Under His Spell, page 1
Chapter
One
GREAT PARTY, HUH, NANCY?” Bess Marvin’s blue eyes twinkled as she moved to the loud, pulsing beat of the music. She shook her blond hair off her pretty face and smiled. “I knew it would be—Madame Tatiana predicted it.”
Bess’s friend Nancy Drew rolled her eyes. “Come on, Bess,” she said. “You don’t really believe all that psychic stuff, do you?”
“Of course I do,” Bess said. “You would, too, if you’d let me take you to meet Madame Tatiana. She’s different from all those phony psychics, Nan—she’s for real.”
“I’m sure.” Nancy laughed and shook her head. Maybe it was because of the extrasensory convention that was being held in River Heights that weekend, but the occult had become Bess’s passion of the moment. Personally, Nancy found psychics pretty hard to take seriously, but by now she was used to her friend’s sudden enthusiasms.
“Come on, Bess, let’s party,” Nancy said, changing the subject. “This DJ is awesome!”
It was Friday night, and Nancy and Bess had both been looking forward to this party all week. Morgan Shepherd, a former classmate of theirs, was hosting it. Her family was one of the wealthiest in River Heights, and Morgan’s parties were famous.
Already the huge living room was packed with dancers, while rented laser lights played over the walls, and top-quality speakers boomed out the hits the hired DJ played one after the other.
“It doesn’t take a psychic to guess that this party is going to be hot,” Nancy commented as she and Bess threaded their way through the mob of dancers toward the refreshments table. “It’s too bad George can’t be here.”
George Fayne, Bess’s cousin and Nancy’s close friend, was away in Colorado for a few days of skiing.
“Mmm-hmm,” Bess said, not really paying attention. She kept looking around the room. “Madame said I’d be meeting the man of my dreams soon. I wonder if he’s here. . . .”
Nancy was about to make another skeptical remark, but she bit her tongue. If Bess wanted to enjoy a little romantic speculation, who was Nancy to get in the way? Besides, Bess was always falling in love, so Madame’s prediction was probably a safe one.
“What does the man of your dreams look like?” Nancy asked as she got in line behind several other people who were waiting for soft drinks to be served.
“Oh, he’s got dark hair and blue eyes,” Bess said dreamily. “And big, big muscles . . .”
“Like Tommy Rio, for instance?” Nancy asked.
“Tommy Rio?” Bess repeated, surprised. “No way, Nan. He’s going with Sharon Krane. Where have you been? They’ve been together forever.”
“Oh, yeah?” Nancy asked. “That’s what I thought, too. But there he is, dancing with Morgan. And don’t look now, but he keeps checking you out every few seconds.”
“What?” Bess started to turn and look but stopped herself. “Are you sure, Nan? I can’t believe it! Where’s Sharon? Do you see her anywhere?”
Nancy looked around, trying to spot Sharon Krane’s slim figure and long, curly, dark hair. She’d know Sharon anywhere, though it had been years since they’d really spent much time together. Actually, Nancy knew Sharon’s father better. He was a captain with the River Heights Police Department, and Nancy had worked with him on several cases.
Now she saw Sharon, dancing with a blond-haired guy Nancy didn’t recognize. Sharon was wearing a short flippy skirt, a white T-shirt, and a blue denim jacket with sequins embroidered on both lapels. She wore the jacket with the sleeves half rolled up. A pair of iridescent fan-shaped earrings dangled from her ears.
“There she is,” Nancy said, pointing. “I don’t know, Bess. Maybe Sharon and Tommy have broken up since we last saw them.”
“Could be,” Bess said, arching an eyebrow. “I think I’ll just find out. See you later, Nan. Opportunity may be knocking.”
Bess disappeared onto the dance floor as the lights dimmed and starlike projections rotated on the walls and ceiling. A slow dance number came on over the speakers, and the DJ announced, “Here’s a tune in honor of the extrasensory convention beginning tomorrow. Everybody out on the floor for Jet Lag and their megabit, ‘Second Sight’!”
Nancy asked the waiter for some ginger ale. Once she was served, she turned and looked around again. She saw that Bess was now dancing with Tommy Rio. Bess’s arms were around his shoulders, and she was gazing into his eyes. But Nancy noticed that every now and then Tommy would cast his glance in another direction—across the floor to where Sharon was dancing with the blond newcomer. And the look in Tommy’s eyes was anything but romantic. Furious was more like it, Nancy thought.
Morgan Shepherd came up to greet her. “Nancy!” she cooed, giving Nancy a peck on the cheek. “I’m glad you could make it.”
“Great party, Morgan,” Nancy said with a smile. “Say, who’s the guy dancing with Sharon Krane?”
“Oooh, isn’t he special?” Morgan said. “His name’s Rick Roberts, and his family just moved to town. I can’t wait to get to know him better.”
“Looks as if he and Sharon have already gotten to know each other pretty well,” Nancy pointed out.
Morgan frowned. “It’s the weirdest thing,” she said. “Sharon and Tommy walked in together, but they haven’t gone near each other for the past hour. I’m dying of curiosity. In fact, I think I’m going to cut in on Rick and Sharon. Maybe I’ll find out. And if not, at least I’ll get Rick’s attention.” With a quick wink at Nancy, Morgan headed off.
As Nancy was finishing her ginger ale, a tall, dark-haired guy asked her to dance. She loved dancing, and she was having such a good time that a whole hour went by before she thought to look for Bess. Nancy didn’t see her out on the dance floor, so she began to wander through the many rooms of the ground floor of the mansion, where guests were mingling, talking, and eating.
Finally Nancy found herself standing by open French doors that led out onto the huge back porch. Outside, under the stars, couples were holding hands, kissing, whispering to each other, and looking up at the sky. Nancy wandered outside, breathing in the cool, fresh air, and thinking of Ned Nickerson, her longtime boyfriend, who was away at Emerson College. She missed him so much sometimes.
Nancy had gone out with other guys while Ned was away. She had even been attracted to a few. But it just wasn’t the same as being with Ned. And on a starry night like this, with songs of love playing in the background and other couples sharing the moment, Ned’s absence hit Nancy really hard.
As she wandered out into the gardens behind the house, she suddenly heard Tommy Rio’s deep voice. Thinking Bess might be with him, Nancy made her way in that direction. But the answering voice wasn’t Bess’s—it was Sharon Krane’s. And Sharon sounded angry. So did Tommy, for that matter.
“I see it didn’t take you long,” Tommy was saying.
“Look,” Sharon said. “I said I’d come to the party with you. But that was all. We’re both free agents now, so whoever I dance with is really none of your business.”
“I’m making it my business.” Tommy’s voice took on a threatening note.
“It looked like you were having a good time without me, anyway,” Sharon retorted.
“That’s right, I was!” Tommy said. “And I don’t see why I shouldn’t.”
“You should! That’s just the point!” Sharon shot back.
Nancy backed away, not wanting to intrude on the couple’s privacy. Obviously, Sharon and Tommy were in the middle of a serious fight. Nancy made her way back inside and thought no more about it, until half an hour later. That’s when she saw Sharon storm through the main room and out the front door, her bag slung over her shoulder and tears in her eyes.
Ten minutes later Nancy saw Tommy Rio come looking for Sharon—or at least it appeared that way. Tommy seemed on the verge of an explosion as he asked Morgan something. Morgan pointed to the front door, and Tommy ran toward it.
Nancy wondered again what it was all about. But then, someone tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to dance. Nancy turned her thoughts to happier things.
• • •
“Hi, Nan!” Bess said as she marched into the Drews’ kitchen late the following morning. “Got anything to eat?”
“I think I can find you something,” Nancy said with a smile. Bess was always fighting to keep her cute figure, but she was never able to resist snacking for very long. “Hannah’s away for the weekend, but she made a batch of muffins yesterday.” Hannah Gruen was the Drews’ longtime housekeeper.
“Yum,” Bess said, then sat down at the table. “Look what I brought you.” She took a deck of cards out of her bag and began shuffling them. “I’m going to tell you your future.”
Nancy raised an eyebrow but didn’t answer. She placed two muffins in front of Bess.
“Madame Tatiana says I have psychic talent,” Bess confided as she took a bite of a muffin.
“Is that so?” Nancy asked.
“You have to see her for yourself, Nan. I mean, I can read your cards, but I’m just a beginner. Madame’s incredible. The first time she read my cards, she knew everything about me!”
“Is she going to have a booth at the extrasensory convention?” Nancy asked.
“No,” Bess said. “She doesn’t like doing that kind of thing. But I can’t believe they didn’t ask her to perform at night. They only invited well-known psychics like David LeGrand.”
“David LeGrand . . .” Nancy said slowly. “I’ve heard of him. He’s the guy who solved those kidnapping cases for the Chica go police last year, isn’t he?”
“That’s him,” Bess confirmed. “And, Nan, he’s soooo cute! And he’s performing tonight. Wait till you see him. Then you’ll believe in the supernatural, all right.”
“Wait a minute,” Nancy interrupted her. “Did I say I was going?”
“No,” Bess said with a sly grin. “But / said so.” She pulled two tickets out of her bag. “For you and me, for tonight. My treat, Nan. And don’t you dare say no—you’re coming and that’s that.”
Nancy shook her head as she smiled back at her friend. “Looks like I don’t have a choice,” she said. “So you say he’s cute?”
“You won’t regret it,” Bess assured her. “Wait till you see David LeGrand do his thing, Nan. You’ll be a believer then. And if you’re not, you’re coming with me this week to Madame Tatiana’s.”
Nancy had to laugh, but before she could object to Bess’s plans, the telephone rang. To Nancy’s surprise, it was Captain Philip Krane on the line.
“Nancy,” he said, his voice sounding more upset than she had ever heard it before, “I need you to come down to headquarters right away. It’s an emergency.”
“Sure, Captain,” Nancy said. “Can you tell me what it’s about?”
“It’s about Sharon,” he said. “I understand you were at the same party she was last night?”
“Yes,” Nancy said, concerned. “Is Sharon all right?”
“I hope so,” Captain Krane said, his voice catching. “Sharon left that party, but she never came home. And no one has seen her since!”
Chapter
Two
NANCY TOLD CAPTAIN KRANE she was on her way, then hung up and quickly explained to Bess what was going on.
“Oh, Nan! Do you think Sharon’s okay? I mean, what if something terrible happened?”
“I’m worried, too,” Nancy said as she grabbed her shoulder bag and car keys.
“Should I come with you?” Bess asked.
Nancy thought for a moment. “The best thing you can do right now is to call around to anyone we know who was at the party that night. Maybe one of them saw or heard something they forgot to tell the police.”
Nancy handed Bess the phone book. “I’ll call you when I know more.” Without waiting for an answer, Nancy headed out the door and jumped into her blue Mustang convertible.
She drove straight to police headquarters. After parking in front of the building, she hurried inside. Nancy had been there on many cases, but she had never seen the place like this. A grim silence seemed to drape the entire headquarters. Even her old friend Chief McGinnis couldn’t manage a smile in greeting her.
She was shown into Captain Krane’s office. The captain sat behind his desk, his head in his hands. He looked up at Nancy and smiled wanly. “Hello, Nancy. It’s good to see you again.”
“I wish it were on happier business,” Nancy said, taking a seat opposite him. “Okay, I’m ready. Tell me everything.”
The captain sighed and began. “Sharon never came home last night. Early this morning, when I realized she wasn’t in her room, I started calling around. Nothing. I called Tommy Rio—her boyfriend. He told me they’d had a little spat, and Sharon had left the party without him. So I got a list of people who attended the party, and several other people verified Tommy’s story.”
He got up and began pacing the room, now and then running a hand through his thinning gray hair. “I don’t mind telling you, Nancy, I’m really worried. It’s not like Sharon to go off this way.”
“I take it you don’t think she ran away on her own,” Nancy said.
Krane shook his head. “It would be totally out of character. But on the other hand, there’s been no ransom note and no phone calls. One passerby has her walking down Danbury Road, half a mile from the Shepherd house, heading toward town at around midnight. That jibes with Tommy’s version. He said she left the party around eleven forty-five.”
The captain sat down again and began drumming his fingers on the desk. “My people have searched every inch of ground between that spot on the road and town. Nothing. Not a trace of her. There were a lot of people at the party, and we haven’t had time to question them all yet. But so far nobody’s had anything new to tell us.”
“So you decided to call me in,” Nancy said.
“Well, you were there, too,” Krane said. “And you know Sharon.”
“Sort of,” Nancy hedged. “We haven’t seen much of each other lately.” Sharon could have changed a lot since the days when the two of them had hung out together.
“Anyway, you’ve been such a help to the department in the past, I thought you might be willing—”
“Of course,” Nancy said. “Anything I can do.”
“The worst part of it is,” Krane said, leaning forward, “Sharon’s a diabetic.”
“You’re kidding!” Nancy drew in a sharp breath. “I had no idea.”
“She was diagnosed a year ago,” Krane told her. “She needs injections every day. If someone’s holding her, she could be in real trouble. She needs her insulin to survive, Nancy. She carries a couple of vials of insulin with her at all times, but those would only get her through forty-eight hours. After that . . .”
He didn’t need to say anything else. Nancy counted back to the party. By Sunday night at the latest Sharon would be running out of medicine.
“Any suspects?” Nancy asked. “I mean, going on the theory she was kidnapped.” She didn’t need to mention the horrible alternative—that they might already be too late to save Sharon.
“Well, there’s Tommy Rio,” Krane began. “He and Sharon have been having problems, and he admitted that they had words at the party.”
“Did he say what the fight was about?” Nancy asked, recalling the bits of conversation she’d overheard in the garden.
“He said it was about his wanting to date other girls,” Krane told her.
Nancy frowned. That’s not how it had sounded to her. “Did Sharon ever talk with you about her relationship with Tommy?” she asked.
Krane sighed and shook his head. “Only in the beginning, when things were going well. Sharon’s not . . . since her mother died . . . You see, it was always her mom Sharon confided in when she had problems. I guess I’m not an easy guy to talk to. . . .”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Nancy said quickly. “It’s hard for a lot of teens to open up to their parents. But we both know Sharon loves you—and she needs you now, more than ever before.”
“You’re right, of course,” the captain said. “Thanks, Nancy. I guess I needed to hear that.” He blew out a long breath. “Anyway, there’s Tommy. He says he didn’t leave with Sharon, but one person said she saw Tommy leave not long afterward.”
“I can verify that,” Nancy said, nodding. “It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes later.”
“So he could have followed her in his car. She was walking, remember.” Captain Krane frowned and shook his head. “She must have been pretty upset, to be walking all the way home. I mean, it’s only a couple of miles, but she knows better than to walk alone at night. If only she’d called me . . .”
“Any other suspects?” Nancy asked gently.
Krane hesitated for a moment. “There is one other person. His name is Eddie Hill. He’s an ex-convict, a guy I helped send to prison for a long time. He was released just last month. And I know from friends of mine in corrections that Eddie’s been swearing revenge on me and my whole family since the day of his armed robbery conviction.”
“Sounds bad,” Nancy said.
Krane nodded grimly. “I’ve already hauled him in for questioning, and he didn’t have a very good alibi for last night—home alone, watching TV, he said. Still, we searched both his and Tommy Rio’s houses and cars—nothing. And I’ve got to find Sharon quickly, Nancy. Her life may depend on it.”
“Count me in,” Nancy said. “I’ll start by speaking to Tommy Rio and Eddie Hill myself, if that’s okay with you. Something might come out that the police missed. No offense, but you know how criminals get their guard up when they see a uniform.”
“Sure,” the captain agreed. He was busy writing down addresses for Nancy. “Here,” he said, handing them to her. “Good luck. And call me as soon as you’re done.”
“Of course,” Nancy said. “By the way, have you contacted the media? If you make it known Sharon’s missing, somebody might spot her.”
