Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm as they reached the outside door to the locker room. “Be careful, Nan,” she warned.
Nodding, Nancy pulled open the door only far enough for her to slip inside.
She paused just inside the door to make sure the coast was clear. All she could hear was the groan of the boiler echoing against the tiled walls. No one was there.
She crept to the far side of the room and glanced over at the inside door, which led to the rest of the sports center. Jerry had told her that it was unlikely for anyone to come in that way during a game. Since there was no way for Nancy to lock the door, it would have to remain unguarded.
Hurrying across the locker room, Nancy went directly to Coach Mitchell’s office, her sneakers squeaking on the tiled floor. Rows of shiny lockers were reflected in the glass of the coach’s office.
The office door was locked when Nancy tried it. Pulling her lock-pick kit from the pocket of her jacket, Nancy went to work. Every clink of the metallic tool sounded loud to her ears. She kept glancing nervously toward the outside entrance, but no one appeared.
At last the lock clicked open, and Nancy pulled on the door. Her heart racing, she slipped into the office and went over to the desk. One by one, she searched the drawers. In the bottom of the deepest drawer, wedged between some files, she saw something that caught her eye.
“Bingo!” Nancy whispered, tugging at the black woolen ball and shaking it out. A ski mask! So Josh had staged that episode at the library. And Coach Mitchell had helped him by playing the masked attacker.
When Coach Mitchell appeared on the scene right after the attack, no one suspected that he’d been in the library all along. He had probably ripped off the mask, ducked out of sight, then returned to the scene a few minutes later.
Moving away from the desk, Nancy surveyed the rest of the office. There was a file cabinet, a few chairs, a water cooler, and an electric typewriter!
It was right in front of her on the desk. Nancy’s palms were sweating as she turned on the typewriter and inserted a piece of paper. First she pushed the CAP button, then typed a few words. She held her breath as she hit the letter E.
The bottom of the letter was broken off.
This was it! The threatening notes had been typed on this machine!
Nancy froze as she heard the whoosh of a door—the inside door from the sports center. Then came the steady squeak of sneakers on the tile floor. Someone was coming toward her.
She searched frantically around the office, but she already knew there was no way to get out without the person discovering her. And she was clearly visible through the office’s glass paneling.
She was trapped!
Chapter Sixteen
Without a moment to spare, Nancy ducked down behind the coach’s desk. She could hear the footsteps grow louder as the person approached. She just hoped whoever it was didn’t come close enough to see her!
The footsteps stopped, and Nancy heard the person begin to whistle absently.
Maybe it’s just a maintenance man, she thought hopefully. As silently as she could, Nancy crept around the desk and over to the side of the office. With her nose to the wall, she inched up enough to peer through the glass partition.
Josh Mitchell was walking down the aisle between two rows of lockers, his back to her. He was wearing jeans, a leather jacket, and purple sneakers. In his hands was a cardboard box.
Of course! Nancy thought to herself. Since Josh was on probation, he wasn’t even allowed to sit on the bench with the team. But she was still a little surprised to see him there. If the game was so important to him, why wasn’t he outside watching it?
As Nancy watched, Josh placed the box on a bench and gingerly removed the lid. He pushed back the sleeves of his jacket. Then he reached into the box and lifted out a strange object. The jumble of wires and clay seemed odd to Nancy—until she saw the face of a clock attached to it.