It was midnight on October 21st. Amelia Johnson was just getting ready for bed when she noticed movement outside of her bedroom window. Moving closer to the window she said to her husband, "Jim can you come here? I think I saw something out the window."

Jim grumbled. He was already in bed and he wasn't ready to leave its warmth.

Amelia said a bit more forcefully, "Jim come here! There's something going on in the street."

An arm reached out from under the covers and felt around for the glasses on the nightstand. Jim sat up and walked over to where his wife was, then looked out the window.

"Well? Do you see what I see?"

"A star shining in the night?"

Amelia glared at Jim. "This is not the time to be funny. Who is that out there?"

Jim rubbed his eyes and looked again. Outside on the dark street, he could see someone...or something...moving. He watched a few more moments and the figure shifted into a beam of light from a street lamp.

"It's a kid!" Jim said shocked, "Dancing? At this time of night and past curfew?"

"It looks almost like Jason Danforth, but I can't quite tell from here."

"Steven's boy? Keep an eye on him, Ames. I'm going to call the police and then the judge."

As Amelia watched, the scene began to change. The figure below continued dancing around the street while a thick fog began to roll in. Winds began to pick up and shake the trees. Suddenly, the figure stopped. Amelia was about to call for her husband, when the figure took off running.

Jim walked back over. "The police are on their way. Is the figure still there?"

"No. Whoever was out there just ran off."

A low buzz began. Amelia walked over and answered the vibrating phone.

A frantic voice rang out through the room. "Amy did you see that?"

It took a second before she realized that it was her neighbor, Nikki. "Are you talking about the scene in the street?"

"Yes! It was the Danforth boy, I'd bet on it. Harold called the police and they are on the way. Thought you'd like to know."

"I had Jim call too. Let's just stay calm until they come. The police will get to the bottom of this."

At the Salem police department, the phones were ringing off the hook. Captain Reynolds was looking for a team to investigate. They had been receiving calls about some teenager causing some sort of disturbance by dancing.

"People's imaginations are really in motion tonight. Probably just some cat." Reynolds thought as he prepared a cup of coffee.

"Captain! Captain! We just got a call that the Hawthorne House is on fire!" A detective came running into the break room.

"Okay, okay Peters. Get a squad together to help with crowd control and radio the group that is investigating the dancing incident so they know what is going on. I'll come too for support."

"Thanks, Captain." Peters left as fast as he had come.

"So much for a quiet night. First the dancing, now a fire. What's really going on here?" Captain Reynolds wondered.

Jason Danforth groaned and thought "why is it so hot? Ugh and why does my head hurt like this? Has it ever hurt like this?" He opened his eyes and another set of eyes met his. He screamed. The other eyes glowed red from the fireplace. Jason backed away and tried to find a way out. He struggled towards the door and jiggled the handle. It was locked!

He ran towards the window and tripped. Crawling to the window now, Jason reached up and smacked his hand against the window. He struggled to pull himself up. The heat and smoke were getting to him. Jason searched for a way to open the window, but it was jammed.

He looked below and saw a group gathering outside of the house. Jason began pounded and yelling, hoping that someone would hear him. The people below began searching and then saw him. Jason's head began to feel light. The room started to spin. "I have to figure something out. There has to be a way out of here."

Jason stumbled around the room. He found a stepstool and heaved it up. The stool was heavier than it looked. Jason took a few steps and lifted the stool higher. The world began to slip away as Jason threw the stool at the window. The window shattered. He collapsed and the world went black

The police pulled up to the Johnson house. Amelia and Jim Johnson were waiting outside with a few more of their neighbors. Agent Smith shut the car door and joined the group.

"Who are the Johnsons? We'll start with you guys."

Amelia Johnson pushed her way to the front with Jim following close behind.

"That would be us. We saw everything!"

Each of the neighbors took a turn telling the police what they had seen. Lieutenant James sighed. He wanted to be over at the fire where the real action was happening. His radio buzzed, "All officers come to the Hawthorne House immediately. We need back up."

"Alrighty everybody. Get back to your homes and we'll keep you updated." The lieutenant began pushing his way through the crowd, making his way to the patrol car. He unlocked the car and climbed in. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something on the seat of the car with him. Taking a closer look, Lieutenant James thought, "Oh boy, the captain is going to want to see this."

The crowd outside of the Hawthorne house was growing larger by the minute. The firefighters almost had the blaze under control when Lieutenant James arrived. James made his way to where Captain Reynolds was. Reynolds seemed to be questioning a young man.

"What were you doing in there, Jason?"

The young man frowned. "I can't remember. I don't even remember going there."

Captains Reynolds wiped his forehead. "What's the last thing you remember? Then work your way forward from there."

"It's all a blur. I remember going to school. There was a math test, I think? I was walking home and then...nothing. Last think I remember after that was waking up in that room and seeing a pair of glowing eyes." He shivered and paused a moment. "They were freaky. Reminded me of that one girl in town, Mei. I knew I had to get out. The door was locked, so I tried the window. I couldn't get that open, but before I could try to break it I had passed out. That's all I remember, sorry sir."

"Rest up, son. Let us know if you remember anything else." Captain Reynolds turned and walked away. Lieutenant James followed.

"Sir, you may want to see this." The lieutenant pressed a large envelope into the captain's hands. "I think we may have a suspect."

The captain opened the envelope to see a picture of Mei Parris in front of the Hawthorne house, struggling to open the door. He turned to Lieutenant James. "Where'd you get this?"

"It was waiting for me in the patrol car when I was coming here. Someone must've slipped it in while I was talking to the folks just down the road who called about the disturbance in the street."

"That seems pretty circumstantial, but see if you can get ahold of her. It probably wouldn't hurt to ask the girl a few questions, especially since Jason mentioned her."

Lieutenant James saluted and hurried off to the Parris home, while Captain Reynolds went on to see if anything new had been uncovered.

Mei was curled up in an armchair in the family room, reading a book. She was excited to finish, since the next book was coming out in the morning. Nighttime was Mei's favorite time. It also helped that she dealt with insomnia. Nobody would throw things at her or yell at her. Her parents weren't up to check on her. Everything was nice and peaceful.

Mei was about to start the last chapter, when a forceful knock echoed through the house. She jumped. "Maybe I imagined it," she thought. She realized she was wrong when the knock came again, even louder.

Mei's dad stumbled down the stairs and to the front door. A police officer was at the door.

Mr. Parris grumbled, "Can I help you officer?"

"Sorry for the late hour, sir, but we need to speak with your daughter. Mei is suspect in the burning down of Hawthorne House. She is to be taken in for questioning."

"Are you insane?" Mr. Parris growled. "What evidence do you have?" His skin was turning red, which usually happened when he got angry.

"There is photographic evidence and a victim believes he may have seen Mei."

"Wait, what?" Mei got out of her seat. "I've been here all day."

"I'm sorry, Mei, but we have to take you in for questioning."

"We won't stand for this. You aren't talking to Mei until our lawyer gets here." Mr. Parris stormed off.

"Officer, can you update me on what exactly is going on?"

Some time later, Mei was waiting in a holding cell. she was told that they would question her when the family lawyer came. She still had one phone call to use. "I better call Deirdre. She'll want to know. Maybe she can help," thought Mei.

Mei grabbed her cell phone and pulled up Deirdre's contact information. Mei hit the call icon and waited. After a few moments, Deirdre answered, "Hey, Mei. What's up? It's kind of early for a chat."

"Deirdre, I've been arrested for arson and a whole bunch of other things. I don't know what to do."

"Hold it. You've been arrested? Start from the beginning and don't leave anything out."

Mei told Deirdre everything the officer had told her about the case. Mei felt like crying. "Deirdre, you know how the people of this town see me. I have no chance of getting out of this. How can I prove that I am innocent?"

There was a long pause. Then Deirdre said, "Mei, I'm coming to help as soon as I can. I think I know someone who can help. Don't worry. If anyone can find the real culprit, it's Nancy Drew."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. If anyone can, it's her." A knock sounded on the cell and an officer was unlocking the gate.

"I'll call you back, Deirdre." Mei hung up. The officer told her to get up.

"You're free to go for now. There isn't enough evidence to hold you. But don't think about skipping town anytime soon, young lady."

Mei's parents were waiting outside. They ran to hug her and guided her to the car. "How are you doing, sweetie? Were they nice to you in there?" Mei's mother asked as she checked over her daughter.

"Mom, enough. I'm okay, just a little stiff from sitting so long. I'd just like to go home right now, if it's alright."

"Sure thing, sweetie. We'll be home before you know it."

The Parris family made their way down the road. Mei was lost in thought when a noise that jolted her.

"Oh no." said her mom.

"You have got to be kidding me!" her dad said through clenched teeth.

Outside of the car, there was a crowd of people with signs. It took Mei a while to realize what was going on and then she realized, the crowd was chanting, "witch, witch, kill the witch."

Mei shrank down in her seat as she tried to ignore the people outside. Her dad parked and the family tried to get inside their house, when something wet went splat against Mei's head. She teared up and looked to find an old tomato on the ground behind her.

Mr. Parris was livid. He turned and began yelling at the crowd. Mrs. Parris helped Mei inside to clean up. Mei could hear her dad screaming over the shouts of the crowd.

"Mom, maybe you should help dad. Maybe call the police or something." Mei sniffed, trying not to cry.

"But you need me more, dear."

Mei managed a smile. "Well those people are going to need help if dad gets any madder. You know how he is."

Mrs. Parris grimaced. Although Thomas Parris as a good man, father, and husband, he could be a hothead. When it came to protecting his family, he was a force of nature.

"Good point. I'll try to help your dad out and then I'll make some brownies. How does that sound?"

"Great, mom. Thanks."

Mrs. Parris left and Mei let her guard down. She sobbed. Mei had been dealing with people being afraid of her for years now because of her albinism. Her parents tried to keep it from her for a long time, even to the point of smothering her. However, her parents couldn't keep everything from her. Mei tried to grin and bear it, but the tomato was the last straw for the day.

She managed to calm down and then hunted down her cell phone. The phone was still plugged in, sitting on her desk. "Better update Deirdre what happened," she thought.

Moments later, the text was sent. Mei flopped on her bed and sighed. A little while later, she felt the familiar buzzing that signals a text. She pulled it up and read:

"I'm coming. Flight arrives 8:30 tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I will have back up. Don't worry, she's the best."

Mei raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Deirdre didn't complement many people, so when she did it meant that it was pretty sincere. She risked a peak out of the window. Mei could see her parents addressing the mob.

Mei decided to wait until they came back in to tell them Deirdre was coming and bringing a friend. She felt another buzz. The text read:

"Her name's Nancy Drew. She's solved a lot of cases and cleared a lot of people's names. Tell your parents not to worry. If anyone can clear you, it's Nancy."