“Yeah,” he told her. “He’s my half brother, actually. Ty worshiped Pops.”
“You mean, Andrew Papazian?” Nancy said.
“That’s right. Pops promised to be Ty’s manager when he went pro,” Dennis explained. “He got Ty an autographed picture of the Rocket and said he could make Ty an even bigger star.” He frowned, testing an icy spot on the fire escape before stepping past it. “Ty didn’t feel right about the point-fixing, but Pops talked him into it, said he’d make sure no one ever found out.”
Nancy tried to ignore the groaning metal as she followed Dennis up the stairs. “He must have felt really betrayed when Papazian skipped town.”
“Leaving Ty and the other players to take the rap,” Dennis said, blowing out an angry breath. “I couldn’t believe it when I walked into SportsMania and saw him. Lorenzo looked different, but I’d seen Pops enough not to be fooled by the glasses and extra muscle. I told him right away I was going to tell the cops.”
His angry fist came down on the railing, making it shudder and groan.
Nancy forced herself to focus on the conversation. “What happened?” she asked. “He talked you out of it?”
“He offered to pay me to keep quiet.” Dennis angled a defiant look down at her. “Do you blame me for saying yes? A thousand dollars, every two weeks. That’s serious cash!”
“Enough to make up for what Papazian did to Ty?” Nancy asked quietly. When he didn’t answer, she decided to let it drop.
“Mr. Lorenzo made his first fifteen-hundred-dollar payoff to you after the pre-challenge dinner, right?” she said.
Dennis confirmed her guess with a nod.
She thought back, trying to pull all the pieces of the puzzle together. “Is that when he handed over the answers to the Clues Challenge?” she asked. “You were the one who sent the computer threat about the clues, right?”
“Bravo,” Dennis said in a sarcastic voice that rubbed Nancy the wrong way. “Ten points for the amateur detective.”
Glancing up, Nancy saw George and Ned watching their progress closely from the roof. Just a little farther, and she and Dennis would be there.
“There’s still something I don’t get,” Nancy said, turning back to Dennis. “If Mr. Lorenzo gave you the answers to the clues, why did you sabotage our team?”
“Call it extra insurance,” he said, giving a shrug that seemed to say it was no big deal.
Nancy couldn’t believe how callous he seemed. “C.J. sprained his ankle because of you!” she said.
“Pops is the one who rubbed the stair with soap,” Dennis corrected. “At my instructions, of course. Anyway, C.J. deserved it, after the way he stole Dede from me.”
“No one deserves to be hurt like that,” Nancy shot back. “What about the rest of us? George’s skis? The tree branch that broke while I was climbing the oak?”
“Mel did a pretty good job setting up both of those accidents,” Dennis said. “I knew you suspected me, so I had him do it.”
As he talked, a light blinked on inside Nancy’s head. “And you set up Joy to take the blame!” she realized. “You must have planted her glove and that file on the roof of the administration building.” Thinking about it made her cheeks burn. “I knew someone else was in the building. It was you!”
“Right again,” Dennis said. “I had a feeling you’d come running after I knocked the icicle off the roof. When I saw Joy using the phone, I knew I had the perfect way to throw suspicion off myself. She didn’t even hear me take her glove. And I knew you already suspected her.”
“You had it all figured out, huh?” Nancy said, shaking her head in disgust.
Dennis grinned. “I made sure the Sigmas got a slow start, so we wouldn’t be suspected,” he bragged. “I was all set to make a stunning, come-from-behind victory.” He frowned, pressing his mouth into a tight line. “Until you showed up.”
Nancy was glad to see that they were finally at the top of the fire escape. Just above, Ned and George were dark silhouettes against the bright sun.
“You guys made it,” Ned said. “We were afraid the whole thing might fall.”
Nancy shuddered at the thought. “Give us a hand up, all right?” she said. “Dennis, you go fir …”
Her voice trailed off as a third silhouette appeared on the roof, right behind Ned and George. Nancy couldn’t see the face clearly, but she didn’t need to. There was no mistaking that bulky frame.
“Mr. Lorenzo!” she said.
Ned and George whirled around—then froze when they saw the huge metal wrench in Mr. Lorenzo’s hand.
“Nobody moves!” Mr. Lorenzo said, waving the wrench in a threatening arc.
“Boy, am I glad to see you!” Dennis said. He reached up his hands. “Help me up, Pops. We’ve got to get out of here before the police come.”
Mr. Lorenzo shook his head. “You’ve become too expensive, Dennis,” he said in a frigid voice that made Nancy shiver. “You’ll have to go with everyone else.”
“G-go?” George echoed. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not about to let a couple of kids send me to jail—or make me go broke,” he scoffed. “That’s why you’re all about to suffer a tragic fall from this dangerous old fire escape.”
16
A Desperate Plan
“You can’t!” Nancy gulped, glancing down at the snow-covered ground five stories below.
“Oh, yeah? Watch me,” Mr. Lorenzo said. He turned to Ned and George. “Get down there with your friends,” he ordered.
George glanced helplessly at Nancy, then began to climb over the side. Mr. Lorenzo kept a close watch on her.
