At the same time Carson was explaining the results of having the handwriting expert at the River Heights police station check the papers for their legitimacy to Hannah, Nancy was laying on a hard floor in a dark room. She stirred groggily and sat up. Her head ached so badly she had to wait for the pain to subside before moving . After letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she noted a man sitting on a rickety folding chair in one corner of the room. Her keen eyes drank in every inch of her surroundings - a shack with a locked door and a window too small for even the most slender eighteen year old to escape through.
Turning, she addressed the man in the chair. "Mr. Lob, I presume?" The man chucked , a humorless sound. " Yes. You have an excellent wit, my dear. Now, let's get down to business. I do apologize for bringing you here so unceremoniously, but I was certain you'd been told not to go off with strangers, and even if I asked politely I doubted you'd come. I'm really quite surprised you came here at all, even if you were curious. Curiosity killed the cat, you know. While you are no cat, I must admit I didn't know you were so trusting." Nancy spoke softly, almost imperceptibly. "I'm not. But I need to know the truth." David Lob smiled patronizingly. "Are you really so naive as to think I'd tell you "'I killed your mother' and then let you go? For that is the truth, Miss Drew. I killed your mother." Nancy felt rage, shock, and something else welling up inside of her. It was immense sadness. "Why?!", she screamed angrily,losing her cool for a moment. "Why, I thought you knew. Those papers you dredged up (yes, I've been watching you) would've told you everything! I suppose suppose you gave them to your father without reading them, and he didn't tell tell you what they said for fear you'd dash off and go find me, a dangerous convict. But it looks like you did, didn't you?" Nancy tried to mutter something something sarcastic, but Lob cut her off.
"It was a rhetorical question. Anyway, when you were very young, your father, just out of law school, prosecuted me for a few of the offences in my long and varied life story, but I won't bore you with those facts. He dug deep, investigating the way I've heard you often do. He brought all sorts of evidence to court that day,evidence over trivial matters but the jury thought it was fascinating stuff. My good friend Marvin Polk operated a business that helped people like myself leave for parts unknown when things in the States got too hot for them. He helped me leave shortly after that.
However, your father was asked to prosecute me again. Foolishly, I had returned to America. Marvin could not help me, as he was under police scrutiny even then, just for the insurance scams. No one knows about his side job except an exclusive bunch of myself and other people in my position. So, desperate times call for desperate measures. Mad at your your father, I looked for a way to hurt him. I had heard he was excedingly devoted to his little family. I followed your parents for a little while. One night, I learned your mother was taking a lonely route home from her sister's. I wrecked her car and made sure there was no evidence. You learn to be be good at matters like that in my type of job." He paused. Nancy was crying silently. "I thought you you wanted wanted to hear the truth? There's more to the story, Miss Drew ", he taunted. "So, your father always wondered about it. Everyone else believed some teen had hit her car by accident, became frightened, and ran off. I knew he would never believe this, but there was no evidence. I had the advantage over him now. I decided next time he tried to prosecute Marvin, me, or anyone else I knew, I would tell him the truth, kidnap another family member, and remind him what I was capable of doing."
"I played right into his hands!" Nancy realized sorrowfully. It had been stupid of her to even think the man would tell her the truth and let her go. She had thought she could somehow learn the truth, outwit him, and leave the park. Now, however, she realized she must have been unconscious for a long time, because it had been growing lighter outside as Lob spoke. She could only hope Bess or George would call her Dad when she didn't return to the party. But what did the man know of the Polk house fire? If she could keep him talking, maybe she would find a way to get out. She shivered suddenly. The man was insane for thinking he could pull this off. Okay, Drew, let's assess the situation. You're locked in a shack somewhere near River Park, with a possibly insane, dangerous convict. Lovely.
Review? The Hardy Boys may be in the next chapter, what do you think about that? How are you liking the story so far? REVIEW !