The Silent Suspect by Carolyn Keene

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

8

Then There Were Three

For a sickening moment Nancy thought she was going to drop straight to the ground. Then her body hit the stone steps with a thud. She plummeted down them over and over, her arms and legs flailing in all directions. Walls and stairs rushed by in mixed-up flashes.

Finally, she was at the bottom. Nancy lay gasping for breath. She hurt too badly to move.

She was vaguely aware of people running down the stairs toward her, but she couldn’t lift her head to look at them. “Are you all right? Are you all right?” dozens of people seemed to be saying as they gathered around her.

All right? Nancy still felt dazed. Her head was pounding, and she had to blink to bring things into focus. Her whole body felt sore, and one hand was throbbing especially painfully.

Now Ned’s voice reached her through the crowd. “Nancy!” he called. “I’m almost there!”

In a few seconds he was at her side and holding her hand. Nancy smiled faintly. “Boy, am I glad to see you!” she whispered, struggling to sit up.

“Hang on. Don’t move yet,” Ned cautioned her. “This woman’s going to check you out first.”

A kindly-looking elderly woman was right behind Ned. “I’m Margot Liston,” she said. “I work in the gift shop. I’ve had a lot of first-aid training. Please don’t move until I’ve checked to see whether you have any broken bones.”

Nancy felt completely alert now. “I don’t think anything’s broken,” she said as the woman finished a gentle examination. “I bet I’ll be pretty sore for a few days, though.”

“You’re a lucky girl,” the woman said. “That was a nasty fall. You’ll be pretty badly bruised, but there’s no serious harm.” She turned to Ned. “Can you take her home?”

“I sure can,” said Ned. He helped Nancy to her feet. Nancy swayed with dizziness, but Ned tightened his grip around her waist. “How do you feel now?” he asked, his face still pale with concern.

“A little shaky,” Nancy admitted. “I really hurt my left hand knocking it against the wall.”

“What do you want us to do with this guy, miss?” came a voice in the crowd.

Nancy looked up and saw three angry-looking men holding Richard Bates firmly against the wall. He was pale, too, and looked terrified. “We saw him drag you down the stairs. We caught him before he could get away,” one of the men said. “Do you want us to call the police? You’ve got lots of witnesses here.”

Richard Bates made a helpless gesture. “I’m not going to run away,” he said.

“Well, that’s what you were doing!” Ned snapped furiously. “First you pull her down the stairs. Then you run like a coward! I’d like to throw you down the—”

“Hold it, Ned,” Nancy interrupted weakly. With Ned still supporting her, she hobbled toward Richard Bates.

“I—I was just trying to get away,” he faltered. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you, honest. You’ve got to let me explain. I—”

“Believe me, I want an explanation,” Nancy said grimly.

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