“We won’t be able to talk to Gayle until she’s finished shooting,” Nancy murmured. “Let’s go down to see Carlo. He probably gave everyone the day off, since Cindy’s still not back. If Sherman Pike’s not there, we can discuss the case with him.”
As they walked down two flights, Nancy recalled chasing the eavesdropper down into the freight tunnels the day before. Did many people know about the tunnel access in the basement of the building? she wondered again.
Coming out on the fourth floor, Nancy and Bess headed for the door to Studio 4A. Suddenly it opened and Miklos stepped out.
The girls halted in surprise. Miklos glowered at them and brushed past.
“Mr. Personality,” Bess murmured when the door to the stairway closed behind him. “What’s he doing here? I thought Carlo fired him.”
“Maybe Carlo took him back,” Nancy suggested. She rapped on the studio door, which was still ajar, and then pushed it open. They passed into the soundstage.
To their surprise, the room was full of people and activity. The crew was milling busily around the set. Nancy noticed Stella, Erik, and Sherman Pike across the room. They seemed too involved in their discussion to notice the girls. Maybe it was better that way, she thought.
“Oh, hi, guys,” Charmaine said, joining them. “Wow, what a coincidence! Carlo was just saying that he had to call you. He felt really bad about chasing you away yesterday. He’s managed to convince Mr. Pike that you could be helpful after all.”
“That’s nice,” Nancy replied. “Say, wasn’t that Miklos we just saw leaving?”
Charmaine nodded. “Yeah, he came by to pick up some stuff he’d left here.” She seemed about to say more, but at that moment Carlo hurried over.
“You are back,” he said happily. “Is there news of Cindy?”
“I’m afraid not,” Nancy told him.
Carlo’s face fell. Shaking his head, he turned to his assistant. “Charmaine, make sure that everyone is ready,” he said. Charmaine nodded, threw Nancy and Bess a parting smile, and walked away.
“We are shooting parts of the commercial in which Cindy does not appear,” the director explained. “This way, we do not lose so much time.” He glanced around and lowered his voice. “I called Ann Bowers just now. She says Cindy has been kidnapped. Is it true?”
“It looks that way,” Nancy said, careful not to reveal her own doubts.
“I wish I knew what to do,” Carlo said. “This commercial is on a very strict schedule. Unless Cindy is found quickly, I am afraid that the ad agency will decide to replace her.”
“Do you have other good candidates for the job?” asked Bess.
“Oh, yes, two or three, though no one who is as right for the part as Cindy is,” Carlo replied. “Her friend Gayle, for example, is not bad.”
Charmaine hurried over. “Everyone’s ready, Carlo,” she announced.
“Ah. Thank you.” To Bess and Nancy, he said, “Excuse me. You may watch if it interests you.”
He walked over to the set. There was a blaze of light as the big floodlights were turned on.
Nancy sniffed the air and frowned. “Do you smell something funny?” she asked Bess.
Before her friend could answer, Nancy saw a billow of gray smoke pour out from behind the set. The shrill clamor of a smoke alarm pierced the air.
“Fire!” someone shouted. “Fire!”
10
Fire!
Acrid fumes spread rapidly through the studio. Coughing and gasping, people started to rush toward the door.
Nancy held up her arms and shouted, “Calm down, everybody! Walk! Don’t run!”
A man in a black leather vest stared at her blankly as he pushed past. Nancy remembered him—Stefan, the food stylist. He looked as if he was on the edge of panic.
“Come on, Nancy,” Bess urged, yanking at her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
Grabbing their coats and purses, Nancy and Bess headed for the exit, looking around as they went. Carlo and one of the technical crew ran past in the opposite direction, toward the source of the smoke. Carlo was carrying a small, bright red fire extinguisher.
Outside, in the hallway, Charmaine was helping direct people toward the stairs. “Take it easy, folks,” she kept repeating loudly. “There’s no danger. Just take it easy.”
A stream of people from the higher floors filled the stairs. Nancy and Bess waited for a gap, then joined them. They were nearly at the lobby level when the crowd started squeezing against the wall. Three firefighters in rubber coats and breathing masks came rushing up the stairs. Behind them were two police officers, who began guiding people out onto the sidewalk.
Bess and Nancy followed the crowd to stand behind some temporary police barricades. A couple of minutes later, Nancy saw Carlo come out of the building, looking tired and upset. He saw the girls and came over to join them.
“Absolutely nothing goes right with this job,” he moaned.
“Is there much damage upstairs?” Bess asked anxiously.
“Pah! It is nothing,” Carlo replied. “Some fool left a plastic shopping bag on top of one of the lighting transformers. When we turned on the lights, the transformer heated up and the bag melted. That’s what made that terrible smoke.
“At least the idiot has good taste,” he added with a rueful smile. “The bag was from Sargent’s, in Lake Forest. A very chic store.”
“I’m surprised that there isn’t a sprinkler system in the studio,” Nancy said.
“There is,” Carlo told her. “But it is set off by high temperatures, not by smoke. When plastic burns, it gives off a thick black smoke, which simply clogs the sprinkler heads. Actually, that is one bit of luck for me. If the sprinklers had gone off, they would have destroyed the set and all our equipment.”
