Foreword: Sorry for the long wait! Here is the newest chapter, and there will only be one more chapter till the detectives reveal who the killer is! After Nancy was seen with Henri, Ned is shocked. What will he do and how will Nancy explain things to him? Read to find out. And please review!

Chapter 14

Misunderstood

"Ned, I can explain!" said Nancy, following her boyfriend back to his room. "I…I didn't mean to look so sheepish and dumb. Ned, believe me!"

Ned looked grimly at her for a second and entered his room. But before Nancy could enter, he closed the door.

"Ned!" Nancy shouted, knocking on the door. "Please! Ned!"

It was useless; Ned didn't even bother to answer his girlfriend's plea. Nancy listened, but she heard nothing inside. She then sighed and turned around. She saw Frank and Callie walk up the staircase together. "Nancy?" Frank muttered, surprised. "Why do you look so sad?"

"Oh, nothing, Frank," replied Nancy, taking out the key to her room and inserting it into the keyhole. After turning the lock counterclockwise, the door opened. She stepped inside and closed the door silently after her.

"I wonder if she's okay," murmured Callie nervously. "But Frank, do you think that she really killed those two people?"

Frank shook his head. "I wouldn't believe it. She was found in that room with a dead body. Unless she wants to be caught, I wouldn't think she would want to stay in the room. Besides, she was holding the weapon which was used to kill Gary. Why would she do that? There's only one answer: she was framed. Killing a person and then staying in the same room holding the weapon is same as calling a police and saying that she was a serial killer. The person who does that is insane."

Callie then wondered about something. "Then, who could've done it?" she asked. "Everyone has at least one solid alibi. Who could've committed those two crimes?"

Frank sighed and said he didn't know. "But I'll find out sooner or later. Besides, we still have to find out how the killer entered the locked room."

He and Callie went to scene of the first murder. He looked at the ground. The body was already carried away outside, but the blood was still visible. He looked at the bed, the window, and the bathroom. But after a few minutes of thorough searching, he still found no place for a person to hide. "That's really strange," he muttered. "Unless he was invisible or could walk through walls, it would be impossible to get into this room or not get noticed when I searched the room."

Callie wondered out loud, "Do you think it was the ghost Henri was talking about? It's really hard to believe anyone pulling such a trick."

"There's no such thing as a ghost!" he returned. "To me, a murderer is more dangerous than a ghost."

Frank then had an idea and went down to the lobby. He saw Edna writing something down on her notebook. When she saw the detectives, she smiled and hurriedly put the notebook away. "Well, how may I help you?" she asked.

The dark-haired detective said, "I need to see the place where you keep your keys locked."

She turned around and showed the detectives the key holder. Frank noticed that each of the keys had a number on them, but the master keys didn't. And all the master keys were bundled up using a metallic key holder. The holder was then locked in place using the special lock that could only be unlocked using the key Edna has. The key holder itself was circular.

"Hmm…So it's virtually impossible to take the key from this key holder without the special key that unlocks the holder," muttered Frank. "And there's no spare for the key that unlocks the holder, is that right?"

Edna nodded. Frank sighed.

"So the room was completely locked," he concluded.

"Completely?" a voice asked from behind the detectives. The detectives knew that it was Henri's voice. "From all the cases that I've observed in America, none of them were truly impossible. I'm sure there is a logical explanation for everything."

Callie looked at him with suspicion. "How do you think the door was opened, then?" she asked. "Unless there was an invisible man in the room, Frank would've noticed him."

Henri snickered. "There is one way," he answered. Callie continued to stare at him, not knowing what to say.

"How?" she finally asked. For some reason, she felt like her body was frozen when talking to that man. His stare was as icy as a glacier.

Henri pointed to Frank. "The only way that a person can make the room 'a perfect locked room,' there must be two people. The first one is the person who searches the room and another one who enters the room after everybody was gone." He smirked as he looked at Frank. "And you are the only one who could've made this crime impossible."

"You'll have to explain that," said Callie. "Frank couldn't have made the room unlocked. I was the one who checked that the door was locked when everybody started to leave to see how Nancy was doing. I made sure that the door was locked."

The French man continued his explanation. "Could your friend Frank have knowingly missed to see the killer who was hiding in, say, the bathroom?"

Callie gasped. "What are you saying?" she asked, glaring at him.

"If a person was already hidden in the room, then he or she would easily be noticed if he or she hid in the bathroom. But if Frank was an accomplice in crime, then he can pretend that nobody was in the hotel room when a person was hiding in the bathroom."

"But…" Callie stopped. Henri was right. Frank was the only one who could've made the room look like a locked room. "But, what's the motive? Frank has never seen the victims before!"

Henri again smirked. "I agree. I can find no link between Mr. Hardy and the victims. But what if he was doing this with Miss Drew? My guess is this. Miss Drew kills June and hides in the bathroom. Mr. Hardy pretends that the room is empty after a 'thorough' search. And he goes to Miss Drew's room, with everyone else following him. At that moment, Miss Drew gets out of the room, out through the window that was already broken, and then back into her room through the window, which was unlocked beforehand. When Ms. Kempton comes back with the master key, she pretends to wake up." He stopped and looked at Frank. "I'm sure you follow my thoughts, Mr. Hardy. If you and Miss Drew were in love, then you wouldn't hesitate to avenge her mother's death for her, would you?"

"No!" a voice shouted. Startled, the three looked at the place where the feminine voice came from. They all noticed Nancy standing there. She glared at Henri with clear distaste. "Frank is not a killer, and neither am I."

Henri didn't answer. After a few seconds, he turned around. "Hmph. But I am still convinced that you and Mr. Hardy worked together to perform this murder show."

Then, the man went to the stairs and returned to his room. Silence followed.

"What a creep!" murmured Callie in distaste. "I think he is the killer. I don't know how he did it, but I'm sure he was the one!"

Frank nodded. "But we don't have single evidence, Callie. We must find something that will make him confess, or at least admit to the murder."

The two went to the dining room. As Callie entered the room, she bumped into someone. It was Derek.

"Ouch!" he said, touching his right arm.

"Oh, sorry," apologized Callie. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm okay," answered Derek. "I just finished washing the dishes. I accidentally cut my arm with the knife, so it's still wrapped up in bandage."

As the cook left the room and headed to his room, Frank and Callie entered. "Wow, I'm thirsty already!" said Callie. "I'll go get something to drink from the kitchen. Do you want anything?"

"No thanks," answered Frank.

Callie entered the kitchen and took a glass. Pouring water into the cup, she quenched her thirst and went out. Frank was sitting down, waiting for her. She took her seat and asked, "What do you think we should do now?"

Frank thought about what Nancy had said the day before. "Nancy says that the picture she found in Henri's room suggests some resemblance to the dead magician. Also, Amy obviously knows Nancy's mother."

"Do you think Amy is the killer?" asked Callie.

"Maybe," answered Frank. "But if she is the killer, then she has a solid alibi during the first murder. It's still possible for her to be working with an accomplice. I believe there are two killers in this case."

Callie sighed. "Well, if there are two killers, then how can we prove that? I mean, we need a solid evidence to convince the police."

Frank thought for a minute. "I just don't know where to begin…"

Nancy looked out the window. The weather outside was starting to clear up.

"I can't make the murderer do this!" she muttered to herself. "I can't let him frame me! I don't know how, but he made a perfect alibi and made me the one without any alibi by knocking me out."

She stopped and thought for a second. "But why? Why would a person do that? Does he hate me that much? Or is it because…"

Nancy gasped. "Of course! I am the one with the obvious motive to kill the two people! Then, the killer must have found that out somehow… But how did he find out?"

She thought for another moment. Then, she clasped her hands. "The robbery! The robbery that occurred in my house has something to do with this! So when the thief stole the file about my mother's last case, he found the information needed to find out who the culprit was. Then, he must have gone over the newspapers from fifteen years ago and found out that my mother was killed by the relatives of the man who was convicted of murder…"

Then, she realized that it was impossible. "No… The killer was never captured, and the newspaper didn't say anything about the license plate… Then, how did the killer know something that only I knew?"

Just then, the telephone rang. She answered it and found that the caller was her father. "Hi, Dad!" she said. "Did you find anything new about the mysterious family?"

"I sure did," answered Mr. Drew. "I just found that Ian Milton, the man who was killed before his wife, apparently owned a corporation that earned millions of dollars worldwide. Before he was killed, he lent millions of dollars to June and her husband. But after he was killed, the company which he owned ended up bankrupt, and Mr. and Mrs. Quinn didn't have to return the money anymore. It was even rumored that the couple had killed Mr. Milton."

"I see," murmured Nancy.

"Oh, and there is one more news," added Mr. Drew. "According to my research, Gary Friedrich is June Quinn's brother. It was also rumored that he worked with the Quinns to kill Ian Milton. However, because there was no evidence, they weren't convicted of the crime, if they committed it."

Suddenly, Nancy remembered one important fact that she had heard from Henri after she was found with the body of the second victim. "Henri was right!" she muttered to herself. "And this must mean something important. Maybe the killer wanted to…"

Mr. Drew seemed quite confused. "Nancy? What are you talking to yourself about?"

Nancy immediately said goodbye and hung up.

She sat down onto her bed and picked up her notebook and jotted everything down. "I see," she muttered happily. "I'm beginning to see now the motive behind the two murders!" She then looked at the picture of her and Ned in her wallet and remembered Ned. Sighing, she thought, "Should I explain to Ned what had happened between Henri and me?"

Nancy thought about what Ned might say. "No, I'll tell him later. Right now, I need to find clues."

Because he was still curious about how the victim appeared into a locked room, Frank went to the scene of the first crime. Using the key, the detective opened it. Then, when he still found no clue after a cursory search, went to the next room, which was a storage room. He saw the cardboard box that was used to put the mattresses in it. When Frank tilted it, he noticed a strand of blond hair fall out from inside.

"I wonder whose hair this is…?" he muttered. "And what is it doing in an unused cardboard box?"

Frank put the box back as it was and went out.

The first thing Nancy thought about was the cryptic message which she was unable to solve yet.

"Speaking of which," she muttered, "this code could be one."

17e, 8i, 23w, 5i, 25y, 11s, 21h, 9n, 16l, 4a, 12h, 20t, 14l, 18a, 2y, 15l, 22e, 24a, 1m, 6n, 13a, 3p, 10g, 7t, 19d.

Nancy sighed. "Well, I still have no clue as to what this thing may mean."

She took out her purse and searched for a pen. She then found the cell phone which Ned had lent her. "Oh. I need to return this to Ned," she muttered. "Huh?"

She tried to turn the switch on. "Oh, yeah… I forgot that this cell phone is broken. It's out of order."

Suddenly, something hit Nancy's mind as she said the last few words. "Out of order…?"

Turning to the cryptic code, she grinned. "I got it! So the numbers in this sequence is out of order! If I put them side by side in a specific order, then they will make the message!"

She tried it immediately. "I got it! The message is 'My painting shall lead the way.'"

"Wait…" Nancy muttered. "What does he mean by saying that his painting will lead the way? Paintings don't say anything… So how can it tell where whatever Piermont was trying to hide was located?"

Nancy then thought about any painting she had seen in the hotel. "Wait… The only painting of Francois Piermont was the one in the dining room. I see… Maybe I should first go to the dining room to find out more."

When the girl detective got to the dining room, Norma was there. Norma immediately looked up but smiled when she saw Nancy. "Hi, Nancy," she said. "I was just getting a cup of coffee."

Nancy noticed that Norma was wearing her black sweater again. "Didn't you say that you poured water on it?" asked Nancy.

Norma looked at it. "Oh…Well, I dried it with the dryer. Since it's so cold here, I decided to wear it." She then stood up and left the room.

When Nancy was sure Norma was gone, she immediately felt the surface of the painting. "This is a normal piece of art," she murmured. "The paint used was oil paint, and the canvas is quite old." She then held the sides of the painting and twisted it clockwise. "Darn. It doesn't budge."

Loosening hold of the painting, Nancy then twisted it the other way. She managed to hear a click right after she was able to turn the painting upside-down.

"I wonder what that was about?" she murmured. She then went into the kitchen. Taking a look around the kitchen, she started to investigate. "Maybe the click I just heard heads to a secret passage."

She first opened the door to the freezer. She then entered. Inside, she found out that the freezer was just as large as her closet. Feeling around, Nancy decided that there was no secret door.

Then, she touched the door of the freezer. "Wow," she murmured. "It's pretty thick." The door was about three inches thick, and it was made of metal. "I guess it's made to be thick so the coldness inside will be preserved."

She went out of the kitchen and to the front entrance. "I guess it's all right to investigate outside," she muttered. Taking the umbrella, she went outside.

It was still raining, but the wind had calmed down a bit. Nancy searched around the hotel, but she found no trace of anybody's footprints. "That explains it," she muttered. "Nobody has gone outside, and the killer is definitely in this hotel."

As the girl detective turned around, she decided to investigate the forest. "I guess it's not too dangerous as long as I stay within a mile radius of this hotel."

The forest was moist and quiet. Nancy looked around for anything out of the ordinary, but she found nothing after thirty minutes of investigation. Then, she decided to go back.

All of a sudden, she heard something behind her. Nancy turned around. "Nobody's there," she murmured. Shrugging, she headed back to the hotel. Then, another sound came from behind her. She immediately noticed that the sound was made by a person's shoes stepping on twigs. Nancy immediately turned around.

The only thing she saw was a large piece of wood. Before she could see anything else, she felt a sharp pain and immediately blacked out.

When she opened her eyes, Nancy felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. Then, she felt the unusual coldness surrounding her. Getting up, Nancy immediately threw her arms around herself to stay warm. It was dark and cold. Her feet were freezing. She immediately knew that she was in a place that was below freezing. "It's…c-c-cold…" she muttered, her teeth cluttering. She stood up, but her back then bumped into a hard surface.

"What?" She turned around. Then, her back hit another hard surface. Nancy realized that she was in a small room that stayed below zero degree in the middle of summer. "I… I must be in the freezer!"

She immediately felt the door and pushed. However, it did not budge. "Oh, no! It's locked!"

Nancy felt herself shiver harder than ever. Nancy shivered as she tried to warm herself in the locked freezer. "This is bad," she thought. "If I don't get out, it's just a matter of time before I'll turn into a human icicle!"

"I need to get out of here!" she thought, her mind desperately trying to come up with a way to escape. "But…how can I do that?"

Nancy pounded against the door as hard as she could. "Help! Is anybody there?" she shouted, pounding against it again and again. "Please, somebody… Help!"

Postscript: A very fitting climax! The detective is trapped in a freezer that is sound proof, and the place get colder and colder... Will Nancy survive? How will she get help when her cell phone is stolen and Ned's cell phone is broken? The next chapter will be the last one before the killer is revealed! If you know who is the killer, contact me by sending messages.

Also, because of the busy schedule during the summer, I will not upload any new story until school starts again in September. (It's pretty ironic that I have less free time during the summer!) But I have rough idea as to what I'll write for the next mystery. In fact, I came up with lots of impossible situations that I plan to use to challenge my readers! There will be five more chapters before this mystery ends, so you still have time to think about how the impossible crime was created.

P.S. Please review!