“Nobody likes to be falsely accused,” Nancy said. To herself she added a silent reminder. She should always be very sure of her ground before she accused someone of a crime.
“No, perhaps not,” Dina said slowly. “But what do I do now? How do I show people that I am not a thief and not a crazy person, either?”
“When we find the real thief, your name will be cleared,” Nancy pointed out. “As for the other thing, everybody knows you’re under a lot of stress. If you show you’re sorry and show more self-control, most of them will cut you some slack.”
“I hope you are right,” Dina said. She returned to her bed. “I do not care to be president of the IFC so much, but I do not want to lose the friends I have made here. If the only way to keep them is to stop being a candidate, I will do it in an instant!”
• • •
The next morning Nancy got up early, dressed, and went down to collect Bess and George. She reached the landing just as George came out of Joann’s room.
“Hi, Nancy,” George called cheerfully. She looked back through the doorway and said, “Take it easy, Joann. We’ll see you later, after breakfast.”
Nancy and George tapped on Penny’s door. After a few moments, Penny opened it. Her pajamas and tousled hair showed she’d been asleep.
“I think Bess is still asleep,” she whispered. She opened the door wider and stepped aside. Nancy and George followed her into the room.
“Well, she shouldn’t be,” George said in a normal tone of voice. “It’s time to rise and shine. We’ve got a date.”
“Hrmff grnnm.” Bess’s mumbled words were muffled by the pillow she had over her head.
A fiendish grin crossed George’s face. She tiptoed over, took a corner of the pillow, and abruptly yanked it off. “Surprise!” she chirped. “It’s morning!”
Bess let out a wail and reached blindly for the pillow. George dangled it just out of her reach. After a few moments Bess’s expression changed from cross to resigned.
“All right, all right,” she said, sitting up. “I’m awake. Sadist!”
George and Nancy waited while Bess dressed. Then the three friends started downstairs. Halfway to the main floor George said, “Oops, sorry. I have to go back. I didn’t bring my sunglasses.”
“No problem,” Nancy said. “We’ll go with you.”
They climbed the stairs again. As they walked down the hall, George took out the key Joann had given her and said, “I won’t be long. I know right where I left them.”
She unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Joann was standing at her desk with her back to them. At the sound of the door, she spun around. Her face was contorted with fear. She spread her arms out as if to block the view of her desktop.
Too late. Nancy let out a gasp as she realized what she was looking at. Those thick stacks of green paper on the desk were money—lots of it.
12
Piles of Cash
“What do you want?” Joann cried. “Go away! Leave me alone!”
“We can’t do that, Joann,” Nancy said gently. “I’m afraid we need some explanation from you.”
“I have nothing to say,” Joann said, an edge of hysteria in her voice. “Nothing!”
“You’ll have to talk to someone,” George told her. “Wouldn’t it be better us than the police?”
Joann’s face went pale. She clutched the edge of the desk to keep from falling. “Police? Oh, no! That would be the end of everything for me!”
“Why don’t you sit down?” Bess suggested. “And tell us about the money.”
Joann looked behind her at the desk, as if she didn’t quite remember what was on it. Then she pulled out the desk chair and fell into it. “I don’t know where to begin,” she said faintly.
“We already know how badly you need money to stay at Emerson,” Nancy said. “Did you take that envelope full of money at the dance last night?”
Joann stared at her. After a moment she said, “No, of course not. Is that what you think?”
“A bunch of money is missing,” George pointed out. “And here you are with a bunch of unexplained money. You can’t blame us for wondering.”
“This money is mine,” Joann said. Her voice strengthened. “My family sent it to me. Tomorrow I will use it to pay my college bill.”
“Didn’t you say there was a new law in your country against sending money abroad?” Nancy asked.
Joann looked away. “Yes,” she agreed. “But my brother found a way. The money came with the shipment of wooden animals yesterday afternoon.”
“Smuggled, you mean?” Bess asked.
Joann’s cheeks turned pink. “I do not think it is against American law for my family to send me money,” she said, raising her chin defiantly.
“Maybe not,” Nancy said. “But here’s the problem. We’re trying to find out who took the IFC’s money. If we don’t succeed, very quickly, the police will have to be brought in. And unless we’re really sure it has nothing to do with last night’s theft, we’ll have to tell them about finding you with all this cash.”
“You mustn’t,” Joann declared. “If word got back to my country, my family would be put in terrible danger.”
“We’ll try to avoid that,” Nancy assured her. “But what proof do we have that your story is true?”
