Illusions of Evil by Carolyn Keene Page B

afternoon,” she replied. “He’s driving to Harper’s Grove to check out some property. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
    â€œI can’t wait until tomorrow,” Nancy insisted.
    â€œLook, I shouldn’t even be talking to you.” She strode to the door and held it open for Nancy. “Please leave.”
    With a sigh, Nancy realized she wasn’t going to get any further with the woman. She gave her a final imploring look, then glanced around the office. If only there was a way to search the place. Suddenly she thought of something.
    â€œCan I use the bathroom before I go?” Nancy asked, biting her lip.
    The secretary sighed irritably. “It’s in the hall. I’ll show you.”
    Out in the hallway, she pointed to a door marked Ladies.
    â€œI’ll wait for you here,” she said.
    Nancy let herself into the bathroom and nearly shouted with joy when she saw that she was in luck. The bathroom had a window, which Nancy was able to open. She only hoped that the woman wouldn’t check the ladies’ room when she locked up the office.
    â€œThanks,” said Nancy, emerging from the ladies’ room.
    â€œYou’d better leave now,” she replied curtly.
    Nancy allowed the woman to show her out. She started up her car and drove off. After turning onto the next block, Nancy pulled into an alley and shut off her car.
    She waited for twenty minutes, then drove back to Matthews’s office. The lights were out, and there were no cars out front. She drove into an alley beside the building and made her way to the window she’d left open. It was still ajar.
    â€œAll right!” Nancy cried, heaving herself up and inside.
    The hallway outside Matthews’s office was dark, and Nancy was careful to stay in the shadows. Naturally, the door to the office was locked. Nancy checked around the jamb for any alarm wires and found none. Then she pulled her lockpick out of her purse. Within minutes she had the door open and was inside!
    At the back of the office stood a partition. Nancy guessed that Matthews’s desk was behind it. She crossed the room quietly, keeping low and out of sight.
    The man’s desk was a jumble of papers, binders, books, and computer printouts. Nancy found her flashlight in her shoulder bag and quickly scanned the papers, searching for any kind of document that had Riverfront’s name on it.
    Ten minutes later she’d gone through everything on the desk and in Matthews’s drawers. None of the folders in the file cabinets had anything to do with Riverfront.
    â€œHe probably took them with him,” Nancy said aloud. “Rats!”
    On a hunch, Nancy searched through the garbage pail underneath the desk. Among the trash, she found a pink message slip that had been wadded up. She smoothed it out and her jaw dropped in surprise as she read what was written on it.
    It was a record of a call for Larry Matthews from Vince Garraty. Beneath Garraty’s name and number was a scrawled message:
    â€œCall him ASAP about his offer on Riverfront Park.”

Chapter

Thirteen
    T HE MYSTERIOUS BUYER for Riverfront Park was Vince Garraty!
    What did it mean? Was this just his way of helping out his fiancée? But then why had Benny Gotnick been killed? Benny Gotnick worked for Vince. What did that have to do with it?
    Nancy read the message again, but it didn’t answer her questions. Her mind still spinning, she tucked it into her bag, switched off her flashlight, and tiptoed back through the office.
    She exited by the bathroom window, pushing it shut after her.
    All the way back to River Heights, Nancy pondered the possibilities. Garraty and Gotnick. It made sense. Garraty wanted the park—maybe because of Freda or maybe for some other reason. When Benny got fired, the two of them teamedup, with Benny rigging the flaming carpet and the Typhoon derailment. The more accidents the better as far as Garraty was