Important Foreword: Thank you for the 36 reviews. But after you read this chapter, I would like you to read The Secret of the Old Clock, Nancy's first mystery. I would like it to be original non-revised edition (which has 210 pages/ 25 chapters). The reason is that this story has a connection with the first mystery Nancy solved. If you already know what the book was about, then please wait for the next chapter, and don't forget to submit a review after you read this! In this chapter, you will finally know who the culprit is, but more questions will be answered in next chapter. Enjoy!
14
Sorrowful Past
"It's nothing," Nancy said. She managed to smile as Bailey looked at her with a worried look. "I just felt a little dizzy, that's all."
But to herself she thought: "Kendall has a gun. That means he is obviously not a normal detective like he said before. But then, who is he really? I shouldn't tell Bailey about any of this yet."
Bailey looked at the watch. "It's not too late to keep shopping. I know this fantastic place where brand clothing is on sale. Do you want to join me?"
Nancy grinned. "Do I ever! Let's go."
The two girls got into the car and drove off. Nancy still kept an eye on the bus. She noticed that it was going the other way. It turned around the corner and disappeared out of her sight.
"Okay, we finished filling out their descriptions and names, along with the time they disappeared and the place they disappeared from, officer," Joe said, handing in the pieces of paper given to them by the police officer at the police station. They arrived there ten minutes ago and were asked to fill out the form with Bess and George's physical descriptions, age, gender, the time they were assumed missing, and the place they allegedly disappeared.
The officer looked at it for a brief moment and nodded. "Okay, we will tell you when we have any news." He then looked at the boys. "Meanwhile, can you tell us what happened back there at the Dilworths' estate?"
Frank and Joe told everything they saw and did. After that, they asked if the tape they had was enough of an evidence to get a search warrant.
"I guess it is. I will file a search warrant right now and then you can guide us to the cabin where you found the vase that was allegedly stolen."
Frank grinned. "Okay, officer. We will be waiting right here."
Nancy got out of the car after Bailey. They two girls stepped into the store. It was very warm inside and the girl detective immediately liked the place. The name of the place was "New Fashion, New Style" and had many unique and interesting clothing at a discount.
The shopping was fun, but watching the nightscape of New York was much better. The lights illuminated the Statue of Liberty and made it look glorious. Nancy saw many pictures of the statue, but she had no idea it was this beautiful at night. It reflected off the surface of the water and the image wavered.
The two girls decided to eat dinner at the restaurant where they could see the statue. They chose a small restaurant that didn't have as much people as the others.
Even though there weren't many people in the restaurant, the food there was great. Nancy ordered a plate of Caesar salad and another plate with pasta. Poured onto the pasta was the restaurant's specialty sauce made with special spice and tomato. Nancy couldn't believe how delicious it was.
"This restaurant has been here for decades, and my dad brought me here when I was little. It was the best restaurant around here at that time. But when a bigger restaurant opened up just a block away, customers stopped coming here," said Bailey.
Nancy nodded.
"But I still think this is the best there is. The cook was trained in Italy to make the finest cuisines. His pasta is amazing. Can you believe that he makes everything? He makes his own pasta, sauce, salad, soup, and even desserts!"
"Desserts!" Nancy was impressed. "Speaking of desserts, I want one."
Bailey looked at the menu. "What would you like, Nance?"
"Hmm… What do you recommend?"
Not even taking a look at the menu, the redheaded girl grinned. "I know one that's not on the menu."
With those words, she turned to the waiter and said, "Two crème magnifiques, please!"
The waiter showed a slightly surprised face, but then he grinned and nodded. "Two crème magnifiques coming right up!"
Nancy was puzzled. "What's crème magnifique?"
Bailey giggled. "It's the specialty dessert, but it's a hidden delight. My dad ordered one for me and it was great! It's a… Well, you'll know when it comes. I don't want to spoil the surprise."
About five minutes later, the waiter came back with two bowls. Each bowl carried a square cake with some cream on it. Atop the cream was a small parsley placed there as a decoration.
"Wow!" Nancy was amazed at how delicious it was. The cake was soft and warm, and the cream seemed to melt on her tongue.
Bailey ate it in three bites, unlike Nancy, who was enjoying every bite.
"This is the best dessert I've ever tasted!" Nancy exclaimed, delighted. Then, she looked at Bailey with a quizzical look. "Bailey, your father seemed to know a lot about this place!"
"He used to work here as the cook's assistant. He loved to work here and frequently introduced me to the cook who worked with him. He's retired now, but the great taste is still here."
"Your dad is wonderful. I'm curious… Why don't you live with him anymore?"
When she spoke those words, Nancy was immediately embarrassed. How could she go into people's privacy like that!
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…" Nancy immediately added, but Bailey sadly shook her head.
"It's okay, Nancy," said she. There was a sad look in her eyes. "I wanted to talk to you about this for a long time."
She looked out at the Statue of Liberty and sighed. "My dad died."
"Really?" Nancy said, astonished.
"Uh-huh. He died because of an illness. Our family didn't have enough money to send him to hospital. You know how expensive it is."
Nancy nodded solemnly. She suddenly regretted asking the question.
"Well, Dad died in his sleep. Mom had to start working and so did I. Mom is really very distressed about his death two years ago."
Nancy couldn't think of anything to say. "I'm sorry," she finally said. "I know how hard it is to lose your parent. I lost my mom when I was very young. I know how you feel."
Bailey managed a smile. "Well, aren't you going to finish your dessert? I don't want to talk about this anymore, okay?"
The girl detective nodded, and the girls kept eating silently.
After the pleasant dinner, the girls were surprised to find that it was already six o'clock. Nancy and Bailey hurriedly went into their car and drove to Bailey's home.
"Oh, don't go there yet!" Bailey suddenly shouted. "I have to get my car. I'm sure it's fixed by now."
Nancy drove to "Carl's Car Fix" and dropped off Bailey there. She handed Bailey shopping bags filled with clothing she bought. Bailey thanked her for the ride and went into the store.
"Now, I have to go to the Grande Wallace Theatre. It's almost six-thirty!"
Nancy started the car again and headed straight to the theater. There, she saw Frank and Joe's car. She quickly got out and silently closed the door. "Guys!" she called in a whisper. "Guys!"
Frank and Joe came out of the car. "Hey, Nancy!" Frank said. "Kendall and his buddies aren't here yet. I'm sure they will be here any minute now…"
"So how was it?"
"How was what?"
Nancy sighed. "How was the investigation, of course?"
"Oh, well…"
"Let's just say the police isn't going to be of any help here," Joe said. "They said they are going to let us know when they find out anything new about Bess and George. As for the Dilworths, they are going to be safely behind bars, especially that maniacal John Dilworth. He almost killed you and me!"
Nancy chuckled. "You should thank me for saving your life and I should thank Frank for saving mine."
As the detectives waited, they decided that they should enter the theater and hide backstage. "That way, we can listen to their conversation," Frank said.
Nancy and Joe agreed that it was a good idea. The three detectives went inside using the key they had and crept silently through the darkness into the backstage. It was colder than they hoped, making Nancy's teeth clatter.
"I can't believe that it's already December, yet there's no snow here in New York!" Nancy complained. "Well, I guess that makes our investigation easier."
The theater was even creepier at night. There was no light turned on (and the detectives didn't even bother, since it could alert the suspects who were about to meet there), so the detectives took out their flashlights.
Turned the flashlight on, Nancy heard the car door slam shut outside. "It's them!" she alerted. "We'd better hide."
The door was opened the moment they hid behind a pile of wooden boxes. Nancy wondered, "How can they enter the theater? The only other key is owned by Mr. Saraland!"
Then, a horrifying thought came to her mind. "Oh, no! They must have attacked Mr. Saraland and took his key to the theater! But why? Why did they do this? What is interesting about this old theater?"
Footsteps followed the noise of car door slamming. Nancy noticed that there weren't just one or two people. There were at least five of them!
Joe had the same expression of fear in his eyes as Nancy. "What should we do? We are outnumbered!"
Frank looked at the door leading from the hallway to the backstage. "I don't know. But we should listen to what they are talking about. I hear a voice…"
"Okay, so we should search this area for anything we can find that may be helpful to us," one voice said.
"They are searching for something, all right," Frank said. "But what is it?"
Nancy tried to listen to what they were talking about, but a truck drove by and erased the voices. When the noise was over, Nancy heard the door to the backstage open.
"Let's see…" said one of the men.
Frank, Joe, and Nancy backed up from the pile of boxes and headed toward the exit, but Frank's foot stepped on a rope and tripped. As he tripped, he crashed into the ladder that was leaning against the wall just a few feet away from him.
Crash!
The ladder crashed to the floor, and that took the men's attention.
"Who's there?" one of them shouted. Nancy was frightened to hear that the voice belonged to Kendall.
The three detectives dashed toward the exit, but it was locked shut.
"We have to go to the stage!" Frank yelled.
Nancy got up, but she was immediately held back.
What? Nancy thought.
Frank and Joe ran toward the stage. The men ran after them.
Nancy tried to get up, but someone was holding her hand and held her back.
"Frank! Joe! Hel—"
Nancy tried to yell for help, but a hand covered her mouth.
But, how did the person get in? Nancy thought. But I have to get away!
As she struggled, she heard something creak open. It was a secret passageway! The door opened and led to a passageway nobody else knew. Nancy tried desperately to break free, but the person's grip was too strong. In less than a minute, the attacker flung her into the passageway.
Nancy tried to get up, but when she lifted her head up, she felt something hard hit the back of her head.
"Unh!" The girl detective let out a groan. She turned on the flashlight and lit it at the attacker's face to see who it was.
"What?"
Nancy was astounded to find out the identity of the mysterious attacker.
"But…why…"
She got another blow on her head, and she let out another groan and fainted. But before she fainted, she let out three words:
"But, why, Bailey…?"
