“You’re wanted for questioning down at the station.”
Chapter Twelve
“What’s going on?” Tamara demanded to know, placing a hand protectively on Zip’s arm.
“I didn’t do anything.” Zip shook himself free of Officer Pulaski’s grip.
“We’re not arresting you,” the gray-haired man told Zip. “We just want to ask you a few questions.”
Nancy could see the fury in Zip’s black eyes, but he managed to restrain himself. “I’ll cooperate,” he said firmly, “but I’m telling you, I know nothing about Josh.”
Tamara watched tearfully as her boyfriend left with the officers. Then she turned and ran from the oval.
“How awful!” Bess said. “I don’t know about you, but that just made me lose my enthusiasm for the fair.”
“Me, too,” Nancy agreed. “I can’t believe they’ll hold him, though. Anyway, we have to go meet Ned and Jerry for lunch.”
Soon they were sitting with the guys in the student center, their plates piled high with Mexican food.
“I feel sorry for Zip,” Bess was saying as she spooned chili into her mouth, “but I don’t know what to believe—especially since he disappeared right before the masked man struck.”
“What did you say?” Nancy asked suddenly, pausing with a nacho in midair.
“Zip disappeared from the oval,” Bess repeated. “You remember how we saw him walking with Tamara on the way over to the fair? Well, a little while later I saw him jog off along the path beside Ivy Hall. He still hadn’t returned when you ran off to help Josh.”
“So Zip doesn’t have an alibi,” Nancy said excitedly, thinking aloud. “This changes everything. Zip could be the masked man.”
“He must be the one behind all these threats!” Jerry said excitedly.
Nancy nodded. “If he worked with Susannah or Tamara, they could get access to the Wildcats’ equipment—and to the weight room.”
Jerry put down his soda and snapped his fingers. “It’s got to be him.”
“Whoa, buddy!” Ned said, putting up a hand. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Does he match the description that Josh gave to the police?”
“Perfectly,” Nancy told him, “except for the ski mask, but he could have easily ditched that. Isn’t it funny that Zip didn’t wear his red-and-white Russell team jacket today? It would have stood out more than dark clothing. But if he was planning a crime, his team jacket would have been a dead giveaway.”
Ned bit into a chip with salsa on it, then said, “There’s only one problem. Why would Zip attack Josh when he’s not even going to be playing in the game?”
“I wondered the same thing,” said Nancy. “Maybe the attacker was using Josh to send a message to the whole team. You know, what happened to him could happen to any of them. In any case, I think Jerry’s on the right track,” she continued. “With Zip at the police station, half the case might be solved.”
“What about the other half?” asked Bess.
“That’s our job,” Nancy said with a smile. At last it seemed that the investigation was coming together. “It’s time to pay Tamara Carlson’s room a little visit.”
After lunch the guys headed out to take care of final preparations for the float parade. The wind had died down, and Nancy felt warm as she and Bess went back to Packard Hall.
As they passed through the lobby of the dorm, Nancy spotted Danielle Graves sitting on a sofa in the lounge. She was nose to nose with a football player, who seemed smitten with her fluttering lashes and lilting laughter.
“Did you see that?” Bess whispered as soon as they were in the elevator.
“Looks like Danielle has gotten over Randy,” Nancy said with a smile. “I’m beginning to rule her out as a suspect. There’s no way she could have made that attack on Josh in the library. Besides, we didn’t find anything in her room.”
When they reached the fifth floor, Nancy went straight to Tamara’s door. The door opened on her second knock, and Susannah poked her head out.
“Hi, Nancy. Hi, Bess,” Susannah said. There was a worried look on her face as she ushered the girls into Tamara’s room. Emerson banners and museum posters hung on the walls, and colorful pillows were scattered on the bed. A desk stood against the wall next to the window. “Have you heard?”