"Which means," said the chief, "that it was probably an inside job."

Now Nancy finally had a definite lead. She could rule out Dwayne Casper. He couldn't have gotten onto the set to plant the bomb.

But that left her with only two other suspects-Pappas and Lillian. Their faces floated in front of her tightly shut eyes as she leaned against the wall, trying to concentrate amid the confusion.

Nancy shook her head and opened her eyes. She was back at square one with a dangerous killer still on the loose right under her nose! I've got to get put of here, she suddenly realized.

Quickly, Nancy sprang up and elbowed her way through a group of technicians hovering by the studio door. "Come on," she shouted to Bess. "We've got to go!"

Pulling her friend by the arm, Nancy made straight for the front exit. But she stopped short when she saw Lillian standing directly in front of her, a smug smile on her face. "I'm way ahead of you, Miss Teen Detective," she said, smirking. "Way ahead."

"What's wrong with her?" Bess wanted to know as they hailed a taxi on the corner. "She gives me the creeps."

Nancy didn't answer. She told the cab driver the name of the hospital as they piled in. "And hurry," she added.

Stepping off the elevator on the fifth floor, Nancy and Bess had no trouble finding Rick's room. It was the one with the two police officers in front of it.

Oh, well, thought Nancy, at least he's safe in there. Still, she couldn't help feeling as though she had failed miserably. The police were in on the case now, so there wasn't much point in continuing her investigation. And besides, she hadn't managed to come up with very much, had she?

"Sorry, miss. You can't go in this room," one of the officers told Bess when she tried to enter.

"I must see Rick," Bess said frantically.

"A Miss Jensen's in there with Mr. Arlen now."

Bess froze. "Oh. I see-" she finally managed to say. "Has she been there very long?"

"Ever since we got here, miss. About half an hour." He cracked open the door to look inside. "Seems like she might be awhile longer, too."

Bess stepped back, staring anxiously at the half-open door. Through it, she could hear Rick's voice. And it was not the voice of a confident TV star.

"Mattie! Oh, Mattie, I'm so scared. Someone really is trying to kill me!"

"Don't worry, my darling," she replied in a soft voice. "The police are here. They'll protect you."

"You know, Mattie, you were right all along. You were the only one who saw the truth. Mattie, if I come out of this mess alive, I swear I'm going to make everything up to you. I need you, Mattie, I need you so badly-no one else ever meant a thing to me. You're the only one I've ever loved!"

"I've heard enough!" Bess turned and ran down the hall, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Bess! Bess, wait!" Nancy called after her.

"Leave me alone!" She was fighting back her tears but losing the battle. "I can't believe it," she sobbed. "I just can't believe it!"

Nancy started to go after Bess but thought better of it. Right then Bess needed to work this out on her own. But Nancy wondered about the force of her friend's reaction. What was it about this guy that caused women to fall instantly in love with him?

Mattie and Rick had stopped talking, and the police officer silently closed the door again. No sense waiting around, Nancy decided.

Out on the sidewalk, Nancy found Bess. Her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g over with tears, and her mascara was smeared all over her face. She looked utterly forlorn.

"Come on, Bess. Let's go home," Nancy suggested, gently taking her friend's hand. Bess nodded listlessly, allowing herself to be led.

The two friends were silent all the way back to Eloise's apartment. Looking over at Bess, Nancy wished she could comfort her somehow. She knew that Bess really hurt. Bess's brave hero had turned out to be not so brave after all. And worse than that, he was in love with someone else.

As they got out of the cab, Nancy caught sight of her aunt Eloise entering the building. "Hi, Aunt Eloise," she called as she hurried up to greet her.

"Hi, Nancy-Bess," she said as they entered the building. "Did you have a nice day?"

"You're never going to believe what happened today," Bess said in a soft voice. She had finally gotten control of herself.

"Well, as soon as we get upstairs, let's kick off our shoes and relax, and you can tell me all about it," Eloise replied, moving toward the mailboxes.

The three were in the mail alcove when Eloise looked down and spotted a small box wrapped in brown paper on the package table. She glanced at it and scooped it up. "Nancy, it's addressed to you," she said, noticing it had no stamps.

As she started to hand it to Nancy, she froze.

The box was ticking!

Chapter Thirteen.

NANCY SPRANG INTO action. "Bess, get on the house phone and get someone to call the police."

While Bess was contacting a neighbor, Nancy and Eloise examined the package. "I think the ticking sounds different now," Nancy's aunt said in a frightened whisper. She was still holding the box, but now in trembling hands. "Let's take it outside."

Slowly and calmly, the two went out of the building and walked to the curb. As soon as they had stopped and put the box down, two police bomb-squad officers arrived. It didn't take them long to discover that the box contained an ordinary, harmless alarm clock.

"I've never been so happy to see an alarm clock in my entire life." Nancy's aunt smiled with relief and clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking.

"Somebody went to a lot of trouble to scare your niece, ma'am. And from the sound of this note, that person is serious."

"'Last warning, Nancy Drew, leave town now now,'" the officer read.

"Nancy, I think maybe we should should get back to River Heights today." Bess had rejoined them and stood listening as the note was read. get back to River Heights today." Bess had rejoined them and stood listening as the note was read.

"Bess is right, Nancy. This is serious. Your father would never forgive me if anything happened to you while you were here. Worse, I would never forgive myself. In fact, after the officers leave, I'm calling the airport."

Eloise, Nancy, and Bess thanked the men, and they turned and headed back into the building and up to Eloise's apartment.

Nancy bit her lip. "Wait a minute, Aunt Eloise," she said, trying to stop her aunt from calling the airport. She knew her aunt was only trying to protect her, but how could she leave New York while a dangerous killer was still after Rick? Even if he wasn't the greatest guy in the world, he didn't deserve to die. And obviously, the killer was getting closer and closer. Next time he might succeed.

"Our tickets are for the day after tomorrow," she called out as her aunt was about to lift the phone. "Maybe I can solve the case before then."

"Forget it, Nancy. I'm not going to let you risk your life-not even for a couple more days." Eloise sounded definite. "And besides, the police are on the case now."

"She's probably right, Nancy," Bess agreed.

"Wait a minute, everybody." Nancy was groping for the right words. "You can't ask me to just walk away from this! A man's life is in danger!"

They looked back at her with questioning stares, unconvinced.

"How about this-I promise that if I don't come up with any answers by tomorrow, I'll go straight back to River Heights as we planned originally. But honestly, I could never live with myself if I knew I'd walked away when I could have helped."

Eloise looked down at the floor. Nancy had gotten to her. Bess, despite everything, had to smile. Sleuthing was in Nancy's blood.

"All right, Nancy," Eloise said reluctantly. "I do have only myself to blame-I did introduce you to Mattie."

"Thanks, Aunt Eloise," Nancy cried warmly, throwing her arms around the older woman's shoulders. "You're a peach, you know that?"

"Some peach. I invite you to New York for a vacation, and you wind up running all over town, tracking down a murderer. And getting bomb threats delivered to your door!"

"He or she is not not a murderer-not yet, anyway," Nancy said. "n.o.body's been killed, and I hope we can keep it that way. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's something I've got to take care of right away." a murderer-not yet, anyway," Nancy said. "n.o.body's been killed, and I hope we can keep it that way. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's something I've got to take care of right away."

"Who's there?" came Mattie's surprised voice in response to Nancy's knock.

"It's me. May I come in?"

"Oh, Nancy," Mattie said when she opened the door. "Wasn't it awful?" Mattie looked exhausted. Obviously, she had just been through quite an ordeal. "Come on in," she added distractedly. "Sorry the place is such a mess. I just got back from the hospital."

"How's Rick doing?" Nancy asked.

"He's going to be okay. But-oh, Nancy, his hands! They hurt him terribly. I just can't believe he's actually going to do the show tomorrow."

"What?" she gasped. "Tomorrow?"

Nancy was truly amazed-he had sounded so frightened at the hospital. I have to give him a lot of credit, she thought. He really was brave.

"Pappas showed up at the hospital. He just burst in past the guards. I was there for the whole thing. He couldn't stop apologizing for this and all the other things that have been happening on the set lately. He even promised to hire Rick a bodyguard and to get some plainclothes detectives to be at the studio until this whole thing is over. But Rick said something about loyalty to his fellow actors, and just shrugged it off and told Pappas he'd be back at work tomorrow. As shaken up as Rick was, he just couldn't say no." She sighed miserably.

"I don't know how I'm going to get through tomorrow," she said. "I'm so worried about him. Oh, Nancy, what am I going to do? If he's killed, I'll just-I'll-oh, I don't know what I'll do!" Mattie seemed to be on the brink of hysteria.

"Hold on, Mattie. It's going to be okay," said Nancy, trying to comfort her. "I'm still here, and I've got one more day in town. I haven't given up yet."

Mattie looked into Nancy's eyes, and a glimmer of hope showed on her face. "You-you mean it?"

"Mmm-hmm. Maybe I'm not exactly closer to solving this case, but I sure know a lot more than when I started. And I'll do my best for you until it's time for me to leave," Nancy a.s.sured her. "Please don't worry."

But what Nancy didn't tell Mattie was that she was hoping the criminal would try again and this time make a mistake-the kind of mistake he or she had managed to avoid until then. Her experience showed that most criminals tripped themselves up sooner or later.

"Oh, I hope you're right," Mattie said with a nervous laugh. "I guess I'd better get you and Bess hired on as extras again, huh?"

When it was all arranged, Mattie went back to the hospital to get Rick, and Nancy went back upstairs for a quiet dinner with her aunt and Bess.

Just before turning in, she went into the empty living room, picked up the phone, and dialed. She was in luck.

"Twice in one week?" came Ned's familiar voice. "What's going on, Nancy? Could this be true love?"

Nancy giggled, with a wave of warm feeling pa.s.sing over her. Good old Ned. He was just what she needed right then-the voice of sanity. "You know I love you," she said with a laugh. "But thanks for trying to be funny. I can use a little humor right now."

"Things aren't going too well there, are they?"

"That's putting it mildly," she said, and told him the latest developments in the case.

Ned tried to sound comforting. "Look, Nancy, I've known you for a long time, right?"

"Forever," she replied.

"And in all that time, I've never seen you blow a case. So just hang in there. You'll figure it out."

"But, Ned, I have only one more day!" she protested.

"Something will happen, and the pieces will all fall into place. You'll solve this one, I know you will, Detective Drew."

"Well, I'm glad somebody thinks so." She sighed, not really convinced. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, though."

"And, Nancy..."

"Yes, Ned?"

"Be careful, okay? I'd hate to have anything happen to you."

Once again, the girls were slated to play nurses. Rick's injuries had been written into the script. In the new new story line, Rory, in a fit of despair, would try to throw himself out a window. He would be rescued, but not before he had cut his hands to pieces and had to be taken to the hospital. story line, Rory, in a fit of despair, would try to throw himself out a window. He would be rescued, but not before he had cut his hands to pieces and had to be taken to the hospital.

"Nancy! How do I look?" Bess asked later that day. Twirling around in her nurse's uniform, she fluffed her red wig carefully so the pert white nurse's cap wouldn't fall off. Her heart didn't seem half as badly broken since she had found out she'd be working on "Danner's Dream" again that day. She even had a "silent bit"-she was the nurse who would greet Serena when she arrived at the hospital.

"I called my mother to make sure she'd tape the program," Bess said excitedly. "Then I can take it around to casting directors and stuff."

Nancy smiled at her friend. Even in the middle of all this craziness, she was still managing to have a good time. Of course, her fun was tempered by her feelings for Rick. Whenever she saw him on the set, she turned and purposely avoided him.

"Oh, and you know what? I found out that that lady with gla.s.ses and clipboard over there is the casting director," Bess whispered, pulling Nancy by the arm. "I'm going to go hang around her for a while. You never can tell, Nancy, this could be it it. And won't Rick feel like a fool when I become a bigger star than he ever was!"