Stop the Clock (Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective Book 12) (3 page)

“We just saw Chief McGinnis outside, and I’m thoroughly convinced that the investigation into the disappearance of the library clock is well under way,” I said, nodding at the officer and giving him a smile. “Of course, I did offer my services, if he needed them—so he may be in touch with me.”

Now, the officer looked puzzled, because I’m sure that he’d heard Chief McGinnis tell his officers a million times that he was tired of my meddling in River Heights police cases. But I’d fibbed more for Mrs. Corning’s benefit than for the officer’s. It seemed to calm her down.

“Well, all right,” Mrs. Corning said. She faced the officer once again. “We can handle this now. There
are probably a lot of other crimes in River Heights that need your attention.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the officer said. He actually seemed relieved to have been dismissed.

“Let’s go to my office, girls,” Mrs. Corning said. “How about a cup of hot tea to calm our nerves?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Bess said.

My nerves actually felt fine, but I liked tea. And this gave me a chance to find out the story.

Mrs. Corning led us to the back of the circulation area. The front wall of her office is all a special kind of glass—she can see out, but no one can see in. Inside it’s very nicely appointed, like you’d expect a room in her house to be. I know she spends a lot of time here, and I sometimes feel that’s all my fault. Mrs. Corning and her husband are separated. He lives in California. Mrs. Corning’s daughter, Helen, had always talked about becoming a movie star, so at my suggestion, she moved to California to live with her father in order to pursue her dream. Even though Mrs. Corning knew she’d be alone in River Heights, she put Helen’s happiness first, but I knew she missed her daughter a lot.

Bess, George, and I sat down at a small table in a corner of the office, and Mrs. Corning served us English tea with scones and strawberry jam. It was all quite elegant.

“Do you feel like talking about what happened, Mrs. Corning?” I asked.

“Not really, Nancy—but I know we have to find the clock, or the seventy-fifth anniversary library celebration can’t take place! And this is very important to Mrs. Mahoney,” Mrs. Corning said, sniffing.

“Does Mrs. Mahoney know about the theft yet?” Bess asked.

Mrs. Corning nodded. “Someone at the library must have called her,” she said. “When I talked to her maid, she said that Mrs. Mahoney was in her study looking glum. The celebration was also why Helen was planning to come home, because she has such fond memories of the library—and the clock. I was so looking forward to her visit!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” I said. “It’ll be just like old times.”

What a great idea for the theme of the celebration!

“Yes, but the clock was to be the focus of the celebration, Nancy—and if the star of the show isn’t available, then why would Helen bother to come back to River Heights?” Mrs. Corning said.

That was a strange remark, I thought. Of course Helen missed her mother. But I was sure that Mrs. Corning didn’t mean it the way it sounded.

“Well, we’re not even going to think about that,
are we,” Bess said. “Nancy’ll find the clock, so the celebration can go on as planned.”

Mrs. Corning reached across the table and grasped my hand. “Oh, Nancy, I knew I could count on you,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“I’ll do what I can,” I said. I honestly did try to be diplomatic, as far as Chief McGinnis was concerned. “I have a pretty good relationship with the police department, so I think that with all of us working together, we’ll find the library clock.”

“Oh, come on! Chief McGinnis couldn’t find his way out of a paper sack,” Mrs. Corning said. “I just wish you were the only—”

Just then the door opened, causing us all to turn around.

“Oh, come on in, Ellis,” Mrs. Corning said. She motioned to a chair across the room. “Bring that over here and join us for tea.”

So
this
was Ellis Lamsley.

Ellis smiled and totally lit up the room. As he easily picked up the chair and started across the room, I couldn’t help but watch. I’ve seen male models in fashion shows and on television that weren’t this handsome. But I also noticed that right before Ellis reached us, he looked at himself in a mirror on the wall, double-checking his hair.

Yuck.

“Nancy, Bess, George—this is Ellis Lamsley, our new librarian,” Mrs. Corning said. “Ellis, Nancy Drew and her two best friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne.”

“Well, it’s a pleasure,” Ellis said. He gave Bess one of those smiles that said, “I know you think I’m gorgeous and probably unavailable, but if you play your cards right, I might ask you out on a date.”

Double yuck.

Bess gave him a coquettish smile, which I’m sure is exactly what Ellis expected. But I knew she saw
exactly
what I did, and was just being cordial.

“Nancy has agreed to help the police locate the library clock,” Mrs. Corning said. “You’re new in town, so you probably don’t know anything about her detective skills.”

“On the contrary,” Ellis said smugly. “I’ve been spending time reading the microfilmed back issues of the
River Heights Bugle,
to familiarize myself with my new home. I’ve seen Nancy’s name mentioned many times in the newspaper.”

“Well,” I said, “I think I get way too much credit in some of those news stories,” I said, “but I do plead guilty to spending a lot of time trying to solve most of the mysteries of River Heights.”

Ellis turned back to Mrs. Corning. “Well, I think
this case is in very good hands,” he said. Then, lowering his voice to a whisper, he added, “I’m afraid I don’t have too much faith in Chief McGinnis’s ability to recover the clock.”

“Ellis, I’m really impressed with all of the marathons you’ve won,” George said, thankfully changing the topic. “I was thinking that maybe we could train together, so you could give me some pointers.”

“Sure, why not,” Ellis said. He looked at Bess. “Do
you
run?”

“It depends on who’s chasing me, Ellis,” Bess said. She winked at him.

Ellis wasn’t prepared for that and almost lost his composure, but he grinned and recovered nicely. “I guess we’ll just have to see what happens,” he said. “We can make some plans after the committee meeting, if that’s okay.”

I gave Ellis a puzzled look.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Nancy,” Mrs. Corning said. “I asked Ellis to serve on the committee with you. I hope that’s all right.”

“Oh, sure,” I said, trying to sound positive, even though I didn’t really feel that way. “The more the merrier.”

“I think that would be great,” George said.

“Do you run too, Nancy?” Ellis asked.

“Nancy already has a boyfriend, Ellis,” Bess interjected.

At this, I was sure that I saw a quick flash of anger in Ellis’s eyes. He wasn’t used to a girl getting the best of him. He was used to girls melting at the sight of him. But I had to hand it to him; he got over it quickly. “Well, it didn’t hurt to ask.” He winked at all three of us.

“Thanks for the invitation anyway, Ellis,” I said, looking around. I felt antsy, ready to start investigating—or planning. “Well, I think we all know one another well enough now that we can get down to business, so—”

Once more the door opened, and Willy Franklin, the janitor, stuck his head inside. “I found the note you left for me in my supply closet, Mrs. Corning,” he said. “What did you want to see me about?”

“Come join us, Willy,” Mrs. Corning said. “We’re about to have a committee meeting about the library celebration.”

“I don’t know what’s so special about this place that you have to celebrate it,” Willy said sarcastically.

“Lots of things,” I said. “The beautiful clock, for one.”

Willy snorted on hearing that. “I guess you haven’t seen that big hole in the wall,” he said to me. He
chuckled. “Is that what you’re going to celebrate, Miss Drew?”

Like Bess, I can normally find
some
good in almost everyone—but I’ve always had to look really hard in Willy Franklin’s case. He is one of the more unpleasant people I’ve ever met. He seems to resent everyone he comes in contact with—and it’s been distracting in some of my investigations. It’s hard not to suspect him of just about any crime.

“Nancy here plans to find the library clock before the celebration,” Ellis told him. “In case you didn’t know, she’s quite the detective.”

Shoot. Why did he have to say that? I knew what was coming next.

“I know all about Nancy Drew,” Willy said. He walked over and sat down next to Mrs. Corning. He gave me a really hard stare. “But whoever stole that clock may be smarter than she is.”

Like you, for instance, Mr. Franklin?
I wanted to ask the question, but I didn’t.
Could
Mr. Franklin be behind the theft of the library clock?

Willy Franklin leaned back in his chair, clasped his hands behind his head, and said, “If you ask me, I think you should just let me plaster up that hole in the wall and forget about the clock.”

Mrs. Corning let out a gasp. “Well, that’s certainly
not going to happen, so you can just get that silly idea out of your head,” she said. She turned to me. “Nancy, will you please tell Willy what you’ll be wanting him to do for the celebration? I’m sure he needs to leave so he can attend to other projects.”

“Yeah, I need to get some sleep, so I can come back here tonight and clean this place up,” Willy said.

I’d heard that Mr. Franklin had gotten in trouble over the last few years—arguments with neighbors that had occasionally turned into fistfights, things like that—but I honestly had no idea how completely rude Mr. Franklin could be. Actually, it wasn’t just his rudeness—it was his insolence. Why was he tolerated at the library? It was amazing to me that something I had really been looking forward to, the library celebration, had now almost become drudgery, thanks to Ellis and Mr. Franklin.

I took a deep breath and let it out. Well, I was in charge of this—so it would be up to me to make sure it was successful. And I’d do just that. Somehow, I’d find the library clock, and somehow, I’d manage to work with these two men.

I gave Mr. Franklin one of my biggest smiles. Kill them with kindness, I always say. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Franklin. We all really appreciate it,” I said. “We won’t keep you. We’ll be needing your help with the display cases, easels—things like that. I’m
sure I’ll want to move the ones that are already on the floor to different places, to highlight our displays. Mrs. Corning said there were other cases stored in the basement, so I’ll take a look at them, then tag the ones I’d like you to clean and move up to the main library.” I stopped and gave him another big smile. “So I guess that’s really all for today. We really appreciate your coming.”

Mr. Franklin shook his head and snorted, but he didn’t comment. He just stood up and left the room.

“He is such an insolent man! If I thought I could get away with firing him, I would,” Mrs. Corning said. “But he’s got some connection to Mrs. Mahoney, through her husband, I think—so I never got rid of him. I wouldn’t want to alienate Mrs. Mahoney.”

“Oh, I think he probably has a good heart,” Ellis said. I could tell the remark took everyone by surprise. “He’s probably just unhappy about his status in life.”

“He’s certainly unhappy about
something,
” George said.

“Does he have to be involved with this committee?” Bess asked.

“Well, I guess we could always move the display cases ourselves,” I said.

“No, thanks,” Bess said. “I’ll just tune Mr. Franklin out.”

“How long is Mr. Franklin here at the library by himself?” I said.

“About two hours. From ten
P.M
., when the library closes, until midnight, when his shift is over,” Mrs. Corning said. “Why?”

“I was just curious,” I said.

Ellis looked at me. “I just don’t think Willy could have had anything to do with the disappearance of the library clock, if that’s what you’re thinking, Nancy,” he said. “I know he’s really unpleasant, but frankly, I doubt if he’s bright enough to figure out how to pull off a crime like this. Just like he said, it was someone clever.”

Before I could respond to Ellis’s remark, a voice at the door said, “Sorry I’m late! Did I miss anything important?”

I felt my stomach drop. The voice belonged to Deirdre Shannon.

“Oh, hi, DeeDee,” I said. She hates that nickname. “What are you late for, and why would you think you missed anything?”

“I’m on your committee, Nancy,” Deirdre said, breezing into the room and sitting down in the seat vacated by Mr. Franklin.

I was finding it almost impossible to say anything. I looked at Mrs. Corning. All I was able to say was, “I didn’t know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, dear. The library clock theft has me so rattled, I can’t seem to remember anything,” Mrs. Corning said. “Deirdre called this morning and offered her services. Since I know how much work this is going to be, I was sure you wouldn’t mind.”

What a disaster. The library clock was gone, Mr. Franklin was going to be impossible to work with, and Deirdre would be around to make our lives miserable. What else could go wrong?

Ralph Mullins’s Threat

B
etween gritted teeth, I
managed, “We’re delighted to have you, Deirdre, but try to be on time for all the future meetings.”

Deirdre gave me a smirk. “Well, actually, I was on time, Nancy,” she said. “In fact, I was here before you and your friends were.”

“Really?” I said. “Well, then, where were you?”

“It’s my fault, Nancy,” Mrs. Corning said. “When Deirdre got here, things were in such chaos, because we had just discovered that the clock was missing—so I asked her if she would help the children’s librarian shelve books.” She gave Deirdre a big librarian smile. “Without any hesitation whatsoever, she agreed to do it.”

Oh, brother. Deirdre Shannon,
library assistant
?

“Well, that was nice of you, Deirdre,” Bess said. She turned to George. “Isn’t that really nice of Deirdre?”

“Why, yes, it really is,” George said. She looked at Deirdre. “We were just talking about you this morning, when we saw you pulling into that parking space at the supermarket. We were just saying what a nice, thoughtful, sensitive person Deirdre Shannon was. You know the type of person we’re talking about. The one who helps little old ladies and gentlemen across the street. The one who would never park in a handicap parking space. The one who . . . well, you get the picture.”