CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
"Murdered? By who?" Nancy asked.
"It's an unsolved mystery," Misty shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh, no!" George groaned, "Now we have two mysteries!"
"And you know that Nancy Drew can never turn down another mystery," Ned winked at her, "especially one that's been declared unsolvable."
"Well, there goes all my plans!" Bess grumbled.
"Bess, you don't hav-" Nancy said softly.
"No, Nancy!" Bess silenced her. She smiled so brightly that the sun practically shone from her face, "Bess Marvin, assistant detective at your service!"
"We're here," George called as she turned the car off and unbuckled.
"I explored every storage bin that we've ever kept and gone through every paper that we've published since opening this press, except the one that you are in need of! Only three papers were misplaced at that; although, they were all in their respective bins." Mr. Nickerson was pacing behind his desk, running his fingers over his thin hair. He had a bald spot in the middle of his head, and all his once black hair was beginning to gray. His square metal framed glasses were beaded with sweat. He took them off, wiped his eyes on his suit sleeve, and cleaned his glasses with his cotton handkerchief.
"Thank you, Mr. Nickerson, for all of your hard work. We understand that you stayed up all night searching for the paper." Nancy was standing at the door of Mr. Nickerson's office with Ned and Misty. Bess and George had stayed in the front room of the press. Ned was sitting in one of the two chairs that were in front of his father's desk.
Misty's face was full of concern, "Mr. Nickerson-"
"I just can't believe that it's not here!" he exclaimed, unconsciously interrupting the girl, "I always keep a copy of our papers. My family always has! It's just part of the job." Frustration seeped into his voice.
Misty opened her mouth to speak again, but Ned posed his question first, "Where exactly was the slip of paper when you found it?"
"It was in the bin that the article that you asked for should have been in, and oddly enough, it was in the particular spot that the paper would be…if it were here."
Again Misty tried to say something, but instead Nancy asked another question and Mr. Nickerson proceeded to answer. Misty sighed and walked out of the room. She wandered back out into the open area of the press's front room. Bess and George rushed up to her.
"What did he say?" George asked. Misty told them what she had heard from Ned's father.
"That's…useful?" Bess wasn't entirely sure what they had come down for if it was just to hear Mr. Nickerson freak out about a misplaced paper.
"Well actually," Misty said, "I have a theory, but I'm not sure how well it would hold up."
"Well, what is it?" George inquired.
"Mr. Nickerson said that only three papers were not in their proper places," Misty leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. Her brows knit together and her head tilted downward, "Which is understandable considering that he searched through nearly seventy years worth of papers."
"Wow, that's a lot of papers," Bess noted.
"Yeah, I'm actually surprised that only three were in the wrong place," Misty said. George shrugged her shoulders.
"So what's your theory?" Bess asked.
"Well," Misty sighed, "Mr. Nickerson also said that the three papers were all in their proper bins, even if in the incorrect position. I found that unusual." She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. "I don't know. Perhaps I'm just being skeptical." Bess and George could tell that she was tired. Suddenly, she became frustrated, "I'll bet that the paper was stolen from here too. Oh, the thieves were very thorough!"
"If only we knew what that message meant!" George mulled.
"You don't suppose that it could be a meeting time and place for whoever stole the paper from the press, do you?" Bess put in.
"That's genius, Bess!" Misty exclaimed, "And it fits in perfectly with my theory!"
"Which is…?" George prodded.
"Mr. Nickerson said that he found the note in the bin that the paper should have been in. He said that it was in the same slot that the paper would have been in, too." She stood straight and became more animated, a smile spreading across her face, "I think that whoever stole the paper from the press must have dropped it when he or she was in the act!"
"But how do we use that to help us?" Bess asked. Misty shrugged her shoulders. When Nancy and Ned returned from Mr. Nickerson's office Misty told them what she thought.
"That sounds likely," Nancy agreed.
"But of what use is that to our investigation?" Ned asked.
"My thoughts precisely!" Bess crossed her arms.
"We could take this half sheet of paper to Chief McGinnis and ask him to check for fingerprints," George suggested. The five friends headed out to the car, and George drove them over to the police station.
On the way over Mr. Drew called Nancy's cell phone. She picked it up, "Dad?"…"Yeah, but we just-"…"You what!" Nancy smiled ecstatically, "We'll be right over as soon as we finish up at the police station!" She hung up the phone and released a squeal of delight that sounded very much like Bess when she was asked out by a cute guy.
"What in the world?" George looked into the rearview mirror, "Now, we don't need more than one Bess in the same place at the same time." Bess stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms.
"Dad said that he found Misty's death certificate!" Nancy shouted with eagerness.