“Neither of them actually admitted removing the screws from the demonstration barre,” George pointed out.
Nancy nodded. “George is right. The only thing we know for sure is that Darci and Lawrence both have reasons why they’re angry at Shana,” she said. “That’s not exactly a crime. But . . .” Pausing, she tapped her spoon on the table in thought.
“But what?” George prompted.
Nancy pointed the spoon at George. “But if I were Darci and Lawrence, I’d be pretty mad at Madame Dugrand, too. After all, she’s the one who asked Shana to come back.”
“Mad enough that they’d try to ruin the school?” George asked. “That seems kind of drastic.”
Bess shook her head. “We’d better warn Shana about those two.”
“Not yet,” Nancy cautioned. “We have to be careful. After all, Darci is Shana’s sister.”
“Still, I think we should keep our eyes on Darci and Lawrence,” Bess said emphatically.
“I agree,” Nancy said. “And now that George and I are in charge of props, tomorrow we’ll be at the dance academy to do just that.”
• • •
It was snowing Friday morning when Nancy parked her Mustang in front of the dance school.
“It looks as though George is going to have great snow for skiing this morning,” Nancy said to Bess, tossing her keys into her shoulder bag as they got out of the car. George was meeting them at the dance school just before lunch.
With a shiver, Bess brushed away the snow-flakes that had landed on her nose. “George can have her skiing. Me, I’d rather be in a nice warm room.”
Nancy laughed as the two of them carefully made their way up the still-icy walk. When they entered the dance school, Bess glanced at her watch. “It’s nine o’clock now. When shall we break for lunch?”
“Come to the prop room around noon,” Nancy suggested. “George should be here by then, and the three of us can eat together.”
“I’ll ask Mrs. Wolaski to join us, too,” Bess said, starting downstairs. “I think she’s kind of lonely since her husband died last year.”
“Okay. See you then.” Waving goodbye, Nancy headed down the main hall. The prop room was on the left-hand side, directly across from studio A.
Flicking on the lights, Nancy glanced around the large room. Boxes of every size and description littered the concrete floor. Some of them were stacked to the metal support beams that crisscrossed the ceiling. The unfinished room, with its brick walls and no windows, still looked like an old warehouse. The place was cold, dusty, and damp.
Shivering, Nancy wrapped her coat tighter around her. She had no idea where to begin, and from the looks of things, Mrs. Patterson hadn’t either. In addition to the boxes, the room was filled with larger props: everything from pieces of furniture to pink flamingos and even a bicycle. Nancy had almost decided to ask Madame Dugrand for help when she spotted what looked like a list taped to the wall.
Nancy wove her way around several painted panels that had fallen to the floor and checked the list. Nutcracker Props was printed in bold letters across the top of the first page. Many of the things on the list had been checked off.
“I hope that means they’re accounted for,” Nancy muttered to herself. Reading carefully through the entire list, she began to verify the checked items. Behind a stack of wood, she found the toy cannon that the soldiers would fire at the mice during their battle scene. And in the corner was the sled little Clara and her prince would ride to reach the Land of Sweets. Next on the list, Mrs. Patterson had checked off the Christmas tree ornaments.
Nancy looked at one stack of boxes. The ornaments could be in any of these, she thought. She carefully opened the boxes one by one, finding all kinds of props: tambourines, dolls, wrapped Christmas presents, as well as cans of paint and brushes. But she couldn’t find any ornaments. Nancy knew they were important. Without them, the Christmas tree in the party scene would look very bare.
Nancy let out a frustrated sigh. Great, she thought. First day on the job and I’m already missing something. Then she spied the back door that led to the recital hall stage. Maybe Mrs. Patterson had put the ornaments on stage already.
As she walked across the room, Nancy wiped her dirty hands on her jeans, then opened the door. Three steps led to the left side of offstage. The area was dark and quiet and smelled like stale smoke. For a second, Nancy hesitated. What if there was a saboteur, and he or she was lurking around ready to set another fire?
No, that was silly, she chided herself. Besides, if he or she was there, Nancy was ready to face the person.
Cautiously, she walked out onto the stage, hunting for the box. The big wooden Christmas tree was in the center of the stage, but there were no ornaments hanging on it. Then Nancy checked backstage, behind the heavy curtain. As she swept the curtain aside with her hand, she noticed something white on the floor beneath it.
She stooped to pick the object up. It was a white lace handkerchief with the initials G. T. embroidered on the edge.
G. T. Who involved in the dance school had those initials? Nancy wondered. With a shrug, she stuck the handkerchief in her back pocket and went back down the three steps into the prop room.
Making a quick decision, Nancy left the dark room and went into the main hall. She hated to disturb Madame Dugrand with one more problem, but she needed to find out where the ornaments were. If there weren’t any, Nancy was going to have to come up with some before dress rehearsal the following Thursday. That was less than a week away.
“Excuse me,” Nancy said, sticking her head into Madame Dugrand’s office. The directress looked up from her paperwork. Through the window beside the desk, Nancy could see that the snow was falling faster.
“Nancy!” Madame Dugrand exclaimed. “How is everything going, dear?”
“I’m afraid I can’t find the box of ornaments for the Christmas tree,” Nancy replied. “They’ve been checked off the list, but they’re not in the prop room or on the stage.”
“What?” Madame sprang to her feet. “Oh, I hope they aren’t lost! We’re using Rebecca Farnsworth’s ornaments this year, and they’re priceless antiques.”
“Maybe I overlooked them,” Nancy said quickly. She hadn’t realized how upset Madame would be. “Or maybe they were just checked off by mistake and haven’t been delivered yet.”
“Maybe.” Walking around her desk, Madame began to pace up and down in front of Nancy. “But whatever happened, you must find them. Those props are very important. See those pictures?” Madame added, pointing to the wall beside her desk.
Nancy nodded as she looked at the display of gold-framed photos.
“These particular pictures,” Madame Dugrand said, gesturing toward a cluster of five photos, “are publicity shots from my former ballet company’s Nutcracker.”
Nancy moved closer for a better look. In one picture Clara was holding the Nutcracker doll, and in another the Candy Canes posed in the Land of Sweets. “It looks lovely,” Nancy said.
“Thanks to the wonderful costumes and props we had,” Madame said. “That’s why I’ve collected them both so carefully over the years. Every season I try to add something new, a small treat for my faithful patrons. This year, the Farnsworth ornaments were to be that treat. That’s why it’s so important that we find them.”
Nancy was about to swear she’d track down the ornaments no matter what when the phone rang. Madame Dugrand stretched gracefully across her desk to answer it.
