GREG, NO!” Susan screamed.
Rob’s hands tightened into fists, and the look on his face told Nancy that he would welcome a good reason to strike out at anyone. Grabbing his arm, she said, “Rob, don’t.”
At the same time, Ned and Jerry moved in between Rob and the guy Susan had called Greg. “Hey, cut it out, you guys,” Ned shouted.
He took Rob by the shoulders and urged him to back up, while Jerry stood right in front of Greg, talking to him in a low, calm voice.
“I want him to stay away from Susan,” Greg said loudly.
“You get no argument from me on that, fella,” Rob replied.
“There,” Jerry said. “He’ll stay away from Susan. Okay?”
Greg’s face was still red, his fists still clenched. “I don’t like the way you said that,” he muttered, glaring at Rob.
Jerry put a hand on each of Greg’s shoulders. “Nobody wants any trouble,” he said. “So why don’t we all just go our own ways?”
Greg scowled up at Jerry. “I don’t like—”
Susan took his arm. “Come on, Greg,” she said. “Let’s just drop it.”
“Drop it?” he said. “That guy almost knocked you down. You want to let him get away with that?”
“It was an accident,” Susan told him. “He wasn’t paying attention, and I wasn’t looking where I was going. That’s all.”.
“You deserve an apology,” Greg insisted, glaring around Jerry’s arm at Rob.
Rob looked tired of the whole argument. “Hey,” he said, “if it’ll make any difference, I’ll apologize. Okay? Susan, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to knock you down.”
“There,” Jerry said, urging Greg toward the door of the student center. “It’s all settled now.”
Susan gave Nancy an apologetic look, then followed Greg out the door.
“Well!” Bess exclaimed. “What was that all about?”
Rob looked embarrassed. “Greg tried out for the number-five oar on the varsity crew last fall. I was the number-three oar in the same boat. Well, when he found out he didn’t make the cut, he said it was my fault, that I’d deliberately thrown him off his stroke.”
“And had you?” Nancy asked.
Rob’s face reddened. “Of course not! He just didn’t have what it takes, and the coach saw it. But Greg would rather blame me than face up to that fact.”
“Some facts are hard to face,” Nancy observed. “But just now he seemed more concerned about Susan than his position on the crew. Why is that?”
The red in Rob’s cheeks deepened. “Oh, Susan and I used to be a couple, that’s all.”
“That’s all?” George repeated.
“All right, it was more than that. We dated for most of a year. We even talked about getting engaged. And then—I don’t know—it just ended. We weren’t having fun anymore.”
“So you both agreed to break up?” Nancy asked. “No hard feelings, as they say?”
“Well . . . I’m the one who broke it off. And Susan swore she’d never forgive me. It hurt her pride that I broke up with her.”
Nancy nodded. That explained why Susan was so mad at him. “When was all this?” Nancy asked. “The breakup, I mean?”
“Oh, not long after school started.”
“And you and Susan have had nothing to do with each other since?”
“A few dirty looks—from her, not from me. I’m sorry she’s still mad. Maybe that’s why she started going with someone who has it in for me.
“Listen,” he added, “I need to go pick up some books at the library. Coach says if I can bring my marks up by midterm, he’ll go to bat for me with the dean and try to get my probation lifted.”
“What if your marks don’t improve?” Nancy asked. “What happens then?”
Rob shrugged. “Then I’m off the crew, and the coach has to bring someone up from the JV team to take my oar. But I’m not going to let that happen. I’ll see you guys later.”
As Ned walked with him to the door, Nancy thought about all that had just happened. It seemed as if Greg had a motive to set Rob up. But did he have a motive for the jewelry theft? She drew a blank. She simply needed more to go on. She’d already interviewed one of the guards, but—
Then it came to her. What about the renowned William Whorf? He was involved with both the museum and the crew team. Maybe he’d be able to provide her with some valuable information. She’d have to try to talk with him the next day.
When Ned came back, he said, “Rob says he’ll join us for dinner tonight. Jerry reserved a table at La Fleur-de-Lis.”
“Ooh-la-la,” Bess joked. “It sounds très elegant.”
“It is,” Jerry said. “The food’s good, too.”
Nancy’s mind was still on the case. “Look,” she said. “Is there someplace private we can sit down for a few minutes? I need to hear what you learned from talking to people.”
Ned led them to a small side room furnished with a couch and a few armchairs.
“Okay,” Nancy said. “Who wants to go first?”
George sat down on the arm of the couch and cleared her throat. “I had some good luck,” she said. “I managed to strike up a conversation with a fire fighter who came back to take pictures of the boat house. He told me that the only thing burning when they broke in was that big pile of towels.”
“Just what we thought,” Nancy said.
“Uh-huh. And he said it looked as if the towels were wet. That’s why there was so much smoke.”
Ned shook his head. “But why would anyone set fire to wet towels?”
“For that matter,” Jerry put in, “how would anyone set fire to wet towels? I’d think the dampness would put the fire out.”
“I don’t know how,” George said, “but the fire fighter said it looked as if the fire had been set by somebody who wanted to make sure it didn’t get too big. The wet towels were supposed to keep it in check.”
Jerry laughed. “You mean we’re looking for an arsonist who’s shy and retiring?”
“No, I think we’re looking for a jewel thief who turned to arson only as a needed diversion,” Nancy said. “He didn’t say anything about gasoline, did he?”
“Nope, not a word. Why? Oh, of course— Rob’s jacket. You really don’t think—”
“No,” Nancy said quickly. “I don’t think Rob set the fire. Someone used that jacket to try to frame him. But who? The arsonist, who is probably also the jewel thief? Or someone else? If gasoline wasn’t used in the boat house fire, then it means that whoever is framing Rob is someone else who is simply trying to get him in trouble. But if it was used, it tells us that the framer and the arsonist are the same person, or at least that they’re working together.”
“Caution, detective at work,” Jerry teased. Bess nudged him with her elbow, and he added, “Sorry, Nancy. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Nancy smiled. “That’s okay, Jerry. I was just about to get to you. What did you find out?”
“Not very much, I’m afraid. Bess and I talked to a lot of people—”
Bess cut in. “I felt nervous about starting conversations with people I didn’t know, so I asked Jerry if we could team up.”
Nancy raised an eyebrow. Bess, shy? More likely, Bess had just said that so she could spend more time with Jerry.
“Right,” Jerry continued. “We did talk to one girl I know who was on her way to the rowing tank dedication when she saw Rob leaving the boat house.”
“The boat house?” Nancy asked. “Or the new annex where the tank is?” If he had been at the main boat house, it was likely that Rob was responsible for the fire.
“Oh, sorry, I meant the annex,” Jerry said.
Nancy nodded, relieved. “Okay. Did your friend see what he did, or where he went?”
“She says he stood outside the door for maybe a minute, then started jogging up the road, toward this part of campus.”
“And when was this, compared to the fire in the boat house?” Nancy asked.
“About five minutes before. She wasn’t exactly sure, but she knows she went inside just as the coach was starting to speak.”
Nancy thought back to the dedication ceremony. “I’d agree with five minutes,” she said. “And that means—”
“Nancy,” Ned said in a warning tone of voice. He nodded in the direction of the door.
Nancy looked around. Sergeant Balsam was standing just outside the door, looking at their faces as if committing each one to memory.
“Ms. Drew,” he said, “can you tell me where to find Rob Harper?”
“Why, Sergeant?” Nancy asked. “We left the station less than an hour ago. Is there some new evidence?”
Balsam hesitated before saying, “I got a call from the fire marshal. That fire this morning was definitely arson. Tests established the presence of an accelerant.”
“An accelerant?” Nancy said. “You mean—”
“I mean gasoline,” Sergeant Balsam cut in. “The same kind of gasoline that was on that jacket you found. So now I have some more questions to ask Mr. Robert Harper, and this time he had better have some very good answers!”