Hidden Meanings by Carolyn Keene

display, Nancy spotted several blackened matches. The fire had been started intentionally!
    Then, as she sat back on her heels, Nancy spied a neon orange matchbook lying on the carpet, five feet away. She reached over to pick it up. The cover was open, and every match inside had been torn out.
    Closing the cover, she looked at the front of the sodden matchbook. Bold blue letters spelled out Ben’s Back Room—Washington, D.C.
    A clue at last! Nancy thought triumphantly. Clutching the matchbook, she hurried over to give her evidence to the fire chief.
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    As soon as Bess was off duty, Nancy and George met her by the pool. “Let’s review our list of suspects,” Nancy suggested. “The fire broke out at twelve-thirty, so it was probably set about twelve twenty-five. Where was Jane Sellery?”
    â€œShe was one of the first people in the banquet room at lunch today,” Bess reported. “No way would she have been able to set that fire.”
    â€œNick Kessler was in the hotel, and so was Mr. Baggy Pants,” Nancy put in. “I didn’t see them anywhere near that landing, it’s true. But they might have had time to get there before me, if they took some other route from the seventh floor. Now that I think of it, the guy with the beard took the elevator to a higher floor when I saw him. He could have done that to throw me—and then he could have gone down again.”
    George drew a cautious breath. “And then there’s Paul,” she volunteered. “He was near the hotel this morning, at least. How about if I call him and see whether he has an alibi between the time we saw him and twelve-thirty?”
    Nancy nodded. “If we can clear him, all the better,” she said. “I still think Nick Kessler and Mr. Baggy Pants are our strongest suspects. But it’s pretty hard to tail them. We have no idea where they’re staying.”
    â€œI’m not working again until six,” Bess said. “I’ll plant myself in the lobby and wait till one of them comes by. And by the way, Ralph told me this is his day off, so I’m safe from him today.”
    â€œThat’s great,” Nancy said with a grin. “Whichever of those two guys you see, follow him, whether he’s going in or out. I’ll go talk to Gina. Maybe we can learn some more about Kessler.”
    Hurrying up to the seventh floor, Nancy hoped to catch Gina between shopping and her afternoon classes. Ned was outside the room on his folding chair. As Nancy knocked on the door, he tugged on her skirt and murmured, “Three o’clock—can’t wait.”
    Nancy flipped him a quick smile as Sally opened the door. “Can I talk to Gina for a minute?” Nancy asked.
    Gina, sitting on the bed beside a heap of shopping bags, waved to Nancy. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “These incidents are getting too serious. You have to find out who’s behind it all.”
    â€œTell me who you think it is,” Nancy said, settling into an armchair.
    â€œMy dad’s political enemies have often threatened to hurt me or my sister at home in Italy,” Gina said. “That’s why Daddy insists we each have a bodyguard. My mom’s American, and she thinks we’re safe if we go to school in this country. But what if the enemies have followed us here now?”
    â€œHad Nick Kessler been with you long?” Nancy asked.
    â€œNick?” Gina said. “He’d only worked for me three weeks. He used to guard a friend of Daddy’s—a man at the Italian embassy in Washington.”
    Nancy thought of the matchbook she’d found. It was from Washington, D.C. Had Nick Kessler dropped it while setting the display on fire?
    â€œDid he have a keycard for your room?” Nancy asked. “Maybe he was the one who broke in.
    Gina and Sally traded an uneasy look. “I made Nick return that card when