Free Gold Medal Murder by Franklin W. Dixon Page B

and Bess were sitting in two chairs on either side of the room, half comforting Lexi, half guarding her. A curtain ran down the middle of the room, cutting it in two.
    â€œPoor Lexi!” George murmured.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Lexi mumbled, her eyes still closed.
    â€œGang’s all here,” said Nancy. “It’s a party.” She stood up and stepped away from the bed. In a hushed voice, she explained what had happened.
    â€œHow is she?” I asked when Nancy was done.
    â€œShe’ll be all right. The wound wasn’t too deep. The doctors said she needs to take tomorrow off, but she can go back to training after that. But take a look at this.”
    Nancy pulled a plastic sandwich bag out of her pocket. Inside was a small piece of metal.
    â€œThe doctors let me keep it. It’s the tip of the saber Lexi’s opponent was wielding.”
    She passed it around to us.
    â€œWhat about it?” I asked. Clearly, it was the tip of the sword that had injured Lexi, but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to see in it.
    â€œWhoever did this was smart. I looked at the rest of the sword while I was giving Lexi first aid. They hadn’t tampered with most of it—if they’d sharpened the edge or anything, an experienced fencer would have noticed the weight difference. All they did was sharpen thepoint the tiniest bit. Not enough so that you’d feel the difference if you were just holding it—”
    â€œBut enough to make it dangerous,” Joe finished.
    â€œNot just dangerous,” Nancy replied. “Lethal. If that strike had been in her chest, the doctors said it could have punctured a lung.”
    A commotion had begun in the hall while Nancy was talking. It got louder and louder, until soon, a recognizable voice was screaming outside of the door.
    â€œI don’t care who you are! She’s my daughter, and I am going to see her!”
    David Adams shoved the door so hard it slammed into the wall. An gray-haired nurse with a stern face trailed after him.
    â€œSir, your daughter needs rest! And you are being belligerent.”
    â€œYou don’t know what my daughter needs! You incompetents! If she can’t compete tomorrow, I will sue you!”
    â€œDad?”
    Lexi’s voice drifted up weakly from the bed. Mr. Adams shot the nurse one last dirty look, and then rushed to her side.
    â€œHey sweetie, don’t worry. Daddy’s here. It’s going to be okay. We’ll have you back in training in no time.”
    â€œMy leg hurts.”
    â€œYou were injured by that stupid teammate of yours.I handled her. But you’ve got to be more careful, sweetheart. The Olympics are only days away. You need to be in top form. This is what you’ve been training up to for years.”
    â€œIt was an accident, Dad. It wasn’t her fault.”
    â€œWell, it was someone’s fault! And I plan on finding out whose. They’ll be hearing from our lawyers.”
    â€œLexi!”
    Everyone turned as Scott rushed through the door. His manager, Lee, followed closed behind. Scott was out of breath, and from the redness around his eyes, it looked as though he’d been crying. I slipped quickly behind the curtain that separated Lexi’s half of the room from the other half. Luckily, she didn’t have a roommate. I couldn’t be spotted here—this deep cover thing was difficult!
    â€œScott!” A smile spread on Lexi’s face, and she held her hand out toward him.
    â€œAre you all right? No one could tell me what happened. There was an accident in the pool—Isabelle slipped and hit her head, and the doctor and I were trying to help her—and then next thing I knew people were telling me you’d been rushed to the hospital.”
    He rushed toward her bedside, but Mr. Adams got between them.
    â€œYou!” His voice had returned to its usual four million decibels. He put his hand on Scott’s