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Bess said. “She looks like a tackle for a girls’ football team.”
    â€œYeah, that’s Billie.” Tony raised his fist andknocked on the door. With a squeal of rusty hinges, it opened several inches.
    â€œThat’s weird,” Tony said. “It’s open.”
    Nancy peered into the darkness inside. After pushing the door all the way open, she cautiously stepped into the apartment. Tony, George, and Bess followed so close behind that Nancy could hear their breathing.
    For a second she stood still, waiting for her eyes to get used to the dark. Except for the sound of dripping water from a faucet, the apartment was silent.
    â€œWe’d better turn on the light,” Bess suggested. “I don’t want to trip over a body.”
    George groped along the wall by the door but couldn’t find a light switch.
    â€œHello! Is anyone home?” Nancy called as she reached for the flashlight in her shoulder bag. Turning it on, she walked gingerly down a short hallway to what looked like a small living room. When she swung the flashlight around the room, she could see the whole place had been ransacked. The cushions and pillows had been tossed off the sofa, pictures ripped off the walls, and the rug kicked into a corner. A floor lamp had been knocked over, and its shade was dented. Two wooden chairs were on their sides.
    â€œWhat in the world happened here?” Tony asked. He was still standing by the doorway as he surveyed the small room.
    â€œI’d say someone was looking for something,”Nancy said. “Let’s check out the rest of the place.”
    The four walked through a doorway into a tiny kitchen. Nancy found the switch and flicked on the overhead light. All the drawers had been pulled out and the cupboards emptied. Cans, boxes, and silverware lay scattered across the floor. George opened a door to the left of the refrigerator. It was a tiny bathroom.
    â€œNothing in here but a big mess,” she said. “Someone even searched the medicine cabinet.”
    â€œWhat do you think they were looking for?” Tony asked.
    Nancy shook her head. Then she noticed Bess wasn’t in the kitchen with them. “Where’s Bess?” she asked George.
    Suddenly a shrill scream pierced the air.

Chapter

Four
    B ESS ! N ANCY YELLED as she lunged through the doorway into the living room. In the semidarkness, she could just make out two people sprawled on the floor. One was sitting on top of the other’s back.
    â€œNancy, help!” Bess screeched from flat on the floor.
    Nancy swung her flashlight into the face of the person on top of her friend. It was Billie Peters.
    â€œHey, let her go!” Nancy demanded. She grabbed Billie’s arm with her free hand and tried to pull her off. Billie didn’t budge. “We’re not the people who ransacked your place. We’re from the hotline.”
    Squinting in the beam of the flashlight, Billie stared at Nancy, a confused expression on herface. Still she didn’t let go of Bess’s right arm, which she had twisted behind Bess’s back.
    â€œBillie, it’s me, Tony,” the hotline coordinator quickly said from behind Nancy. He and George were standing in the kitchen doorway. “It’s okay. Let her go.”
    â€œTony?” Billie said. “What are you doing here? I thought I was being robbed.”
    â€œUh, I think you already were,” Tony said as Billie climbed off Bess.
    Reaching down, Nancy helped her friend to a sitting position. “Are you all right?”
    â€œNo.” Bess glared angrily at Billie. “She almost tore off my arm.”
    â€œI did not,” Billie retorted. “You’re just in lousy shape.”
    For a few moments Billie’s gaze darted suspiciously from Nancy to Tony. She was wearing a worn corduroy jacket over a blue sweater and jeans. Her thick brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wasn’t wearing any