Free My Deadly Valentine by Carolyn Keene

employee record is clean. And he’s a family man with a wife and two daughters, one of whom attends Emerson.”
    A daughter at Emerson? Nancy’s thoughts were spinning. “Is his daughter in a sorority?” Nancy asked the dean. Maybe she’s a Delta Zeta sister, she thought, recalling the graffiti that had been painted in one of Delta’s colors.
    â€œLet’s see,” he said, turning to the computer beside his desk. He punched in some information and waited as a file appeared on the monitor. “Her name is Marina Dombrowski . . . and no, she has not pledged a sorority.”
    â€œHmmm.” Nancy frowned. “I’m not sure what his motive could be. Can you call him in? Maybe he’ll confess if we put a little pressure on him?”
    Dean Jarvis shook his head. “Much as I admire your investigative skills, I can’t let you interrogate a campus employee in this office.”
    Nancy glanced away from the older man. Maybe she had pushed a little too hard.
    â€œBut I’ll call him in and speak to him,” the dean said.
    â€œFair enough,” Nancy replied, her mind already racing on to the other suspects. If Max didn’t have anything to do with the attack, that left Casey Thompson—and then there was Fitz.
    â€œCan you check Mike Fitzgerald’s file?” Nancy asked. “He was the last guy seen with Rosie, and he works in the student union. He has keys to the whole building.”
    â€œFitz?” Bess’s blue eyes widened. “But he’s such a nice guy! And the Theta Pis love him. Besides, he was sitting next to Mindy at the movie. He couldn’t have painted the graffiti.”
    â€œHis record is impeccable,” Dean Jarvis added, reading the computer screen. “He’s premed, with a high grade point average. Has a part-time job on campus.”
    â€œAnd he obviously cares a lot about the girls in the sorority,” Nancy said, tapping a nail on the top of the dean’s desk. Casey seemed more and more likely, though she still couldn’t help but wonder about Max. At any rate, she had to catch Cupid—before he struck again!
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    As Nancy and Bess walked up the driveway of the Theta Pi house, Kristin was scraping snow off the windows of her car.
    â€œThis is going to be an adventure,” Kristin told Nancy and Bess. “I’ve got to get snacks for rush, but I don’t know whether or not the Emersonville roads have been plowed yet.”
    â€œMaybe we should go along,” Bess suggested as she wiped a mound of snow off the car’s bumper. “If you get stuck in the snow, there’ll be two extra people to shovel and push.”
    â€œGood idea,” Nancy agreed. The three girls cleared a path out of the driveway. Then they piled into the car.
    Kristin drove slowly. “So far so good,” she said as she turned onto the road leading down the hill to the main part of town. The street had been cleared, so Kristin drove a little faster.
    As the road dipped, the car picked up speed, and Kristin applied the brakes.
    â€œEasy,” Nancy said as the car skidded.
    Kristin tightened her grip on the wheel. “It’s weird, but we’re sliding—a lot!”
    â€œThe road doesn’t seem that icy,” Nancy said. “Try pumping the brakes.”
    â€œIt’s not working!” Kristin cried, stepping on the brake pedal frantically as the car careened ahead. “The brakes—they’re not working!”
    Nancy stared ahead. The car was speeding toward a treacherous curve in the road.
    They were going to crash!

Chapter

Nine
    W E’LL NEVER MAKE that turn up ahead!” Bess cried from the backseat.
    Nancy knew that Kristin had to slow the car somehow, or they would go flying off the road and down the side of the hill. “Switch to low gear!” Nancy shouted.
    Kristin grabbed the gear shift and shoved it into first.