Stop the Clock (Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective Book 12) (7 page)

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“You don’t know who you talked to?” I asked Ned.

Ned shook his head. “I didn’t ask, and the person didn’t tell me, but you know something—now that I think about it, the voice sounded kind of familiar.”

“Really?” Bess said.

Ned nodded. “But we didn’t talk long enough for me to place it,” he added.

I told Ned about the missing recollections. “Of course, people will sometimes tell you they’ll leave a note for the person you’re calling, and they never get around to doing it,” I added. “But with all the other things happening, it just seems like part of a pattern.”

“Agreed,” George said.

“What do you want to do now, Nancy?” Bess said. “I don’t want to hurry you, but there are some other things I need to do this morning.”

I let out a big sigh. “I don’t think there’s anything that we can do,” I said. “This whole project just seems to be collapsing around me. I’ve never really felt like this before.”

“I know it’s frustrating, Nancy,” Ned said encouragingly, “but you can’t give up.”

“Oh, I won’t give up, Ned,” I said. “You know me
better than that!” I snapped my fingers. “In fact, this might be a good time to check in with Chief McGinnis.”

“What for?” George cried.

“It would just be a waste of time,” Bess added.

“Well, I should keep him up to date on whatever I found,” I said. I at least like to
try
to have a good relationship with the River Heights chief of police.

“You know that he’ll just try to pick your brain, Nancy,” George said, “and then he’ll take all the credit for your hard work.”

“There’s not a whole lot left to pick, George,” I said. “Anyway, as long as the mystery gets solved, then that’s the main thing. I’m not looking for glory.”

I asked Bess if she’d drive my car to her house, and told her that I’d pick it up later. That way, Ned and I could go together to Chief McGinnis’s office.

“That’d be great,” Bess said. “That’ll give me a chance to take a look under the hood. On the way over here, I heard a pinging noise, and it has me concerned.”

“Well, just make sure it’s put back together before I need it again,” I said.

Bess held up her hands. “Have I ever failed you before?” she said.

I grinned. “No, never,” I agreed.

After Bess and George left, I suddenly remembered that I needed to address some envelopes to children’s writers in the area. I had pulled their addresses off the Internet, and I planned to send them fliers about the celebration, with a note asking them if they’d like to attend as a special guest of the Mahoney Library.

“Sorry, Ned,” I said.

“No problem, Nancy. I’ll just look around at the different collections,” Ned said. “This place has always fascinated me.”

It didn’t take me long to get through the addressing, and I collected Ned. As we were pulling out of the library parking lot, I saw Deirdre getting into her car. Where had
she
been?

When we got to police headquarters, we found Chief McGinnis in the snack room, his mouth full of jelly doughnut. He held up a box with only one left. “Want it?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I never, never take a person’s last doughnut, Chief,” I said. “It’s a creed I live by!”

Well, that joke totally went over his head. I could tell that Ned was trying not to laugh—whether at the chief or the joke, I wasn’t sure.

Chief McGinnis wiped the sugar off his face with the back of his hand, and said, “If you want information about the library clock theft, then I have to—”

I shook my head. “No, no,” I said, interrupting him. “I’m here to fill you in on what I know so far.”

Chief McGinnis stood up quickly. “Oh, well, that’s a different story altogether,” he said. “Come on down to my office, and you can tell me what you’ve found out, so . . .” He stopped. I was sure he had suddenly realized that he was looking way too eager to get information on the case, so he redirected his sentence with, “Well, it’s probably stuff we already know.”

“I know, I know, it probably is,” I said, humoring him.

When we finally got to Chief McGinnis’s office, Ned and I sat in the two chairs in front of his desk. Chief McGinnis turned on a tape recorder, gave the date and the time, then said, “Please state your name and address.”

I went along with the charade. We’ve been doing this for years: I get recorded, he takes the credit!

“Now, Ms. Drew, please tell me what information you have that relates to the theft of the library clock,” Chief McGinnis said.

At that moment I had a thought. I decided only to tell Chief McGinnis my suspicions about Ralph Mullins—how I thought he might have stolen the clock himself so he could sell it. “He’s a locksmith at the university,” I said. “He could have figured out
a way to get into the library when nobody was inside.”

When I finished talking about Ralph Mullins, I stopped. Chief McGinnis looked at me for several seconds, but he didn’t stop the tape recorder. “Go on,” he finally said.

“That’s it,” I said.

I knew Ned wouldn’t prod me to add anything about Willy Franklin. I had decided that it might be better if I just presented Chief McGinnis one suspect at a time, and right now, Ralph Mullins seemed a stronger suspect than Willy Franklin.

Chief McGinnis narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you sure?” he said.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I told him. “What’s wrong? Don’t you think this is good information?”

“Now really,” Chief McGinnis said. “Ralph Mullins is one of our suspects too. He’s had several run-ins with the law, so naturally he was at the top of my list. In fact, we have a tail on him. We know his every move.”

I shrugged. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll keep digging too, and maybe I can come up with something else.”

Chief McGinnis stood up. “Well, I can’t stop you—but just make sure you let me know what you find out, because if you don’t, then it’s probably obstruction of justice.”

Just then my cell phone went off. I recognized our home telephone number. That usually means Hannah needs something from the grocery store. I figured I’d call her after we left Chief McGinnis’s office.

“Shouldn’t you take that?” Chief McGinnis said. “It could be something important.”

I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s just Hannah. She probably needs something from the market. I’ll call her in a minute.” I stood up. “Well, thank you for your time. I’ll certainly let you know when I find out something else.”

Chief McGinnis stood up, and Ned and I left the office.

As we headed down the steps in front of the building, Ned said, “There’s no way they have a tail on Ralph Mullins. We would have noticed it.”

“Well, that’s why we came, Ned,” I said. “They’ll have a tail on him now.”

“Ha! Nice work, Nancy!” Ned said. “That’s what you wanted all along—for Chief McGinnis to put a tail on him. If you had asked him directly, he wouldn’t have done it.”

“Exactly,” I told him. “If I had told him about Willy Franklin, he might have put a tail on him, too. But at this point, I want Chief McGinnis to focus on Ralph Mullins.” I punched redial on my cell phone to see
what Hannah wanted. When she answered, I said, “Market stop?”

“No, not this time, Nancy,” Hannah said. “You had a telephone call from a Mr. Henry Mead a few minutes ago. He said he had some information for you about the theft of the library clock.”

Just Like an Old Case

T
hat’s odd, I thought.
“Did he leave a number where he could be reached?” I asked Hannah.

“No. He just said he wanted to talk to you in person, Nancy,” Hannah said. “He gave me his address with directions on how to get there.”

“Just a minute,” I said. I quickly took a notepad out of my purse. “Go ahead,” I told Hannah. I recognized the address right away. Henry Mead lives in one of the new estates with multimillion-dollar homes being built along the Muskoka River north of River Heights. They all have French names, and each estate is the size of three normal houses put together. “Thanks, Hannah,” I said.

“What’s up?” Ned asked.

I told him about the message, then asked if he’d like to join me.

“Sure,” Ned replied. “Who is this guy, anyway?”

“He’s a friend of the family. He and Dad roomed together in college,” I said. “He is a lawyer who specializes in wills and trusts.”

“Sounds promising,” Ned said.

Ned and I got back into his car and headed for the highway that would take us to Mr. Mead’s house. It paralleled the river, so it was a beautiful drive.

It took us half an hour to get to the estates, then another fifteen minutes to find Mr. Mead’s address. This was the first time I had ever been in this particular development, and I was absolutely stunned by how huge the homes were.

There were several expensive cars parked in the long driveway that led to Mr. Mead’s house.

“Did Hannah say anything about a party?” Ned asked. “Is that why we’re here?”

“No, she just said that Mr. Mead wanted to talk to me right away,” I replied.

“Where should I park, Nancy?” Ned asked.

I looked around, trying to spot an open space near the front entrance. There was none, so I said, “Just pull up near the front door and wait. I’ll go find out what he wants me to know, and if it’s going to take
more than a few minutes, I’ll call you on your cell phone. Okay?”

“Okay,” Ned said.

When Ned drove under the portico, I hopped out, ran up the marble steps, and rang the bell. Almost immediately the door opened, and a man dressed like a butler said, “Yes?”

“I’m Nancy Drew,” I told him. “Mr. Mead called and wanted me to come by. He said he had some information for me about the library clock that was stolen.”

I could tell by the look on the man’s face that he didn’t know what I was talking about.

“Well, I’m sorry, Miss Drew, but I honestly don’t think . . .”

Just then I looked over the man’s shoulder and saw Henry Mead talking to a couple who looked as though they were about to leave.

“Mr. Mead!” I called to him.

The butler looked aghast. “Miss Drew,
please
! This isn’t the time to—”

“Is that Nancy Drew?” Mr. Mead called. He motioned to the couple that he’d be right back, then he headed toward the front door. “Well, this is a very pleasant surprise,” he said when he reached me.

The butler, realizing now that I wasn’t some party crasher, did an expert disappearing act.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your party,” I said, “but your call sounded so urgent.”

“My call?” Mr. Mead said.

I told him the message Hannah had relayed to me.

“But, Nancy, I never made that telephone call,” Mr. Mead said.

“You didn’t?” I said.

“No. In fact, I have to tell you that I honestly didn’t know about the disappearance of the library clock,” Mr. Mead said. “I just returned from the Caribbean last night. Some of my law firm partners planned this surprise celebration for me.” He leaned over so he could whisper. “I landed a really big account.” He grinned. “Their incomes just tripled! They’re having a good time thanking me for it.”

“Congratulations,” I said.

He sighed. “Actually, I envy your father. Criminal law is much more exciting,” he said. “Sometimes, I wish that I had—oh, I don’t want to bore you, Nancy. I’m sorry. In any case, I can’t imagine who would call you and say that it was me. It’s a mystery—but then, that’s your specialty, isn’t it?” He winked.

“Yes, I guess it is!” I said. “I’d better go. My friend Ned’s waiting for me. It was good to see you—and congratulations again.”

“Give my best to your father,” Mr. Mead said. “I
need to call him soon. We don’t see enough of each other.”

“He’d like that, I’m sure,” I said.

The butler magically reappeared at the front door and let me out.

“Well?” Ned said when I got inside his car. “Did you learn anything important?”

I nodded. “Somebody has played another dirty trick on me,” I said. “That’s what I learned.”

“What do you mean?” Ned asked as he turned around and headed back down the driveway.

I told him everything that Mr. Mead had said.

Ned shook his head. “Who would want to send you on a wild-goose chase like this?” he said.

I thought for a moment.

“Maybe they didn’t,” I said. “It could be a clue.”

Ned looked at me. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Henry Mead’s specialty is wills and trusts,” I told him. “The mystery of the library clock is all about wills and trusts. Ned, maybe somebody is trying to tell me something.”

All the way back to River Heights, I tried to figure out just where the telephone call fit as far as the mystery was concerned. I didn’t have much luck. As usual, Ned drove and left me alone with my thoughts.

When he finally pulled up in front of my house, I
saw that Bess had returned my car—and I was so glad, because I was too tired to go get it. “I’m sorry I wasted your time, Ned,” I said. “I hope you still have time to get some work done at the library.”

“I’m fine, Nancy,” Ned said. “You’re the one I’m concerned about.”

“It’s okay, Ned. I know it’ll all come together,” I said.

“I’ll call you later, okay?” Ned said.

“Okay.”

That night after dinner I had another talk with Dad. He thought the phone call from the Henry Mead imposter was odd too, and he didn’t have an explanation for it. He agreed with me, though, that there had to be some connection here to the disappearance of the library clock.

“I think that either Mr. Franklin or Mr. Mullins, or both of them together, stole the library clock. And I’m beginning to think, after that telephone call, that there might be more people involved with it,” I said. “Plus, I’m almost positive that Deirdre Shannon is behind all the problems with the library celebration.”

“Do you have any
real
evidence to support your claims, Nancy?” Dad asked me.

“No,” I said, “but it all makes sense.”

“Well, Nancy, I think you’re on track with the
library clock, because what you’ve uncovered up to this point does seem to lead to the possibility of one or both of those men being involved,” he said. “But I honestly don’t see that kind of evidence with the library celebration problems. As you know, you have to have hard evidence,” Dad continued. “I know that you and Deirdre don’t like each other, and frankly, it’s easy to see why, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into her being responsible for these problems at the library. If you think about it objectively, it could all just be a series of unfortunate coincidences.”