Dangerous Relations by Carolyn Keene Page B

you were late getting to the cookhouse.”
    Katrina’s mask cracked. “All right, so I did it,” she said. “I didn’t want to hurt her badly or anything. I just thought if she landed wrong, she might sprain her wrist. Then Hayden and I could do the show alone, just like we used to.” Her voice broke. “I wanted him to see that the act didn’t have to end just because Natalia was leaving. He still had me.”
    So Katrina didn’t know about Hayden’s offer from Ringling! Hiding her surprise, Nancy pressed, “And this morning?”
    â€œYou can’t pin that on me!” Katrina exclaimed, clearly alarmed. “I was walking Hugo on the beach.”
    â€œDid anyone see you?” asked Nancy.
    â€œI don’t know. I don’t think so.” Katrina’s voice trembled, but she looked Nancy right in the eye. “But that’s the truth. Really.”
    Nancy stared at her for a long moment, then opened the arena door and held it for her. “They’re waiting for you inside.”
    The door closed behind Katrina. “What doyou think?” George asked, squinting in the sunlight.
    Nancy sighed. “I think we can’t rule out Katrina. But we can’t rule out Mr. Keiser either. He has almost as good a motive as Katrina, and we don’t know what his alibi is.”
    â€œBut he won’t answer your questions. So how can we find out?” George asked.
    Nancy gazed at the big top, where someone was working on sound equipment. Crackling, popping sounds spilled out over the grounds. Was Keiser in there? Had anyone seen him yet this morning? she wondered. Starting across the grass, she said, “Maybe someone else can tell us.”
    Nancy led the way to the back door of the tent. The sun filtered through the red-striped top, casting a rosy glow on the ring in the middle of the tent. The smells of canvas, sawdust, and animals hung in the air.
    The girls paused to watch a team of Hungarian acrobats who were practicing on a teeterboard. A dark-eyed man gave Nancy a gold-toothed smile and gestured, saying, “You try, pretty lady?”
    â€œNo, thank you. I’m looking for Mr. Keiser.”
    He shrugged and went back to work.
    Just then Nancy caught the eye of Morgan York, the performance director. Morgan left the crew at the sound board and strode over.
    â€œLooking for work? You’ll have to talk to Marshall Keiser,” she said, blinking at them from behind her glittery-framed glasses.
    â€œWhere can we find him?” Nancy asked without setting her straight.
    â€œHe’s not here. He’s buying parts for the sound equipment. Can’t afford new. Low cash flow,” Morgan said, speaking in choppy phrases.
    Nancy and George left through the back. Nancy waited until they put a little distance between themselves and the big top before saying, “If Mr. Keiser was out shopping when the attempt was made on Natalia’s life, maybe a clerk will remember him. We can check that out later. Right now I’d like to see about that insurance theory.”
    â€œDidn’t Mr. Keiser tell you he didn’t have life insurance on his performers?” George said.
    Nancy had dealt with enough crimes to know never to take what a suspect said at face value. “He could be lying. If the show needs money fast, Natalia might be worth more to him dead than alive. Or it could be revenge. Or both. Maybe he figures that if she’s leaving anyway, he might as well murder her. That way he’d have money and he’d have revenge. And since Mr. Keiser doesn’t know yet about Ringling’s offer to Hayden, he may be thinking that as long as he has Katrina and Hayden, he’s still got an act,” Nancy reasoned. She opened the arena door.
    In the main corridor, Nancy knocked on the door with Keiser’s nameplate on it. No one answered. Nancy stepped back and assessed the lock with a practiced eye. “Piece