“So someone is blackmailing Mr. Lorenzo!” George wrapped her scarf around the collar of her parka as they made they way back toward campus. “But … is it the same person who’s been sabotaging us?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Nancy said. “The payments go back to the beginning of October.”
“I doubt those payments have anything to do with the Clues Challenge,” Ned said, hunching against the wind. “Mr. Lorenzo didn’t agree to sponsor the Clues Challenge until about three weeks ago. It was already November.”
“On the other hand the last payoff was made just yesterday.” Nancy shot a meaningful glance at her friends. “The same day Mr. Lorenzo received that computer threat.”
“There could be a connection,” George finished. “Dennis and Joy were both out on their own after the pre-challenge dinner. But”—she gave a shake of her head, as if she were trying to clear it—“why would either of them blackmail Mr. Lorenzo?”
The question hung in the air as they started through the woods toward campus. Wind whistled eerily through the tree branches.
“I’m starting to wonder about someone else, too,” she said. “Have you guys noticed how Mr. Lorenzo reacts to Randy?” Nancy asked.
George chuckled. “You mean, like Randy is a plague that could destroy the human race?”
Ned shrugged. “That doesn’t mean Randy is blackmailing him. Randy didn’t even show up at Emerson until yesterday, and the blackmail started a lot longer ago than that.”
Nancy sighed, trying to figure it out. “All I know is that Mr. Lorenzo overreacts whenever Randy is around—and I’d like to find out why,” she said.
“Wow. This place looks great!” Nancy said, an hour and a half later.
She, George, and Ned paused in the doorway of the Attic, a large, open room at the top of the Student Center. A dozen dormer windows formed alcoves that were furnished with sofas, chairs, and coffee tables. At the far end of the room a band played on a low platform, and the dance floor was already packed.
“Check out the tropical decor.” George bobbed her head to the music as she took in the beach scene that someone had painted on the walls in glowing, iridescent colors.
“Luckily, we’re dressed to match!” said Nancy. She took off her parka, yellow team hat, and heavy sweater to reveal a flowered sarong skirt and tank top. George had on shorts and a tennis shirt, while Ned wore a red-and-white Hawaiian shirt with jeans.
An alcove right next to the door was fitted with hooks and shelves.
“Looks like C.J. and Grant are already here,” Ned said, pointing to the bright yellow Omega team hats that lay on one of the shelves. He grinned at Nancy and George. “Let’s dance!”
Nancy barely had time to hang up her stuff before Ned dragged her and George to the dance floor.
“After a day outside in the freezing cold, it feels good to work up a sweat,” she said over the music.
C.J. and Dede were already dancing. And Grant left a soda on the counter to come over to dance with George. Nancy caught sight of most of the other Clues Challenge contestants, but it was so much fun to be close to Ned that Nancy didn’t pay much attention to anyone but him.
“I need a break!” she said after six long songs.
While Ned headed to the counter for sodas, Nancy searched for a place to sit.
“That must be Randy,” she murmured as the flash from a camera made her blink.
He was taking pictures of C.J. and Dede from an alcove near the dance floor. Seeing that the two other chairs in the alcove were empty, Nancy quickly wound through the crowd to him.
“Still working on your article?” she asked.
“That’s what I’m here for.” Randy snapped off another shot, then gestured to the empty chairs. “Have a seat.”
“Thanks.” As she sat down, Nancy glanced curiously at him. “Do you work in this area a lot?” she asked. If he did, then it was possible that he knew Mr. Lorenzo from before.
“I usually cover the West Coast,” Randy told her. “This is my first time here. I’m out of film,” he said. “I’ve got another roll in my jacket. Be back in a sec.”
After he disappeared, Nancy noticed his notebook. It lay on the coffee table in front of them. Inside the front cover were the folded-up sheets from his Jeep that Nancy had seen him put there earlier. Right after he’d spent the afternoon away from Randy, she remembered.
Nancy glanced quickly over the crowd. Then taking a deep breath, she slipped the papers out and unfolded them.
“A fax,” she murmured. The cover sheet showed that it had been sent to Randy at the Emerson Inn that afternoon.
Nancy flipped to the page beneath. It was a copy of a Sports World article, dated three years earlier. The title was, “Point-Fixing Scandal Ruins Western Tech.” And the name on the byline was …
“Randy Cohen,” Nancy murmured.
Why would Randy want an article he wrote three years earlier?
Quickly Nancy read on: “Three of Western Tech’s top basketball players were expelled last week after admitting their involvement in a point-fixing scam.”
Nancy knew it was illegal for players to score low on purpose to lose games. She also knew that there was lots of gambling on college basketball games and that point fixing was a way to guarantee winning big money.
What did that have to do with what was going on at the Clues Challenge?
Nancy turned her attention back to the article: “Ty Brubaker, Kent Atwood, and Jamal Warner all gave statements to the district attorney, stating that they had kept scores low in order to lose games. Their coach expressed shock and disappointment in his three top players, all of whom had hoped to …”
“What are you doing?” a voice spoke up right next to Nancy, making her jump about a foot in the air.
“Ned!” She breathed a sigh of relief as her boyfriend sat down, setting two glasses of soda on the table. “Thank goodness it’s you. I was just …”
Her voice trailed off as the band stopped playing in midsong. Mel Lorenzo stepped up to the microphone, wearing a parka, hat, and scarf.
