C’MON, YOU GUYS! We’ve got to find a phone!” Leaping up, Nancy began to push her way to the aisle. Bess and George exchanged puzzled looks but quickly rose to follow her.
The lobby outside the gym was empty. Everyone, including the security guards, was inside watching the game. Nancy spotted a pay phone on the opposite wall and ran for it, digging all her change from her pocket as she did.
Please let him be home! she prayed silently as she punched out a long-distance number. On the other end, the phone began to ring. Please let him be there! If he is, I promise that I’ll never run my credit card over its limit again!
Carson Drew’s voice was calm and steady when he finally answered. “Hello?”
“Dad, thank goodness you’re home! I really need to talk to you!”
“Nancy! What is it?” her father asked. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Dad, but this case has been driving me crazy. You wouldn’t believe how weird it’s been.”
“Knowing you and your nose for trouble, I think I would.” He laughed.
Nancy laughed then, too. It was such a relief to talk to him!
“Listen, I think I’ve worked out most of the puzzle, but there are still a few blank spots,” she said. “I need your help to fill them in. Have you got the time?”
“Of course! Fire away,” he offered.
Rapidly Nancy sketched the basics of her theory. Her father grasped the situation immediately, and in no time was giving her exactly the information that she needed.
Nancy smiled. Most people knew that Carson Drew was a highly respected criminal lawyer, but few realized that in addition to defending the innocent he also defended the guilty. He knew a lot about crime. Now that knowledge proved highly useful. Her grin broadened as he finished.
“Thanks, Dad. That does it . . . oh, except for one thing. Does the term push mean anything special to you?”
It did. Nancy listened for a few seconds longer, then said a hasty goodbye. Hanging up, she turned to Bess and George.
“Okay, let’s roll!”
“Wait a minute! What’s going on, Nancy?” George demanded.
“Yeah,” Bess echoed. “Aren’t you going to fill us in?”
“There isn’t time. The culprit is probably getting ready to escape right this minute. We’ve got to stop him!”
Nancy paused to check one final fact, however. Opening the directory that hung on a chain below the pay phone, she looked up a number: the number on the scrap of paper she’d picked up in the bookstore phone booth. Then, satisfied, she started down the main corridor, away from the gym. She motioned for her friends to follow her, then zipped down a stairway.
As they walked, the sounds of the game faded behind them. The final buzzer must be near, Nancy knew, but they would have to wait to find out who won. There wasn’t a second to lose!
The final corridor to which they came was just as Nancy remembered it. Like the first time she had gone down it, it was silent. The noise from the gym was no more than a memory here. Stopping at a familiar door, she whispered to her friends.
“You guys are my backup. If things get out of hand in there”—she pointed to the door—“I’ll scream my head off.”
“But, Nancy, who’s inside?” Bess hissed.
“You’ll see. Remember, listen for my scream . . . if you hear it, run for the police!”
This was it. If everything went as she hoped, the case would be wrapped up in a matter of minutes! Nancy took a deep breath. Stepping up to the door, she opened it without knocking, slipped around it, and closed it behind her.
Dr. Riggs was standing behind his desk, stuffing files and notebooks into a gym bag. As she came in, his head snapped up.
“What the—”
“Hello, Doctor,” she said with a smile.
“Nancy Drew! What do you want?”
“I want to congratulate you on the success of your gambling ring,” she said. “Tell me, Doctor . . . how does it feel to retire rich?”