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leveled the pistol and took careful aim at the man.
    Now! Nancy thought.
    Her head whipped back, striking Boomer flush on the chin. He yowled. Feeling his grip loosen, Nancy slipped out from under and gave him a solid judo chop to the ribs. Boomer stumbled. Nancy jumped him, grabbing his wrist with both hands, and hammered his gun hand against the fender. The pistol clattered to the floor. Nancy’s foot swept it under a nearby car.
    She heard running feet—the anxious shouts of Ned and Bess.
    Boomer bolted. “More cops!”
    After he ran up to Nancy, Ned hugged her. “You all right?”
    â€œI’m fine.” She pointed at Boomer, who was heading for the stairwell. “After him, Ned! We can’t let him get away.”
    Ned and Nancy took off in pursuit. Bess brought up the rear. They charged up the stairway in single file, Ned in the lead. Nancy took the steps two at a time. She was thinking, What was that moon-faced guy doing here? Was he following me? But how does he know who I am? He couldn’t have seen me in Lisa’s window!
    Clang! Boomer pushed a steel trash can over the edge of the stairs. It tumbled toward them!
    Ned tried to dodge, but his foot slipped on the step. The can rolled right over him, and he went down hard.
    â€œNed!” Grabbing Bess, Nancy pushed her against the railing. The can bounced past them, spilling trash all over the stairs.
    â€œI’m okay, Nancy. Go get him!” Ned said.
    Nancy raced to the balcony. She spotted Boomer’s blue- and orange-flowered shirt just ahead, disappearing into the mall crowd.
    Shoving people aside, Boomer bulled his way down the main corridor. Angry shouts exploded all around him. Nancy stayed on his heels, zigzagging between startled shoppers.
    At last the crowd thinned out and disappeared. They were in a little turnoff now, a hallway lined with supply closets. Once in the clear, Nancy put on a sudden burst of speed. She came right up behind Boomer and brought him down with a tackle worthy of a pro football player.
    Nancy and Boomer rolled over and over across the polished floor. Breaking free, Nancy jumped to her feet. Boomer got up groggily, saw who it was, and—snarling with rage—threw himself at Nancy.
    Nancy’s right leg scissored in a flawless judo kick. Her sneaker clobbered Boomer’s chin—he went over like an old dead tree.
    Boomer lifted his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay—that’s enough. I’m busted, man. I want to see my lawyer.”
    Nancy knelt beside him. “Boomer, I’m not a cop.”
    â€œWe’re just concerned citizens,” Ned added, coming up behind them and pinning him to the floor.
    â€œThen how about letting me go?” Boomer tried to sit up.
    â€œAfter you put a gun to Nancy’s head? No way, pal!”
    â€œBoomer, we’ve got you cold on assault and unlawful possession of a gun.” Reaching across the floor, Nancy retrieved her shoulder bag. “Tell you what, though. If you’ll answer a few questions for me, I won’t mention that you took aim at that black-haired guy.”
    â€œAll right.” Boomer sighed. “Ask your questions.”
    Nancy took the photo of Lisa Trumbull out of her bag. “Have you ever seen this girl before?”
    â€œYeah, I’ve seen her.” He tilted the photo slightly. “She came up to me on Waikiki Beach yesterday. Two o’clock or so. She wanted to sell me a diamond. Real quality stuff, too. I offered to set up a meet, but she wouldn’t go for it. She said she’d make the arrangements.” He lowered his voice. “Look, don’t go spreading this around, okay? I don’t want people to think I’m a double-dealer.” He sat cross-legged on the hallway floor. “The whole scene felt wrong, you know? She didn’t seem like the type to be fencing diamonds. I thought maybe it was a cop setup. So I followed her.”
    â€œWhere did