“Hmmm. Besides the ramp they closed off?”
“Yes.”
“Let me think.” There was a long pause. Nancy had to force herself not to tell him to hurry. She closed her eyes and waited.
“Well, there may be. It’s been a long time, so I’m not sure.”
“Tell me anyway,” Nancy said, prompting him.
“When the parking garage first opened, there were attendants who took your car and parked it for you. They used a conveyor elevator to get up and down to the different levels.”
“A conveyor elevator?”
“It’s like one long, moving ladder. All it would have is platforms big enough for your feet, and handholds. If you hop on it from one side, it would take you up—”
“And on the other side, you’d go down,” Nancy interrupted excitedly. “But they don’t use parking attendants anymore. Would the electricity still be on?”
“I doubt it. But if the conveyor’s still there—if they didn’t dismantle it, I mean—it would be stationary. You might be able to climb down it.”
“It’s worth a try,” Nancy said. “Mr. Tyler, thank you so much.”
She hung up immediately and called Ned. The line was busy, so she dialed Bess. “Oh, it’s you,” her friend said. She didn’t sound very happy to hear from Nancy.
“Listen, Bess,” Nancy said hurriedly. “They’ve moved my dad’s pretrial hearing to today—”
“What?”
“Two o’clock this afternoon. Will you let Ann know and get her there on time? He’s going to need a cheering section, and I know she’ll want to be there.”
“She’s not at home,” Bess said. “I figured you’d know where she was, since you two have gotten so tight.”
“Huh?” Nancy said.
“Well, you obviously didn’t want me along last night. I know she’s bright and fun and all, but we’ve known each other—”
Fear pierced Nancy. “Bess, what do you mean I didn’t want you along last night?”
“Well, what else could I think? Your message was as plain as day.”
Nancy gritted her teeth. “What message, Bess?”
“You didn’t leave a message for Ann last night?”
“What message, Bess?”
Sudden panic made her friend’s voice squeaky. “Ann said you’d left a message at the Morning Record that you wanted her to wait for you in the newspaper parking lot at eleven last night. You wanted her to come alone, and you’d pick her up in your cab.”
Nancy shivered, chilled to the bone. “They’re on to me,” she said. “They know I drive a cab. Somehow I blew my cover.”
“Oh, no!” Bess said.
“That’s not the worst. Reston was showing my dispatcher something in the back seat of a cab last night. And he said something about ‘after Granger talks.’ It must have been Ann in the cab!”
“Nancy, call the police!”
“I don’t have any proof! I didn’t actually see her. They aren’t going to raid what they think is a reputable business on my say-so.”
“What can we do?”
“Meet me at the parking garage, Bennett Street entrance, in half an hour. Reston drove the cab down to the basement. She may still be there.”
“I’m on my way,” Bess said and hung up.
Ned’s line was still busy. Desperate, Nancy asked an operator to break in. “This is an emergency!” she cried.
The operator must have heard the panic in her voice, because she gave her no argument.
After an interminable wait, the operator came on again. “Sorry. There is no one on the line. It must be out of order. I’ll report it.”
It’s off the hook, Nancy thought. Well, there was nothing she could do about it. It was time to go. With or without Ned, she would have to get into that basement in broad daylight.
Chapter Fifteen
Nancy spent the drive to the parking garage trying to figure out how she had slipped up. How could she have blown her cover? Bess was waiting at the Bennett Street entrance when she arrived, so Nancy decided to think about it later.
“Where’s Ned?” Bess asked.
“I couldn’t get him. I’m pretty sure his phone is off the hook. Hannah said she’d go and get him for me.”
“Okay. What are we doing?”
“First we find a conveyor elevator.”