Free No Laughing Matter by Carolyn Keene

left when he gets out.”
    â€œHave you found any evidence that Peter did help set up Matt?” Nancy asked gently.
    â€œNo.” Lisa seemed both sad and relieved. “Peter’s been very protective of the bigger accounts—the ones Matt wouldn’t let him handle before. Every time I offer to help him, he brushes me off. The truth is, I haven’t been able to examine Over the Rainbow’s records yet. Today I made sure he had a lunch appointment so that I could take a look at them.”
    â€œTake a look at what?”
    Nancy and Lisa both whirled around as Peter Sands walked into the office.
    â€œPeter! What are you doing back from lunch already?” Lisa asked, her hands flying to her face.
    â€œI forgot a file.” Peter pushed his glasses up on his nose, then paused, staring first at Nancy, then at the open ledger on the desk in front of her. “What’s going on here?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
    Suddenly Lisa burst into tears. “I—I think you may have s-set up Matt!” she stammered.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Peter asked, a shocked look in his eyes.
    â€œYou were the one who found the canceled check that led the police to that fake account,” Lisa said, wiping her eyes. “Matt said he never saw the check and didn’t go anywhere near the bank. I believe him!”
    â€œI know that’s what he said. Don’t you think I wanted to believe him?” Peter asked.
    Stepping in, Nancy said, “Maybe you’d better tell us exactly what happened, Peter.”
    Peter leaned against the edge of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “I found the canceled check by accident. It was mixed in with a bunch of checks and papers from an account of mine. I don’t know how it got there. Maybe I should have asked Matt about it before I investigated myself, but I just thought he was hiding something from me.”
    So far this fit with what Nancy knew already. “Go on,” she encouraged.
    â€œThe check was from Over the Rainbow’saccount, and it was made out to Gold Enterprises,” Peter continued. “It had Matt’s signature. You see, he was allowed to sign checks for the club for amounts up to ten thousand dollars. The weird thing was that Gold Enterprises was what Matt had wanted to call our company, instead of GS Accounting.”
    â€œSo that made you suspicious of Matt?” Nancy asked Peter.
    â€œSure. Then I found out that Gold Enterprises was Matt’s company—so I blew the whistle on him.”
    Lisa had been listening silently to Peter’s explanation. “But how did that canceled check get into your file?” she asked him now. “I mean, if my brother really was stealing money from the Rainbow, wouldn’t he be extra careful?”
    â€œYeah, I guess,” Peter answered with a shrug. “But even careful people can make mistakes.”
    That was possible, Nancy supposed. It was also possible that someone else had placed that check in Peter’s file on purpose, so Peter would find it. Of course, whoever might have done that would have to know about the bad feelings between the two partners.
    â€œPeter, did anybody besides Lisa know about the trouble between you and Matt?” Nancy asked.
    Peter thought for a moment. “I complained to Tony about it sometimes, when I picked up the accounting book. But that’s all.” All at once Peterunderstood what Nancy was implying. “You don’t really think someone planted that check for me to find, do you?”
    When Nancy didn’t say anything, Peter shook his head. “You have no proof that that’s what happened.”
    Nancy had to admit he was right. Somewhere she was just going to have to find proof.
    â€œLook, let’s continue this later,” Peter said, checking his watch. “I’m already late for my lunch meeting.”
    After he’d left, Lisa turned worried