“That’s why I need you to give me the facts,” Randy said.
“Man, oh, man.” Mel Lorenzo shook his head in disgust as Randy pulled his notebook out. “You’d better back off, pal.”
Randy held up his hand. “Okay, okay. We’ll skip the sabotage for the moment,” he said. “How about giving me some background information for my article? C.J. says you just opened SportsMania a few months ago. Is the Clues Challenge your first affiliation with college sports?”
Nancy bit back a sigh of frustration. She wanted to ask Mr. Lorenzo if he’d seen anyone go through his canvas bag. With Randy around, though, she couldn’t get a word in.
“Forget it,” Ned whispered to her. “We need to figure out our second clue.”
“Let’s head over to the Student Center for lunch,” Grant suggested. “I’m starved.”
“Sounds good to me,” C.J. agreed. “Want to come with us, Randy?”
Randy turned away from Mr. Lorenzo, whose scowl had deepened. “Hmm? Oh—go ahead without me,” Randy said. “I’ll meet up with you later.”
The Student Center was a large, old-fashioned stone building near the lake that had once been the presidents mansion. Nancy and the others entered through a high doorway with carved-oak doors that led into a fancy entrance hall two stories high. They made their way past pool tables and a TV lounge to a huge ballroom that had been converted to a cafeteria. Tables covered the tiled floor, and stairs rose up to metal platforms where there were more tables and chairs. Nancy liked the way the old wood paneling and stained-glass windows mixed with the industrial stairs and furniture.
“Okay,” George said, once they were settled on one of the platforms with burgers, fries, nachos, and sodas piled on their table. “Let’s see the clue.”
Nancy pushed aside her fries, flattened the piece of paper on the table, and read:
Baseball Is for the Birds (Are Your Ears Ringing?)
Needlenose on First
Flying Colors on Second
North Point on Third
Snowflake at Home
High fly towers over to score.
Ground ball doesn’t make it.
“Huh?” Grant shoved a nacho into his mouth, then licked the cheese off his fingers. “I’m clueless.”
Nancy read the clue from beginning to end a second time. “Well, we know it has to do with baseball. And it sounds like the snowflake with the next clue in it is at home base,” she said, thinking out loud.
“Emerson doesn’t have a baseball field,” Ned said.
“What about those other hints? Needlenose, Flying Colors, and North Point on first, second, and third base.” George took a bite of her hamburger, then washed it down with some soda. “Are there places on campus with those names?”
Grant took the map out of his backpack and put it on the table. While they ate, Nancy and the others pored over the map. But half an hour later they still hadn’t solved the clue.
“We’re missing something important,” Nancy said, pushing aside her empty plate. “I mean, why does it say ‘Baseball Is for the Birds’?” And that part about a high fly scoring, but a ground ball not making it … Does anyone get that?”
When no one answered, Nancy got to her feet and pulled a hand through her reddish blond hair. “We need something to jumpstart our minds,” she said. “Anyone want cocoa?”
Heads nodded all around the table.
“I’ll come with you,” George offered.
As they clomped down the metal stairs in their boots, Nancy spotted Dennis on the lower level in his black parka. He sauntered over to an empty table near the food counter. The red-haired twins, Jake and Philip, were with him, along with the two other guys from their team. Judging by their red cheeks and the way they rubbed their hands together, Nancy guessed they had just come in from outdoors.
“Looks like the Sigmas just got the clue from Ollie Sanderford’s barn,” she said, nodding in Dennis’s direction.
She and George reached the main floor as the five guys plunked themselves down. Dennis zipped open a computer case, pulled out a sleek black laptop computer, and opened it. As Nancy and George circled behind their table toward the food counter, Nancy heard the computer whir and beep. She glanced at the wafer-thin screen and did a double take.
“Unbelievable,” Nancy murmured, watching the intricate spirals of blue, green, yellow, and purple twist around the perimeter of Dennis’s screen.
She grabbed George’s arm, bending close to whisper in her ear. “Those are the same graphics I saw on the threat that was sent to Mr. Lorenzo’s computer!”
7
Elusive Clues and Slippery Suspects
“What should we do?” George whispered back.
“I’m going to talk to him,” Nancy said.
She was next to Dennis in three long strides. “Hi, guys,” she said, keeping her voice as casual as she could. “Those are really cool graphics, Dennis. Did you program them yourself?”
Dennis’s eyes jumped from Nancy to George, who was in line at the food counter a few yards away. His mouth curved up in a cocky smile as he asked, “Did your teammates send you here to spy on the competition?”
He hadn’t answered her question, Nancy noticed. “I like your colorful spirals, that’s all. Did you program them yourself?” she asked again.
One of the red-haired twins answered. Nancy wasn’t sure whether it was Jake or Philip. “The guy’s a magician on the computer,” he said, shrugging his parka onto his chair back as he nodded at Dennis.
