Poison Pen by Carolyn Keene

ago,” Brenda said. “The phone rang, and when I picked it up, this muffled voice told me I could get information that would help the woman who wrote the letter in my column. All I have to do is show up at Bluff Bridge at nine o’clock tonight.”
    â€œBrenda,” Nancy said sternly, feeling a prickle of unease, “the letter was a fake, remember? This could be a trap.”
    â€œI know that!” Brenda said scornfully. “I’m not an idiot, Nancy. I’m just calling to tell you I’m going to set a trap for him. ”
    â€œYou can’t go!” Nancy yelled into the receiver. Was Brenda actually dumb enough to try to outsmart a potential murderer? Then Nancy remembered something. “Your car’s still in the shop,” she pointed out, heaving a sigh of relief. “You don’t have any way to get there.”
    There was a sulky silence. “Well, how are we going to catch this guy?” Brenda asked at last.
    Nancy glanced at her watch. It was already eight thirty-five! “I’ll go in your place,” she said, thinking fast. “I’ll take Ned. And can you call Rick? Tell him to be on the far side of the bridge at ten of nine—and to watch for anyone approaching from that side.”
    After slamming down the phone, Nancy grabbed Ned and herded him toward the door. “I’ll explain later, you guys,” she called back to Bess and George.
    In the car she told Ned about her conversation with Brenda. “We’re going to set a trap for the ‘trapper,’ ” she finished.
    â€œLet’s just try to stay alive until we get there,” Ned said, sounding worried. “You’re going awfully fast, Nancy.”
    â€œWe have to beat him there,” Nancy insisted, maintaining her speed.
    At eight fifty-two Nancy parked in the shadow of some trees by the bridge. The steel arc soared high over the Muskoka River, with tall cliffs on either side. A few yellow street lamps gave it little light.
    â€œYou stay out of sight and guard this end of the bridge,” she told Ned. “Rick should be on the other side. I’ll go meet our mystery man.”
    â€œNan, be careful,” Ned said. He kissed her.
    â€œI will,” she promised.
    Taking a deep breath, she walked toward the bridge. It appeared to be deserted, but there were plenty of dark, shadowy areas at both ends. Gnarled old trees hung out over the bridge, curtaining it off in a way that Nancy found sinister. She didn’t like to think it, but a dangerous man could be hiding within just a few feet of her.
    Her senses extra-alert, Nancy walked under the curtain of trees and stepped onto thebridge. She paused to look around, struck by the odd feeling that someone was watching her. It’s just Ned and Rick, she told herself sternly.
    Nancy had taken a few more steps out onto the bridge when suddenly something thudded down behind her. Nancy jumped to one side—but not fast enough.
    Hands slammed into her back and shoved her violently. Before she could do more than scream, Nancy found herself lurching forward, then falling—right over the guardrail of the bridge!

Chapter

Thirteen
    N ANCY FELT the blood rush to her head as she slid headfirst over the side of the bridge, her legs scraping against the sharp edge of the rail.
    â€œHelp!”
    She twisted her body in midair, and her hands shot out to make one desperate grab at a steel post. In a flash the metal was slipping through her palms, and Nancy clenched her teeth in despair.
    Then, her scrabbling fingers locked around an edge of the post, and with a wrenching jerk her body stopped its fall. Pain shot through her arms, and she saw white stars behind her closed eyelids. But she wasn’t falling any longer!
    Panting, Nancy hung onto the post. After amoment she worked up the courage to open her eyes. She was dangling below the level of the roadbed, amid a crisscrossing mesh of support beams