“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 glass doors of Worldwide Broadcasting, Nancy and Bess beamed at the security guard.
“Hi!” Nancy called out. “We’re back again.”
“Why, hello, 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 glass 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.”