Cold as Ice Read Online Free PDF Page B

attention to Bess, Nancy thought. “What I don’t understand,” Ned was saying, “is why the thief took only one set of jewelry. Why not grab as much as he could while the alarm was off?”
    â€œFor that matter, why take that set at all?” Rob said as George came up. “They were the best-known pieces in the whole show. Anyone who knows about antique jewelry would recognize it. And if the thief breaks it up for the stones, he won’t get enough to make the risk worthwhile.”
    Bess stopped and gasped, having overheard. “You mean someone might actually destroy those beautiful works of art just to get the stones? That’s terrible— Eek!” She spun around andbrushed at her collar, trying to dislodge the snowball Jerry had just put there.
    â€œSo someone,” Nancy said, “—either the thief or someone who hired the thief—must want that jewelry to keep for himself.”
    Ned nodded. “An unscrupulous collector,” he added. “It’s the only answer that makes sense.”
    â€œUnless somebody has a grudge against Emerson College and wants to hurt its reputation,” said George. “If that’s the motive, then who knows what he might do next?”
    Nancy considered George’s suggestion. She had a strong feeling that the criminal had a different motive than just revenge against the campus. The theft had been too specific for that.
    â€œUh-oh,” said Ned, breaking into her thoughts. “I recognize that look, Drew. It’s the same one you get every time you start a new case. Sorry, but any detecting will have to wait until we’ve gone skating. Come on. Let’s get down to the lake.” He grabbed Nancy’s hand and started pulling her down the path.
    Nancy was the first to get her skates laced. “I want to test out the ice,” she said.
    She pushed off and started skating toward the boat house. Behind her, she heard Ned call out something, but she couldn’t make out the words. Taking a deep breath, she started to pick up speed. Skating on a lake was so different from arink. The ice was bumpier, of course, but the frozen expanse made her feel as if she could skate forever. This was real freedom, gliding along with no effort and no limits.
    Oops! About a hundred feet down the lake, someone had placed three striped sawhorses across the ice. A sign hung from the one in the middle. So much for no limits, she thought to herself. She guessed what the sign said even before she was close enough to read the words painted in red: Danger—Thin Ice.
    She slid to a halt and looked around, just as Ned skated up and stopped next to her. “I wasn’t sure if they’d put up the barriers,” he said breathlessly, his eyes filled with concern. “There’s a spring under here that keeps this section of the lake from freezing as solid as the rest. When I was a freshman, someone fell through and almost drowned.”
    â€œI’m lucky the sawhorses were there.” Nancy took his gloved hand and gave it a warm squeeze. “Let’s get back to the others.” Still holding hands, they pushed off, falling easily into a rhythm that carried them swiftly toward the rest of the skaters.
    As they drew closer, Nancy noticed Rob skating off toward the far side of the lake, in the direction of the boat house. He waved when hesaw them. Nancy thought he was probably still worried about the boat house fire. She, too, had been wondering about it. She suspected the fire had been set as a decoy, so that the thief could make off with the empress’s jewels. But as to who the thief was, she didn’t have a clue.
    George emerged from the little crowd of skaters and zipped over to Nancy and Ned, spraying up a small shower of ice with her stop. “This is great,” she said. “It’s a lot bigger than the skating pond in River Heights.”
    â€œHey, take a look at Bess,” Nancy said.