Summary *It wasn't a skating star Berrien found early one morning at N'ice Skates Ice Arena. A stranger was curled up, not moving, dead. Neither Berrien nor Etienne, the live-in arena manager, had the faintest idea of the man's identity. As the police began their grisly investigation more troubles surfaced when it became obvious that one of the arena's champions was missing. She was reported kidnapped, adding FBI agents to the law enforcement mix. A decidedly upset coach from the Midwest arrived in the California town to take back his pair team--one of whom is the missing girl. Parents, skaters and coaches are all in an uproar, lessons cancelled, rehearsals for the up-coming show running overtime--in short, confusion reigned. First local, then national, media frenzy carried the unfolding drama to the nation. The ending is truly a "Grand Finale."
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Summary *N'ice Skates, an ice arena complex on the very edge of the Pacific Ocean, is holding the Pacific Coast Championships in the first week of December 1994. It was the qualifying competition for the 1995 Nationals. There were some very important judges there, one of whom was from N'ice Skates home town of Portugal, California, Judge Melissa Elizabeth Nottingham. She is found dead in the pro's room just before the final round of judging began for the Senior Ladies competition. With five thousand spectators, rink employees, competitors (many of whom did not like Melissa Elizabeth Nottingham) and coaches in attendance, the police have their work cut out for them. One of the coaches was her daughter. Her son had been in and out of the arena all week and he was known to be a hanger-on of a local biker gang. The law officers were also dealing with suspected amphetamine production in the area and were frequently working at cross-purposes during the investigation of the murder of Melissa Nottingham. Berrien gets up to her eyeballs in this, the second murder case at the N'ice Skates arena because she again was the one who finds the dead body. And as expected, so do the rest of the teaching staff as things proceed from bad to worse before the stunning surprise denouement. The story ends with a wonderful Christmas Party on Christmas Eve.
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