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said.
    Nancy drew a deep breath and approached a table where eight people were sitting. She looked as friendly as possible. “Hi, I’m looking for Dennis Harper, and I was wondering if any of you know him.”
    Eight pairs of eyes turned up to her face. Eight pairs of suspicious eyes. None of them seemed to recognize Dennis’s name.
    â€œWhy do you ask?” inquired one girl.
    â€œI’ve got some questions to ask him.”
    The girl’s gaze took in Nancy’s shorts and T-shirt with distaste. “You a cop?”
    â€œDon’t be an idiot, Marcy,” put in one of the guys at the table. “She’s too young to be a cop.”
    â€œMaybe,” said Marcy.
    â€œI’m just a friend,” Nancy told them.
    Marcy’s eyebrows rose. “Of Dennis’s?”
    â€œOf Rachel Kline’s, actually.”
    The band launched into a throbbing beat, and most of the kids got up to dance, but Marcy and another guy stayed behind. Marcy appeared very curious. “Is Dennis in any trouble?”
    â€œMaybe,” Nancy said, sitting down in an empty chair and ignoring the stare from the guy with Marcy. “Did you know Rachel’s missing?”
    Marcy wouldn’t meet Nancy’s eyes. “Rachel Kline.” She said the name with a touch of scorn. Nancy was sure that Marcy knew Rachel, whether she’d admit it or not. “Are her parents blaming Dennis?”
    Nancy shrugged. “Nobody’s blaming anybody. Rachel’s family is really worried, of course. We’re just trying to find her—and him.”
    â€œDennis was in here earlier,” Marcy confessed reluctantly. “But he’s gone now.”
    â€œDo you know what he was doing here?”
    Marcy pulled back at the question. “No,” she said. She turned to start talking to the guy at the table.
    â€œIt could be important,” Nancy pressed gently.
    At that moment the guy interrupted. “Let’s dance,” he said to Marcy, wrenching her out of her chair. It was clear he thought she’d said too much as it was.
    During the next half hour every person Nancy talked to denied knowing Rachel and claimed not to have seen Dennis that night.
    Ned joined her as she left the last table. “No luck,” he said, spreading his hands. “I even tried the guys in the band, and Josh talked to the kitchen crew and the waitresses. If anybody here has ever heard of Harper, he’s not admitting it.”
    Nancy nodded. “I came up dry, too. What do you say we get out of here? I’m getting a headache.”
    â€œLet’s find Josh,” he agreed, taking Nancy’s hand and pushing a path through the crowd.
    As they were leaving Nancy noticed something scrawled on the wall beside the front door and stopped for a closer look. There, among the phone numbers, names, and other graffiti, was a drawing of a cat with white eyes.
    It looked familiar, but Nancy didn’t know why until they were outside, where it was quieter, and the evening air was pleasantlycool. Beth Hanford came into her mind, and Nancy remembered the necklace she’d been wearing at the party earlier that evening—a gold cat with white opal eyes.
    She caught Ned’s arm and pulled him back inside. “Look at this,” she said, pointing at the cat. “Doesn’t it look familiar to you?”
    Ned thought for a moment, then nodded. “Beth was wearing a necklace like that,” he said.
    Nancy frowned as they went back outside to catch up with Josh. “It probably doesn’t mean anything,” she mused. “Still, it’s an odd coincidence.”
    Nobody said much on the way back to Beverly Hills—each was lost in his or her own thoughts. Where could Rachel be? Was she safe? If Dennis had kidnapped her, why hadn’t he sent a ransom note? And what had he been doing in the club that night? It seemed like a pretty big risk for him to be seen in