12
The Trail Gets Hot
“What did you find?” Nancy asked eagerly.
“This,” said Ellingsen, holding up a cream-colored high-heeled pump.
“A shoe?” Bess asked. “How’s that going to lead us to Sally and Will? Is it going to walk us to where they’re hidden?”
“It’s Sally’s shoe,” Ellingsen said. “I just found it outside.”
“Are you sure it’s Sally’s shoe?” Nancy asked.
“Positive,” Ellingsen replied. “I was with her the day she bought this pair.”
“It looks pretty ordinary to me,” Nancy said.
“But it’s not,” Ellingsen said. “First of all, it’s a size eight triple A. Very few people have feet as narrow as Sally’s. And second, it’s got these black rubber taps on the heels. Sally puts them on all her shoes.”
“That explains those black skid marks on the floor in Sally’s entrance hall,” Nancy said. “Where did you find the shoe?”
“I was walking past the stage entrance to the Atheneum Theater next door. And I saw these black skid marks on the sidewalk there too. Sally’s shoe was lying right next to the skid marks.”
“Then there’s a good chance Sally and Will are being held inside the theater,” Nancy said.
“And we saw Peter Thornton running in that direction just before you got that threatening note,” George said.
“Thornton?” Ellingsen asked. “I can’t say I’m surprised. He never was much of a manager. Maybe he figured he’d be better as a kidnapper.”
“We still don’t know Thornton is the kidnapper,” Nancy said. “Let’s go over to the theater and look around inside.”
Denise Ellingsen led the girls out the side door of the hotel lobby. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the cars in the parking lot. The four squinted against the glare as they picked their way around the cars toward the back entrance of the theater.
“Here they are,” said Ellingsen, pointing at the pair of skid marks on the sidewalk.
“They do look like the ones in Belmont’s room,” Nancy said. “May I see that shoe for a minute?”
Ellingsen handed Nancy the cream-colored pump. Nancy stooped down and dug the heel into the pavement. Then she dragged it across the sidewalk a few inches. The heel left a black skid mark identical to the ones by the door.
Nancy stood up. “Sally and Will may be inside,” she said excitedly. “Let’s take a look.”
Nancy tugged on the handle to the stage door. The heavy metal door didn’t budge an inch. Nancy pulled again with all her weight, but the door stayed stubbornly shut.
“It’s locked,” she said. “Let’s try the front.”
The four hurried around the building. Nancy tried the front doors, but they were locked too. They continued around the building but found no other entrances. Finally they were back where they started.
“Well,” said Nancy, pulling a Swiss army knife out of her purse, “it looks like we may need a little help.”
“You don’t really expect to pick the lock with that,” Ellingsen said.
“Just watch her,” George said. “She’s real handy with that thing.”
Nancy unfolded the nail file attachment and inserted it into the lock. Very gently, she jiggled it inside until she felt a spring pop. The bolt clicked.
“After you,” Nancy said to the others, opening the metal door.
“Amazing,” Denise Ellingsen said, shaking her head as they went inside.
Backstage, the theater was pitch black. The four paused inside, blinking, as their eyes got used to the dark. After a few moments they could make out the dim glow of several Emergency Exit signs.
“I can’t see a thing,” Bess complained. “How are we going to find them when I can’t even find the nose on my face?”
Nancy felt around in her purse for her pocket flashlight and switched it on. “This will help a little,” she said.
Nancy scanned right and left with the beam. To their right was a cement wall with a metal ladder attached to it. The ladder went all the way up to the flies above the stage. Craning her neck, Nancy shone the flashlight up at the flies, which were metal catwalks crisscrossing above the stage. Nancy knew the flies were used when stage crews hung scenery and created special effects like snow and rain.
To their left hung a narrow velvet curtain. A few feet in front of it was another curtain, with a third a few feet in front of that. Nancy recognized these as the wings of the stage. Nancy walked toward the curtains shining her beam ahead of her. Sure enough, she was on the stage. It was empty, as far as she could tell. Identical velvet curtains hung on the other side.
Nancy walked out onto the stage and turned to face the blackness where she knew the audience should be.
“Hello!” she called, her voice echoing in the empty theater. She tried to scan the seats all the way to the back row with her flashlight, but the beam was too weak.
Nancy returned to her friends, and they scanned more of the backstage area. On one wall was a door marked Emergency Exit.
“Let’s see where that exit leads,” Nancy said, feeling her way forward. The others followed through the door, onto the landing of a staircase. Nancy shone the beam down the steps ahead of them as she took the stairs one at a time.
“I smell food,” Bess said as they rounded another landing and headed down another flight.
