Sisters in Crime (2 page)

• • •

Nancy straightened the skirt of the denim dress she wore, took a deep breath, and stepped into the Delta Phi dining room. It was a large attractive room, with green-and-white-print wallpaper and six wooden tables that each seated eight.

Slipping into the seat that Susan had saved for her, Nancy looked around at the girls as dinner was being served. Susan pointed out Lori Westerly at the center table. Nancy would have recognized her anywhere. Lori was very tall, perhaps five feet ten inches tall, and had a strikingly strong athletic body that reminded Nancy of her friend George, who loved almost all sports. But
Lori, unlike George, was someone who made the most of her beauty. Wearing deep purple linen shorts and a matching sleeveless top, she was made up to perfection to set off her blond beauty.

Five other girls sat with her, all noticeably attractive. Pam, sitting to the right of Lori, was talking enthusiastically, gesturing with a ketchup-tipped french fry in her hand. Nancy caught one sentence of what she said. “I told him, ‘You better apologize, right now, kid! You have no idea who you're dealing with.' ” The other girls were listening and nodding in agreement as they ate. “You could buy that bookstore if he treats you like that again,” Johanna said. “Let him know who you are.”

“You're really welcome to stay here, Nancy,” Debbie said warmly, interrupting Nancy's thoughts.

Nancy looked at the friendly redheaded girl seated across the table from her.

“I'm from the Midwest, too,” Debbie continued. “And when I first saw this campus, I
knew
I wanted to go here. Warm sunshine, beautiful ocean, cute guys—”

“I thought you came here to get a fine higher education,” Debbie's roommate, Patty, commented.

“And a fine higher education,” Debbie tacked on.

Nancy laughed along with the others. “It does seem fabulous here,” Nancy answered. “The
little I've seen of it so far. I've got a cute guy back home, though, so
that
part I'm not really interested in.”

“Ah, a loyal woman.” Patty teased more. “How honorable.”

Nancy chatted with the people at her table as she continued her meal. Patty and Debbie shared the room that was right next to Susan's, and Nancy knew that Susan liked them.

The noisy dining-room chatter ended when Lori Westerly knocked on her water glass with a fork and stood up.

“Remember we have a Valentine's Day party here this Friday afternoon with Zeta Psi fraternity, right after classes. We'll need a decorating crew. Can I see hands of volunteers?”

Nancy looked around the room as half a dozen hands waved, and Jan, at Lori's table, made a note of their names.

“How about we all dress in red and white?” a voice called out from behind Nancy.

Nancy noticed Lori glance at her table where, very subtly, two of the inner circle, Pam and Ellen, shook their heads no.

“Optional dress code,” Lori declared. “Any other announcements?”

Next to Nancy, Susan rose. “I'd like to introduce my cousin, Nancy Drew, who's visiting campus this week to see if she's interested in coming to SDU.”

Nancy rose to greet everyone, and as she did
so, she scanned the room. While most of the sorority sisters nodded hello and smiled, there were a few people who didn't even look at her. And some, Nancy sensed, just looked at her to size her up, just as she was doing, trying to gather information about them.

“Don't we have a guest rule in effect here?” someone called out.

As Nancy sat down, she looked at the girl who had asked that question. Her black hair was tied back at the nape of her neck with a gray ribbon. Her eyes, the same color gray, steel gray, as the ribbon, had observed Nancy carefully when she was introduced. Smiling, she looked at Nancy. “Nothing personal,” she said warmly.

“Which guest rule is that?” Lori asked as Susan wrote the letters F.K. on the table next to Nancy's plate with her finger. Yes, Nancy knew from the photo that she was Fran Kelly, and casually looked away from Susan, hoping nobody else had seen her too obvious message.

“The three-day rule. We talked about it at the last meeting.”

“That rule wasn't for out-of-towners,” Patty said loudly so she could be heard by everyone in the room. “It was meant for people who live on campus, or in San Diego. We didn't want friends crashing here whenever they wanted.”

Nancy saw the girls at the head table give questioning glances around the table. Ellen leaned over and whispered something to Lori.

“I think we need to be consistent with our rules,” someone behind Nancy called out. Nancy looked over her shoulder to see a girl whose last name she could remember as Miller speaking. She would have to study that photograph more, so she could identify everyone.

When more people began to call out their opinions, Lori tapped her glass again and said, “Susan, we'll let you know how long your cousin can stay. Sorry, Nancy. In the meantime, you're very welcome.”

“Thank you,” Nancy said politely. As she looked at the cups of chocolate ice cream that were being passed around the table for dessert, Nancy thought, Yes, indeed, I am certainly being checked out.

Nancy had counted forty-one girls at dinner—forty-two including herself, which meant that nobody was absent. If Susan's theory is right, Nancy considered, that Rina's death was not an accident, but a murder, then there must have been a
reason
for it. And if the reason is related to whatever it was that Rina found out when she was admitted to the inner circle, then there are people in this room who know what that reason is. And it's my job to find it out.

Nancy got a chill as she took the last bite of her ice cream and thought, It's my job to figure out if there is a murderer sitting in this room!

S
USAN
'
S ROOM ON
the second floor of the large sorority house was one of the smaller ones, and the two beds, two dressers, and two desks nearly filled it.

“So someone wants to get rid of me in three days,” Nancy mused as she locked the door after she and Susan entered the room.

“Don't take it personally,” Susan said. “Nobody could possibly know why you're here. Your idea to be my cousin is a perfect cover.”

Looking at the colorful photos of marine life that hung around the room, Nancy mumbled, “We'll see.”

“Rina took all those photos with her underwater camera,” Susan said. “Aren't they beautiful?”

“Very.” Nancy nodded, studying a school of shimmering orange-green fish.

Turning away from the photographs, Nancy sat on a desk chair and said, “Tell me more about Rina.
Anything
might be helpful.”

Sitting across from Nancy on her desk chair, Susan began, “Well, she was an oceanography student, and she was mainly taking classes related to that, like marine biology. She also loved to swim and deep-sea dive. She grew up out here in Southern California, and she dove probably two, three times a week.”

“Was she doing well in her classes?” Nancy asked.

“Fine, as far as I know,” Susan said.

“Did Rina have a boyfriend?” Nancy asked.

“No.” Susan shook her head. “Not here. I think she had somebody she liked last year in high school, but he's at Berkeley this year. She talked to him on the phone every once in a while. I don't think it was a really big deal. Not like you and Ned,” Susan said, referring to Nancy's boyfriend of many years. “How are you two doing, by the way?”

Nancy smiled as she thought of Ned Nickerson. “You know, it's kind of amazing that after all these years, I still think he's the greatest.” Folding her legs under her, Nancy added, “Sometimes it's hard with him away at school—he
goes to Emerson College—and me traveling around so much, but we manage to stay in touch.” Quietly Nancy added, “And in love. We're doing just fine.”

Susan smiled back. “When you talk to him, tell him I said hi. I do miss the old gang.”

Nancy nodded and absentmindedly picked up a pencil that lay on the desk in front of her.

“There was this one guy that Rina was friendly with,” Susan said. “But they weren't dating or anything. He's a part-time student. He works for the San Diego Institute of Oceanography and takes care of all their underwater equipment. From the way she talked about him, I think they were good friends.”

“What's his name?” Nancy asked.

“Ira.” Susan closed her eyes, obviously searching her memory. “Ira—Ira something. I can't remember his last name. Sorry.”

“Did you ever meet him?”

“No. He never visited her here.” Susan thought for a minute before she added, “I have a feeling that Rina might have been afraid that he wouldn't have ‘the right image' either, so she never brought him around. Maybe that's why. I don't know.”

Nancy tapped the eraser end of the pencil against her teeth. “And the place he works, the Oceanography Institute, do you know where it is?”

“Yeah. Not far from here. We could drive out
there tomorrow. I don't have any classes until eleven o'clock on Mondays.”

“Good,” Nancy said.

“So, with her classes and diving and being treasurer of the sorority, she was pretty busy,” Susan said, continuing her description of Rina's life.

“Treasurer?” Nancy looked startled.

“Didn't I mention that?” Susan asked.

“No. You said she was in with Lori and the other officers, but you didn't mention that Rina was elected treasurer.”

“Gosh, I'm sorry, Nance. Actually, she wasn't elected. Lori appointed her after the last treasurer got mono and had to go home. It was supposed to be just until we could hold an election. As a pledge, she really couldn't be an officer.”

“So that must mean that Rina had access to sorority bank accounts and financial records?” Nancy inquired.

“I suppose so,” Susan said apologetically. “It never occurred to me that that could be important. Do you think it is?” Susan asked.

“Could be,” Nancy stated simply. “Could be. But we're just beginning, so I have no way of knowing yet what's really important.”

“Rina kept her paperwork in a green file box that was right there,” Susan said, pointing to an empty spot on Rina's desk. “But even before her body had been found, Lori came and got it.”

“Hmm,” Nancy said. “I hope I've got more than three days to figure this one out.”

• • •

Every type of underwater animal greeted Nancy and Susan as they entered the experimental aquarium early the following morning.

The girls went straight to the diving facility, hoping to find someone named Ira. At the overhaul and repair area was a young man fixing some rubber tubing that was attached to a breathing regulator.

“Excuse me,” Nancy said.

Without looking up, the young man answered, “Be with you in a minute.”

As Susan watched him work, Nancy examined the well-organized area. On one wall hung many different styles and sizes of fins, snorkels, and diving masks. Lined up on the floor were the air tanks. Taking a pressure gauge that was attached to a tank she had picked up, Nancy looked at it carefully. Could Rina think there was more air left, but really be out? she wondered. She turned the gauge over and examined it, looking for any way to tamper with it.

“Yes. Can I help you?” the man turned to Susan and asked.

“We're looking for someone named Ira,” Susan said.

“I'm someone named Ira,” he answered. “And you are someone named—”

“Susan Victors,” Susan said. Nancy could tell that Susan immediately liked Ira. Despite her shyness, Susan was smiling at him warmly. Ira was small and muscular, with sandy-colored hair and sparkling dark brown eyes. He looked about twenty years old. Nancy could see an instant attraction between him and Susan.

“This is Nancy Drew,” Susan said, introducing her. “My, uh, cousin. We wanted to talk to you if you have some time.”

Ira nodded hello to Nancy and said, “I've got a class coming in soon, but until they show up, I'd be happy to talk.”

Susan took a breath, then said quietly, “Rina Charles was my roommate and friend.”

“Oh,
that
Susan,” Ira said. “I'm glad to meet you, Susan. Rina was my friend, too. I guess you know that,” he added.

“Yes.” Susan nodded.

“I've thought of her every day since her death,” Ira said sadly. “Rina was a fine diver and a
safe
diver,” he added, shaking his head. “Not like some other people around here. That's why her accident was so outrageous.” Pointing out the opened window, Ira said sadly, “It happened just south of the pier, beyond the seawater pumps. I look at that spot all the time.”

Nancy listened quietly and then asked Ira, “Could it have been an error in the air pressure gauge? That's what Susan told me the police say.”