them,” she said. “The police are on their way.” She reached for Brent’s gun. “And take this, too—as evidence.”
“Thanks,” Bess said. “That gun was getting heavy.”
Chad grinned at Nancy. “I’ve got to hand it to you,” he said. “You’ve untangled the most complicated insurance fraud I’ve ever investigated.” He glanced at her dress. “But there’s one thing I don’t understand. Where did you get that dress? And why did you wear it tonight?”
Nancy glanced down at herself. The Empress’s Flame—the copy she had borrowed from Sheik Abdullah—was a total mess.
Nancy gave a rueful sigh. “It belongs to the sheik,” she explained as Elaine came up to listen. “Elaine confiscated the copy he’d bought from Amanda. But his fiancée, Sheila, had her heart set on wearing the Flame for her wedding tomorrow. So he had another copy made for the wedding.” She grinned at Chad. “I wore it to try to surprise you into a confession.”
“Me?” Chad looked astonished.
Pulling off her Princess Leia wig, George walked up beside Chad. “We thought you were the arsonist,” she said with a giggle. “Especially after we found all that equipment in your room. And then you clinched it by pulling a gun on us while we were searching Diana’s garden for the brooch.”
“Oh,” Chad said. “So that was you! I thought it was burglars.”
“This case has been crazy,” Bess said. “I feel as if we’ve been playing hide-and-seek all week.” She sighed happily. “But all’s well that ends well.”
“But it’s not going to end well for Sheik Abdullah and Sheila,” Nancy reminded her. “There’s no way Sheila can wear this dress tomorrow. It’s a mess.” She looked questioningly at Elaine Ellsworth. “Unless—you’ve got the sheik’s copy. We could return it to him in time for the wedding.” She paused and smiled. “Or maybe we could let him have the original Flame, the one Amanda has hidden at her house. After all, he helped out by lending me this dress.”
Ms. Ellsworth frowned. “Well, it’s a little irregular—”
“Oh, come on, Elaine,” Chad said with a grin. “Be a sport. After all, it is a wedding. We can make the swap afterward, and the sheik can have the copy he bought.”
“Oh, all right,” Elaine Ellsworth said. “I’ll ask the police to turn the gown over to us tonight.”
Mr. Talbot was beaming. “So the case is completely wrapped up?” he asked.
Nancy, Elaine, and Chad nodded together.
“Terrific,” Mr. Talbot said with an enormous sigh of relief. “How about coming back to the party now?”
Bess looked down at herself. Her Marilyn Monroe dress was torn in two places, the heel had broken off one of her shoes, and her blond hair was disheveled. “Come back to the party looking like this?” she asked in horror. She wrinkled her nose. “And I smell even worse.”
“You could masquerade as one of the heroines in an arson mystery,” Chad said, slipping his arm around George’s shoulders. And they all laughed.
• • •
“That was a wonderful wedding!” Bess sighed. She and Nancy were sitting in the back seat of Chad’s car on the way to the airport late Saturday afternoon. George was in the front seat with Chad.
“Didn’t Sheila look terrific in the real Flame?” George asked. “She’s so beautiful—just like an empress.”
“Well, here we are,” Chad said, pulling up in front of the airport. “Victory Airlines is right through that door.” He got out of the car, opened the trunk, and began to help them with their luggage.
“Next time you come to L.A., Bess,” George said, hoisting one of Bess’s suitcases, “send your clothes air freight.”
Chad grinned. “Next time you come to L.A.,” he said, putting his hands on George’s shoulders, “how about letting me know?”
Nancy
nudged Bess. “Let’s go check on our tickets,” she suggested with a smile.
“Oh, but I want to say goodbye to Chad,” Bess objected.
Nancy pulled her away. “George is saying goodbye to Chad,” she said pointedly. “They don’t need us.”
Suddenly a man in a business suit stepped in front of them. “Miss Drew?” he asked in a low, gravelly voice. Behind him Nancy saw two other stern-faced men. They were blocking her way.
“Uh-oh,” Bess said. She stepped behind Nancy. “I thought this case was all wrapped up. Don’t tell me there’s more!”
Nancy swallowed. “I’m Nancy Drew,” she said.
The man relaxed and smiled. “Then I am glad that I caught you before you boarded the plane,” he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package. “Sheik Abdullah wanted you to have this as a token of his respect and gratitude. He would have presented it to you himself at the wedding, but he was preoccupied with other matters. You understand, I’m sure.”
Nancy nodded and smiled and began to open the package. Inside was a small white box.
“Be careful, Nancy,” Bess cautioned. “Who knows what it might be.”
Cautiously Nancy lifted the lid. Then she gasped.
“It’s a ruby pendant!” Bess exclaimed. “Oh, how beautiful!”
Nancy held up the necklace. The ruby’s light glinted fiery red.
“It’s another glorious flame,” she said. “The nicest one of all!”
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Playing With Fire Page 10