038 The Final Scene by Carolyn Keene Page B

open the door to the wardrobe room and disappear inside.
    But by the time she ran into the room, he was gone.
    Nancy shook her head in disbelief. There were no other doors out of the room. The man came and went like a phantom in the old theater.
    Then she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. The costumes that were hanging on a rack to her right were swinging ever so slightly.
    She ran to the rack and paused only a moment before sweeping the clothes aside with her hand. She expected to see Joseph standing there, huddled behind the costumes.
    Nothing! He was gone again!
    Nancy scanned the wall for a seam. Joseph couldn’t have disappeared into thin air. There had to be another secret door here, just like the one Bess had disappeared through.
    There was. Part of the wood paneling was several shades lighter than the rest, and one board in particular stuck out from the wall.
    Digging her fingernails into the crack betweenthe panels, Nancy pulled on the board. A thrill of triumph passed through her as the panel opened, but it faded quickly when she saw only darkness ahead of her. There was a musty, dank smell, like a basement that had been closed for a long, long time.
    She reached into her purse and took out her penlight. Its golden beam pierced the darkness, and she saw a narrow staircase leading up into still more darkness.
    Nancy carefully climbed the steep, rickety steps that twisted and turned, first to the right, then to the left.
    There was no banister, only bare walls on either side. Nancy shuddered as a spider’s web brushed across her face and down her neck.
    As she climbed, she kept her ears open for any sound from above. She had to find Joseph and make him tell her where Bess was. If he got away, they might never find her.
    With her flashlight pointed at the steps, Nancy followed the set of footprints that Joseph had left in the thick dust. In the distance, far above, she heard the sound of his feet pounding as he ran.
    Then the footsteps stopped. Was Joseph lying in wait for her?
    Nancy slowed her pace and tried to see into the darkness above her. Quietly she made herway to the top. Through the blackness, she saw a thin line of light streaming in. Another secret door!
    Carefully she pushed the door open, bracing herself. Joseph could be right on the other side. But when Nancy opened the door, she saw that he had led her all the way to the hallway on the third floor. She was standing in the corridor outside the projection booth.
    Joseph was at the end of the hall and heading for the stairs that led back down to the lobby.
    Nancy’s heart sank. He was about to get away again!
    “Joseph!” she cried out.
    He turned to face her. Then, hardly believing her eyes, Nancy saw George and Nicholas appear on the stairs right behind Joseph.
    “There he is!” George shouted.
    “Get him!” Nancy yelled. They raced toward Joseph.
    Nancy saw the panic in the old man’s face when he realized he was trapped. George and Nicholas were behind him, and Nancy was bearing down from the other side. Turning on his heel, Joseph darted into the projection room.
    “We’ve got him!” Nancy cried. They all charged into the room after him.
    They had him cornered. There was no way for him to escape now.
    Joseph backed up against the wall, his eyes wide with fear.
    “It’s okay, Joseph,” Nancy said. “We know why you did it. We understand, really.”
    “How did you find out?” he asked.
    She reached slowly into her pocket and took out Anderson’s cassette.
    “We found the tape, the one that you recorded the movie introduction on.”
    Joseph’s eyes darted from the tape in Nancy’s hand to the projector. Nancy caught the glance. His eyes told her where the real tape was.
    In an instant she was taking the projector case apart and looking inside.
    “Here it is!” she announced proudly as she pulled a cassette tape out.
    George ran toward the projector. She leaned over Nancy and reached inside. “Hey, what’s this?”