"Nancy, Bess ---- I'd like you to meet my friend Tom Walczek," Philip said, introducing the long-haired guy .

Tom's gaze toward Nancy was piercing and intent . She wondered if he recognized her . It had been pretty dark in Pierce's study, but he would have been in there awhile, and his eyes might have adjusted enough to pick out her features .

Nancy couldn't have sworn it was him ---- she'd seen only his profile as he ran out ---- but she would have bet on it . She wondered what his connection was to Philip and whether Philip had sent him to steal the draft copy of his father's new will .

They all quickly fell into conversation, with Bess and Philip doing most of the talking . Bess was in a great mood, Nancy could tell, and she obviously thought that both Philip and Tom were real hunks .

Tom was friendly enough, but every once in a while Nancy would catch him glancing at her, and she detected an aura of discomfort and nervousness about him .

He had rougher edges than Philip, and Nancy sensed that he'd led a hard life . If he was well off now, Nancy guessed, he must have made his money on his own, not had it handed to him .

"So, Tom," Bess asked, as the waiter went off with their orders . "What do you do ?"

"Me ?" Tom replied . "I'm in the entertainment business ."

"Oh," Bess said enthusiastically . "Are you an actor ? You look familiar . Have I seen you on TV or something ? You know, you look a lot like that guy on 'Tomorrow Is Another Day' ."

"Uh, no, I'm not an actor . I own a club," Tom explained . Nancy thought he was reluctant to answer .

"That's great !" Bess exclaimed . "Can we go there later ?"

Tom shifted uncomfortably, and Philip quickly came to his rescue . "Bess, Tom and I have already made plans for the rest of our evening together . But maybe some other time ?"

"Sure, some other time," Tom echoed .

"Tonight we're going dancing," Philip explained . "At the Ace of Clubs . Right, Tom ?"

"Right," Tom said, smiling, as the waiter arrived with their appetizers .

Nancy knew the Ace of Clubs . It was a great place to go dancing . She and Ned had been there once or twice, and she felt a twinge of guilt about going there without Ned . But she told herself it was part of an investigation, and that made it okay ---- sort of .

As for the restaurant, she'd certainly never been in it before . It was out of her price range . Philip was obviously a regular because he knew the menu well and insisted they order several appetizers, despite the cost . Nancy figured she and Bess could buy several new outfits for the price of their dinners .

The rest of the meal went well, and soon the foursome found themselves dancing at the Ace of Clubs . Definitely the hottest spot in River Heights, Nancy decided . At one point Nancy and Bess started off to the ladies' room to freshen up . "Hurry back, Drew !" Philip called after her .

Maybe it was the mention of her last name ---- but when she turned to wave at Philip, Nancy saw that Tom was whispering something in Philip's ear . Philip's expression darkened, but when he noticed her staring at him, his smile returned .

A couple of numbers later, Nancy said, "I'm going to step outside for a breath of fresh air . It's kind of hot in here ---- and my ears need a rest, too ."

"I'll come with you," Philip offered . As soon as they were outside, his expression became grim . "So," he said, "you're a detective . Why didn't you tell me ?"

That was what Tom had told him . Nancy bit her lip but didn't answer immediately .

"Is that why you agreed to go out with me ?" he pressed her .

"That wasn't the only reason," she said, gazing into his eyes . "Please, you mustn't think it was . I -- I wanted to go out with you ." As she said the words, Nancy realized they were true .

He returned her gaze with one of his own, as if he were looking deep inside her for the answer to his question . Then, slowly, he took her in his arms and kissed her, his lips just brushing hers at first . Soon, though, the kiss grew more passionate . It lingered on and on, and when it was over, and he drew back, Nancy had to catch her breath . He had taken her by surprise, but she had to admit to herself that she'd wanted him to kiss her --- that she had enjoyed it, even more than she'd thought she would .

"Philip . . . I ---"

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," he assured her . "I understand . The old man hired you to check up on me, and that's what you were doing . Anyway, I believe you now . You really did want to come out with me . Kisses don't lie ."

Nancy smiled shyly and nodded her agreement . "Who told you I was a detective ? Tom ?" She remembered seeing her name scribbled in Pierce's notebook --- N. Drew, investigator . . . Had Philip's mention of her last name clued Tom in ?

Philip seemed puzzled . "I saw Tom whispering to you as we went to the bathroom," Nancy admitted, explaining how she'd figured it out . "I guessed he was telling you about me, judging by your reaction ."

"Oh . Right," Philip said sheepishly .

"Any idea how he knew who I was ?" Nancy asked innocently .

"He, er, he didn't have time to explain how he heard about you," Philip said . "I just figured Jack told him . They're friends . In fact, that's how I met Tom . The two of them go way back ."

"I see," Nancy said . "So, now that you know I'm a detective, what's your reaction ?"

Philip grinned shyly . "I'm not going to let it ruin our time together . The old man wants you to check me out ? So what ? It's easy to figure out why . He wants you to see if I deserve to be included in his new will . Right ?"

"Something like that," Nancy admitted . "Do you ?"

"Of course I do," he said with his signature grin . "I deserve every penny . Besides, I need it . I'll be perfectly honest with you, since you're bound to find out sooner or later anyway . I've gone through every penny my mother left me . I'm flat broken . Awful, isn't it ?"

"But the car ?" Nancy said . "And tonight ---- how will you ----"

"Tom's been lending me money," Philip explained . "Remember I told you I owed him a favor ? Jack introduced us a couple of years ago, when I needed a loan pretty badly ."

"I thought you didn't like Jack," Nancy said . "Why would Jack help you out ?"

"We liked each other back then," Philip explained . "That was before he squandered all of Karen's money . At any rate, Tom was perfectly willing to lend me some . He's made me several loans since, and he knows I'm good for it eventually . When I inherit my share, I'll pay back every penny . Unlike my mother's fortune, my father's is virtually unlimited ."

"I see," Nancy said . It was the first unattractive thing Philip had said in her presence, and it took her aback . He really did need an attitude adjustment, she thought to herself ."

"Oh, I know what you're thinking," Philip said with a sigh . "I'm nothing but an opportunist, a leech, a good-for-nothing ----"

"Well . . . ."

"It's all true," he said with puppy dog eyes that were impossible to resist . "I just can't seem to help spending money when I've got it, that's my problem . I ran through the money my mother left me in just two years or so . I dropped out of college and spent my way into poverty . I don't know what I would have done next . But as it happened, Dad got sick right about then . So I moved back into my childhood home to be close to him ."

Nancy scowled . "It sounds so callous," she said . "As if you wanted to be close to his money, not him . You've got to admit, it sounds that way ."

"That's more to it, though," Philip protested .

"To be brutally honest, I've never really forgiven my father for the way he treated my mother . Neither has Karen . He was so cold to Mom, so hard . She settled for much less money than she should have . And even when she got so sick, he never came to visit her ---- not once ."

Philip swallowed hard, and Nancy could see that the memory upset him . "He sent us cards on our birthdays every year, without fail," he went on . "Always with a check ---- but no signature on the card . I think he had the servants send them . And never once did he invite us to visit him ."

Philip had been gazing down at the ground, but now he looked straight at Nancy . "No, I don't much like the old man, to answer your next question . Why should I ? He was always so absorbed in building that company of his ---- always so distant with me and Karen ---- so hard on Mother . Still, I did feel bad when he got sick . . . . ."

"So you moved back into the mansion," Nancy finished for him . "Your father gave you an allowance, but you spent it so fast that he threatened to cut you off ."

"Right," Philip said, his voice bitter .

"It must have come as quite a shock to you," Nancy said, "to see how close your father was with Nila ."

Philip's eyes grew hard . "I hated her from the first," he confided . "She's an ice-cold woman . She makes the old man look like a lovable fuzzy bear by comparison . And she hates all of us . I suppose she feels threatened . You see, I'm convinced that she plans to inherit all Dad's money herself ."

"So you don't think her feelings for him are genuine ?" Nancy asked .

"Get real !" Philip exploded . "Do you ? A gorgeous young woman like her, and a sick old man like him ? She's with him for his money plain and simple ! And he's totally blinded by her, which is why he hired you . She's convinced him we're no good . And now she's got him thinking one of us is trying to kill her !"

"Is she right ?" Nancy asked pointedly . "I mean, if she does have designs on your father's fortune, you'd all have a strong motive for getting rid of her . . ."

"You're the detective . I'll leave it to you to make up your own mind . But I can tell you right now ---- Nila's faking the whole thing . The letter, that fainting spell the other night ---- they're all baloney ."

"I'll certainly be looking into it," Nancy assured him .

Philip's expression softened, and he smiled sheepishly at her . "Sorry I went off like that," he said . "But it was kind of a shock to find out you were a detective . Listen, I'll be happy to help you investigate, in anyway I can . I certainly didn't try to kill her . And if Jack did, he should get what's coming to him ."

"All right," Nancy said . "Tell me about Jack . Why don't you like him ? There's more, isn't there ? More than you've already told me ."

"It's the way he treats Karen," Philip said grudgingly . "Disappearing all the time, sometimes even all night . Lately Karen's been totally out of her mind over it ." He shook his head . "Let's just say there are things I wish I didn't know about him ."

Nancy waited for more, but Philip seemed to think he'd already said too much . She nodded thought fully . "Okay," she said . "I'll check it out . And now," she added, slipping her arm through his, "I think you'd better take me home ."

Philip drove Nancy home in the Maserati, while Tom and Bess stayed behind to dance more .

From her front door, Nancy watched Philip drive away . She felt a warm wave wash over her at the memory of his kisses, both the first one and the one they'd just shared . It had been softer, more tender than the first .

Nancy knew she had to put a check on her emotions . She liked this guy a lot, probably too much for her own good, and she had an investigation in which Philip Pierce was a prime suspect .

Nancy went to bed, but it was hours before she was able to fall asleep . When she woke up the next morning, she was tempted to call Bess, to see how the rest of her night had gone . Nancy didn't trust Tom ---- breaking into someone's desk was serious business ---- and she worried about Bess spending time with a guy like that .

In the end Nancy decided it was too early to call Bess . Instead, she decided to ride over to Karen and Jack's house and have a talk with one or both of them . Philip Pierce had been very forthcoming . She wondered if his sister and brother-in-law would be, too .

After a quick breakfast, Nancy hopped into her Mustang convertible and took off for the other side of town . The case occupied her thoughts, but she did notice that a car was behaving a little abnormally ---- wobbling, sort of . Weird . She decided to take it in to be checked later that day .

She rounded the corner of Main and River Streets, turning left . That was when she felt the wheel go .

All at once, as she swung to the left, the front right tire, wheel and all, went bounding away from the car . The Mustang's axle hit the road with a jolt . Before Nancy knew what was happening, her car was skidding totally out of control ---- and heading right for a telephone pole !

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