Nancy Clue Mysteries 2 - The Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend (30 page)

"But how could that be?" Cherry gasped. "That would mean there are people who would rather see an innocent woman go to jail than to acknowledge the truth!"

Jackie nodded. Her expression was grim. "Nancy, has it ever occurred to you that the Chief might be behind all this? Think of it. He's the only one with the opportunity and the knowledge to commit the theft of your evidence."

"There's got to be some other explanation for it!" Nancy cried. "I can't possibly believe the Chief is plotting to harm me."

"Okay," Jackie abruptly quit her line of questioning. She shot Midge a knowing wink.

"I'll investigate some other leads," she said. "But first, I think you should find a good lawyer and stall this trial a few days; long enough for us get your evidence back," Jackie declared.

"I tried that!" Nancy cried. "After I escaped from Deputy Drone, I went to every law office in town, and no one would even speak to me! That's why I didn't come home all day; I was so discouraged at having failed I couldn't face anyone."

"My uncle in nearby Lakeview is a lawyer," Bess cried out. "George and I will drive to his office and beg him to defend Hannah." She and George raced out the door. "We'll be back soon-and with good news," they declared.

"Surely Bess's uncle will defend Hannah," Cherry said. "Things are looking up already!" A sudden crash from upstairs made her jump. "It's the jewel thieves, back for more!" Cherry cried as she gripped Jackie's arm.

"Help, I'm stuck," a faint voice called out from somewhere above their heads.

"Lauren?" they cried in unison. Midge raced up the stairs with the others right behind her. They made a quick search of the two second-floor bedrooms, but Lauren was nowhere to be found. Gogo, who had last been seen hours earlier, basking in a sunny spot in the living room, suddenly appeared at Midge's side. "Where did you come from, girl?" Midge asked, giving the terrier a pat on the head. The dog playfully nipped at Midge's ankle, raced out of the room and down the hall. She stopped short, faced the wall, and gave a fierce little bark.

"That's the entryway to our secret attic room; Lauren must be up there!" Nancy exclaimed, running to Gogo's side. "Good girl," she murmured, before opening the panel leading to the third floor. The door was easy to overlook as it was fashioned of the same white wainscoting that lined the rest of the second-floor hallway.

"Lauren must be awfully sneaky to have found this secret passage at all," Nancy mused.

"She does have her good points," Midge admitted.

"No one is supposed to know this room exists," Nancy added. "Father caught me and George up here once, and, boy, was he angry!" She led the way up the rickety wooden stairs and into a dark, dusty room. A small bit of light streamed in through the dormer window at the one end of the room. It was just enough to make out the figure of their young friend, who was sprawled on the floor face down, pinned under a large painting!

Jackie and Midge hastily lifted the ornately framed painting off Lauren, and Cherry efficiently checked their young chum for broken bones.

"Lie still," Cherry ordered in a firm, professional tone that surprised Lauren so much that for once she didn't argue.

"I'm okay," Lauren grumbled as Cherry gently rolled her over on her back. The minute Lauren spied Jackie, she cried, "Yikes, I confess! I was snooping around where I don't belong! " She held out her hands, wrist up. "You can cuff me and take me to jail now," Lauren said dramatically.

They laughed at the sight of the young girl's serious expression. "What am I going to arrest you for, being dusty and disorderly?" Jackie chuckled.

Lauren was indeed a sight, covered from head to toe in cobwebs. Cherry helped the trembling girl to her feet.

"You could have really injured yourself, Lauren," she scolded her young friend. "You're just lucky we found you."

"What are you doing up here, anyway?" Jackie asked.

"What are you doing here?" Lauren asked Jackie.

Jackie looked troubled and quickly changed the subject. "You first," she ordered.

"Oh, I was just goofing around," Lauren replied, adding hastily, "I didn't hurt anything. I thought I saw a bat or something," she explained, looking up into the dark rafters. "When I jumped, I knocked over that picture and it fell on me."

Cherry was frightened. There could very well be bats in the attic! She took a step closer to Jackie. Jackie, sensing her alarm, put a reassuring arm around her chum.

The girls turned their attention to the ornate, gilt-framed painting that had almost crushed their young friend. "It's almost impossible to make it out in this dim light, but it appears to be a portrait," Cherry remarked. "From the looks of it, it's been hidden up here for many years."

"Ah-chooo!" Lauren sneezed suddenly. Cherry was searching her pockets for a clean handkerchief when she heard Midge cry, "Look! It's a portrait of you, Nancy!" Lauren's sneeze had blown away just enough dust from the painting so they could make out a face. Midge lit a match, and they took a closer look.

The girl in the portrait had the same sparkling blue eyes, infectious grin, and lovely titian hair as Nancy. It was Nancy, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"That's not me, that's Mother!" Nancy cried.

"You look just like her," Cherry gasped.

The shrill ringing of the phone startled them. "I wonder who that could be?" Nancy mused as she raced down the stairs.

"Let's cover this portrait with those old draperies in the corner and leave this spooky place," Cherry proposed. She was still a little worried about those bats!

"Jackie?" It was Nancy, calling from downstairs. "The telephone's for you. It's Head Nurse Margaret Marstad calling from Seattle!"

"Nurse Marstad's calling you all the way from Seattle? How romantic!" Cherry cried in delight. It was so exciting the way those two had fallen in love. But she changed her mind when she saw the angry expression that flashed across Jackie's handsome face.

Could it be that their romance was on the rocks?

The girls sat in the kitchen, holding their breath as they waited for Jackie to emerge from the den where she had been talking furiously on the telephone for twenty minutes. Midge, Velma, Cherry, and Nancy strained to overhear Jackie's end of the conversation.

"What's she saying now?" Velma whispered.

"All I hear is, `yes, no, yes, no,' " Midge whispered back. "But, boy, from the sound of it, Jackie sure seems angry."

"It isn't nice to eavesdrop," Cherry thought guiltily. But, after all, they were only concerned about their friend.

As soon they heard the slam of the telephone receiver, they pretended to be engrossed in other things. Midge lit a cigarette, Nancy ran to the sink and filled a glass with water, Velma jumped behind the ironing board, and Cherry ran to the refrigerator and peered intently inside. "How about a gelatin dessert tonight?" she asked brightly as Jackie strode into the kitchen and dropped into a chair.

"Cigarette?" Midge asked. Jackie nodded, lit one, and took a few short puffs before dashing it out in the nearest saucer.

"I forgot-I quit," she said ruefully. She put her face in her hands and sighed.

"Everything okay?" Midge asked.

Jackie groaned. "That nurse is driving me crazy," she said.

Cherry gasped. Was Jackie talking about Head Nurse Margaret Marstad, the most efficient and professional head nurse it had ever been Cherry's privilege to work under?

The girls stopped pretending they were otherwise engaged and sat down. "What's happened?" they gasped.

"We've broken up," Jackie admitted.

Tears came to Cherry's emerald-green eyes. Could it be true? She didn't know what to say. Why, Nurse Marstad and Jackie seemed so right for each other! "Don't you love her anymore?"

Cherry cried, her bottom lip all aquiver. "Golly, Nurse Marstad must be heartbroken!" she cried. She was tempted to dash to the telephone and call Seattle, but the look on Jackie's face stopped her. Why, Jackie was struggling mightily to hold back tears!

"It's not that," Jackie said in a shaky voice. "It's just that-" Jackie shook her head.

"I must know!" Cherry cried. Had Nurse Marstad done something to tarnish her shiny image?

"Let me say first that I believe Peg is one fine nurse," Jackie said.

Cherry nodded. Why, Nurse Marstad was practically her nurse hero!

"But as a girlfriend, she leaves a lot to be desired," Jackie added in an unmistakably bitter tone.

Cherry gasped in alarm. What could Jackie possibly mean? "What do you mean?" Cherry asked anxiously.

Lauren picked that moment to arrive in the kitchen, fresh and shiny from her bath. She had, however, neglected to brush the dust from her long auburn hair, usually worn in a single braid but now falling freely over her shoulders and in need of a good scrubbing. Cherry sent her back to the bathroom with orders "to do something about that rat's nest on your head." With Lauren safely out of earshot, Cherry demanded an answer. "Tell me what's happened," she urged her chum, adding, "People are so hesitant to let me in on anything unpleasant. After all, I am a nurse in a big-city hospital. I see lots of not-so-nice things. Honest!"

"Give us the scoop, Jack," Midge said. She put a fresh cup of coffee in front of Jackie.

"Peg already has a girlfriend," Jackie blurted out, adding, "It's a fact she neglected to mention during any of our dates."

"Are you sure?" Cherry cried. "Maybe there's just been some awful mistake. Yes, that's it. A case of mistaken identity or a terrible rumor. There must be some explanation."

"I know for a fact that she has a girl because she walked in on us one afternoon in the head nurse's dormitory."

"Someone at the wrong door, perhaps," Cherry said, searching for a logical explanation. Anything but that one!

"She had a key, Cherry. She's practically living there."

Cherry gasped in horror. "Who was it?"

"I don't know," Jackie said. "Just some nurse. I didn't get a good look at her, although," Jackie laughed sourly, "she sure got a good look at me!"

Cherry blushed when she thought of that scene!

"I just threw on my clothes and raced out of the apartment. We haven't spoken until today; Peg must have called the station house and gotten this phone number. I left it in case of emergency, although I specifically requested it not be given out to any nurses!

"I've been over it a hundred times in my head," Jackie added in a weary tone. "Maybe I should have seen it coming. It's just that Peg and I had such a good time together in San Francisco, I never dreamt she might already have a girlfriend. And I didn't think to ask, because, well, the way she pursued me-the way we pursued each other-it just didn't seem possible there could be anyone else."

But Cherry wasn't listening. She was too busy replaying the scenario in her head. "It's all my fault," she concluded.

Jackie looked incredulous.

"I'm the one who introduced you two. I practically threw you at her," Cherry gasped. She remembered the night her two favorite people had met. Nurse Marstad was wearing a snug peach top that set off her shapely figure to its best advantage, and Jackie was looking particularly handsome and wellgroomed. Cherry remembered thinking how lucky Nurse Marstad was to have such a fine girl at her side. Cherry had had such hopes for them, and now those dreams had been cruelly dashed. She was almost in tears.

"Peg wanted to continue the relationship, even after her girl found out. I said no. I don't want any part of a triangle."

"I don't understand!" Cherry cried in utter confusion. "I thought Nurse Marstad loved you! How could she do that? Why, Nurse Marstad has sullied the reputation of honest nurses everywhere."

"It's not the first time I've had my heart broken," Jackie shrugged.

"You mean, this sort of thing has happened to you before?" Cherry gasped. "How horrid! Dear, brave Jackie," she wanted to cry, but she held her tongue. Especially when she realized the others were giggling. Cherry did a slow burn. Why, even Nancy was chuckling! "I don't think a broken heart is anything to laugh at," Cherry pouted.

Jackie sensed how hurt Cherry was. "It's not funny," Jackie agreed, wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes. "Although," she said, "you should have seen the expression on Peg's face when she realized we weren't alone." Jackie started to laugh again. "Peg thought I was yelling because I was enjoying myself, which, by the way, I was," she said. "But I was yelling because I saw a nurse in the doorway! Her girlfriend was supposed to be gone for the week, attending the Sputum Conference in Spokane, but she had come back early unexpectedly," Jackie explained.

Cherry gasped. Not only was she sorely disappointed that she had missed the Sputum Conference-she had meant to attend it this year!-but she was appalled at Nurse Marstad's scandalous behavior.

But before she could say anything, Bess and George waltzed through the door, each holding a paper sack.

"We had no luck getting my uncle to agree to defend Hannah, but we did get lucky at the ice cream store," Bess sighed. "We've got Butter Brickle, Peppermint Stick, Fresh Peach, and Double Chocolate." She grabbed a handful of spoons from the dish drain, opened a gallon of chocolate ice cream, and scooped out a big chunk.