The Last Case

Chapter 5 | Detective Nancy is on the Chase

"Dead?" Nancy repeated in a more hushed tone.

Connie urged for her to come outside. The Residential Office door swung shut behind them.

Nancy was stunned at what she had heard and felt somewhat guilty at how she'd dismissed Connie's urgency to solve the case as a mere attempt at her friendship. "This is a lot more serious than I thought," she admitted.

"Right? And to think that we were right there in the middle of it all!" Connie flailed her arms, almost dropping her large purse in all of her excitement. "Unsuspectingly sneaking around a closed library, unaware that we were in the middle of a real crime scene—no, murder scene!"

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions so fast. For all we know that person we saw in the library was very much alive," said Nancy reaching for her cell phone. "Besides, this is quite the tragedy Connie, how can you be so excited?"

Connie apologized and admitted that she was just happy that her suspicions turned out to lead to something and in the presence of Nancy Drew, no less.

As Connie continued to prattle about whose best friend's cousin's classmate told her the dead student news Nancy surveyed the campus. Clusters of people were drifting along the courtyards, some laughing and some lounging under the growing shade of the trees. There seemed to be little panic suggesting that not many students must have been aware about the incident yet.

"So that's how we can rule out the entire baseball team, because when the body was found they weren't even in the state," Connie was saying when Nancy brought her attention back to reality.

"I see," she said as their urgent walk slowed to a stroll, evidently as a result of Connie meeting a smiling gaze from a brown haired boy across the walkway. He was carrying a large suitcase and some gym bags. "Is everything alright?"

"Well, no." Connie froze.

Nancy watched her face turn sour as she tugged on her olive colored plaid dress that reminded Nancy vaguely of something she herself wore on the cover of an unfortunate criminal bust story a few years ago in River Heights.

"You see," Connie started after nervously waving to the approaching brown haired boy. "I was going to take you to the, to the um, the crime scene!"

Nancy looked from the approaching boy to Connie. "Don't worry about it. To be completely frank, I'm sure the police have got it all under control."

Connie was now fidgeting. "No but they don't, I mean there's already a body so there's not much more they can do—I mean preventative wise. Oh Nancy, you're the only one that can stop this—"

"I don't think that's how the police work," she answered softly wondering what was up with Connie.

Before Connie could reply, the suitcase bearing boy was right in front of them. "Hi Connie!" he said in a slight accent and then turned to Nancy. "I'm—"

"Did you just get here?" interrupted Connie almost yelling. "I'm so sorry, Nancy, I've got to help him find his way around campus, you see he's not from around here so he's probably lost, anyway find me soon so that we can talk about you know? The thing." With that she grabbed the boy's arm and strode away.

Nancy smirked. Whatever it was, she didn't want to know. She was an adult now, and being an adult meant minding her own business. Besides, she was relieved that Connie finally left her alone about the case and the supposed crime scene. Why would she want to get involved in something so horrible? She turned to go back to her dorm.

But upon reaching the library area she stopped in her tracks. A faint murmur could be heard in the still air. Nancy couldn't help but follow the noise to the back of the library.

Nothing.

She walked past the building and closed her eyes. The murmur came back and she was almost sure she was hearing official search instructions. Search instructions of the police.

Nancy jogged past her dormitory building and through a small wooded area. Another block of dorm buildings surrounded her and the loud voices and sounds of slamming doors were heard much more clearly.

"Clear!"

"431 clear!"

"Clear!"

"432 clear!"

Nancy took a step back into the shelter of the wooded area, noting that no other students or even people were in the area. She stood for a couple of seconds trying to locate where the voices were coming from and saw a mound of uniformed people going through each of the fourth floor rooms in one of the buildings in front of her.

Without thinking, Nancy sprang into action. She strode along the perimeter of the surrounding dorm building to avoid being seen until she was directly under the block of dorms that were being searched.

She looked around.

If this building was only being searched midday she figured the crime must have taken place somewhere closer to the other side of the cluster of buildings and from where she was now standing it was much more simple to look around for clues of that exact location.

She was now facing the wooded area from whence she came out of and the search party voices were directly overhead. It didn't take very long for her to notice a long skid mark on the pavement just over the edge of one of the dormitory buildings.

"It must have come from the getaway car," Nancy thought. 

But before she could take a closer look or even turn around, she heard a loud crash from almost directly behind her.