katie janeway: Thank you for reminding me that River Heights is a suburb of Chicago. But you have to remember that, during the 1960s and 1970s, the setting of River Heights was in New Jersey! (To find more, watch "Mystery of Pirate's Cove"or read The Mystery of the Tolling Bell) Also, I wanted Nancy, Frank, and Joe to be closer together so they could investigate more often. But once again, thank you for pointing that out.
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Carson Drew's CaseThirty miles away, Carson Drew, Nancy's father, arrived at the Grande Wallace Theatre. Getting out of his car, he looked around for the sign of his friend.
"Carson!" a voice shouted from behind. Surprised, Mr. Drew looked back and saw a chubby man of about fifty years of age running toward him.
"Henry!" Mr. Drew said. "It's been more than twenty-five years since we last met."
Mr. Saraland smiled. "I was afraid the traffic jam got you, Carson!"
Mr. Drew grinned. "We got out of River Heights early. It took just a few hours to get here." Then, his expression got serious. "What is the case about?"
"Well, I don't want to talk here. Can you come to my house to discuss this? It needs not even ten minutes of driving to get there. Follow my car."
With those words, Mr. Saraland went into his car and drove off. Mr. Drew did as told and followed him. In less than ten minutes, their car stopped in front of a two-story house along Main Street. Parking his car there, Mr. Drew walked toward the house as Mr. Saraland got his key.
Once inside, the attorney's friend quickly closed the door and asked if he could wait in the living room while he went and got coffee. Mr. Drew agreed and sat down onto the couch in the cozy living room.
As Mr. Saraland came into the room with two cups of coffee, Mr. Drew smiled and got a cup. His friend sat down onto the chair facing the couch. "Carson, since the last few days, a play group has been renting my theater for performances. One of the actresses, Cornelia Yaupon, nearly got hurt during the play rehearsal."
"Nearly got hurt?" Mr. Drew asked. "What do you mean?"
"Well, when she was practicing with the rest of the members, the rope that was supposed to hold the chandelier snapped. Luckily, she was walking toward the audience, so she missed the chandelier by a narrow inch!"
Carson Drew nodded. "That is kind of queer."
"And if that wasn't the worst, the actress is blaming me of not being careful with the stage props."
"Wait," Mr. Drew interrupted. "Aren't the prop people doing this job?"
Nodding, Mr. Saraland added, "The stagehand was absent during that day, so I was asked to do the job. I had experience in acting and being a stagehand, so I got the job. I knew the rope was tight and secured, but the rehearsal revealed otherwise. Trust me, I did check, and I was not wrong."
"So this was merely an accident, wasn't it?" Mr. Drew asked, sipping his coffee.
"No, it wasn't," Mr. Saraland spoke up. "I went and looked at the rope. It seemed like it was sawed through!"
"Sawed through!" Mr. Drew nearly spilled his coffee as he shouted the words. "That could mean serious harm, Henry. If they believe that it were you, they might sue you for an attempted murder!"
Mr. Saraland again nodded. "And that's why I want you to investigate this case. I know you are an attorney, but you are also my friend from high school. I want you to do this, since I don't want the police to get involved yet."
"I see," said Mr. Drew, leaning toward the back of the couch. "Well, I'll see what I can do. And I'd like to take a look at the theater, if you don't mind."
"Of course not," Mr. Saraland said. "I'll give you the key. Oh, and I'm supposed to go to a meeting in New Jersey tonight, so I won't be able to give you a tour of the theater. The meeting will start in two hours, so I'd better get ready. Call if you have any question; I have my cell phone with me 24/7."
"All right, then," Mr. Drew said, standing up. He took the key from Mr. Saraland and they went out the door and got into their own cars. Mr. Saraland turned the ignition on and went to the direction of the borderline between New York and New Jersey.
Mr. Drew drove to the theater immediately. It was still bright outside, so the traffic was not very bad. He arrived at the theater shortly later. Finding the backdoor, he opened it with the key he got from the owner and went inside.
The theater was dark and hushed. Carson Drew decided that the performers must be at the back of the theater. He found the light switch and turned it on. As the lights flickered on, he noticed that the room was a snack bar. It was closed and the display cases were locked.
Going into the corridor behind the snack bar, the attorney heard people's voices behind the walls. He opened the door and saw a group of young actors and actresses rehearsing for their play. Mr. Drew decided not to get noticed and went silently to the door leading to the backstage.
Luckily, there was not a person in the backstage. The attorney closed the door behind him and went on.
He could hear the voices of people rehearsing from there, and he kept on investigating. He went to area where all the props were kept and looked around. He noticed that there was a staircase leading from the first floor to the second. He noiselessly climbed upstairs.
There were ropes everywhere. It was an old theater. He heard that it was built in the late nineteenth century. But even the experts did not know the history behind the theater well.
The reason for that was because in a fire that scorched the theater in 1927, all the books containing its history was burned to ashes. Now, even the person who built the theater is not known.
Mr. Drew carefully searched the place. Suddenly, he came across something sharp. Picking it up with his handkerchief to avoid having his fingerprints on the object, he observed it. It was an old-fashioned knife, probably left there by the saboteur.
The handle seemed to be made with brass. The blade itself was sharp. And on it was a piece of the rope that was lying around. Now the attorney was sure the knife was used by the saboteur, but what he didn't know was why someone would have to cut the chandelier's rope so it would fall onto one of the actresses.
"Did someone have a grudge against the members for some reason?" Carson Drew wondered. He then heard something move behind him.
"What was that?" he asked himself, surprised.
Standing up, Mr. Drew walked toward the direction from which the sound came from.
Tap, tap, tap.
There it was again. The strange sound came into Mr. Drew's ears once again. What was that noise? Who was making it?
Carefully, Mr. Drew walked as quiet and careful as possible. Someone was close by. He knew it.
It sounded like someone was tapping the wall for some reason. Climbing down the stairway, Mr. Drew went to investigate. The actors were still rehearsing, as he heard their lines during the time he investigated.
Clonk!
Now the sound came from behind. Right behind. It seemed like someone had picked up something metallic.
Mr. Drew immediately sensed danger and turned around.
But it was too late.
Before he could do so, the figure swung down the metal bar right down onto Mr. Drew's head.
