Model Menace 2 by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online Page A

wandered off.”
    Pandora stared at the text message for a few seconds before looking up, her usual spacey expression back in place. “I went outside to meditate for a few minutes,” she replied quickly, then turned to me. “Nancy! This is just what I was telling you about! Don’t you see, the bad vibes were right! There is still someone trying to stop this wedding!”
    I stared back at Pandora blankly, feeling a little overwhelmed. So they know now, I thought. It would only be a matter of minutes before the whole bridal party was buzzing about the wedding saboteur. And once that happened, whoever was behind this would know everyone was looking for her (or him)—and my job would get a lot harder.
    “But that’s impossible !” I heard Syd cry, and I turned back to listen in on their conversation.
    “I’m afraid it’s true,” the sales girl said, shaking her head and sadly stroking the ruined dress. “Our manager said she hung this dress on the door of the alterations room first thing this morning—which is why I couldn’t find it. And when she hung it up, it was in pristine condition. That means whoever did this, did it this morning.”
    “What time is it now?” I asked, frowning.
    Ellie glanced at her watch. “It’s just ten-thirty,” she replied.
    Ten-thirty . The shop had opened at ten, and our entourage had arrived at ten on the dot. That meant that while we all lounged around waiting—and while our poor sales girl had searched the inventory for Syd’s dress—someone had snuck downstairs and snipped it to shreds, while we waited.
    I glanced at Bess and I could see her putting this all together as I did. “Creepy,” she breathed.
    “Supercreepy,” I agreed.
    “I can’t believe this!” a sharp voice cried out from the door, and we all turned to watch a very upset-looking Akinyi storm into the shop. “This is the worst day ever!”
    Syd, whose crying had slowed down considerably, dabbed at her eye with a hankie and shook her head. “No, Akinyi,” she said resolutely. “It’s definitely a setback, but I’ll be okay.”
    Akinyi frowned, looking even more annoyed, and then finally her gaze fell on the dress, still draped over the sales girl’s arms, and her eyes widened. “Oh my gosh!” she cried. “Syd, what happened to your dress?”
    Syd looked puzzled. “It got slashed ,” she replied, “Obviously. What were you yelling about, if not that?”
    Akinyi sighed, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples. “Well, this is a banner day,” she snarked, the corners of her lips turning down. “Josh broke up with me.”
    “What?” Syd asked. “When?”
    “Just now,” Akinyi replied with a rueful smirk, “on the phone. He’s packing his bags to go back to New York right now. We’re totally over.”
    “Why?” Syd asked with a frown. I could tell she was still concerned about her dress and the text, but she also wanted to be there for her friend.
    Akinyi shook her head as if to clear it. “Never mind,” she said after a little pause. “Let’s talk about your dress, and what you’re going to do. Are you okay, Syd?”
    Everyone began gathering around Sydney, offering their condolences and ideas for getting a new dress. I could also hear some questions about the text she’d received, and what was really going on with the wedding saboteur—was it true Candy wasn’t the only one trying to sabotage this wedding?
    Tempting as it was to join the crew and see how everyone reacted, I turned to my trusty friends instead. “Okay,” I began. “You, me, Deb, Ellie, and Syd have been in the dressing room the whole time—none of us could have slashed the dress. Let’s talk about the others.”
    “Well, Akinyi,” Bess suggested, looking unsure. “She was ‘outside’ for a long time. But she really does seem upset about the breakup—so maybe she really was on the phone with Josh the whole morning?”
    I nodded grimly. “Maybe. I think she’s definitely a suspect, though. And Pandora