Ned and Bess came into the locker room and sat on a bench opposite Nancy. “If all these events are related—and that’s still an if,” she began, “then someone had to be close enough to drop drugs in Randy’s water bottle, pour kerosene on the wooden platform, and rig that barbell in the weight room.”
“So the culprit is probably someone who can move about freely on campus,” Bess surmised.
“Right,” said Nancy. “Someone like Danielle Graves. Or Tamara Carlson. Both girls had access to the platform and to the weight room.”
“But what about the drugs?” Bess pointed out. “Do you think any of those girls could talk her way into the guys’ locker room?”
“That would be tough,” Ned said.
“Maybe they didn’t have to,” Nancy suggested. “They were on the field this afternoon, at cheerleading practice. Susannah was there, too. If Tamara or Susannah is working with Zip, that gives them motive and opportunity.
“There are two team members we should keep in mind, too,” Nancy added. “Josh and his father.”
“Coach?” Ned’s expression was extremely skeptical. “I don’t know about that, Nan.”
“He and Josh have a reason to want Randy off the roster,” Nancy pointed out. She told Ned and Bess about the conversation she’d overheard between Coach Mitchell and Dean Jarvis. “If Randy’s out of the running, the coach has a shot at getting his son in as quarterback in Sunday’s game.”
“But he and Josh are one of the most sought-after athletic combos in college football,” Ned protested.
Bess turned to Ned and asked, “Where were they before they came to Emerson?”
“Last year they were at Baldwin State,” he answered. “Their team made it to the state finals. And Jerry says the Wildcats have a good chance of making it to the finals this year. At least, they did before Josh was put on probation.”
Bess had been counting on her fingers as Nancy spoke. Now holding up her hand, she said, “Nan, that makes six suspects!”
“And we have very little time to figure out who is guilty,” Nancy added soberly. “The homecoming game is the day after tomorrow.”
Just then Josh Mitchell jogged in and grabbed a towel from his locker. Covered in sweat and breathing hard, he had obviously been working out. He said hello to Ned, then froze as his gaze lit on Nancy and Bess.
“Girls!” Josh made a point of looking around. “Hey, did I walk into the wrong locker room?” he teased.
“We were, uh, just on our way out,” Nancy said cautiously. She didn’t want them to draw attention to her investigation.
“Nancy Drew and Bess, right?” Josh said, smiling. “Don’t leave because of me. I’m going right back to the weight room. I just came in to grab a towel.” Looking at Nancy, he added, “Dad told me about your investigation. He said—”
Josh was interrupted by a loud rumbling from the wall near the shower room. For a moment the entire room seemed to shake. Then, just as suddenly, the rumbling subsided.
“What was that?” Bess inquired.
“Believe it or not, that was the boiler kicking on,” Josh explained, wiping his forehead with his towel. “My father has been trying to get that thing fixed for months. They say it’s safe, but it sounds awful.”
Bess giggled nervously. “I thought we were having an earthquake.”
Josh slung the towel around his neck and faced Nancy. “As I was saying, Dad told me about Randy’s close call in the weight room. We’re all upset about him passing out this afternoon, too. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll help you in any way I can. If you need a hand, just yell.”
“Thanks for the offer,” Nancy told him. “At the moment there’s only one question I’d like you to answer. Did anyone ever threaten you before you went on academic probation?”
“Nope.” Josh shook his head. “Never.”
Hmm, thought Nancy. Apparently, the attacker was only interested in having Emerson lose the homecoming game. And whoever it was was willing to take drastic steps to make sure the Wildcats didn’t win.
Nancy checked her watch. “Oops! We’d better get back to our room and change, Bess. It’s already seven-thirty.”