Rendezvous in Rome by Carolyn Keene Page A

around. He was going back to the club to find them after he left us. You don’t think one of them . . .” Bess’s voice trailed off.
    â€œI don’t know, but it certainly seems funny that they disappeared,” Nancy said. She toyed with the fruit on her plate. “And I did tell Claudia I had the necklace in my bag.”
    Bess looked up in surprise. “That’s right. When we were talking about the break-in,” she remembered. “Everyone was there, come to think of it. You said you weren’t going to let the necklace out of your sight.” She frowned and added, “You don’t think Claudia’s mixed up in this, do you?”
    â€œMaybe not,” Nancy admitted, trying to piece together her thoughts. “If Claudia wanted thenecklace, she could have offered to safeguard it last night and then just taken it. But she didn’t do that.”
    Bess nodded. “What about Sandro?” she asked.
    â€œI’ve been wondering about him, too,” Nancy admitted. “He acted weird when Claudia tried to figure out when he gave her those necklaces. But on the other hand, he doesn’t show much interest in jewelry. Massimo’s the one who knows about it.”
    A disconsolate look came into Bess’s eyes as she took another bite of her pastry. “Massimo’s still the top suspect, isn’t he?” she asked. “He was with you when you started feeling sick. So maybe he put something in your drink and stayed with you so he could get into your bag.”
    â€œMaybe,” Nancy agreed. “At this point, we have to consider everyone. The only suspect we have who couldn’t have drugged me is Fabio Andreotti.”
    Bess crinkled her nose in distaste. “Why does it have to be one of our friends? Maybe the thief was in the crowd at the club and overheard what you said. Maybe it was Karine!”
    â€œI don’t know,” Nancy said, taking another sip of caffè latte. “I think we would have noticed if she was lurking around.”
    â€œA friend of Karine’s, then. Someone from that group whom we don’t know.”
    Nancy still wasn’t convinced. “Well, I think we should find out a little more about our friends before we go after strangers.”
    â€œHow are we going to find out?”
    Stirring her coffee with her spoon, Nancy thought for a moment. “I think we should find out where Massimo lives and drop by his apartment when he’s not there. If he’s the thief, maybe the other stolen necklaces are there,” she said. “But first I want to talk to the owner of Preziosi. Let’s call Claudia and set up our day.”
    The girls returned to their pensione and used the phone by the front desk to call Preziosi. Claudia answered. “Massimo said you fainted at the club,” she said as soon as she found out who was calling. “Are you okay?”
    â€œI’m fine,” Nancy assured her. “I’m sorry we left without letting you know. Were you still there? We couldn’t find you or Sandro.”
    â€œI am sorry. We looked all over for you. Massimo said you refused to see a doctor. Are you sure? We have a very good family doctor.”
    â€œReally, it was nothing,” Nancy repeated. She couldn’t help wondering if Claudia was avoiding her question about where she’d been. “I guess you guys just wanted to spend some time alone.”
    Claudia was silent for so long that Nancy started to think she wasn’t going to answer. “Not really,” she said at last. “We had a fight.”
    â€œWhat was it about?” Nancy asked.
    After another short pause Claudia said, “He was flirting with someone. I would rather not talk about it.”
    Nancy decided to change the subject for the moment. “Well, everything’s fine now,” she said. “Listen, we want to meet Paola Rinzini. Can you arrange it?”
    â€œOf