"Hi, Bess," she said into the receiver.

But it wasn't Bess. A raspy electronic voice warned her, "Stay away from Rick Arlen, Nancy Drew! And tell your little friend she'd better stay away, too!" With that, the phone line went dead in Nancy's trembling hand.

Chapter Eleven.

"BY APPOINTMENT ONLY!" "Put Your Picture And Resume Under The Door!" "Do Not Ring Buzzer Without An Appointment!"

Nancy read the signs and gulped. Although she'd called earlier and left a message on Dwayne's answering machine, Nancy felt she'd have a better chance of seeing him if she went in person. But getting inside Dwayne Casper's office wasn't exactly going to be easy.

With a sigh and a deep breath, she pressed the buzzer. For a moment it was so quiet that she wondered whether anybody was in the office at all. Then, crisp footsteps sounded on the other side of the door.

"Do you have an appointment?" Dwayne's voice was all business.

"Well, no," Nancy replied. "Not exactly."

"In that case, I suggest you learn to read!"

"But, Mr. Casper!" Nancy said in her most polite voice. "I left a message on your machine. Mattie Jensen said you would talk to me. My name is Diane Elliot...."

Nancy heard a click as he unlocked the door. It swung open, and a smiling Dwayne Casper greeted her. "Well, why didn't you just say you're a friend of Mattie's?" he asked. "Come in! You must understand that if I opened the door to every struggling actor in this town, I'd never be able to get any work done."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Casper," Nancy said, sounding grateful. In the front reception area was a large empty desk. No receptionist, Nancy noted.

"Right this way," Dwayne said with a sugary smile. He led her into his plush office. "How do you know Mattie?"

"Oh, well, I was an extra on 'Danner's Dream,' and she was kind enough to talk to me. She did say she'd call you about me. But I guess she got busy." That much was true Nancy thought.

Dwayne settled into his chair and looked at her appraisingly. "So you know Luther Parks too?"

"Well, no. Not personally, that is."

"I see. Has Mattie ever seen your work? Apart from extra work, that is."

Here we go, Nancy thought. Time to start lying-and lying big. "Oh, yes," she a.s.sured him. "We did a production of The Sound of Music The Sound of Music together in the Midwest. Mattie played the oldest daughter, and I played one of the younger children." together in the Midwest. Mattie played the oldest daughter, and I played one of the younger children."

An amused look pa.s.sed over Dwayne's face. "That must have been at least eight years ago. Mattie wasn't more than a kid herself, back then. Unfortunately, I couldn't see that production."

I know, Nancy thought. That's what Mattie told me.

Dwayne leaned back in his swivel chair. He seemed warm now, even friendly. "So, let me guess, you've come to the big city because you want to be a real actress."

Delighted that the agent had bought, her story, Nancy threw herself into her real-life acting role. "Yes, sir," she answered breathlessly.

"Well, well, well- What shall we do about that?" Dwayne pursed his lips, thinking. Then he stood up, walked to the door, and locked it. "So we won't be disturbed," he explained.

A sudden chill made its way down Nancy's spine. If the electronic voice on the phone yesterday had been Dwayne's, she was now trapped.

"What did you say your name was?" Dwayne had a pen poised over a small pink index card.

"Diane Elliot," Nancy said, looking the agent squarely in the eye. "With two L Ls and one T T."

"That's a good name for an actress. You're lucky." He smiled. "Now tell me, Diane, why did you come to me? There are hundreds of agents in this city."

"Well, Mattie spoke so highly of you, Mr. Casper," Nancy began. Dwayne's face grew pink with pleasure. "And I know you once represented Rick Arlen-"

At the mention of Rick's name, the agent's face clouded over. "Ah, yes, the irrepressible Mr. A."

"He's not with you anymore, is he?" Nancy was being bolder than she liked to be, but she had to lead Dwayne on.

"Rick? His real name is Richard Aburtuski, by the way. No, he's no longer one of my clients. I don't deal with failures, Ms. Elliot."

Nancy looked genuinely surprised. Dwayne laughed derisively. "You think I'm being ridiculous-after all, he's at the height of success! But I can tell you with certainty that leaving this agency is the biggest mistake Arlen ever made-except for his decision to be an actor, of course. The man can't act his way out of a paper bag. He depends on his looks to get him by, but he'll learn. They all learn eventually that the biggest factor in success is loyalty. And he has none."

Dwayne's face was red with anger. He wasn't through on the subject of Rick Arlen, but just then the buzzer rang. "Whoever it is will go away," he said. "I have no appointments scheduled today."

The buzzer rang through the office once again, and then again and again. Finally Dwayne couldn't stand it anymore. He bolted from his chair and unlocked the door. "I'm going to tell this idiot to go away. Do you have an appointment?" he yelled, hurrying through the reception area. "Because if you don't, you'd better learn to read!"

"But, Mr. Casper! You must must see me!" Bess's voice was m.u.f.fled through the door, but her sense of urgency came through loud and clear. "I'm a really great actress and I need an agent! Let me read for you, Mr. Casper, and you can judge for yourself!" see me!" Bess's voice was m.u.f.fled through the door, but her sense of urgency came through loud and clear. "I'm a really great actress and I need an agent! Let me read for you, Mr. Casper, and you can judge for yourself!"

Laughing bitterly, Dwayne called through the door. "Young lady, I'm a very busy man, and I don't handle street performers. Please leave me alone."

"But I'm an actress actress! Just listen." Bess began to recite a pa.s.sage from Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet.

Good old Bess, Nancy thought with a smile. She really was quite an actress when she had to be. They had devised a plan: After Nancy was able to get inside Dwayne's office, Bess would divert his attention so that Nancy could search it. As soon as Dwayne was out of sight in the reception area, Nancy began to rummage through the papers on his desk. The longer Bess was able to divert his attention from Nancy, the more Nancy would be able to find out. And from the sound of things, Nancy thought she just might have all day.

"And I sing, too! Just listen to this, Mr. Casper." Bess launched into a well-known show tune in a loud, off-key voice.

"Please, young woman!" Dwayne begged. "Why don't you go sing in the park or something? You're giving me a headache!"

Aha! Nancy's eyes opened wide as she looked at the papers in front of her. An eviction notice-and several large bills from creditors. Searching further, she found warnings from collection agencies, even threats. Dwayne Casper's talent agency was obviously in desperate trouble.

"But, Mr. Casper, I'm the next Mattie Jensen! Everyone says I look just like her, except I'm prettier."

"What?" Dwayne exploded. "n.o.body, but n.o.body n.o.body, ever was," is, or will be prettier than Mattie Jensen! Mattie is one of a kind-absolutely unique!"

Nancy c.o.c.ked her head to listen. It was clear to her that, where Mattie was concerned, Dwayne's interest was more than just professional.

"Well, I'm unique, too, Mr. Casper-terribly unique and incredibly talented!"

"My dear young woman"-Dwayne was practically screaming now-"if you don't leave at once, I'll call the police. And may I say in parting that with your nerve, you'll probably go far in this business!"

Quickly Nancy put everything back in the desk exactly where she'd found it. When Dwayne returned, he was trying hard to calm down.

"I'm sorry. Now, where were we before that ghastly woman interrupted us?"

Nancy shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Dwayne's eyes had a wild look in them, and having found what she'd come for, all she wanted to do was get out as quickly as she could.

"You know, Mr. Casper, I feel like such a fool, but I just remembered-I've got an appointment with a photographer in fifteen minutes! He's going to take head shots of me."

"Oh, I see," Dwayne replied, still smiling. "Well, is he any good? Maybe I know him. What's his name?"

"His name? Uh-" Nancy panicked for a moment. What could she say? Finally she blurted out, "Ned Nickerson. He's new in town-just got in from L.A. But Mattie says he's good."

"Hmmm." Dwayne frowned. "Never heard of him. Well, Diane, come and see me when you've got your pictures. I'll see what I can do for you." He extended his hand for her to shake. His grip was firm, like iron, and his eyes searched hers intently.

"Come to think of it, have we met before? You look a bit familiar," Dwayne said.

"Well, we've never actually met," she replied, "but as I said before, I did do extra work on 'Danner's Dream'."

"That must be it, then," he said. "You'd better get going if you don't want to be late for your shoot. Look forward to seeing you again, Ms. Elliot."

"Thank you so much. You've been a great help!" Nancy said and left the office.

Down in the lobby, Bess was munching on a candy bar and smiling broadly. "How'd I do?" she mumbled, her mouth full of chocolate.

"Bravo!" Nancy applauded, laughing. "I especially loved your rendition of 'Tonight.' It was-different, very different."

"You really think so?" asked Bess, fluffing her hair and winking.

"And wait till I tell you what I found!" Nancy said, grabbing her friend by the arm. "But we'd better get over to 'Danner's Dream' right away. I want Mattie to hear this, too."

The crisp spring air whirled around them as they walked briskly up Broadway toward Columbus Avenue.

"He's really in bad shape, huh?" Bess asked incredulously after Nancy filled her in.

"Everybody in the world is after him. And when people are that desperate, it can make them pretty crazy. I want to keep a close eye on Dwayne Casper, Bess. I think he may be our man."

Pushing through the gla.s.s doors of Worldwide Broadcasting, Nancy and Bess beamed at the security guard.

"Hi!" Nancy called out. "We're back again."

"Why, h.e.l.lo, girls. You heard the set was closed, didn't you?" the man asked. "They've been having a little trouble in there and Pappas sent down the order. I can't let anybody in, not even you two."

"I know," Nancy told him. "But could you call Mattie Jensen? We just need to talk to her for a few minutes."

The security guard ran his finger down the list of telephone extensions on his desk. "Sure thing. Mattie, let's see- Ah! Here it is."

But before he had a chance to pick up the intercom, he was interrupted by the boom of a powerful explosion. The sound of shattering gla.s.s tore through the air, followed by a bloodcurdling scream.

"Nancy!" gasped Bess in terror. "That was Rick!"

Chapter Twelve.

WITHOUT WAITING FOR permission, Nancy and Bess followed the security guard backstage. Losing themselves in a mob of people, the girls made their way toward Rick's dressing room.

The lighting designer had been the first to reach the room itself. "Call an ambulance!" he bellowed frantically.

Nancy and Bess arrived a minute later and watched in shock as Kay Wills, the makeup artist, staggered down the hall toward them. Her skin was ashen, and she was trembling all over. Choking back tears, she turned around and sobbed, "It's bad-really bad."

Nancy stood on tiptoe and craned her neck to see inside Rick's dressing room. The first thing that caught her eye was the wide mirror over the makeup table. It had been shattered into a thousand pieces!

An emergency medical team had arrived, and they were on their way up the hall now, pushing aside the crowd of onlookers. "Make room!" Nancy called, flattening herself against the wall.

"Rick! Oh, where is he?" Bess cried frantically. She bit the back of her hand as she strained to get a good look. Just then, Rick appeared in the doorway. He had a stunned look on his face. His blond hair had been blown every which way, and the white towel around his shoulders was stained bright red. Looking down, Nancy gasped-Rick's hands were bleeding!

As soon as the paramedics saw him, they broke into a run. Gathering around him, they picked him up and laid him on a stretcher. They began pulling slivers of gla.s.s out of his hands as Rick winced in pain.

"Back off, everybody!" one of the paramedics shouted as the crowd began to press in on them again. In what seemed like just a few seconds, they had finished their immediate task and lifted the stretcher. They carried the wounded star down the hall, out of the building, and into a waiting ambulance.

Once Rick was gone, the bystanders milled around, not knowing what to do. The police arrived and began inspecting the scene, interviewing people, and collecting evidence.

Nancy walked over to Kay, who was now sitting on the floor in a corner of the hall. She still looked pale as a ghost.

"What happened, Kay?" Nancy asked gently, crouching down beside her.

"He was w-wiping off h-his cold cream-" Kay stammered, staring off into s.p.a.ce. "And the mirror just exploded! Thank G.o.d he had that towel over his face. He'd be blind-worse, maybe. And I was just on my way in there-it could have been me, too!"

A few minutes later, while police combed the area for clues, Pappas a.s.sembled the cast and crew.

"Listen up! I have a report from the hospital about Rick." The excited buzzing died down as the producer's voice boomed out into the vast studio.

"He's going to be okay. They said it looked a lot worse than it really was, and that they're going to release him tonight. His hands will be bandaged for a while, of course, but we can work around that. I've already contacted our writers to come up with some material that'll explain his bandaged hands. If we can't work this into the story line somehow, Luther will just stick to closeups. In any case, we're not going to let this shut us down. As far as I'm concerned, you're all still under contract, and that includes Rick. I want everybody back here tomorrow at seven sharp!"

Just then the police officer who had been examining Rick's dressing room let out a long low whistle. "Hey, chief! Look what we found!"

The policeman held up a small metal object. "It's a twenty-four-hour timer. Whoever set this up must have done it yesterday."

Pappas, standing a few feet away, nearly choked. "That's impossible! This set is closed down tight on Sunday. I even hired extra security. My own mother couldn't have gotten in here!"