Mystery at Malachite Mansion by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

ON THE HEELS OF DANGER

All eyes were on me as I raced over to Miss Zaza.

“Nancy, what are you doing?” Stacey said when I snatched the shoe out from under Miss Zaza’s foot.

Without saying a word, I tipped the shoe upside down—and water poured out onto the floor.

Everyone stared while I grabbed Miss Zaza’s other shoe from her. I didn’t need to tip it over to see a small amount of water sloshing around inside.

“My shoes were filled with water?” Miss Zaza asked as I flicked off her flashing costume.

“Omigosh,” Mandy said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I’m not a scientist, but I know not to blow-dry my hair near water. That’s dangerous, right?”

“Try fatal,” I said. “If Zaza had stepped into those shoes with wet feet, she could have been electrocuted.”

Stunned whispers filled the room, but my thoughts turned to Austin. Had he really taken pictures? Or had he taken his bottle of water to Miss Zaza’s shoes?

“How did water get inside her shoes, Stacey?” Kurt demanded. “They were bone-dry when I packed them.”

“The shoes were dry,” Bess said. “At least they were dry when I tried them on.”

Silence.

“Uh-oh,” George said under her breath.

“You tried on my shoes?” Miss Zaza asked, more surprised than angry.

Bess turned bright red when she realized her mistake. “Um … I … I—,” she started to say, but didn’t get very far.

“Hold on.” Stacey looked from me to Bess to George. “Didn’t I ask you girls to carry Miss Zaza’s costume up here before?”

Us … and Austin Gruber, I thought, but kept my mouth shut.

“Wait a minute, Stacey,” George said. “Are you accusing us of trying to harm Miss Zaza?”

“Well,” Stacey said frostily. She nodded at the platforms. “If the shoe fits …”

“Stacey, that’s crazy,” I said. “If we wanted to hurt Zaza, why would I have stopped her from putting on her shoes?”

Stacey looked at me, unable to answer.

“Well, somebody tried to hurt Zaza,” Brad, the backup singer, said. “I’m not sure I want to perform at this party.”

“Me neither,” Russell agreed.

Kurt turned to Stacey. “As Zaza’s manager, I have to decide if we’re participating in this fund-raiser,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow with my answer.”

Stacey looked devastated. “Kurt, wait! I’m sure there’s an explanation for this,” she cried as she chased Zaza and her entourage down the staircase.

Mandy turned to us, her face dark with anger. “Good job, you guys,” she said sarcastically.

“Don’t tell me you think we poured water in Miss Zaza’s shoes,” George said angrily.

“I’m not saying you did it,” Mandy explained. “You just should have been paying more attention to Miss Zaza’s costume, that’s all.”

“Mandy, we were told to take the costume upstairs,” Bess said. “Not to guard it.”

“Somebody got to those shoes,” Mandy said as she headed to the staircase. “It’s too bad my crew wasn’t here to film all this. From now on I’m not going anywhere without them.”

We watched as Mandy wound down the stairs. I was about to share my thoughts about Austin

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.