“Sounds like our ‘cabdriver,’ ” George said.
“Sounds like Peter Thornton,” Ellingsen said.
“Could be,” Nancy said. “Whoever he is, he seems to be working alone. So we can eliminate two more suspects. Matt Ziegler’s too small to fit the physical description.”
“And who’s the other suspect?” Denise Ellingsen asked.
“You,” Nancy said.
“Me?” Sally Belmont’s manager raised shocked eyebrows. “How could you even think I might be the one? Sally and I are friends, not just business associates.”
“When you’re a detective, everyone’s guilty until proven innocent,” Nancy said. “And it wasn’t until Sally asked you for help that I was sure you weren’t involved.”
“Well!” Ellingsen said huffily. “I’m glad my good name has been restored. But it’s so typical that I have to suffer for Peter Thornton’s mistakes.”
“If Peter Thornton is the kidnapper,” Nancy reminded her.
“Who else could it be?” Ellingsen asked. “We should call the police right now and have them put out an all-points bulletin. Maybe Thornton hasn’t already left town.”
“We can’t do that,” Nancy said. “We don’t have any real evidence against him.”
Denise Ellingsen sighed. “Well, if there’s nothing else we can do, I’d better go back to my room to prepare my speech for tomorrow morning.”
“What speech?” Nancy asked.
“There’s going to be a special presentation on mystery television shows for the convention. Originally, Will and Sally were going to talk about ‘Nightside,’ but now I’ll have to stand in. I have to give a history of the program and talk about the clip we’re going to show.”
“Sounds interesting,” Nancy said.
“Why don’t you girls come as my guests?” Ellingsen said. “I’ll make sure you get front-row seats.”
• • •
The next morning at nine Nancy, Bess, and George entered the Crystal Pavilion. Rows and rows of velvet chairs filled the floor. At the far end of the room was a stage with a movie screen hanging at the back.
In front of the screen was a table and chairs. Nancy could see Denise seated at the table, along with Matt Ziegler and several others. Most of the chairs in the audience were already taken, but the girls pushed toward the front.
When they neared the stage, Denise waved and pointed to the front row. A long piece of masking tape ran along the backs of three chairs. “Reserved” was written on the tape in black ink.
As soon as the girls took their seats, a spotlight lit up Matt Ziegler. He stood up and took the microphone.
“Good morning, Mystery Lovers!” His voice boomed through the huge hall.
Everyone in the audience cheered wildly.
“We’ve got a great program for you, featuring all your favorite mystery programs from the dawn of television to the top series of today! We also have some very special guests with us—Elaine Cossack, star of ‘The Gray Phantom’; Larry Greenberg, producer of ‘Cop’; and Denise Ellingsen, representing the stars of ‘Nightside’.”
George turned to Nancy and Bess. “I guess he’s not going to talk about the kidnapping.”
“They’re trying to keep this pretty quiet,” Nancy whispered. “The police know, but they haven’t told the press. Can you imagine what the National Tattler would do with a story like this?”
“ ‘TV Stars Kidnapped by Martian UFO’?” offered Bess.
“I see what you mean,” said George. “Publicity like that wouldn’t help the investigation.”
The lights dimmed, and Dan Redding’s face appeared in a close-up on the screen. He stared straight ahead, his steely blue eyes catching glints of the sun. Synthesized music with a driving beat poured out through the giant speakers on either side of the stage. A deep announcer’s voice intoned, “He’s a one-man police force fighting a lone battle against crime . . . He’s . . . Cop.”
Nancy stared. There was something disturbing about Redding’s face. But before she could figure out what, the film started rolling.
Dan Redding stood alone in a dark alley. Facing him was a gang of thugs. Single-handedly, Redding knocked them out, one by one, until finally he was confronting the leader. The leader of the gang, a huge, muscular guy with a scar on his cheek, laughed menacingly and took a few steps toward Redding.
Redding gave the gang leader a karate kick, and the guy landed flat on his back. Then Redding placed a foot on the hoodlum’s chest and pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket.
Nancy caught her breath. “This show looks great,” she said to George and Bess. “I can’t believe I never watched it before.”
Using the walkie-talkie, Redding called the police station to have them send a squad car to arrest the gang leader.
The screen went dark, and the audience applauded.
“He’s cuter than Will Leonard!” Bess said. “And I just love his monotone voice. He sounds so . . . cool.”
“I’d forgotten how good that show was,” George agreed.
The lights came on, then an older man with salt and pepper hair at the table stood up. “I’m Larry Greenberg, producer of ‘Cop,’ ” he said. He pulled a pile of index cards out of the pocket of his tan jacket. “I’m not too good at memorizing speeches,” he said, “so I’ll keep this short. As you can see, ‘Cop’ is a great show. We may not be number one in the ratings anymore, but the quality is just as high as it ever was, and we owe it all to Dan Redding. He not only stars in the show, he created it. And I hope you’ll do us a favor, and do yourselves a favor, by tuning in once again.”
Larry Greenberg sat down, and Denise Ellingsen stood up.
“Does anyone out there know why ‘Cop’ isn’t number one anymore?” she asked.
