Chapter 7 - The Society
Corine Meyers hadn't changed much physically since Nancy got her expelled from Waverly Academy. The biggest change was in her demeanor. At Waverly, she had been mischievous and deceitful when she acted as the Black Cat, writing threatening notes to her fellow valedictorian candidates, locking her claustrophobic roommate Danielle up in a dark closet overnight, putting nuts in Megan Vargas' food so she would get an allergic reaction, deleting Izzy Romero's final term paper from her laptop, and more. In the end Nancy confronted her and Corine almost got Nancy killed as she attempted her escape. Corine was ultimately outsmarted, though, and was promptly expelled from Waverly for her harmful behavior. But now, the girl seemed different. She seemed nervous and frightened, standing on Nancy's doorstep with nothing but a suitcase in her hand and a purse on her shoulder.
Nancy was too flabbergasted to utter any words, so she let Corine do the talking. "Can I come in? I mean I know you probably hate me and everything, and with good reason, I was a real bitch. But I'm like seriously in danger, Becca – oh, sorry, force of habit. I know your name is Nancy, it's just weird to call you that now." At Waverly, Nancy had gone undercover as a student named Becca Sawyer, and apparently her fake identity had been rather convincing.
"Corine, how did you get here? How did you find me?"
"It's a – it's a long story. Can I come in? Please? Don't make me beg you. I've been waiting outside your house since last night when I flew in from Seattle. When I knocked on your door then, they said you weren't home, said you were in New York –" Corine was interrupted when Hannah called out from the hallway inquiring what was taking Nancy so long.
Nancy hesitated for a few moments, then she realized there would be no harm in letting Corine in. After all, she was in a safe space surrounded by her friends and family. "Why, you're the young lady who was looking for Nancy last night!" Hannah exclaimed when she laid eyes on Corine. "Come in, come in, I'll make you a drink." Hannah had always been quick to trust people.
When Corine and Nancy entered the living room, they were met with a sea of confused faces. "Nancy, who's this?" Bess asked.
"Corine, can you please explain what you're doing here?" Nancy inquired nervously. She could see that Corine felt very uncomfortable and that she didn't expect a room full of people to be in the house.
"Nancy", she whispered then, "would it be okay if I talked to you in private?"
"Why would I agree to that?" Nancy retorted.
Corine looked puzzled, as if she was trying to figure out her next move. "I only want to speak to a detective. What I have to say is very confidential."
"You're in luck", Nancy said. "We have three other detectives in this very room. Corine, this is Frank and Joe Hardy, and this is Alexei Markovic." She introduced them all to Corine, who started feeling more and more uncomfortable. "If you only want to speak to detectives, I suggest the five of us move into the study so you can start explaining."
Corine realized there was no way out of this, so she agreed to Nancy's terms. Along with Frank, Joe and Alexei, they moved to the study and closed the doors behind them, leaving Bess, George, Ned, Carson and Hannah to wonder what was happening. Nancy noticed Ned shooting another jealous look at them, so she made a note to herself to talk to him about the Hardy Boys later. To tell him that he had nothing to be jealous about. Before Corine got a chance to talk, Nancy filled the other detectives in on what had happened at Waverly Academy when she was first acquainted with Corine Meyers. Alexei, Frank and Joe shot some nasty looks at Corine while Nancy was talking, clearly not appreciating the stunts that she had pulled back then.
"You could have gone out gracefully when you got expelled", Alexei said. "But you decided to drag those two girls down with you, those twins."
"Rachel and Kim Hubbard", Nancy interjected, remembering how surprised she was when she discovered that the twin sisters were posing as one single student.
"Look", Corine finally said, "it's no use dwelling on the past right now. Like I told Becca – I mean, Nancy – I think I'm in grave danger. I flew in here from Seattle last night just to see her." Seattle, Nancy thought to herself, Washington state. Where Dwayne Powers was supposedly murdered and Andy Jason just got released from prison.
"So start explaining!" Joe cried out impatiently.
"Okay. I'll have to start by telling you about the Society. But promise me, please, promise me you won't get angry and you'll listen to me. Remember that this is very confidential information and it was my choice to come to you and share it with you."
Nancy nodded her head. "I promise."
"Okay", Corine continued. "After I got expelled from Waverly, I had to finish my high school education at a different school. A much lesser school. In Vermont. I had to leave the state! No school in New York would accept me. When I got my high school degree, I started applying for different colleges across the country, hoping they wouldn't place too much importance on my criminal record. I got so many rejections…" Corine reflected for a moment, "and then one day I got an email from an unknown sender. Asking to meet me at a café in Vermont, where I was still living. They wrote to me that they knew all about what had happened at Waverly Academy, and they would help me get into a college. Naturally, I was skeptical. But I was desperate and thought I would take the chance. That's how I met Dwayne…"
Nancy's eyes opened wide with astonishment. "Dwayne Powers."
Corine nodded. "Of course back then he introduced himself as Owen Spayder. He had other aliases too. Johnny Rolle? John Poole? Sound familiar? Dwayne told me all about when he met you last, Nancy – when he posed first as a Jamaican fisherman and then as an Australian fugitive in the Bahamas. Dwayne had a lot of pride and a lot of confidence in his acting skills. Honestly I thought his Jamaican accent was absolutely horrendous when he demonstrated it to me." Corine paused.
"Go on", Nancy said.
"Yeah, so obviously Dwayne was not there to help me get into a college. He just said that to get my attention. He was there to recruit me into the Society. When he mentioned your name, Nancy, I was instantly intrigued. You see, after he got out of prison, Dwayne created the Society as a way to get his revenge against you, Nancy. The Society is all about you. Every member is devoted to hating you. Ever member is someone you've made very angry, Nancy. Together, they planned the whole situation in the Bahamas, luring you to Dread Isle, kidnapping Bess, etcetera. It was a group effort, really. Of course, that was before I joined, so I've only heard stories about it."
"You're a member of this – this Society?!" Nancy exclaimed angrily.
"You promised you wouldn't get mad", Corine reminded her. "And besides, I'm not a member anymore. And I only ever went to two of his meetings! Dwayne always called the meetings and contacted everyone to let them know when and where the next meeting would be held. He would even pay for everyone's flights! I have no idea how he got his hands on so much money. It was clear how important the Society was for him, and how obsessed he was with you, Nancy. My first meeting must have been about a year ago. In Oklahoma City. I joined at the same time as Scott Varnell."
"Scott Varnell?!" Nancy shrieked. This story was getting crazier and crazier by the second.
"Scott Varnell…" Frank pondered, "isn't he the guy who was responsible for all that sabotage in the tornado chase team you interned for, Nancy?"
"That's the one", Corine said before Nancy had a chance to reply. "I never liked Scott. He was always a jerk to me. To pretty much everyone, in fact. Even though we were all there for the same reason, Scott always acted so defiant against the other members. Anyway, my first meeting was quite the experience. We spent a lot of time trying to plot revenge against you. Dwayne always came up with the craziest ideas, and wanted to get everyone else's input. But a lot of time was also spent on just chatting and getting to know everyone. Specifically everyone's experiences dealing with you, Nancy. It became kind of a self-help group. A lot of the members felt like you ruined their lives. And besides feeling vengeful, they also felt… traumatized, maybe? Or depressed. I'm not gonna lie, I was in a pretty dark place too at that point in my life. But being around other people who hated you, Nancy, it felt good, I'm not gonna lie. It helped me come to terms with what happened at Waverly. And guess what, I managed to get into a college! I'm in my first year now."
It seemed like Corine was waiting to be congratulated, but all she got was four troubled-looking pairs of eyes staring back at her in silence. "What happened to El Toro's treasure?" Nancy asked. "The map I found, that supposedly led to a long-lost city of gold."
"Oh god", Corine began, "that was a whole ordeal. Because they had been planning the Bahamas plot so meticulously, you see. All the other members were really angry at Dwayne for losing the map, especially Shorty."
Nancy closed her eyes. "Not Shorty Thurmond…" Nancy had vivid memories of being chased by Shorty in that weird labyrinth inside the cliff dwellings in Arizona, after she had found Dirk Valentine's long lost treasure. Shorty had revived the legend of the Phantom Horse in order to chase people away from Shadow Ranch, thinking that Dirk's treasure was hidden there somehow.
"Of course Shorty Thurmond, Nancy. He was the one who picked up Dwayne at sea in the other boat! You see, Dwayne needed that second boat, since he was sure you'd be able to track down his first boat. The plan was for Dwayne to capture you on the island, escape with the treasure, sail to the coordinates where Shorty was waiting with the second boat, jump onto the second boat and get out of there as quickly as possible. Finding the first boat empty, Dwayne surmised correctly, would lead everyone to think he had drowned."
"Right…" Nancy interjected.
"But when Dwayne met Shorty at sea, he said he had lost the map. He said there were some big waves along the way and the map fell overboard. Shorty was livid. Their only consolation after that whole ordeal was that Dwayne did manage to make you and your friends suffer. Sort of."
"Tell us about your second meeting", Nancy interrupted.
"The second meeting was several months later", Corine began. "It was somewhere in the Chicago suburbs. We had one new member then – Brenda Carlton."
"Of course", Nancy said, rolling her eyes. "As if this couldn't get any crazier. Who else is in this damn Society?! Who are all these people trying to get back at me?" Nancy felt herself getting angrier and angrier. She knew she had pissed off a lot of people over the years, culprits she had caught, bad people whose mischievous plans she had foiled. "Who are they?!" Nancy shouted.
"I have a list", Corine said quietly.
Chapter 8 - The List
Nancy looked at Corine in disbelief as she pulled a handwritten list of names out of her purse. "Now you understand why I'm in danger?" Corine asked the group of detectives. "Somebody murdered Dwayne. Who's to say whoever murdered him isn't coming after the other members of the Society? And here I am, giving you a full list of all the members. You know why? Because I want your protection, Nancy. I want you to find out who murdered Dwayne and make all of this stop – for good. All this revenge plotting was stupid, I realize that now. And I want to apologize. I'm sorry, Nancy."
Nancy looked intensely in Corine's eyes and decided she was being honest. Without responding to her request for protection, Nancy took the list that Corine was reaching out to her. The list contained the following names:
1. Dwayne Powers
2. Louis Chandler
3. Lisa Ostrum
4. Emily Griffin
5. Elliot Chen
6. Shorty Thurmond
7. Lori Girard
8. Mike Mapu
9. Pua Mapu
10. Corine Meyers
11. Scott Varnell
12. Brenda Carlton
"The list is ordered chronologically", Corine added. "In order of who joined first. I remember I was so surprised when I saw Lori Girard at my first meeting. I had never met a famous person before! Of course, she's not that famous now anymore, not since you ruined her career."
"This is insane", is all Nancy could think of saying. "All these people hate me so much that they get together every now and then, plot revenge, and talk about how much they hate me?"
"There wasn't too much plotting going on at the last meeting", Corine said. "After introducing us to Brenda, the meeting took a weird turn, actually. All Dwayne wanted to talk about the whole time was about a skull he found. A crystal skull. Which was supposed to make him immortal. It made everyone like super uncomfortable."
"A crystal skull?!" Nancy exclaimed. "How did he find it?"
"He wouldn't tell us", Corine answered. "Nor did he want to show us the skull. All he talked about was how he was gonna be immortal and how the skull would give him so many mystical powers and yada yada yada. Everyone at the meeting thought he was crazy."
Nancy took some time to think and to tell Frank, Joe and Alexei about the crystal skull she had found in New Orleans, while she was checking up on Ned's friend, Henry Bolet Jr. The skull was believed to grant immortality to whomever possessed it, but that sure didn't help Henry's great uncle Bruno. Bruno Bolet owned one of the fabled crystal skulls and was fully convinced in its powers, until he received a letter from an authenticator saying the skull was a fake and immediately collapsed and died of a heart attack. So much for immortality. Nancy had later found out, though, that the letter from the authenticator had been faked and that the skull was in fact the real deal. Bruno's housekeeper, Renée Amande, had turned out to be responsible for faking the letter and was after the crystal skull herself, fully believing in its mystical powers as well. When Nancy found the skull, Renée had tricked her into handing it over to her and she had tried to escape, leaving Nancy locked inside a crypt! Of course Nancy managed to find a way out of the crypt and quickly ran to confront Renée, which resulted in the skull being swallowed by an alligator named Bernie. Bernie had disappeared after that, and wasn't spotted ever again as far as she knew.
"So you think the skull that Dwayne found is the same skull you found earlier in New Orleans, Nancy?" Alexei asked. "If so, that skull is more of a curse than a blessing, it seems. Everyone who owned it has died."
"I have so many more questions", Nancy reflected. "Corine, I want you to stay with us here at the house. We will keep you protected as best we can. And I want to know everything that was said during these meetings and I want to know everything you know about the other members."
"Oh thank you, Nancy!" Corine exclaimed. "Thank you thank you thank you! You have no idea how relieved I am!"
"Now answer me this first", Nancy continued. "What were you doing in Seattle?"
"I was there for another meeting!" Corine answered. "The meeting was supposed to take place yesterday on San Juan Island. I think Dwayne was planning to introduce a thirteenth member to the Society. But of course the meeting never happened. When I heard about Dwayne's body washing up on shore, I immediately knew he must have been murdered. I could feel it. And I got scared. So I left Seattle as fast as I could and came directly here."
A new member, Nancy reflected. "Do you have any idea who this new member of the Society was supposed to be?"
"I have no clue", Corine replied.
"Have you ever heard of a man named Andy Jason?"
"I don't know who that is", Corine said after a few moments.
"Do you have any information about the whereabouts of any of the Society's members right now?"
"I don't, believe me. I only ever met them at those two meetings, and Dwayne was always responsible for bringing everyone together. I have no idea what any of them do outside of the meetings, or where they live. Nobody ever disclosed that type of information to me. There was always some level of distrust."
Nancy heard a knock at the door of the study. It was her father. "Nancy, is everything okay in there?"
"Yes, Dad! I'll be right out!" Nancy shouted. "Corine, I'm gonna go ask my dad and Hannah if it's okay to let you stay here. In the meantime, try and think of any other information that might be useful to us. You can tell Frank, Joe and Alexei everything. You can trust them."
A little while later, Nancy had everything organized and had gathered her thoughts. Carson agreed to let Corine stay with them for a while. Hannah had gone upstairs to prepare the guest room for Corine, and Nancy had brought in some of her own clothes that Corine could wear, since she hadn't brought many. Ned, Bess and George were dying with curiosity about what she had talked about with Corine, but she didn't want to fill them in without checking with Corine first.
"Corine", Nancy began, when she returned to the study. "I have some plans about how to proceed. But I can't do this alone. This case is huge. I'm going to need help. And not just from Alexei, Frank and Joe. I need Ned, Bess and George for this too. Do I have your permission to include them?"
Corine hesitated, unsure about what to say. "I've come this far… If you think it's a good idea to involve them, then you have my permission."
A few minutes later, Nancy had everyone gather in the living room, with the exception of Carson and Hannah, who went out for a walk. Nancy would fill them in on the case superficially later, she decided. It wouldn't do much good to involve them too deeply. Nancy and Corine went over the whole story again for Ned, Bess and George, who listened very carefully.
"Dwayne fucking Powers", Bess sulked. "He's so horrible!"
"I'll never forgive him for this", George said. "I'm glad he's dead."
"We still have to figure out who killed him, George. And why. I have a feeling we might all be in danger if we don't figure all of this out."
"So, Nancy", Ned began, trying to hide his worry and concern as best he could, "why do you think somebody killed Dwayne? Do you think it has something to do with the crystal skull?"
"I do", said Nancy. "Dwayne Powers practically shouted from the rooftops that he was in possession of this crystal skull. It was all he could talk about during the Society's previous meeting in Chicago. Maybe one of the other members wanted the skull for themselves. And because the only time they'd usually meet was during the Society's meetings, they decided that the San Juan meeting was the right time to try and steal it from him. I believe that the key to this mystery is finding out where the skull is."
Nancy suddenly thought about her meeting with Lillian Weiss yesterday, which was the first time she heard about Dwayne's possession of the skull. "And we can't limit our suspect list to the members of the Society. They could have passed on the information to outsiders. And Dwayne himself could also have told others about the skull. He even told Lillian about it."
"Lillian?" Bess inquired.
Nancy told them all about her meeting with Lillian at WWB Studios in New York. "So hundreds of people could have known that Dwayne had the skull!" George said.
"But not everyone could have known that Dwayne would be in San Juan", said Corine. "The Society meetings were top secret. And there's no proof either that he even took the skull with him to San Juan!"
The group sat in silence for a few moments, thinking.
"What's our plan?" Alexei asked enthusiastically. He seemed excited to be involved in another case after all this time.
"I want us to split up", Nancy decided. "Corine will stay here with my dad and Hannah. I think she's right about being in danger. If any of the other members found out that Corine told us everything about the Society, they might want to come after her."
"Thank you, Nancy", Corine said.
"George", Nancy continued, "will you come with me to Washington? I want to find out everything I can there about Dwayne's murder, and about Andy Jason's release from prison."
"I would love to!" George agreed.
"Bess and Ned", Nancy looked them straight in the eye, "I need you two to travel to New Orleans. See if anyone there knows what happened to the crystal skull, what happened to Bernie the alligator, and what happened to Renée Amande."
Bess and Ned looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "Anything for you, Nancy", Ned said.
"We're happy to help!" Bess chimed in. "I'm already craving some more of that gumbo I had last time."
"Frank and Joe", Nancy turned to the two brothers, "I want you guys to use your contacts at ATAC to find out anything you can about the whereabouts of the remaining members of the Society." Nancy handed them Corine's handwritten list.
"We're on it!" Frank and Joe said in unison.
"And Alexei", Nancy finally turned to the eccentric antique store owner, "I want you to use your connections here in River Heights to track down Brenda Carlton. She was the most recent addition to the Society. And someone in River Heights must have some knowledge about where she ended up after being released from prison. Start by asking Chief McGinnis."
"I will do my absolute best, Nancy. Thank you for letting me help."
"And now", Nancy said, "I'm hungry."
"Great timing!" Hannah said from behind her. Nancy hadn't heard her coming back from her walk with Carson. "I made lasagna. Just need to pop it in the oven. I hope you all have a big appetite."
Chapter 9 - Toby
Nancy and George landed at Seattle airport early in the morning. They had a full day planned. Of course Nancy's dad was not happy about her leaving River Heights again, especially not so soon after returning from her trips abroad. But Carson Drew knew his daughter well enough to know that nothing could stop her once she was on a case, especially a case this personal. His only request was for Nancy to keep the River Heights police department up to speed on everything that was going on. Chief McGinnis had been a friend of the family for a long time, and Nancy knew she could trust him enough to help her out on any case and to let her investigate freely. The Chief had been kind enough to put her in contact with the Seattle police detective who was in charge of Owen Spayder's murder, and he had called ahead to let her know that Nancy was coming.
George called a taxi while Nancy made a quick call to her dad to let him know they'd landed safely. About forty-five minutes later, just as it started to rain, they arrived at the police department. A young, athletic-looking man was sitting at the front desk taking a phone call. As they waited for him to finish the call, Nancy caught George staring at him. He is definitely her type, she thought.
"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked, directing his question to George.
"Ahem", Nancy replied after an awkward silence. "I have a meeting with Detective Alvarez. The name is Nancy Drew."
"Nancy Drew! Welcome back", the young man said excitedly. "And you must be George Fayne. It's a pleasure to meet you both. Right this way, please." As he swiftly led the two friends to Detective Alvarez's office, Nancy shot a playful glance over to George, who pretended to ignore it.
"Thank you, Toby." Detective Alvarez dismissed the young receptionist in a kind but firm tone. The detective was a tall, middle-aged woman with dark skin and dark hair. Her posture made it clear that she meant business and did not tolerate any nonsense. She reached out her hand to shake Nancy's. "Detective Alvarez. Nice to meet you girls."
Slightly intimidated, Nancy shook her hand. "Nancy Drew. You've been expecting us?"
"I have", Detective Alvarez replied as she shook hands with George. "And I must say, it's an honor to have you here, Ms. Drew. We haven't forgotten the work you did to bring down the organization of that slimy crook, Andy Jason. We didn't meet back then, but I was following the case closely as it unraveled. I must admit I took the case quite personally. I'm quite the whale lover, you see, and I couldn't stand what they had put that poor orca through. Anyway, let's get down to business."
The detective's kind words had made Nancy feel more comfortable. "Please tell me everything you know about Owen Spayder's murder." Nancy decided to continue using Dwayne's alias. She was not aware of how much the detective knew or didn't know about Dwayne's past.
"Spayder's body was found at 6:44 a.m. last Saturday morning on this beach here." Detective Alvarez pulled out a map and pointed at the exact location. "At first we assumed the cause of death was drowning, but during the autopsy they found two stab wounds in the victim's upper back, one of which punctured his lung, which obviously ruled out the possibility of it being an accident. Owen Spayder was murdered, of that we are sure. The stab wounds were made with quite a large stiletto knife, it seems, and the perpetrator had to have dealt the blows with quite some strength. The murderer then most likely dumped the body in the ocean, but there are many things we still don't know. We don't know where the murder happened, and we don't know where the body was dumped. The autopsy determined that he had been in the water anywhere between two and eight hours."
"Who found the body?"
"Two teenagers returning home from a night out. We interrogated them intensively but they seemed innocent enough." Detective Alvarez paused for a moment and Nancy didn't know if she had finished speaking or not. "Now, Ms. Drew", she continued "is there anything you can contribute to the investigation? Is there anyone you can think of with a motive and no alibi? Someone who was around the area at the time of the murder?"
Nancy could think of only one person who was certainly in the area at that time. Corine. But Nancy had promised to protect Corine so she did not mention her to the detective at all. "I will let you know if I turn up something in my investigation", Nancy finally answered.
"Well, Ms. Drew, we're certainly very glad to have you investigating the case. We can definitely use your help. We know so very little about the victim. Do you know anything about him?"
Nancy couldn't see the harm in informing Detective Alvarez of Dwayne's real name, so that's exactly what she did. It wouldn't have been wise to keep this information from her, it could help them with her case, she thought. And Nancy knew that as soon as they searched for the name "Dwayne Powers" in their databases, they'd learn quite a lot.
George, sensing that her presence wouldn't be needed while Nancy told the detective about Dwayne, asked to be excused and headed to the restroom. When George returned almost ten minutes later, Nancy decided to change the subject. "Detective Alvarez, do you know anything about Andy Jason's whereabouts?"
"I wish I knew, Ms. Drew. But I don't exactly have just cause to be tracking his movements. He's a free man now, unfortunately. All I'm allowed to tell you is that his parole states that he is forbidden to leave the state for the time being."
"Thank you very much, Detective", Nancy said, as she and George left the office. "You've been a big help. We'll check back in with you later."
As they were walking through the hallway to the exit, George grinned at Nancy. "Bess will be so proud of me", George said when they were outside the building. "My flirting skills have greatly improved."
"What do you mean, George?"
"Remember that cute receptionist? I persuaded him to make photocopies of Andy Jason's police file." George showed her the documents which were stashed away in her handbag. "All I had to do was give him my phone number."
"George, you're amazing! And you actually gave him your phone number?"
"I gave him someone's phone number", George grinned. "Deirdre Shannon's."
Nancy laughed. "George, you can't keep doing that! Deirdre's gonna kill us!"
Chapter 10 - Sneeze Lady
"Life's been good, Ned", said Henry Bolet Jr., "I mean it! I've never been better." Henry had picked Ned and Bess up from the New Orleans airport and was driving them to their hotel. Ned sat with Henry in the front, while Bess was listening to their conversation from the back seat. Although Bess had been with Nancy during her last trip to New Orleans, she had never met Henry Bolet then. He's really cute, Bess thought to herself, but she quickly terminated that thought because she knew that Henry had a girlfriend. It's all he'd been talking about.
"Breaking up with Summer was the best thing I ever did", Henry continued, while Ned was smiling and uttering words of agreement. "And I'm so lucky I met Kristin. She's the best girl in the world and I feel – I just feel – good! You know? I can't wait for you to meet her, Ned. And I'm sorry again that I can't let you stay with us in our new apartment."
"Like I said, Henry, don't worry about it!" Ned assured him. Henry had said something about their apartment being too small for guests, and that they didn't have an extra bed. But Bess suspected those were just excuses. He doesn't know Ned very well, Bess thought, and he doesn't know me at all! I wouldn't want two strangers staying with me either. Or maybe… Maybe it's Kristin! Maybe she's the one who doesn't want us to stay with them.
"So what's all this crystal skull business again?" Henry asked. "You didn't tell me much on the phone. I thought all of that was behind us, honestly. I was glad when that alligator swallowed it."
"Well", Ned said, "Nancy has reason to believe that the crystal skull has shown up again. But don't tell anyone that, okay? We don't know who could be involved with this."
"Nancy Drew…" Henry reflected. "She was always right about everything. If she thinks the skull has turned up again, then I'm sure it has. You don't have to worry about me telling anyone though, Ned, because guess what. I don't care about that stupid skull! I've moved on from all of that. I've moved on from that house, I've moved on from that depressing cemetery, and I've moved on from Uncle Bruno."
"I'm happy to hear that, Henry, really. Nancy asked me to ask you some questions, though."
"Good old Nancy", Henry quipped. "Ask me what?"
"Well first of all", Ned began, "she wants to know if you heard anything about a crystal skull recently?"
"Like I said, Ned, no. I haven't heard anything. Listen, can we wait until we reach the hotel before you start grilling me?"
Bess was thrilled to be staying in the same hotel she stayed in last time, the one across from Zeke's curio shop. She loved the huge bathtub they had, and couldn't wait to take a nice, long bubble bath. And after the bubble bath, she would get hungry, she knew. So it was just perfect that next to the hotel was the best gumbo stand of the whole city, probably of the whole country. Granny Punkin's Cajun Cookin'. Bess's mouth started watering.
Ned and Henry had just finished carrying their bags into the room. Henry asked for a glass of water and then the three of them went to the balcony to finish the conversation they started earlier in the car.
"So what's your second question, Ned?" Henry joked.
Ned gathered his thoughts. "Nancy wants to know if you have any information about Bruno Bolet's old housekeeper, Renée Amande."
Henry seemed unbothered by the question. "So why isn't Nancy here, Ned? If she's the one with all the questions, why didn't she come with you to see me?"
"She's following up on a different lead", Ned said.
"Does she ever take you with her when she's solving a mystery somewhere?"
Ned ignored the question. "Look, Henry, if you don't want to help, Bess and I have some other business to attend to. Thanks for picking us up from the airport. We'll meet you and Kristin tonight for dinner as planned."
"Ned, I was joking! Lighten up", Henry smiled awkwardly. "I haven't heard anything about Renée recently. After her arrest, I don't think she was tried for anything. They didn't know what to charge her with exactly."
"Umm, she locked Nancy up in a crypt?" Bess interjected.
"There was no proof of that, unfortunately", Henry said. "So she went free. I never saw her again. She just disappeared. Maybe she left the state, maybe she left the country, maybe she's dead, I don't know."
"What about Dr. Buford?" Bess asked, reminiscing about the old man who had shown her and Nancy around town. She had grown fond of Dr. Buford during their trip, even though he turned out to be the one who knocked Nancy out wearing that skeleton man costume. He had been looking for the crystal skull as well, but after he revealed everything to Bess, he said he no longer wanted the skull and was ashamed to be searching for it in the first place. "Maybe Dr. Buford knows where Renée ended up?"
"I went to Gilbert Buford's funeral just a few weeks ago", Henry said solemnly. Bess didn't know what to say. She felt sad. "He was Uncle's Bruno's only friend. And since he had come to Uncle Bruno's funeral, I thought it only fair to attend his. They said he died peacefully in his bed surrounded by people who loved him."
"That's – that's good to know", Bess said, getting emotional.
After a long pause, Henry got up. "I'm gonna let you two freshen up. I'll see you at dinner tonight. Ned, you have the address of the restaurant, right?"
Ned had gone down to get some gumbo for the two of them, and had returned just after Bess finished her bath. "So what's this Lamont guy like?" Ned asked as they started eating.
"He doesn't like me", Bess responded with her mouth full of food, thinking back about that sneeze contraption she had devised. "Nancy made me do some nasty things in order to get into that back room at the curio shop. At one point I put a bunch of hot sauce in his gumbo, knowing that it would make him sick! I'm pretty sure he hates me."
Half an hour later, Ned and Bess walked into Zeke's curio shop. The plan was to make Lamont tell them anything he knew about where the crystal skull had ended up. Nancy said that after Bernie swallowed the skull, Lamont had been frantically searching for it. So it was not impossible that he had found it at one point, perhaps, or that he at least had some clue about where it was, or how it got into Dwayne's hands.
"Sneeze lady." Lamont looked Bess straight in the eye. Apparently it didn't take him long to remember her.
"Oh – hey Lamont! What's up?" Bess said nonchalantly.
"You're back", he said. "Why?"
Ned spoke up. "We want to know if you have any information about the crystal skull. We want to know if you ended up finding it or if you know where it ended up."
Lamont's eyes opened wide. "And who the hell are you?"
"Sorry", Ned said. "My name's Ned. I'm with Bess. With sneeze lady."
"Listen, man. I don't have to tell you two anything. But do you honestly think that I'd still be working here if I had the crystal skull or knew where it was?"
"I guess not", Bess replied. "But you might know something, anything. Maybe you know something about this man?" Bess took out a picture of Dwayne Powers and showed it to Lamont. It was a long shot, but it could lead to something.
Lamont looked intensely at the photo, racking his brain. "I remember him. He came into the shop one day. Pretty sure he was looking for the skull as well. Asked a lot of questions."
Bess couldn't believe their luck. They were definitely onto something here. "Lamont, we need to know everything you know about this man. It could help us immensely with our investigation. It might even save some lives!"
Lamont hesitated. "What do you want to know?"
"Do you know if the man found something while he was here in New Orleans?"
"I don't know if he found something", Lamont replied. "But I know that he bought something. Not from me, though."
Chapter 11 - The Cabin
The Hot Kettle Café was just as Nancy remembered it. The smell of clam chowder filled the air inside, and the beautiful stained glass windows shined bright, projecting the rays of sunlight onto the walls on this uncharacteristically sunny day. The rain in Seattle had stopped as soon as they boarded the ferry.
"Nancy!" a voice shouted from behind the counter.
"Jenna Deblin, am I happy to see you again!"
The two shared a warm hug, after which Nancy introduced Jenna to George.
"Holt and Katie are in the other room. I got some tables waiting, Nancy, but I'll join you guys soon. And I'll bring you two bowls of hot, creamy clam chowder. I'm sure you've been craving it."
"You know me! Thanks, Jenna", Nancy said, as they walked towards the other room where Holt and Katie were waiting.
"The detective returns!" Holt Scotto exclaimed as soon as Nancy and George walked into the room. He stood up and shook Nancy's hand. Behind him stood Katie Firestone, waiting to greet Nancy as well.
"George!" Katie said excitedly as she noticed Nancy's companion. "I can barely remember the last time I saw you! How's your leg? Nancy told me you got injured in New Zealand."
"Hi Katie!" George smiled. "Can't believe I'm finally seeing you again! My leg is fine now, don't worry about it. Thanks for asking." They all continued exchanging pleasantries as they sat down at the booth where Holt and Katie had been waiting. Katie introduced George to Holt and proceeded to catch them up on everything that had been going on in their lives in Snake Horse Harbor.
After that, it was Nancy's turn to tell Katie and Holt what life had been like for her after leaving Snake Horse Harbor. She told them about some of the cases she'd solved and some of the places she'd been. Holt and Katie listened attentively. Then Jenna came in and joined them, carrying two bowls of her famous, delicious clam chowder.
"Wow, Nancy, things have been crazy for you!" Katie said. "And I speak for everyone when I say it's so great to see you here again. But I have to ask. You didn't just come all the way to Snake Horse Harbor to visit the three of us, right?"
"I wish I were", Nancy replied. "We're on a case right now. And we need your help."
"Is this about that Owen Spayder guy?" Holt asked. "Because if you're thinking that Andy Jason killed him, forget it. He was released after the murder, we checked up on that."
"Yes, Katie told me. And I believe you. But it would be too much of a coincidence if Andy Jason wasn't somehow involved", Nancy said. "We believe that Andy was about to attend a meeting with Owen Spayder on the day of his release."
"Why?" Jenna asked. "Who even was this Owen Spayder guy?"
"He was trouble, that's what he was. He was the culprit in one of the cases I solved years ago. And since then he's been obsessed with me. Like weirdly obsessed." Nancy proceeded to briefly tell them about Dwayne's Society and how he had supposedly recruited a thirteenth member.
"And you think Andy Jason was this thirteenth member?" Katie asked.
"Exactly. So even though Andy has a solid alibi for the murder, he still might have crucial information about it!"
"I see", said Katie. "So where do we come in?"
Nancy turned to George. "George, show them the file, please."
George pulled the photocopies of Andy Jason's police file out of her handbag. "Andy has a brother who lives in Idaho", George explained. "Anthony Jason. He's his only living relative."
Katie looked shocked. "You got your hands on Andy's police file?"
"I did. But there's not much useful information in it. Katie, you said that your contact had seen Andy stepping into a car and driving East, is that right?"
"Yes, exactly."
"So", Nancy took over, "what if it was Andy's brother picking him up from prison? And what if they drove to the brother's home in Idaho together? I know this isn't proof of anything, but it's the best lead we got. And we have Anthony's address, it's here in the file."
"And if Andy is in Idaho, that means he's violating his parole!" George added. "Detective Alvarez told us that he's not allowed to leave the state for the time being."
Katie, Holt and Jenna exchanged some meaningful looks. Finally, they nodded at each other.
"We'll take my car", Holt said. "Who calls shotgun?"
"I've got a café to run", Jenna said. "But you kids be careful, okay? I'll have more clam chowder waiting for you when you get back."
George had called shotgun. The rest of their day was spent driving East towards Anthony Jason's house, but the drive was too long for one afternoon. They arrived in Spokane, Washington just before midnight. From there it was only a few hours more to their destination.
After getting a good night's sleep in a motel that Holt had picked out, the four of them continued their journey and crossed the border into Idaho. Nancy was riding shotgun this time. She needed to keep her eyes peeled for Andy, she thought. With only one mile to go until they reached the address, Holt turned off the main road onto a narrow dirt road surrounded by cornfields.
"You're sure this is the way?" Nancy asked, checking the GPS.
"I'm sure!" George assured her. She had double checked the address the night before and entered it into Holt's GPS.
Nancy told Holt to drive slowly down the dirt road so they wouldn't draw too much attention to themselves. As a result, the road seemed to go on for ages. Finally the road ended and they reached an old-looking cabin where a middle-aged man was chopping wood. The man looked up, saw the car, and sprinted inside the house. Nancy knew it was time to act quick.
"Let's get out of the car! Katie, you guard the front of the cabin. George, you go left and I'll go right. Maybe they'll try and run out of a back entrance and into the cornfields. Holt, you stay by the car and block the road."
Everyone did as they were told and Nancy raced to the right side of the house and around the back where she expected to meet George. But as she got to the back of the house, she saw George running into the cornfields. Nancy ran after her as fast she could.
"My leg!" George screamed. "It's acting up again!"
"Stay here, George!" Nancy yelled as she sprinted past her. Then suddenly she saw Andy Jason running in front of her. With all her might, Nancy threw herself at him and tackled him to the ground. Then Holt appeared behind her and helped hold Andy down on the ground. Andy didn't say a word.
"Where's the brother?" Nancy asked Holt.
"He came at me so I knocked him out", Holt said. "Self-defense, I swear."
Nancy and Holt dragged Andy into the cabin and tied him up to a chair with some rope they found. Meanwhile, George and Katie dragged Anthony's unconscious body into the cabin and tied him up as well.
"Nancy Drew", Andy uttered. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I just want to talk", Nancy said. "And you better cooperate. Because if you don't, we'll tell the police all about how you're violating your parole."
Andy thought it over and seemed to understand that he had no choice. "What do you wanna talk about?" he asked cheekily. "Whales?"
"I want to talk about Dwayne Powers."
Andy laughed. "Dwayne fucking Powers. Just had to get himself killed right before I got out."
"So you know him?" Nancy asked.
"He visited me in prison several times. Wanted to recruit me to his Society. But I'm sure you already know all of this."
"Do you know who killed him?"
Andy reflected for a second. "Last time he visited me was the day before my release. He said he suspected that someone was trying to steal his skull from him."
"The crystal skull?" George inquired.
"That's the one."
"So you think someone killed him and stole the skull from him?"
"Oh sweetie", Andy said, rolling his eyes. "Dwayne wouldn't let anyone ever come near that skull. So whoever killed him was out of luck. He did not take the skull with him to San Juan, I'm sure about it."
Chapter 12 - The Ciphalion
Bess woke up around 9:30 the next morning, still wearing her clothes from the night before. Ned was still sleeping. As Bess got up out of the bed, she remembered everything that happened the day before. "Ned!" she shouted. "Ned, wake up!"
The day before, Lamont had given them some very valuable information. He confirmed that Dwayne Powers had come into the curio shop asking questions about the crystal skull. A few days after, Lamont had heard rumors that a man fitting Dwayne's description had bought something very valuable from a man calling himself the Merchant. Lamont said that this Merchant guy was a very prominent figure in the black market. Lamont didn't want to say much else about him, but he gave them a phone number.
"If you want to meet the Merchant, you've got to call this number between 12:30 and 12:45 tonight and set up an appointment for the next day. That's the only time they accept calls", Lamont had explained.
Later that night, Ned and Bess had met with Henry and his girlfriend at a cute restaurant in the center. Shockingly, Bess hadn't been hungry. She had felt nervous all night about this meeting they were about to set up with the Merchant. Bess had wallowed in her anxiety all night while Ned had tried to make pleasant conversation with Henry and Kristin. When they got back to the hotel at around 11:30, Bess had been so exhausted that she fell asleep instantly the second she lay down on her bed.
"Ned, wake up!" Bess shouted again.
"Huh, what? Bess, what's going on?" Ned rubbed his sleepy eyes.
"Did you call him? Did you call the Merchant?"
"I did."
"Well tell me! What did they say?"
"A woman picked up. Asked her what was my business. I told her we wanted to meet with the Merchant, and then she asked if we were buying or selling. I panicked for a split second but tried to keep my cool, and I told her that we wanted to get information about some merchandise first before deciding to make any purchases. The woman told me to hold for a while, and then she gave me an address, said we should be there at 2 p.m. today."
"Holy shit, Ned", Bess mumbled. "Are we really doing this? Should we call Nancy?"
"We can do this, Bess. We just need to keep our cool. We don't need to call Nancy every time we're unsure about something. Let's show her that we can be detectives too. In our own right. Let's show her that we can handle this."
"Well… okay", Bess said. "If you think we can pull this off, then I'm with you."
A few hours later, Ned and Bess were in a taxi headed for the address that the woman on the phone had provided. Henry had told Ned that he had a free day, and had offered to drive them anywhere he wanted to do some sightseeing. Ned had to invent some excuse about Bess feeling ill, and had told Henry they would stay in the hotel all day to do some research about the case. They didn't want to involve Henry in this business. For one thing, the Merchant was expecting two people, not three. The sight of Henry might scare him off.
Bess hadn't kept track of how long they had been driving, when suddenly the taxi came to a stop and the driver said they had reached their destination. Ned paid the driver and the two friends got out of the cab.
"Is this the place?" Bess whispered, standing on the curb of a run-down street in a residential area of the city.
"I told the driver to drop us off a few blocks from the actual address", Ned explained. "We have to be careful not to draw too much attention to ourselves."
Ned and Bess walked for about ten minutes, as Bess was feeling her anxiety kick in again. She didn't want to share her worries with Ned in that moment, but Bess had to admit to herself that she had a bad feeling about this whole business. Finally they reached a three-story abandoned building that looked even more run-down than the buildings on the street before. Bess suspected there had been a fire in the building at some point, because many of the walls looked charred.
"This is the place", Ned announced. Bess heard him take a deep breath. "We're fifteen minutes early, but let's go in."
The inside of the house was completely abandoned and empty. No furniture, no sign of life, just a lot of dust and dirty-looking grey walls. It smelled weird in there too, Bess thought, and she resolved not to stay there one second longer than she had to.
"What is this place?" Bess whispered, clutching Ned's arm. "And how do we find this Merchant guy? Is he waiting for us somewhere? Or is he just gonna walk through the front door?"
"Keep cool, Bess", Ned urged. "Let's just wait."
Bess looked around and suddenly saw a cloud of smoke coming from behind one of the walls. "Ned!" she whispered loudly. "Ned, the building is on fire!"
Ned shot a quick glance at the smoke. "Looks like someone's smoking a cigarette, Bess."
As Ned approached the room where the smoke was coming from, Bess's heart felt like it was beating a thousand beats per minute. Carefully, she followed him. Turns out Ned was right, and the smoke did come from a lit cigarette.
"Hi…" Ned uttered, "we – we have an appointment with the Merchant?"
"That's me", said a tall, slender man with a motorcycle helmet on his head. Bess could only see the mouth of the man through the slit in the helmet, which he used to bring the cigarette to his mouth every twenty seconds or so. The man had a deep voice, and Bess found it hard to judge how old the man must be.
"Do you mind answering some questions for us?" Ned asked innocently.
"That's what I'm here for", the Merchant answered. "What are you interested in?"
"We're interested in a crystal skull", Ned said. "Have you ever sold anything like that before?"
The Merchant didn't answer for a while, and Bess thought he might just totally ignore the question. "I have not", he said finally.
Ned took the photo of Dwayne out of his pocket. "Did you not sell a crystal skull to this man?" Ned handed him the picture. The man took it and turned his back to them, as he opened another slit in the helmet for his eyes. What a strange helmet, Bess thought. Suddenly, Bess had a sneaking feeling they were being watched. She turned around and thought she saw a shadow moving across the walls. Her heart was racing.
"Like I said, I have never sold a crystal skull", the Merchant said. "But I know this man."
Bess was confused.
"Did you sell him anything else?" Ned asked.
"The man bought the Ciphalion from me."
"What is a Ciphalion?" Bess spoke up, even more confused.
"If you have to ask", the Merchant said, "then I can't say."
"How much did the man pay for this Ciphalion?" Ned asked.
The Merchant chuckled. "Who are you two? You're lucky I can tell you're no cops. Never mind. I don't get paid with money, my friend. I do trades. I have a client who was highly interested in obtaining a map that supposedly leads to a fabled long-lost city of gold buried somewhere in the country. That's what the man offered in exchange for the Ciphalion. I wouldn't have accepted anything less."
"A map?" Bess exclaimed. "We're not talking about El Toro's map, are we?"
"Smart girl", the Merchant chuckled.
"But the map was lost! It fell overboard while Dwayne was sailing away from Dread Isle!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, girl", the Merchant said. "But I can tell you that map is far from lost. It's safely in the hands of my client now."
Bess thought she heard footsteps behind her and turned around anxiously. There was nobody there, it seemed. "Let's get out of here", she said as she turned to Ned.
"I had a feeling you two would be a waste of time", the Merchant said. "Watch yourselves out there." And with those final words, the Merchant turned back behind another wall and disappeared.
Bess couldn't wait to get back to the hotel. "Faster, Ned!" she shouted at her friend as they were speed-walking away from the abandoned house. "Faster!"
"Hold up, Bess!" Ned shouted. They were both out of breath. "We're far enough away from that house now. Let me call a cab."
"Hurry!" Bess screamed frantically. "I can't stand being here any longer."
About fifteen excruciating minutes later, Ned and Bess were in a cab headed to their hotel. "First thing we do when we're back is call Nancy", Ned said. "We need to tell her everything we discovered."
"And eat", Bess added, feeling safe again. "I'm starving!"