Without a Trace

Let me introduce myself. I’m
Nancy Drew
.

My friends call me Nancy. My enemies call me a lot of other things, like “that girl who cooked my goose.” They actually sometimes speak like that, but what can you expect from criminals? See, I’m a detective. Well, not really. I mean, I don’t have a license or anything. I don’t carry a badge or a gun, in part because I wouldn’t touch a gun even if I could, and also because I’m just not old enough. But I
am
old enough to know when something isn’t right, when somebody’s getting an unfair deal, when someone’s done something they shouldn’t do. And I know how to stop them, catch them, and get them into the hands of the law, where they belong. I take those things seriously, and I’m almost never wrong.

My best friends, Bess and George, might not totally agree with me. They tell me I’m wrong a lot, and that they have to cover for me all of the time just to make me look good. Bess would tell you I dress badly. I call it casual. George would tell you I’m not focused. By that she’d mean that once again I forgot to fill my car with gas or bring enough money to buy lunch. But they both know I’m always focused when it comes to crime. Always.

Nancy Drew

Poached

“Oh, there you are, Nancy,” Hannah said, wiping her hands on her apron. “You just missed a phone call. The young lady sounded rather upset! Her number is on the pad.”

“Thanks.” I hurried to look at the notepad next to the phone. Simone’s name and phone number were written there in Hannah’s neat cursive. “Oh! That’s the new owner of the Peterson place. We met her this afternoon. I wonder what she wants?”

Figuring there was only one way to find out, I dialed the number. Simone answered, though she sounded so upset that I almost didn’t recognize her voice. “Nancy!” she cried when I identified myself. “I am so glad to hear from you. As you know, Pierre and I have met almost no one here in River Heights yet, and I didn’t know where else to turn.”

“What is it, Simone?” I asked anxiously. The worried crackle in her voice told me that something was wrong—very wrong.

“It’s my Fabergé egg,” Simone replied. “I walked into the living room and noticed that it’s gone!”

#1 Without a Trace

#2 A Race Against Time

#3 False Notes

#4 High Risk

#5 Lights, Camera . . .

#6 Action!

#7 The Stolen Relic

#8 The Scarlet Macaw Scandal

#9 Secret of the Spa

#10 Uncivil Acts

#11 Riverboat Ruse

Available from Aladdin Paperbacks

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First Aladdin Paperbacks edition March 2004

Copyright © 2004 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
An imprint of Simon & SchusterChildren’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

All rights reserved, including the right of
reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

NANCY DREW and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

NANCY DREW: GIRL DETECTIVE is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Library of Congress Control Number 2003109054
ISBN-13: 978-0-689-86566-4
ISBN-10: 0-689-86566-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-4424-5942-7 (eBook)

Contents

1
Friends and Neighbors