Pulling Ned aside, Nancy whispered, “He’s doing it again. Why does he keep going out of his way to try to convince us nothing funny is going on?”
“Maybe he just doesn’t want any negative publicity,” Ned suggested. “Bad press about the Clues Challenge could translate to bad business for his store.”
“Maybe. But … I keep thinking about that computer threat,” Nancy said. “What if whoever sent the threat actually convinced Mr. Lorenzo to hand over the answers?”
Ned shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense,” he told her. “If someone has the answers to the clues, they wouldn’t need to sabotage us.”
“True,” Nancy agreed.
She and Ned returned to the rest of the group in time to hear Mr. Lorenzo say, “Just try to enjoy the rest of the challenge. You’ll be at the Tropical Paradise dance party tonight?”
“Sure,” C.J. answered. “Randy’s going to cover all the Clues Challenge events, so he’ll be there, too.”
“If he ever gets back from his trip to SportsMania, that is,” Grant put in.
Mr. Lorenzo’s head jerked up. “Randy went to the store?” he asked. When C.J. nodded, Mr. Lorenzo blew out an angry breath. “Man, oh, man. Why can’t that lowlife stay away from me?”
“Whoa,” George said under her breath as they all headed toward the glass doors. “I wonder why he hates Randy so much?”
“Add that to our list of unanswered questions,” Nancy said. Shooting her friends a wry smile, she added, “The Clues Challenge is over for the day, but something tells me the mystery is just getting started.”
9
After-Hours Sleuthing
The first stars were already twinkling in the evening sky above the lake when Nancy left the Sports Complex. All across the snow-covered campus, lights blinked on. Nancy stopped outside the glassed-in atrium just to look at the post card-perfect scene.
“Isn’t that Randy?” she asked as a red Jeep pulled into the parking lot. Even in the darkening sky, his white-blond hair shone.
“Yup.” C.J. waited until the Jeep stopped in front of them and Randy got out, then he walked over and said, “Hi. Where’ve you been?”
“Something came up,” Randy said. He scooped up some papers from the passenger seat, folded them, and shoved them under the cover of his notebook.
He seemed distracted, Nancy noticed. His eyes kept flitting toward the glassed-in atrium, where Mel Lorenzo sat.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Um, fine,” he said. “Just fine. Let’s just—”
“Hey, C.J.!” a voice interrupted.
Looking over her shoulder, Nancy saw Dennis walking toward them. He stopped in front of C.J., his face red from the cold and his eyes filled with challenge.
“How about a race, C.J.?” Dennis said, shifting from boot to boot. “You and me. Right here. Right now.”
“He can’t race,” George spoke up. “He’s hurt.”
“Oh, right. The big injury.” Dennis’s voice was heavy with sarcasm.
Nancy didn’t miss the way his eyes flickered toward Randy. A satisfied smile slipped across Dennis’s face as Randy reached for his camera and started snapping photos.
Is he doing this just to get attention, or to distract us from what’s really going on? Nancy wondered.
“Hey, Garcia!” a voice called out.
Four silhouettes moved toward them across the snowy parking lot. As they came closer, Nancy recognized the rest of the Sigma Pi team.
“What happened to you?” Malik asked, stopping next to Dennis. “We waited two hours at the Student Center for you to come back. What’s up?”
“I—” Dennis began.
“Save the excuses,” Philip told him. “Let’s check in with Mr. Lorenzo so we can brainstorm the clue before tonight’s party.
Dennis started to walk away, then stopped to jab a finger in C.J.’s direction. “Just remember, hotshot, I can show you up anytime, anywhere,” he bragged.
C.J. just rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said.
“Hmm,” Nancy said as the guys from Sigma Pi went through the atrium door. “If Dennis wasn’t with his teammates this afternoon …”
“Where was he?” Ned finished.
“The party doesn’t start for another two hours,” Nancy said. “There’s something I want us to do first.”
Ned turned to Randy, C.J., and Grant and said, “You guys go ahead. We’ll meet you at the party.”
George grinned at Nancy and said, “I know that look. What kind of plan are you cooking up, Nan?”
“It bothers me that Mr. Lorenzo keeps saying no one threatened him,” Nancy said. “As long as he’s still busy here …”
