Carolyn Keene - Easy Marks

“I’ll walk you outside,” Nancy volunteered. She stretched a little as she got to her feet. “I could use some exercise.” Besides, there was more she wanted to learn from Ms. MacCauley.

“I have one more question,” said Nancy, grabbing her raincoat. “Could I read a message and still find out where it was sent from?”

“This is one of the few systems on which you can,” Ms. MacCauley said proudly as they went downstairs to exit. “If you save the message after reading it and then refuse it, you’ll see the terminal code come up as it’s returned to its origin.”

The sun was beginning to peek out through the heavy gray cloud cover. But the parking lot was still awash, and Nancy and Ms. MacCauley had to sidestep large puddles in the parking lot.

Ms. MacCauley stopped next to a blue compact car that was several years old. “Nice to meet you, Nancy,” she said, offering her hand. “Good luck with the tutoring.”

“Thanks,” Nancy replied.

Ms. MacCauley got behind the wheel and drove off, giving Nancy a quick wave. Nancy waved back, then turned to go inside. The headmaster was standing a dozen feet away, watching her, his hands jammed into the pockets of his raincoat.

“Hi, Mr. Friedbinder,” Nancy said as she walked up to him. “Walter, I mean.”

“Hello, Nancy,” he replied. “I just went to check on my car windows. Kind of late now that the rain has stopped, I guess. Oh, by the way, how’s your work going?”

Nancy glanced around to be sure they couldn’t be overheard, then said, “I’m beginning to get a few leads. But I should warn you—I’m pretty sure this is going to turn out to be bigger than just one incident.”

“That’s bad,” said Walter, shaking his head slowly. “I hope we can control the damage. By the way, I’d be careful about getting too friendly with Dana MacCauley.”

Nancy blinked. Dana MacCauley? She must be the Dana that Phyllis Hathaway had been talking to on the telephone the day before!

“Why do you say that?” Nancy asked.

He hesitated before answering, “In my opinion, MacCauley took Brewster Academy to the cleaners. She talked the school into buying a system that’s much more complicated and expensive than was needed. I wasn’t here when it was bought and installed. If I had been, I would have made a real stink. I could have designed a better one in my sleep!”

“Are you suggesting that she’s a crook?” Nancy asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Walter said quickly. “There’s nothing illegal about selling someone something he doesn’t need. But it’s not very principled, either. I may as well tell you that I’m interviewing other people who can keep the computer system going. As soon as I’ve found someone, Dana MacCauley is going to be out in the cold.”

Nancy frowned. “Do you think she has any idea of the way you feel?”

“I’m sure she does,” he said. “I haven’t made any secret of my dissatisfaction.”

As she and the headmaster moved along the walk to the door, Nancy’s thoughts raced. Dana must know more about the computer system than anyone. If she knew that her company was about to run into serious financial trouble, she might be frantic to accumulate extra cash.

Could she and Phyllis have dreamt up the grade-changing racket together? That would explain Dana’s touchiness concerning Phyllis’s involvement in setting up the computer system. Maybe their motive wasn’t just the money. Maybe they hoped to involve Walter Friedbinder in a scandal, a scandal that would cost him his job. Both women had made it clear that they thought Phyllis should have been chosen as the new head. Did they also think she might be chosen as Walter’s replacement, if he were out of the way?

“I’ll leave you now, Nancy,” said Walter, breaking into her thoughts. “Good luck with your work.”

The headmaster continued down the hall toward his office, and Nancy went up to the second floor. Victor was waiting outside the learning lab, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

“Hi, Teach,” he said, straightening up. He flashed his handsome smile.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Were you able to calm Kim down?” she asked. “I’m beginning to think it’s not safe to be seen with you.”

“Forgive me, O exalted one!” he wailed. “I have offended you!”

Nancy couldn’t help but laugh. “I do hope you explained what really happened.”

“Oh, I explained,” he told Nancy. “I don’t think she heard a word I said, though. She just kept saying she was going to get even with us for everything.”

Nancy was puzzled. Kim had seen her and Victor together only twice, for a total of about twenty minutes. Why was she so upset? “Everything? Like what?” Nancy asked.

“Beats me,” Victor said with a shrug. “All I can say is, Kim is getting to be a very big drag. I wouldn’t be surprised if she—”

The bell down the hall started to ring and drowned out the rest of his sentence. When it stopped, he said, “I’d better run. I am enrolled in school here, and I don’t want to get kicked out. I’ll look for you after school. Maybe we can go back to the Roost for a hot fudge sundae.”

He walked away quickly, leaving Nancy staring thoughtfully after him. Was Victor getting a little too fond of her? Keeping an eye on him because he was one of her chief suspects was one thing, but playing with his emotions was something else. She had told him about Ned, but he didn’t seem to care.

She would just have to watch her step with Victor. For a start, she was not going to be around after school for him to find. And the next time they met, she was going to be sure to find a way to work Ned’s name into the conversation.

Nancy unlocked the learning lab, turned on the lights, and checked her watch. She still had three or four minutes before her next student. The computer terminal caught her eye, and she walked over to it, switched it on, and typed in her password. She had a message in her mailbox.

She called it to the screen, expecting an announcement of an upcoming Glee Club concert or a raffle to raise money for the volleyball team.

Instead, these words appeared: Snoops and spies get hurt, Nancy Drew. Go home before you get erased—for good.

Chapter Seven

Her heart pounding, Nancy stared at the monitor screen. She wasn’t imagining the message. It was still there. She leaned closer to study the transmission information at the top of the E-mail message. She knew that password—IW443!

And the time of transmission was— Startled, Nancy rechecked her watch. The message had been entered only minutes before. Recalling what Dana MacCauley had shown her, she saved the message, then refused it. Returning message to terminal 29, came the message on the screen.

In a flash Nancy took her printout from her bag. “Twenty-nine, twenty-nine,” she muttered, running her finger down the list. “There it is!” The message had been sent from the terminal in the newspaper office. If she hurried, she might catch its sender.

At the door, she bumped into the girl who was arriving for her tutoring session. “Sorry,” Nancy gasped. “Have a seat, I’ll be right back!”

As she dashed down the corridor, everyone turned to stare at her. When she reached the Academician office, she found it locked and the frosted glass in the upper half of the door dark. Nancy shook the knob a few times.

“Are you looking for someone?” a voice asked.

Startled, Nancy whirled around to find Randi, the girl she had met the day before.

“Oh, yes,” Nancy replied, thinking fast. “A student I’m supposed to tutor asked me to meet her in this room, and she hasn’t shown up. Has anyone been here that you know of?”