“Good,” the doctor said. “I’ve called her doctor for her complete medical history, but I haven’t heard back from him yet. Perhaps you can help with that—see if you can find any medical records at home. Between that and the lab tests, we should be able to reach a diagnosis.”

  Don Cay nodded wearily. “Can I see her now?” he asked before Dr. Volman left.

  Dr. Volman frowned. “I’d really like to have time to do some blood work and move her into a room. After that, you can certainly visit her.” The doctor nodded goodbye and walked swiftly back to the patient area.

  George put out her hand to Don Cay and said, “Please let me know if you hear anything. You can reach me at Twickham’s—my name is George Fayne.” Don Cay shook her hand and gave her a thankful smile.

  Nancy reached out to shake his hand as well. “And I’m Nancy Drew,” she said. Then she hesitated. “Will you be heading back to your aunt’s house now?” she asked gently.

  Don Cay sighed. “I guess so,” he said. “I need to pick up my car, anyway.”

  “Would you mind if I went with you?” Nancy asked. “Maybe I can find something that could help us figure out what happened to her.”

  “Nancy has quite a reputation as a detective here in River Heights,” George put in. “There’s never been a mystery she couldn’t solve.”

  Don Cay blinked, looking bewildered. “In that case, I’d appreciate your help,” he admitted. “I’d really like to know what happened to Aunt Evelyn. This whole thing just seems so strange.”

  A few moments later, Don Cay’s wife, Rosemary, arrived. She agreed to stay with Mrs. Cay in case her condition changed. “Someone should be with her when she wakes up,” Rosemary said. George offered to drive Don Cay and Nancy back to Mrs. Cay’s house on her way back to work at Twickham’s.

  As George dropped them off in front of Mrs. Cay’s small brick house, Nancy thought to herself that the house already seemed forlorn. Mrs. Cay’s red bike stood on the corner of the porch, locked to the rail. And though the potted flowers still waved cheerfully with the slight breeze, there was an emptiness about the place. As she and Don Cay made their way up the walk, Nancy hoped that Mrs. Cay would be able to return home soon.

  After climbing the steps to the front porch, Don Cay opened the door and stepped in. Nancy began to follow him into the silent house.

  Suddenly a loud, hoarse shout cut through the quiet neighborhood behind her. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

  Nancy whirled around. Her eyes widened in surprise.

  On the opposite side of the street, his arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face, stood the assistant pharmacist from Twickham’s—Kevin Duffy.

  3

  Searching for . . . What?

  What was Kevin Duffy doing here? Nancy wondered uneasily. She stepped down from Mrs. Cay’s porch and walked toward the pharmacist, who was glaring at Nancy with narrowed green eyes. Don Cay had already gone on inside his aunt’s house.

  “I said, what are you doing here?” Duffy called out again sharply as he strode across the street.

  “Mrs. Cay is in the hospital,” Nancy answered, watching his face carefully for a reaction.

  The scowl faded from Duffy’s face. “What?” he said in confusion.

  Nancy briefly told him what had happened. As she described Mrs. Cay’s collapse, Duffy glanced away. “Is she okay now?” he asked in a tight voice.

  “The convulsions have stopped, but she’s still unconscious,” Nancy reported. “But what are you doing here?”

  Kevin Duffy seemed to squirm slightly, and he dug his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants. “Oh, I . . . I was just worried about Mrs. Cay,” he mumbled. “I knew she had a cold. I, uh, figured I’d use my break time to check up on her.” Beneath his tan, his cheeks flushed as he shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot. Then, abruptly, Kevin turned around and began walking back across the street. “I’ve got to get back to work,” he called gruffly over his shoulder.

  Nancy watched as the assistant pharmacist stepped quickly to his small black truck, got in, and started the engine. Jerking it into gear, he sped down the street without a glance back at Nancy.

  Kevin Duffy was sure acting strange just now, Nancy thought as she turned back toward the house. Why had he snapped at her when he first saw her? Why had he been so nervous when she asked why he was there? He had to be hiding something. But what?

  Nancy pushed open the front door again, almost bumping into Don Cay. “I wondered where you went,” he said to her.

  Nancy forced a smile. She didn’t want to tell Mrs. Cay’s nephew about her run-in with Kevin Duffy. The poor man had enough to worry about. Instead, she said, “Sorry. I was admiring the flowers out front.”

  Don Cay nodded and his tense face relaxed into a little smile. “Aunt Ev has quite a green thumb,” he said. “You should see her vegetable garden out back. She grows some of the best tomatoes in town.”

  Nancy followed him into the cozy living room she and George had dashed through only an hour earlier. Around a thick, round braided rug were grouped a plump sofa and a rocking chair with a needlepoint basket beside it. Knickknacks were carefully displayed on shelves, and not an item looked to be out of place.

  As they entered the kitchen, Nancy could see Don Cay tense a little as he looked around the sunlit, pale yellow room. Nancy herself could still picture Mrs. Cay lying unconscious on the white linoleum floor. She drew a deep breath.

  Don Cay pointed to the teacup and saucer on the table and the small plate in the sink. “I guess that’s what she had for her breakfast,” he said. “Tea and toast, as always.” Nancy peered into the sink to see crumbs of toast still left on the plate.

  “I’m going to get her records file from her bedroom closet and see if I can find any medical information,” Don Cay said. “Feel free to poke around if you think it’ll help.” Nancy watched him walk through the dining room into the bedroom, knowing how worried he must feel.

  She turned back to the kitchen table and lifted Mrs. Cay’s now-cold cup of tea. She sniffed it carefully but could smell nothing but tea leaves. Then she opened the refrigerator. Several kinds of jams and jellies lined the door, but the main shelves were almost empty. Small cartons of milk and orange juice, a dish of butter, a couple of apples, a cooked chicken breast, and a box of baking soda were the only items there. Nancy noted that the milk and orange juice were fresh.

  Nancy then opened all of Mrs. Cay’s cupboards, where she found dishes, canned foods, a half-used loaf of bread, pots and pans, cleaning supplies, and the usual baking goods: flour, sugar, baking powder, spices, oils, and nuts. She checked inside each open container, but nothing seemed spoiled.

  Next Nancy peered into the garbage bin under the sink and found some used paper towels, an empty orange-juice carton, and some wet tea leaves—nothing out of the ordinary.

  She passed through the dining room and reached the door of Mrs. Cay’s cheery bedroom. Don Cay was sitting on his aunt’s bed, riffling through some papers next to a gray metal file box. He looked up. “Find anything?” he asked. Nancy shook her head.

  “These are her medical records,” he said. He nodded toward the small hallway. “There’s a guest room and the bathroom down there, if you want to check those out.”

  “Thanks,” Nancy said. She went straight to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet above the large, old-fashioned sink. There she found the usual assortment of personal items: toothpaste, bandages, nail files, soap, cotton balls. The top shelf held aspirin, antiseptic ointment, and some prescription bottles from Twickham’s—antibiotics and ointments. Nancy closed the medicine cabinet and gazed around the spotless bathroom. As in every other room in the house, nothing seemed out of place or unusual here.

  Nancy walked back to Mrs. Cay’s bedroom, feeling more puzzled than ever. She could find no clue as to the elderly woman’s collapse. Of course, Nancy reminded herself, anything could be a clue, since she didn’t know what she was looking for.

  Don Cay was just putting his aunt’s file box back in her closet as Nancy returned to the bedroom. “Well?” he said. “Any theories?”

  Nancy sighed. “I’d like to say yes,” she said. “But nothing here seems out of order.”

  He nodded. “I’m confused, too,” he said. “I can’t imagine what caused that fit of hers.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d better get back to the hospital and give these records to Dr. Volman,” he said. “Do you want a ride somewhere?”

  “How about dropping me off at Twickham’s?” Nancy asked. “My car’s parked by the drugstore.”

  “Sure,” he said. The two of them walked back out through the quiet living room. Nancy was still glancing about, hoping for a last-minute clue.

  She paused on the front porch as Don Cay locked his aunt’s front door. Her eyes glided over the empty flowerpots, little spades, weed killer, and watering can lined up on the porch. She hoped Mrs. Cay would be able to return to her gardening soon.

  Within a few minutes Don Cay had dropped off Nancy in front of Twickham’s. She walked beneath the tinkling bell into the drugstore again. The store was busier than it had been earlier, but as Nancy reached the pharmacy, there was only one customer waiting. George was behind the counter, her head bent as she counted out money from her delivery bag. Grace Cerrito and Kevin Duffy were working at their computers.

  “Oh, Nancy, hello!” Grace called out to her. Both George and Kevin Duffy looked up. Nancy noticed Duffy’s eyes narrowing as he caught sight of her.

  Grace leaned over the counter toward Nancy. “George told me about Evelyn Cay,” she said in a low, urgent voice. “I can’t imagine what’s happened to that poor woman.”

  “Did you find anything at her house?” George asked Nancy.

  Nancy shook her head glumly. “Nothing. I did a pretty thorough search after you left,” she said to Kevin Duffy pointedly. At her words, the assistant pharmacist’s shoulders tensed up.

  Grace spun around to look at him. “After you left?” she said. “What were you doing there?”

  Duffy flushed and dropped the bottle of pills he was filling. “I don’t know what she’s talking about,” he said crossly, trying to sweep up the spilled pills from the counter. “She must have mistaken me for someone else.”

  Nancy looked at Kevin Duffy curiously. She had deliberately mentioned his being at Mrs. Cay’s house to test his reaction. He had responded with a lie. Why? Nancy wondered.

  Grace turned back to Nancy. “Did you really see Kevin, dear?” she asked.

  Nancy stole one more glance at Kevin Duffy, then looked at Grace, shaking her head in apparent confusion. “I thought so,” she said. “But with everything that was going on, maybe I was wrong.” She could see relief flood his flushed face. She told herself she’d have to ask him about it later.

  “Well, I just spoke to the hospital, and they say Mrs. Cay is still comatose,” Grace said. “I feel so sorry for the Cays. Such nice people.”

  As Nancy nodded, a short, stocky man with curly red hair emerged from the back aisle of the pharmacy. “Okay, Gracie, that’ll do it,” he said in a loud, merry voice. “I just need you to sign off on this delivery and I’ll be on my way.”

  Grace took the clipboard the round man held out. “Oh, Nancy, this is Wayne Gast. He delivers for one of our distributors. Wayne, this is Nancy Drew.”

  Wayne thrust out a hand to Nancy and she shook it. “Good to meet ya,” he said. Something about the man’s wide belly and broad smile was so friendly that Nancy had to smile.

  “Nancy has been checking up on Mrs. Cay,” Grace said absently as she initialed the papers she held.

  Gast looked baffled for a moment, then nodded. “Oh, the woman you told me about earlier,” he said to Grace. “What a shame. Any word on her condition?” he asked Nancy.

  “Nothing’s changed,” Nancy said.

  Gast shook his head. “Sure hate to hear that,” he said. He took the clipboard from Grace. “Well, I have to be on my way, folks. I’ll see you in a day or two. My best to Mrs. Cay,” he added as he strolled off toward the back door.

  “Later, Wayne,” Kevin Duffy called out.

  “See ya, Wayne,” a younger male voice called out. Nancy saw a tall, thin teenager poke his head from around some shelves and wave to the delivery man. Nancy guessed the guy was around eighteen. His long, straight dark hair was parted in the middle around a handsome, angular face.

  “Hey, Eddie, this is my friend Nancy Drew,” George said. “Nancy, this is Eddie Dubrowski. He’s a clerk here part-time.”

  Eddie came out around the shelves, dressed in baggy jeans and a loose striped shirt. “Nice to meet you,” he said with a charming grin. “You’re the brilliant mystery-solver, right?”

  Nancy blushed slightly. “I try to solve some mysteries,” she replied modestly. Over her shoulder, she noticed Kevin Duffy look hard at her when he overheard Eddie’s words. It seemed to make him nervous to learn that she was a detective, she thought. She would have preferred that Kevin didn’t know she was investigating the case, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

  “Eddie just graduated from River Heights High this spring,” George was saying.

  “And I had to get right to work,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes. “College doesn’t come cheap these days.” He leaned against the pharmacy counter, still fixing his winning smile on Nancy. “You know, you have beautiful hair.”

  George laughed. “Eddie, no one’s safe from you!”

  “Really, Eddie,” Grace chimed in. “If you keep flirting with every woman who walks in here, we won’t have any female customers left.”

  Eddie grinned. “I meant it, though,” he said as he lifted a carton of baby powder. “Her hair is pretty.”

  Nancy smiled as Eddie walked off into the main part of the drugstore. Then she turned to Grace and lowered her voice. “Just one question before I go,” she said. “Did Mrs. Cay ever have any kind of strange illness, Grace? Was she sick often?”

  The smile dropped from Grace’s face. She shook her head. “Mrs. Cay was hardly ever sick, and when she was, it was only a cold or flu. The strongest stuff she ever got here was a common antibiotic.”

  Nancy nodded. That was just what Don Cay had said. “Thanks, Grace,” she said. “I’ll stop by the hospital and let you know if I hear anything new.”

  The pharmacist thanked her. Nancy waved goodbye to George, then left the pharmacy area.

  Nancy folded her arms across her white T-shirt, lost in thought as she walked down an aisle. As she neared the exit someone hurried past her aisle, knocking over a display of sunscreen. Nancy looked down toward the floor to see Kevin Duffy hastily picking up the plastic bottles. She suspected he’d been trying to avoid her.

  “Let me help,” Nancy said, thinking this would be the perfect time to get to the truth behind Kevin’s secretive behavior.

  “That’s not necessary,” Kevin mumbled.

  Nancy put a bottle of sunscreen back on the cardboard display and looked Kevin directly in the eye. “Maybe you could answer a few questions for me before I go,” she said, not waiting for his reply. “Why did you lie about being at Mrs. Cay’s? What were you doing there in the first place?” she pressed. “And how did you know that she was sick?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business,” Duffy said slowly. “But I was checking up on Mrs. Cay because I knew she had a cold. And I knew she had a cold because I filled an antihistamine prescription for her yesterday.”

  Nancy was surprised to hear that Mrs. Cay had taken an antihistamine. She wondered if Don Cay knew this, or Dr. Volman. It was important information. Why hadn’t Kevin revealed it earlier?

  Just as she decided to use the pay phone in the foyer to call the doctor, the front door of the drugstore was forcefully flung open.

  Nancy stepped back in surprise as Bess ran right into her. “Oh, Nancy!” she said in a shaky voice.

  Nancy immediately saw the distress on Bess’s face. “Bess, what is it?” she asked, worried.

  Bess’s lower lip trembled and tears came to her eyes. She grasped Nancy’s hands tightly.

  “My classmate . . .” she began in a shaky, whispered voice. “Regina’s brother, DeWitt . . . He—he’s dead!”

  4

  Cause of Death: Unknown

  As soon as the news about Regina’s brother left her mouth, Bess burst into tears and collapsed against Nancy. “Shh,” Nancy said soothingly as she gave Bess a hug. “Take it easy. Where did you hear this?”

  “The teacher announced it in our class this morning,” Bess said in a tearful voice. “Oh, Nancy, I just can’t believe he’s dead!” she cried, the sobs coming faster.

  Nancy looked around. Customers in Twickham’s were looking at Bess with a mixture of curiosity and compassion. “Bess, let’s move out of the doorway,” Nancy said gently. She walked Bess over to the pharmacy area. George, just stepping down from the pharmacy, stopped suddenly, looking at Bess in alarm. “What happened . . .” she began.

  “Is there some place we can sit down privately?” Nancy said quietly.

  “The bookkeeper isn’t in today—we can use her office,” George said at once.

  She led them up through the pharmacy into a tiny back cubicle, where Bess sank down on a padded swivel chair in front of a paper-filled desk. She sat quietly, wiping her tears with a tissue and breathing deeply until she could speak.

  “DeWitt Houser died,” she finally told George.

  George’s mouth dropped open. “What?” she said in disbelief. “Regina’s brother? The guy in your class? But how? When?”

  Bess twisted her trembling hands in her lap. “DeWitt worked the early morning shift for a parcel delivery service,” she said. “He never showed up for work this morning. One of his coworkers called his apartment but didn’t get an answer, so he went over there. And . . . and he found DeWitt in his apartment . . . dead,” Bess said. Tears sprang to her eyes again.

  “What was the cause of death?” Nancy asked.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11