SportsMania was housed in a spacious two-story building halfway down the main street. It was about a hundred years old, but the windows on both floors displayed skis, running gear, and basketball, football, and hockey equipment that were state of the art.
“Wow.” George stepped through the entrance behind Nancy, Ned, C.J., and Grant. Her eyes flew from rack to rack, taking in the displays that radiated out from a circular counter at the center of the store. An industrial-looking metal staircase rose to an open loft area where mannequins modeled sports clothes. “I think I want everything!”
“Man, oh, man. I like the sound of that!” a deep voice spoke up from beyond a half-open door at the back of the store. Then a man emerged, closing the door behind him.
The man was about forty-five years old, with tinted glasses and brown hair pulled back in a pony-tail. As he came toward them, Nancy saw that he was half a head taller than she was. Beneath the long-sleeved polo shirt he wore, she detected the solid, muscular build of someone who worked out.
He strode over to them with a grin and reached out to shake C.J.’s hand. “Hows it going, C.J.? We just got some new telemark skis in. Care to take a look?”
The guy was a natural salesman, thought Nancy. Outgoing and very slick.
“I’m not buying anything today, Mr. Lorenzo,” C.J. said apologetically. “We’re here to register for the Clues Challenge.”
“Right, right.” Mr. Lorenzo led the way to the circular counter and slipped behind it through a narrow opening on one side. The blue-and-white Clues Challenge banner lay in a heap on the counter, next to a computer.
“Okay,” Mr. Lorenzo said. He pushed aside the banner and tapped on the keyboard. “I just need to enter each person’s name….”
While he typed in the information, Nancy leaned across the counter and said, “George and I didn’t bring cross-country skis. Ned said the equipment would be provided?”
“Absolutely,” Mr. Lorenzo answered with an easy nod. “SportsMania furnishes all the equipment—on loan, of course. Everything you need will be in the lobby of the Emerson Sports Complex.”
George glanced over her shoulder at the cross-country skis. “That’s really generous, Mr. Lorenzo,” she said.
“It’s good advertising for the store,” Mr. Lorenzo said. “Besides, I’m always glad to support a good athletic cause. And I came up with some great clues, if I do say so myself.” He looked up from his computer long enough to arch a warning eyebrow. “You kids are in for the challenge of a lifetime.”
“Bring it on,” Ned said, grinning. “We’re ready.”
Mr. Lorenzo let out a deep laugh. “That’s the spirit,” he said, still typing. “As soon as I’m done here, I’ll fit you for equipment and—”
He broke off and blinked in surprise at his computer screen. “Man, oh, man,” he murmured.
“What is it?” Nancy asked. She leaned forward to get a look at the computer screen.
The entire middle of the screen was blocked out by a large black rectangle. Spirals of blue, green, yellow, and purple twisted around the perimeter. But what really got Nancy’s attention were the words spelled out at the center of the rectangle:
YOU KNOW WHERE AND WHEN. DON’T FORGET THE CLUES … IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU.
2
Cyber-threat
“That message sounds like a threat!” Nancy said.
Ned and the others crowded around; they all looked shocked, but Mr. Lorenzo waved them back.
“No need to get all worked up,” he said calmly. “People send all kinds of crazy messages over the Internet. See? This one is gone already”
Nancy looked again. Sure enough, all she saw was the list Mr. Lorenzo had typed.
“Maybe it was some kind of advertisement,” Grant commented, glancing over Nancy’s shoulder. “I get tons of that stuff on my e-mail. I just delete it.”
“This wasn’t like that,” Nancy insisted. “Didn’t you guys see it?”
George, Ned, Grant, and C.J. all shook their heads.
“Let me see if I can remember it.” Nancy closed her eyes, then nodded. “‘You know where and when,’” she said, repeating the words exactly. “‘Don’t forget the clues … if you know what’s good for you.’”
She popped her eyes open again and gazed expectantly at Mr. Lorenzo. “Whoever sent that must be talking about the Clues Challenge clues,” she said. “Has someone been trying to intimidate you into handing over the answers?”
She thought she saw a glimmer of discomfort in the store owner’s eyes, but then Mr. Lorenzo shrugged, and it was gone.
“You can’t take it seriously,” he said.
Maybe he was right, thought Nancy. But there was something else about the message that bothered her.
“Most junk mail is sent through e-mail,” she said. “But this message wasn’t. It appeared on your screen out of nowhere.”
“How does someone do that?” C.J. asked.
“Don’t ask me,” George answered. “I’m no computer wiz.”
“Whoever sent that message is,” Nancy said. “Maybe we can …”
Just then the door to SportsMania was pushed open, and a man wearing a yellow parka hustled in. His eyes zeroed in on C.J., and Nancy got only a quick glimpse of his tanned face and white-blond hair before he lifted a camera and began snapping off photos.
“Excellent, excellent,” he murmured, circling C.J. to get shots from different angles. “Just act natural. These are going to look great.”
Nancy blinked into the blasts of light that flashed from the camera.
