“Why?” C.J. asked.
“You kept accusing me of things I didn’t do! I was sure you were trying to make me look bad, so I decided to give you a taste of your own medicine. I took the yellow Omega hat for extra insurance. That way if anyone happened to see me by the boathouse …”
“We would get the blame instead of you,” Nancy finished.
Joy nodded. “Look, I’m sorry you almost got disqualified,” she said. “But I’m not the one who’s been sabotaging you guys. And I’m not about to waste time on this stuff now.” Turning to her teammates, she held up the clue she’d brought down from the top of the oak tree. “Let’s go, Deltas!”
Joy and her teammates waded through the snow to their skis, put them on, and skied back the way they had come.
“What are we waiting for?” C.J. asked, jumping for his own skis. “Let’s finish going over the evidence after we win the Clues Challenge!”
The Omega team stayed close on the Deltas’ trail as they skied back toward Clues Challenge headquarters. Nancy let the thrill of the race take over her thoughts about the sabotage. She didn’t think about the case again until they reached the Sports Complex.
Everyone headed for the glassed-in atrium—except Randy. He held back, hoisting his skis and poles onto his shoulder. “I’ll catch up with you later, C.J.,” he said. “I’ve got some business to take care of.”
There was a determined note in his voice that caught Nancy’s attention. Randy looked long and hard at the atrium, where Mr. Lorenzo sat.
“Did you see the way he looked at Mr. Lorenzo?” Nancy whispered to George and Ned as Randy started toward his Jeep. “You guys brainstorm the clue without me,” she said. “I want to find out what Randy is up to.”
Ned nodded, taking her skis and poles. “We’ll be at the Student Center,” he told her.
George stuck her skis into the snow next to Ned and hustled to catch up with Nancy. “Well, you didn’t think I’d let you go by yourself, did you?”
The two girls ran inside the atrium to pull off their ski boots and grab their own shoes. By the time they got into Nancy’s Mustang, Randy was just turning his Jeep onto the main road of the campus. Nancy followed at a distance.
“He’s leaving campus,” George said.
Up ahead, Randy’s Jeep turned right onto Main Street. He drove past the Eatery, then turned left just past SportsMania and parked on a side street. Nancy pulled over to the curb a few cars back, and she and George watched through the windshield.
Randy got out of his Jeep and jogged across the street. He looked both ways, then ducked into an alleyway.
“Talk about suspicious,” George murmured.
Nancy reached for the door handle and pulled it. “Let’s follow him,” she said.
She and George crossed over to the alleyway and paused at the end of it. Nancy peeked her head around for a look, then blinked to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light.
The alley stretched back about fifty feet, she saw. One side of it ran behind the businesses on Main Street. Windows dotted the grungy brick walls, along with a network of fire escapes higher up.
Randy was about halfway down the alleyway. As Nancy watched, he reached up toward one of the windows and pushed it up.
“He’s sneaking in!” she whispered to George.
“Where?” she asked.
“SportsMania, I bet.” Nancy frowned as Randy hoisted himself up and over the windowsill. As soon as he was out of sight, she darted into the alleyway. “Come on!” she whispered.
They tiptoed down the alleyway, then crouched beneath the window Nancy had seen him climb through. They heard drawers opening, and the rustle of papers.
“Come on,” Randy’s muttered voice came through the window.
Slowly and silently Nancy lifted her head until she could see through the window. They were at the back of SportsMania, all right. Nancy recognized Mel Lorenzo’s cluttered office immediately. Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Randy, bent over an open drawer of Mr. Lorenzo’s desk.
“Ahem!” Nancy cleared her throat.
Randy’s head jerked upward, and his surprised eyes locked on her.
Nancy was through the window in a flash. “Gotcha,” she said.
14
Caught!
“What are you doing?” George demanded of Randy, scrambling through the window behind Nancy. “Leaving Mr. Lorenzo another blackmail note?”
“Shhh!” Randy held a finger to his lips, jerking his head toward the office door. “If Jimmy hears, we’ll all be in hot water.”
The three of them froze. Nancy didn’t relax until she heard Jimmy talking to a customer in the store. He didn’t appear to have heard them.
“Don’t try to change the subject,” she whispered, crossing her arms over her chest. “We were talking about blackmail, remember?”
Randy stared at her blankly. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said.
“Shouldn’t we call the police, Nancy?” George bit her lip and leaned against a stack of cardboard cartons.
“Wait!” Randy glanced quickly back and forth between Nancy and George. “Just hear me out. If you still want to call the police when I’m done, I won’t stop you.”
Nancy glanced at George, who shrugged. “Okay,” Nancy said.
