Free Captive Witness by Carolyn G. Keene Page A

stepped out for a look at their target. Wasting no time, the driver locked all the doors, made a U-turn, and sped away in a shower of mud.
    Together Nancy and Ned made their way to the front door of Ciné-Ouest. It was locked.
    “That figures,” Nancy said. “It’s Saturday and the employees probably work a five-day week. Let’s see if someone left a window open.”
    “That’s burglary, technically speaking, of course. ”
    “I know. But so long as we don’t take anything, it’s only trespassing,” Nancy rationalized. “Besides, if we do find Captive Witness, it’s our right to take it because it was stolen from our side in the first place. ”
    “Okay, you convinced me.” Ned sighed. “Let me try this window. ”
    To his surprise, it opened easily. Both he and Nancy slipped through onto the first floor, which was surprisingly neat, clean, and well painted. They found themselves in a room with racks and racks of films.
    “It’ll take hours to go through all this stuff,” Ned moaned. “Wouldn’t we do better to come back with a court order and some policemen?”
    “Uh-uh,” Nancy said. “The spy network over here would know in a minute. They’d move the film for sure. No, we just have to start looking.”
    But before taking another step, they were halted in their tracks by a low, menacing growl. A giant Doberman pinscher guard dog stood thirty feet away with his snout poised low and his lips drawn back exposing great, slashing teeth. He stared at them, ready to pounce.
    Almost simultaneously, Nancy and Ned said the identical words: “Don’t move and don’t breathe.”
    “Don’t look him in the eye, either,” Nancy added. “The dog will think you’re challenging him and will attack. ”
    “You’re probably right,” Ned said, “but I have a hunch this guy means to jump us no matter what we do. What about those stacks? Do you think we can climb them fast enough to get away?”
    “Yes, but then we’d be stuck there until Monday morning.”
    “What about your trusty tear-gas book?” Ned asked.
    “I have it, but it only works up to about six feet.”
    “Well, once he’s that close, he’ll go all the way. Still, give me the book.”
    “Oh, no,” Nancy said. “It’s mine. I can handle this as well as you can.”
    “Maybe so,” Ned went on, “but I happen to be standing about two feet in front of you and that means he is going to deal with me first. Please give me the book, Nancy. ”
    “All right, but—”
    “Uh-oh!” Ned broke in, snapping up the book. “Here he comes! ”
    With a savage roar, the giant dog flew across the room in three huge bounds. Nancy was just about to leap toward the window as the dog landed, preparing to spring in a final lunge. Ned, however, sprayed his eyes with tear gas at point-blank range, slightly from the side.
    The animal yelped, making Nancy wince as she hurried outside. But she knew that the Doberman, whining now and pawing at his eyes, would not suffer any permanent damage. He would regain full sight within a day.
    Meanwhile, Ned had climbed through the window, too. He grabbed Nancy’s hand and led her running up the road away from Ciné-Ouest.
    After a block, they slowed to a walk. They trudged through the drenching rain for what seemed like hours before finding a cab, and arrived back at the hotel, mud-splattered, soaked to the skin, and exhausted.
    “That was wonderful fun.” Ned grinned at Nancy. “And we’ve never looked lovelier. Now, master detective, do you have any more excursions planned for me tonight?”
    She was about to say no when nervous thoughts about her nine o’clock meeting with Gutterman began to plague her. Should she tell Ned so that he could shadow her and call in the police if necessary? Or would Ned, in his eagerness to protect her, be discovered? If so, the young detective could lose her only chance to free the children and find the valuable film!

12
    Captive Witness
    Despite the risk, Nancy decided she had to