50

After a lot of trouble, the friends managed to pick their way into the building. Before going up the rickety old stairs to the bell tower, Rudolph said, "Megan, you probably shouldn't come up with us. You could hurt yourself or…"

"OK. Fine. I know. You're probably right," she said.

"OK. I know," Rudolph said.

Brooke volunteered to stay down with Megan to keep her company. Their friends carefully climbed the stairs.

Megan thought about her pregnancy for a moment. She wondered why Rudolph didn't notice that she was rapidly growing, even though she was only halfway along.

She started to pick her way back through the church to explore. Brooke followed her.

"Hey, Brooke, I need to tell you something," Megan said.

As the two girls on the ground floor wandered away, Rudolph, Katherine, Zach, and Toby carefully looked for the next clue. Toby found it nailed to a board on the far end of the platform they were on.

He started to inch towards the paper. As he reached it, he carefully pulled it away from the nail. He inched back to his friends.

"Got it," he said.

"Great," Rudolph replied.

All of a sudden, they heard a shot coming from below them, followed by a scream. The four scrambled down the stairs, barely making it to the ground before the old wood fell apart, and the stairs collapsed.

They rushed through the convent to find Megan on the floor, bleeding, with Brooke standing over her.

"It was Duke," Megan said.