“I know. Got to . . . to get to a hospital,” he echoed weakly. “Listen . . . the one you’re looking for is . . . is . . .”
Nancy bit her lip. Talking was obviously draining his strength. He should stop, yet she wanted him to continue! He was about to say something important, she felt. Something vital to the case!
“Get away from him!” barked a commanding voice suddenly. “Make room! Make room! We’ve got to get him on this stretcher!”
The ambulance had arrived, and with it was Ed Riggs, the team doctor Nancy had met the first day on campus.
“Hurry! Get that thing over here!” Dr. Riggs shouted to the ambulance crew. “And you . . . Miss Drew! What do you think you’re doing? Get away from him this instant!”
“Sorry.” Embarrassed, Nancy rose and backed away. Quickly the medics lifted Mike and wheeled him to the ambulance. A moment later it was speeding to the hospital, its siren wailing.
The small crowd of people nearby began to disperse. Pat Burnett and Dr. Riggs hurried to the doctor’s car for the ride to the hospital. Nancy planned to follow them in her Mustang, but first she had to check something out.
Backing away from the building, she glanced up at the roofline. There was a tubular metal railing up there, she noticed. It was about three or four feet high. Had Mike fallen over it accidentally? No way. The logical explanation was a lot simpler—and a lot more disturbing.
Mike had been pushed!
At the hospital, Nancy found Bess, George, and most of the team members already there, as well as several fans and faculty members.
The outpouring of concern for Mike made her ashamed. Ned wasn’t the only one who believed hi him, she could see. Others admired and respected him, too. How could she have been so wrong?
She had been wrong, of course. Mike hadn’t pushed himself off that roof. Someone else had. The practical joker? Maybe, maybe not. Whoever it was, he had tried to kill Mike in order to keep him from spilling what he knew. It was obvious now that Mike was involved in something far bigger than she had imagined.
But what was it? A conspiracy against the team? Against the whole college? There was no way to know, and that infuriated her. Some detective she was turning out to be!
A short while later, Jan Teller arrived. When Ned told her what had happened to Mike, the petite brunette sank onto a couch and burst into tears. A hush fell over the room.
Silently, Ned sat down next to her and put his arms around her.
For what seemed like hours, they waited for some word from the doctors. At one point, Ray Ungar came in and sat quietly with his former teammates, confirming Nancy’s belief that his loyalty to the team was genuine. It was no compensation.
At another point, Nancy tried to comfort Ned. He was alone now on a sofa, hunched over, his head in his hands. Nancy sat next to him and lightly placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Ned, I—”
He shrugged her off. Daggers seemed to shoot from his eyes as he turned to her. “Forget it, Nancy. There isn’t anything you can say.”
“I know, but I still want you to know that I’m sorry. Mike is your friend.”
“You finally noticed, huh? Well, congratulations,” he spat.
“Ned, please don’t be like this.”
“Why not? You never believed in him. For all I know you may still think he’s responsible for all those pranks.”
“I—” Nancy hesitated, uncertain of what to say. “Well, I do think one thing,” she said finally. “This case isn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.”
“Brilliant, Nancy. Absolutely brilliant. Anybody can see that!”
Ned’s sarcasm stung, but she deserved it, Nancy supposed. If she had done her work better, then maybe they wouldn’t all be sitting in this emergency room right now!
Finally, a white-coated doctor appeared. Heads turned toward him. Ned and Jan leapt up simultaneously and rushed over to the man. “How is he?” Ned asked.
“His condition is serious, but he’s stable,” the doctor announced.