Anything for Love by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Chapter

Nine

WHO IS ROCHELLE FOSTER?” Detective Asher asked.

“The casting director on the show,” Nancy replied.

Asher took out his notes. “Would it be unusual for him to call her?”

Nancy shook her head. “Not necessarily.”

Asher made a note. “I’ll check it out.”

“Look,” Nancy said, pointing to Rudolph’s VCR. “The machine is on.”

Asher nodded. “There’s no tape in it. Evidently, when Rudolph finished watching, he didn’t turn off the machine.”

Nancy checked out the room, until her eyes lighted on a bookcase filled with videotapes. She walked over to it. “You think he put the tape back?” Nancy asked.

“Yes—or it was stolen. The burglars seemed to prefer the small stuff. They didn’t go after TVs, the VCR, or the microwave.”

Nancy pulled a stool over and climbed up on it to get a better look at the stack of videotapes. Each was labeled with a number. One cover near the top of a stack seemed out of line.

“What is it?” Asher asked.

“One tape is missing. There’s a number 5733 and a number 5735. But no 5734.” Nancy remembered Rudolph’s office. It looked like a mess, but the man said he could find anything he needed quickly. And all the other tapes were in order. “Would it be possible for me to check Rudolph’s office at work?” Nancy asked Asher. “There might be something in it that could give us a lead.”

“Well . . .” Asher began reluctantly. “It’s been sealed off, and we’ve already checked it out thoroughly. There was no tape.”

Nancy smiled, not wanting to antagonize him, and climbed down from the stool to take one last look around. She was struck by a small spotlight in the ceiling that seemed to be focused on the fireplace mantel. On the mantel, she noticed a clean circle outlined by a thin film of dust.

Asher, sounding a bit defensive, said, “If you’re looking at the circle, we saw it, too. Apparently, an art object of some kind was displayed there. We’ll be getting an inventory from Rudolph’s friends and a list of valuables from his insurance company.”

“I’m sure you’ve been very thorough,” Nancy said reassuringly. She didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable. She started to turn away from the fireplace when something on the fire screen caught her eye. As she bent over, Asher said, “Nothing gets by you, does it?”

“Or you,” Nancy said, matching his wry and playful tone. “I take it these are strands of hair?”

“Right. Red hair. We’ll be doing an analysis to see whether any of our known criminals match up.”

Bess exchanged a glance with Nancy, but the girls said nothing until they were outside.

Then Bess said, “I can’t believe Aleta would kill him. Though she did say her hair has been falling out from stress.”

“If it’s Aleta’s hair, it puts her at the scene,” Nancy said. “But not necessarily last night.” Then she added, “Five seven three four. Let’s find a phone, Bess, before I forget that tape number. I’m betting it’s an episode of Love and Loss.”

At a public phone booth in the next block, Nancy phoned Gardiner.

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