"Is there anything that we can do to help?" Frank asked Mr. Drew even as his mind whirled in disbelief. Nancy Drew, a first class Amateur Detective, with a bright future ahead of her as a private detective, now blind. Unable to work in the field that she so loved. She had been planning on going professional, Frank and Joe had even offered her a full partnership now that they where taking over their father's business. They'd been working with him for a couple of years now, and he had recently started to talk about retirement. All of that was gone now. It felt like he had been hit by a sledge hammer.
"Honestly you stopping by is a great start," Carson insisted, "What she needs is a good support system. Hannah and the girls are helping a lot but…"
"The more support she has the better," Joe guessed.
"Especially from us," Frank agreed, "The only reason that we met her was because our path crossed on a case. By remaining her friend that will show her that even if things aren't the same, other things don't have to change."
"Why do you have to get all psychological?" Joe demanded.
"Hey, a good portion of being a detective is knowing how your culprit thinks."
"Nancy isn't a culprit, she's our friend," Joe pointed out.
Carson shook his head in amusement as the two boys started to bicker. Nancy was really fond of these two boys, and hopefully they could help her get through this tough time in her life.
Someone was headed down the stairs slowly, taking the stairs one at a time, "Dad?" Nancy's voice called out, "Are Frank and Joe here yet?"
"Yeah, they just got here just a little while ago," Carson called out, "I thought that you were taking a nap."
"I couldn't sleep," Nancy confessed with a shrug as she entered the living room, awkwardly using her white cane.
Joe immediately jumped up, "Here, Nan, let me help you," he insisted, as he dragged Nancy to the couch and shoved her down in it.
Nancy shot Joe a dirty look, "I didn't ask for help Joe," she pointed out.
"I know, I just..."
"I don't care," Nancy interrupted, "You can't just go about dragging me around places. Just because I'm blind now, doesn't mean that I can't find my way around my own house!"
"But."
"Let it go Joe," Frank interrupted, "So Nancy, how are you feeling, we heard that you were in the hospital recently?"
"I'm doing okay I guess," Nancy said, shrugging, "I was released yesterday, so that's a good thing right?"
"Absolutely," Frank said, "Have we told you about the case we're on?" he asked.
"No, just that you have a lead here," Nancy said, "Sorry that I couldn't help you out with that, by the way, but… I don't think that I can ever solve another case."
"Don't say that," Joe insisted, "Considering how many times we get blindfolded and shoved into the trunk of a car, I think being blind might be an advantage. Besides, who's going to think that the blind girl is a detective listening into their conversation, especially since I heard that blind people have super sharp hearing. Have you noticed that you have super sharp hearing now Nancy?"
"No Joe, going blind did not give me super hearing."
"Dang it, because that would be awesome."
"Joe," Frank groaned, "Sometimes I worry about him," he confessed, "Anyway, you'd love this new case we're working on," he announced, "We're on the trail of a ring of scammers."
""We've already pretty much figured out how they work," Joe added, "But for the life of us we can't get any evidence to prove it."
"They skipped town right as we started to figure things out," Frank added with a sigh, "I'm telling you Nance, these guys are one step ahead of us at all times."
"Doesn't help that Mrs. Morton told them that we were private detectives," Joe grumped.
"Well, she made a mistake, luckily she confessed about it," Frank said, "But we've totally lost the element of surprise."
"Solving a case is always harder when the culprits know that you are investigating," Nancy agreed, before frowning, glancing down at her lap, "If it wasn't for that stupid haunted house that I had to prove was fake, I could help you with the investigation."
"Hey maybe you can help out," Frank offered, "I'm sure that we can think of something that you can do."
"Whoa, there Frank," Joe exclaimed, "You claim that I'm the impulsive one, Nancy's blind, what can she do," he finished in a hiss.
"Hear for one thing," Nancy pointed out, "But Joe's right, what can I do without my eyesight? I'll just slow you guys down, might as well not risk it. Not when this is your first case as professional detectives."
"Speaking of Professional Detectives..." Frank announced, "You would not believe who we ran into a little while ago."
"It's everyone's favorite Police Detective..." Joe added.
"Tino Balducci?" Nancy irrupt, with a loud groan, "I've had to work with him twice, and that was two times to many."
"Tell me about it," Frank grumbled, "The way he tried to take the credit from us."
"And the way he tried to treat it as if he was helping us out and let us solve the case when he was totally clueless," Joe said, "I wish we could show you the look on his face when we showed him our licenses."
"He couldn't form a coherent sentence," Frank added.
Nancy chuckled, "I wish I could have been there, but how did you wound up running into him?"
"We were chasing a lead in New York and got arrested for investigating without proper permits. Tino was in the station when we were brought in. He told them that we were amateurs, and we pulled out our license," Joe said, "Never seen a smirk leave someone's face so quickly."
"Why would they think that you didn't have a proper permit?" Nancy asked.
"Because the culprits are trying to give us as much grief as possible," Frank explained, "They have quite the operation going on and they don't like that we're on to them."
"It's a beauty of a case," Joe said, "Like we said, we know who the culprit is, we just can't get the evidence that we need to reel them in."
"Are you sure that you know who the culprit is, you aren't jumping the gun here?" Nancy asked, "It seems odd that you don't have any evidence."
"We have enough circumstantial evidence that we know that we're on the right track," Frank insisted, "We just have to get one concrete piece of evidence to close the case."
Nancy let out a low whistle, "So what is this whole case anyway?"
"A scammer ring," Joe said, "It's brilliant."
"Our client received a promotional pamphlet for a new cruising company," Frank started, "The prices were amazing, lots of good reviews online, so they booked a cruise for two."
"Only problem was there was no boat," Joe added.
"What did the police said about it?"
"Nothing," Joe confessed, "When they went to the police they discovered that the web page had been taken down, and they couldn't trace it. They pretty much said tough luck."
"Ouch," Nancy grimaced, "That's frustrating, but you mentioned that you have a suspect, who?"
"We don't have a suspect," Joe insisted, "We know who did it, we just can't pin it on them yet."
"What do you mean?"
"Well according to the police there was a sudden increase of similar crimes. They got similar promotional propoganda in their mail, did their research and have it checked out, buy something, and then have it totally fall flat on them," Frank insisted.
"The one thing that all of the victims have in common was they went to this psychic show in New York, so we decided to check it out," Joe said.
"Psychics aren't real, you know that right?"
"Yeah, and we figured out how they did it real fast," Frank said, "They asked people to write their name, seat number, and something about themselves on a piece of paper, then during the show the psychic tells people what they wrote on the paper."
Nancy snorted, "Not like we haven't used that trick multiple times while on a case," she explained, "And afterwards it would be simple enough to look them up on social media, learn about them, and use that information to target them with a scam..." she trailed off, "That's brilliant!"
"I hope you aren't thinking about resorting to a life of crime Nancy Drew," Joe insisted, "I'd hate to have to chase after you like Carmen San Diego."
"No, but you have to admit, that is a pretty clever hustle that they have going for them," Nancy pointed out, "But what brings you to Chicago?"
"The show randomly moved to Chicago a couple of weeks ago," Frank announced, "It took us over a week to track them down. They left with no warning, and no forwarding address."
"Do you have any plans on how to get evidence against them?"
"Not yet," Joe said, "We'll figure something out."
"And we won't turn down any suggestions that you might have either," Frank said slowly.
"I don't know..." Nancy said, "With my eyes."
"With your eyes you'd be the perfect victim," Joe said, "Who wouldn't want to take advantage of a blind girl."
"Seriously Joe?" Frank asked.
"I don't know," Nancy confessed, "I don't know," she muttered, "I really don't want to get involved, I don't want to be the reason that you fail your first case as professional detectives because of me. Besides I'm not a professional like you, I never got my investigation license. I don't think that I can help you."
"I'm sure that Frank and Joe would appreciate any help that you can give them," Carson said, "You can always call them if you have any suggestions on how to get the evidence that they need."
"Yeah, I guess," Nancy muttered.