She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Danielle practically admitted that she'd do anything to get even, even if it means that Emerson loses the big game. She could have set the fire and sent Randy that threatening note."

"There's no limit to how far a scorned boyfriend or girlfriend will go," Bess said dramatically, licking chocolate from her fingers. "A broken heart can make people do strange things."

"I knew I could count on you for the romantic point of view," Nancy said with a laugh.

There were other suspects, too, Nancy reminded herself, remembering Zip Williams and the other Pirates, as well as the guys on Emerson's team. Starting the next day, she was going to check all of them out.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" Nancy called from the doorway of Bess's room. She was already up and dressed, wearing a thick ivory-colored sweater and a suede skirt in a deep shade of green. She held a paper bag in one hand.

Bess cracked an eye open. "What time is it?" she asked, stretching her arms over her head and yawning. "Did I miss breakfast?"

"It's almost nine. I couldn't wake you before, so I went and had breakfast with Ned."

"Guess I was really tired," Bess said, sitting up in bed. "But now I'm starving!"

"Don't worry," said Nancy, grinning as she held up the paper bag. "I brought you some hot chocolate and turnovers. But you have to promise to hurry. We've got a busy day ahead."

After Bess washed and pulled on a denim skirt and pink sweater, she joined Nancy in the living room of their suite.

While Bess ate, Nancy explained her plans. "I have some more questions for Randy, and I want to try to track down Zip Williams at Russell U."

"What about the homecoming events?" Bess asked, reaching for a flyer on the table. "I don't want to miss anything."

Putting a hand on Bess's arm, Nancy said, "Ned already gave me the rundown. The homecoming queen and king are announced after lunch. Ned says that it's really no big deal, but I wouldn't mind seeing it. And tonight, there are lots of parties around campus." She checked her watch. "If we leave now, we should be able to work on the case and and fit in all the homecoming stuff." fit in all the homecoming stuff."

"Great," Bess said, polishing off a mouthful of pastry. She took one last sip of cocoa and jumped up to get her jacket. "Okay, I'm done. Where to first?"

"I already called Randy's dorm," said Nancy. "His roommate told me that he spends every morning working out at the sports center. I want to try to catch him before he leaves for a cla.s.s."

Although Nancy had been inside the sports center on previous visits, she knew that the multistoried building contained dozens of rooms, including an indoor track and pool.

"We'll have to find someone to direct us to the weight room," Nancy said as she and Bess approached the complex.

Inside the main entrance, a security guard directed the girls to the weight-training room, on the first floor, beyond the gymnasium and down a hallway. Pushing through a pair of swinging double doors, Nancy saw that they were at one end of a sizable room. Huge steel Nautilus machines were lined up along the mirrored wall nearest the girls. At the far end was a selection of free weights and barbells.

She was surprised to find the room so deserted. Two guys were taking turns on a bench press in one corner. Randy was sitting at a machine in the center of the room, pushing at a lever with his feet. His gray T-shirt was damp with perspiration.

Randy was so wrapped up in his workout that he didn't notice the girls until they were standing right beside him. "Oh-hi, Nancy," he said, glancing up. Nancy introduced Bess.

"Your roommate told us we'd find you here," Nancy said.

"Yeah." Randy pulled his legs back, grunting as he pumped three more times. Then he stood up and wiped the sweat from his face with a towel.

"I like to spend this hour here," he explained. "The place is packed most of the day, but it's reserved for the players for this one hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. There's always a trainer nearby, but he usually leaves me alone to follow my own routine." He slid the towel around his neck and walked to the far end of the room, where the free weights were.

As the girls followed, Bess gestured around the nearly empty room. "Where are the other players?"

"Most of the guys come after practice, but I love it at this time when it's quiet." Randy sat down on a padded bench beside a row of barbells.

Sitting on the edge of another bench, Nancy said, "There are a few questions that occurred to me this morning, Randy."

"No problem." Randy lifted a hand to brush his dark, damp hair off his forehead. "Shoot."

"It's about Danielle," Nancy began.

Randy rolled his eyes. "You mean Queen Danielle? I guess you heard we used to date. I never should have gotten hooked up with her."

"She seems to feel the same way about you," Nancy told him. "After you two broke up, we heard her threaten to get even with you. Do you have any idea why she's so angry?"

"Not really," Randy replied. "It's kind of embarra.s.sing to talk about all this." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We only started dating a few weeks ago. I got the feeling that Danielle was more into it than I was. I could tell that she really liked being seen with me-as if I were a trophy or something. But I wasn't sure she really cared about me at all."

"Do you think Danielle would actually try to hurt you?" Nancy asked.

"No way," Randy answered without hesitation. "She talks tough, but underneath she's harmless. Like I told you last night, my best guess is Zip Williams."

No one is harmless when they have a strong motive, Nancy thought to herself. Getting to her feet, she said, "Well, thanks for talking to us, Randy. Bess and I had better go if we're going to make it over to Russell U before lunch." Glancing across the room, she saw that the two other players had just finished their workouts and were leaving.

"Anyway, we should let you get back to your exercises," Bess added. "I know you need to be in shape for Sunday's game."

Randy lay back on the bench and rubbed his eyes wearily. Above him hung a long steel rod with round iron weight disks attached at each end. "I'm not sure a workout is going to do any good at this point," he muttered in a discouraged voice. "Don't get me wrong-there's no way I'll give in to the jerk who's threatening me. But the ironic thing is, I'm not an experienced quarterback. The chances are that the Wildcats will lose, anyway."

"Sometimes games are won from determination and sheer luck," Bess put in.

Randy shot her a grateful smile. "I know. And I'm going to play the best game of my life on Sunday." Gritting his teeth, he reached for the bar above his head and lifted it from its Y-shaped resting place.

"Good," Nancy said. "In the meantime, I'll do my best to get some answers before..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed Randy's expression change to one of shock and confusion. The rod above him was wobbling in his hands.

Suddenly the weights on the left side of the barbell slid to the end of the bar, and three of them clattered to the floor. Randy grunted as his arms flexed and shifted crazily. He tried to keep the other weights on that side from falling, but the two remaining disks did drop off, hitting the floor with a heavy metallic ringing.

Nancy realized that the weights on the right side of the barbell were now directly over Randy's head. Before she could even move, those weights started shifting toward the edge of the metal bar.

In another second the heavy iron disks were going to drop off the right side of the rod-and land directly on Randy's head!

Chapter Six.

NANCY LUNGED for the bar. Her hands. .h.i.t it just as the first weight was about to drop. She shoved with all her strength. A second later the weights dropped off the rod, bouncing off the bench a bare inch from Randy's head and hitting the floor with more metallic ringing.

"Are you all right?" Nancy asked breathlessly, helping Randy up to a sitting position. He still clutched the metal rod, and his face was bright red from exertion.

After taking a few gulps of air, he croaked out, "Yeah, I'm okay. If it weren't for you, those weights would have-I was pressing a hundred pounds!"

"How did that happen?" asked Bess, her voice filled with worry.

Nancy pointed to the steel rod. "Isn't there usually something on the ends of these things to hold the weights in place?"

Randy nodded. "There should be a bolt on each end. I guess I should have checked before I started lifting. But when I saw that the right number of weights were on, I didn't bother checking that the bolts were in place."

"What about those two guys who were here?" said Nancy. "Were they using this?"

"Darrell and Frank?" Randy shook his head. "No. I was here the whole time they were working out, and they stuck with the Nautilus equipment." He gestured to the machines. "Somebody just must have forgotten to put the bolts on."

"Unless it was rigged," Nancy pointed out. "If your attacker knew that you're one of the only people who works out at this time of day, he could have rigged the weights to fall."

"That's awful," Bess said. "Randy could have been killed!"

Meeting Randy's eyes, Nancy said soberly, "I think it's time to tell Coach Mitch.e.l.l what's going on. But first I want to talk to the trainer on duty here."

It seemed as if Randy were going to protest, but he obviously thought better of it, sighed, and said, "I guess you're right."

Slinging his towel around his neck, Randy got to his feet and led Nancy and Bess out to the hall. They found the trainer on duty in a small office behind the guard's desk. In his twenties, with freckles and curly brown hair, the trainer was sitting back in the chair, resting his feet on his desk and sipping coffee.

"What's up, Randy?" the trainer asked when he saw them. He swung his feet around and stood up.

Randy introduced Nancy and Bess to the trainer, whose name was Joey Nelson. "Nancy wanted to ask you a few questions, Joey," Randy said.

"Sure. How can I help?" Joey turned to Nancy with a smile.

"It's about the weight room," Nancy began. "Did you happen to notice anyone in there tampering with the free weights?"

Joey's reaction was skeptical. "A bunch of people were in earlier, but just the football team has had access for the past hour. I didn't notice anything unusual."

"Can you tell me who besides Randy was in the weight room today?" Nancy pressed.

"I couldn't possibly," Joey muttered, crossing his arms defensively. "I can't keep track of everyone."

Nancy stifled a sigh of frustration. "Did you check the free weights this morning?" When Joey didn't answer, she asked, "Did you check any any of the equipment this morning?" of the equipment this morning?"

Still no answer.

"What's going on here?" Joey finally asked, staring uncomfortably at first Nancy, then Randy and Bess.

Nancy tried to keep the irritation out of her voice as she told the trainer, "What's going on is that Randy was almost beaned by a hundred pounds of weights."

"Someone took the bolts off but didn't remove the weights," Randy explained.

Joey's face paled. "You okay, Randy?" Randy nodded. "Hey, I'm sorry," Joey went on, turning red. "Guess I should have been sticking closer to the weight room."

"Are you sure you didn't see anything funny or anyone acting suspiciously this morning?" Nancy asked Joey once more. "Or maybe even last night?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

Nancy thanked him, then turned to Randy. "Now, where's Coach Mitch.e.l.l's office?"

Randy was silent as he led the girls through the sports center. The coach's office was inside the men's locker room, Randy explained. After he made sure that the locker room was empty, he waved Nancy and Bess inside.

"I feel kind of funny going into a guys' locker room," Bess whispered to Nancy, giggling nervously.

Nancy shrugged, glancing at the empty wooden benches that stood between rows of shiny gray lockers. "Female reporters do it all the time," she said. "At least no one's here at the moment."

Beyond the lockers, Nancy could see into an office that was half gla.s.s and half white metal paneling. She peered through the gla.s.s in the top half and recognized Coach Mitch.e.l.l's slicked-back silver hair from the pep rally. She couldn't see his face because he was hunched over, talking into the phone. Apart from the metal desk, the office was furnished with a couple of chairs, two file cabinets, and a shelf filled with awards and trophies.

Randy went over and tapped on the gla.s.s window before opening the office door. The coach's gravelly voice floated out to them.

"That's what I said, Kyle, it's all on Sunday's game. Six to ten-" Coach Mitch.e.l.l broke off abruptly as he turned around to find Randy, Nancy, and Bess in the doorway. He cupped his hand over the receiver and opened his mouth to say something, but then he seemed to think better of it. Putting the phone back to his ear, he said, "I've got to go, Kyle."

A moment later the coach hung up the phone, turned back to them, and got to his feet. "Come on in, Randy-ladies." He was about six feet tall, Nancy guessed, with a beefy build and the beginnings of a pot belly.

They sat down in the chairs the coach indicated, and Randy introduced Nancy and Bess. "Nancy's a detective, and-"

"Oh, really?" Coach Mitch.e.l.l interrupted, amus.e.m.e.nt crossing his face. "A real private eye, huh?"

This wasn't the first time Nancy had come across someone who didn't take her seriously. She decided to ignore the comment.

"Nancy's a modern modern private eye," Bess put in. "She's solved tons of cases." private eye," Bess put in. "She's solved tons of cases."

"And I've asked her to help me," Randy said. Leaning forward, Randy told the coach about the threatening phone calls, the note, and the incident in the weight room.

"I know that everyone thought the fire was an accident," Nancy concluded, "but I'm not sure it was. Someone's trying to talk Randy into throwing the game. And since he won't agree to it, they're willing to injure him to keep him out of the lineup."

"Very interesting." The coach sat back down in his chair and folded his arms. His silver hair glimmered under the fluorescent lights as he nodded thoughtfully. "I can see why you're alarmed," he told Randy. "Those threats sound pretty nasty."

Nancy was relieved. At least the coach hadn't laughed them out of the office.

"But I still want to play in Sunday's game," Randy said with force and determination.

"Have any of the other football players received warnings about Sunday's game?" Nancy asked the coach.

Coach Mitch.e.l.l shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"What about Josh?" asked Bess. "He was quarterback for the first few games of the season, wasn't he?"

The coach waved away the suggestion. "No, that's one thing I know for certain. If anyone had crossed my son, he would have told me, just as Randy has." He shuffled some papers on his desk. "You leave this thing to me. In fact, I'm going to call Dean Jarvis right away. This could be just a prank-but we can't be too careful."

"In the meantime," Randy said, "Nancy has agreed to do some investigating." He seemed relieved that the coach hadn't said anything about pulling him from the game.

"If that's okay with you," Nancy added quickly. It would be a lot easier for her to investigate if she had his permission.

"Of course." The coach winked at her. "It can't hurt to have a lady detective on our side, right?"

His att.i.tude grated on Nancy's nerves, but she didn't indicate how she felt. She just smiled pleasantly at him. Whether or not any coach believed in her detective abilities, she was going to crack this case.