That made Dennis the most likely person to have sent the threat to Mr. Lorenzo, but not the sabotage. Nancy knew she couldn’t go back to Mr. Lorenzo without more concrete proof.
“One of George’s bindings broke loose while we were skiing for the second clue,” she said. She watched Dennis closely while she told him about the broken tip of the screw that had popped loose. “The funny thing is, the screwdriver and file were both missing from Mr. Lorenzo’s tools,” she finished.
“I’m sure Randy Cohen documented the whole dramatic event for his article,” Dennis said. The sarcasm in his voice made Nancy bristle.
“You still think C.J. would sabotage the Challenge for publicity?” She waved a hand toward the platform where C.J., Ned, and Grant sat. “He sprained his own ankle!”
Dennis didn’t bother to respond. “Where’s C.J.’s shadow?” he asked as his eyes focused on the Omega table. “Maybe Randy figured out C.J. is all hot air.”
Nancy ignored the jabs at C.J. “I noticed you got back to Sigma Pi pretty late last night,” she said to Dennis. “Over an hour after you left the Eatery.”
“Will you quit trying to prove I’m the bad guy?” Dennis said. “If I’m the one who’s behind all this so-called sabotage, then why was our team the last to find the second clue? I mean, wouldn’t the idea be to make sure our team gets ahead?”
He had a point, Nancy thought. Still, there was something about the way he avoided her questions that bothered her.
Nancy’s eyes fell on Dennis’s computer bag. It lay unzipped on the floor next to his chair.
“Well, sorry to bother you,” she said. “See you guys later.”
As she turned away, Nancy made sure her boot caught on the strap of Dennis’s computer bag. She tripped forward, and a jumble of things spilled from the bag.
“Sorry!” she fibbed, crouching down next to the bag. “I’ll put it back.”
She kept her eyes open for soap, or a file and screwdriver among the notebooks, pens, binoculars, gloves, and papers. Before she could touch a thing, though, Dennis had leaned over and scooped everything back into the bag.
“Now, if you don’t mind, we’ve got a clue to work on,” he said.
Nancy had no choice but to rejoin George at the food counter.
“So?” George asked.
“He’s too slick to answer direct questions about the threat and sabotage,” Nancy said. Her focus stayed on Dennis as she and George got hot chocolate and carried the tray up to their table.
“Too bad I can’t keep this close an eye on Dennis all the time,” she murmured. She placed the tray on their table, then glanced back over the railing at the Sigmas. “From up here we really have a good view of—”
She broke off suddenly and snapped her fingers. “That’s it!”
Ned blew on his steaming cocoa, glancing curiously across the table at her. “What’s it?” he asked.
“I get the clue—part of it, anyway. I think I know why baseball is for the birds,” she said. “It’s because we need to get a bird’s-eye view before we can solve the clue. That’s why a high fly scores!”
George nodded, taking a fresh look at the clue. “And a ground ball doesn’t make it because you don’t get the right perspective on the ground,” she said.
“It makes sense,” C.J. said. He pointed at the bottom of the paper. “Check out these parts about your ears ringing, and a high fly towering over to score.”
“The bell tower!” they all said at once.
Nancy leaped to her feet, grabbing her parka and team hat. “Let’s go!”
“Watch that step,” Grant said as they made their way up the bell tower stairs fifteen minutes later. “It could still be slippery.”
Nancy saw C.J.’s frown as he carefully planted his cane above the step that had been soaped. “I wish I knew who did that….” he mumbled.
“We’re working on it,” Nancy assured him. “The important thing is that the sabotage isn’t working. We still have a good chance of winning.”
“Brrrr!” George shivered as they went into the circular room at the top of the bell tower. Wind whipped through openings in the stone wall, stirring the bells that hung from the stone ceiling.
“Wow. You can see the whole campus from here.” George said as she stared through one of the openings.
“Not to mention the town,” said Grant. After taking a pair of binoculars from his backpack, he looked out the other side of the tower. “Hmm. Isn’t that Randy?”
Nancy borrowed the binoculars and spotted Randy, with his bright yellow parka and white-blond hair, just opening the door to SportsMania.
“It’s him, all right.” Nancy frowned, watching as Randy disappeared inside the store. “It’s funny that he suddenly stopped sticking so close to you, C.J.,” she commented. “I wonder what he’s doing?”
“Um, guys? We’re supposed to be finding the next clue, remember?” George said dryly. “Shouldn’t we look for Needlenose on First, Flying Colors on Second, and North Point on Third?”
Shaking herself, Nancy joined Ned, George, and Grant on the other side of the tower.
“Look!” George pointed to a tall antenna at the top of the science center. “Do you think that could be the needlenose?”
“It looks more like a needle than anything else I see,” Nancy said. “And if that’s first base …”
She looked farther out over the campus, trying to spot something that could be flying colors. “The flag!” she crowed, pointing to the top of the Student Center. “It’s in about the right place for second base.”
Ned and Grant immediately turned to look for third base. “The North Chapel!” Ned cried, pointing to an ornate spire that rose up from a stone building near the dorms.
“So home base would have to be opposite the flag, and closer to us than the chapel spire or the antenna.”
