Chapter XII
Chief Mcginnis soon arrived at the house with two other policemen at his side.
Nancy informed the chief of her unsuccessful investigation as she handed over the beige folder for evidence, to which he replied with even more discouraging news.
Rubbing at the rear of his neck with his hand, the chief told Ned and Nancy; "Er, as soon as you two set off for his house, we began to transfer Mr. Gates to a temporary holding facility. We were just loading him into one of our cruisers when two masked men pulled up in the getaway vehicle and attacked my men, taking Mr. Gates with them."
"Oh! How dreadful!" Nancy exclaimed.
The chief nodded. "Thankfully, my men weren't seriously injured, however, we did lose our only suspect."
"These men haven't had a chance to harm Mr. Gates's daughter yet, have they?" Ned inquired.
"Actually, that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
Nancy and Ned glanced curiously at each other.
"As soon as I heard we had lost Mr. Gates, I decided to do a little digging. I checked phone records, personal files and even for a birth certificate but I wasn't able to find any paperwork on any Mr. Gates who might own this property, much less a daughter of his."
"Oh my." Nancy whispered under her breath.
"So, my guess is; This man, whoever he is, gave us Mr. Gates as an alias and is really in on whatever this bigger plot is, along with our other suspects whom we have not been able to catch so far."
Nancy was too astonished to speak.
Now that Mr. Gates was gone, how was she ever supposed to reveal his true identity? And more importantly; how was she ever going to solve her mother's mystery if she keeps ending up right back at square one?
"Please accept my sincerest apologies for allowing Mr. Gates to escape." The chief told the couple, who were still trying to process the situation. "And please know that we will do everything we can to capture him once more."
"Thank chief, we'd very much appreciate it." Ned said.
And, with a shake of their hands, the chief continued up the path leading to the property.
Meanwhile, Nancy and Ned decided it was time to give the sleuthing a rest for the night.
"How do you feel about a nice, quiet dinner?" Ned asked, glancing down at Nancy.
"Hmm, sounds nice. It's only eight thirty after all."
That was all the reply Ned needed, as he walked ahead of Nancy and opened the passenger door for her.
The wind whipped in Nancy's face as they drove along in the night with the daylight fading and melting into the shadows behind them. The ember glow of streetlights flashed by one after the other, making the entire drive seem as if it were a dream. All the while, Nancy was contemplating what her next move would be;
With this so-called Mr. Gates on the loose with who knows how many more criminals, Nancy is left with zero suspects and very little leads to go on.
She sighed, as she rested her cheek against her the window frame, wishing her mother had left more than a note and package for her to go on. What exactly had her mother been intending for Nancy to solve?
Nancy's reverie was interrupted when Ned lay a hand on her shoulder. "How does Italian sound?" He asked, nodding toward an Italian restaurant on his side of the street.
With as much smile as she could muster at the moment, Nancy replied with; "Sounds wonderful."
The meal was delicious and took place without a single disturbance.
As the couple finished what was left on their plates, two young women stepped out onto the stage in the centre of the room. The first woman sat at the piano before her while the second took to a violin set off to the side and together, the two women began to play a calm and steady tune, like the continuous flow of a river.
Ned rose from his seat and stood over his date with his hand outstretched to her. "May I have the privilege of a dance with you Nancy?" He asked.
And for the first time all night, Nancy was able to smile without any effort as she took his hand saying, "Why of course."
And together, the young couple took to the dance floor in a waltz position. With his hand around her waist, Ned dipped Nancy and swiftly pulled her back onto her feet before spinning her outward and back into his arms.
Nancy lay her head on his shoulder, sighing deeply with a smile spreading all the way across her face. Ned always seemed to know just how to calm her nerves.
With a final dip and a shared kiss of their lips, the song came to an end and the couple approached the stage to praise the two musicians for their lovely music.
"You both played beautifully." Nancy told the women.
Blushing, the first woman said with a sheepish smile, "Thank you, I'm very pleased you enjoyed the show."
"We play here every Tuesday and Thursday nights between five and nine o'clock." The second woman said.
"Well, we'll definitely have to come here again." Ned said.
After bidding the musicians farewell, Ned and Nancy exited the restaurant and as they made their way to where they had parked Nancy's convertible, they were approached by a man with brown wavy hair, an older-looking complexion dressed in a suit and tie. He had a few black streaks going across his face that appeared to be grease marks.
"Hey," He began. "It looks like I'm having some car trouble, would you mind giving me a hand mister?" He said, as he wiped away at the grease on his face, which only caused it to smear.
Nodding, Ned told Nancy he would meet her at the car in a few minutes before he followed the man to his vehicle.
As Nancy continued walking down the sidewalk, she once again, began to strategize her next move on the mystery.
She considered taking Mr Gates's license plate number and photo to different police stations, hoping to spread the word of his crimes but she also guessed that the criminals might have ditched the getaway vehicle for a new one by now.
These thoughts continued to race through her mind as she pulled her car key from her handbag only for it to fall from her hand as a hand clamped over her mouth in a tight grip!
Sorry for the cliffhanger! Hehehe I'm so evil!XD
Hope you guys liked it and I'm really hoping to get another chapter out by this weekend but we'll see:)
-birdywings
