Designs in Crime by Carolyn Keene Page B

hedges on the left and a row of plastic trash cans on the right. Otherwise the dark yard was empty.
    Nancy returned to the living room, where Bess and Beau had stood back while the detective raced out the front door. “There was a man hiding in the bathtub,” Nancy explained. “He’s probably the one who ransacked the place.” She went to the door to check on the detective. Stepping outside, she spotted him coming down the stairs—alone.
    â€œHe got away,” he said, marching back into the apartment. “But I got a sense of his size. He’s thin as a twig and shorter than you,” he said, nodding at Nancy.
    â€œWhat about his hair?” Bess asked.
    â€œCouldn’t see it,” Noonan said. “He was wearing a black wool cap.”
    â€œDid he have Joanna’s gown?” Beau asked.
    â€œNot unless he could have fit it in his pockets. He wasn’t carrying anything.”
    Checking around the disheveled apartment, Nancy frowned. After seeing the handkerchief,she’d been sure Mimi was Angel’s killer. Now they were looking for a thin, wiry man.
    While Detective Noonan called to check in with the forensic team at Beau’s studio, Nancy, Bess, and Beau searched Angel’s apartment.
    â€œHere’s one of his sketchpads,” Beau said, lifting the cardboard cover. The pages were blank, but from the indentations on the top sheet Nancy could tell that the pad had been used.
    â€œMaybe Angel’s partner came here for the last of the sketches,” Nancy suggested.
    â€œIf that’s the case, he missed these,” Bess said, sliding rolled-up sketches out of a cardboard tube. “I found this under the sofa.”
    Beau and Nancy sifted through the sketches, which all bore the signature of Angel Ortiz in the bottom corner. “Some of these were Angel’s designs,” Beau said. “But three are mine, from the spring collection. He must have made duplicate sketches, then penciled in his signature.”
    â€œI wonder why?” Bess asked.
    â€œHe was anxious to get ahead, to make his mark as a designer,” Beau said sadly. “I just didn’t realize he was so ambitious.”
    â€œAnd what was in it for his partner?” Nancy asked aloud, wondering about the man who had squeezed out through the small window.
    Detective Noonan hung up the phone and frowned. “The scissors were clean,” he said. “We couldn’t lift any fingerprints from them. Butthere was blood on the handkerchief. The lab will check it out.”
    â€œSounds gruesome,” Bess said, shivering.
    By the time they finished searching Angel’s apartment, it was well after midnight. Exhausted, Beau took a cab home. When Detective Noonan dropped the girls off at Eloise Drew’s apartment, he told Nancy to keep him updated on her progress.
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    â€œI still think that handkerchief belongs to Mimi Piazza,” Nancy said as she and Bess got ready for bed. “And that would place her at the scene of the murder. But I can’t figure out who the intruder was at Angel’s apartment.”
    â€œMaybe it was just a burglar,” Bess said.
    Nancy shook her head. “On the night of Angel’s murder? Too coincidental. Maybe it was a thug hired by Michael Rockwell. Or maybe someone else was working with Angel and Mimi. . . .” She sank onto the bed as her thoughts wandered.
    â€œWhat about Mimi’s fashion show?” Bess asked, yawning. “Do you still want to go?”
    â€œDefinitely.” Nancy nodded. “I’ve got to find out if Mimi Piazza was involved with Angel.”
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    â€œGood morning, Ms. Rockwell.” The guard in the black tuxedo smiled as he checked the guest list. “I have you down with two guests, a Ms. Drew and a Ms. Marvin.”
    â€œThat’s correct,” Joanna said, glancing at Nancy and Bess. All three were