Author's Note: Once again, thank you all so much for reading and following this story. Thank you especially to BMSH, EvergreenDreamweaver, max2013, and Cherylann Rivers for your reviews.

Chapter X

"What is with detectives and stake-outs?" Dave groaned as the entire group sat in Ned's car, with Dave, Bess, and Burt crowded into the back seat. "Isn't there any other way to find things out?"

Ned had parked his car in a parking lot a block up and on the other side of the street from Jim's Grill. At first, they had all been watching the restaurant intently, but by now Nancy was the only one determined enough to keep a very close watch.

"And what's with non-detectives and how much they hate stake-outs?" Nancy teased him. "What easier way is there to find things out?"

"Well, I can think of much more fun ways," Dave replied.

"We won't have to be here much longer," Nancy assured him. "Dad took the rest of the day off, and he'll be here in about half an hour. In the meantime, we can see if we spot any of the suspects going into Jim's. The whole business with the armor is making me a little suspicious."

"You know, Nancy," Bess spoke up, "none of us know what any of the suspects look like except you. Well, except Lynn Morgan, I guess. I don't think we're going to be too helpful to you."

"Morgan," Ned repeated, shaking his head. "I hope she did want us to figure out that she's one of them, because she was really obvious. Don't forget that Arthur had a half-sister who was a witch and was named Morgan le Fey."

"Why didn't we have her arrested while we had the chance?" Burt demanded. "You knew what she was up to, Nancy, and you just let her get away. Why?"

"To begin with, knowing what she's doing and proving it are two different things," Nancy replied. "We would need proof to go to the police. We don't have it."

"Jim sure has a lot of business, considering it's after the lunch hour." Ned changed the subject. "I wonder why that is. Restaurants don't usually have so many people going in and out of them in the middle of the afternoon."

Nancy cast a grateful smile at him. "I don't know."

"Do you think it's a clue?" Bess asked. "They're not very high-class. Most of the people who have gone in there, that is. A lot of them have old clothes, and the ones that drive have mostly old cars. A lot of them walk, too. Do you think it means something?"

"It could just mean it's an affordable place to eat," Nancy replied. "You can't deny the prices on their menu were very reasonable."

Just then, Nancy's phone rang. "Hi, Frank," she said, picking it up. "Do you have any news?"

"Some," Frank replied. "It's not too good."

Nancy felt her heart sink a little even before she heard what he had to say. She certainly did not need any more bad news on this case. "What is it?"

"First of all, I've been looking into Terry Shanth and his mother," Frank replied. "Turns out, that's not so easy to do."

"Why is that?" Nancy asked.

"Because until about twelve years ago, they didn't exist," Frank explained. "I can't find anything on them. Apparently, Rodonna Shanth somehow came up with false IDs for herself and her son. We can trace them for the last twelve years, but not before that. There's nothing to indicate what they were trying to hide in anything they did after that. They just moved around a lot, mostly on the West Coast, but I don't see how that proves anything."

"Interesting," Nancy said. "So we don't know the real names of most of our suspects now. Wonderful. Was there anything else?"

"Yeah. Dan Moriare is in Chicago," Frank replied. "As far as I can tell, he's just living there, but watch your back anyway."

"Thanks for the warning," Nancy told him. "So, how's Joe these days?"

"He's Joe," Frank said. "Anyway, I've got to get to class, Nancy. I'll talk to you later."

He ended the call, and Nancy mulled over what he had said silently for a moment or two. Then her friends began to ask what had been said, and so Nancy repeated the information to them.

More time passed, and nothing of interest happened. Then, finally, there was one scene that was a little out of the ordinary. A teenage couple were walking down the street. They turned to go into Jim's Grill, but they stopped short when a man of about thirty came out at the same time. For a few seconds longer than was natural, he stared at them and they stared at him before the couple finally seemed to change their minds and continued on their way down the street. The man stared at them for another moment more and then began walking quickly in the other direction.

"I wonder what was up with that," Dave commented. "Is that what we've been waiting for, Nancy?"

"Maybe." Nancy held up her phone and snapped a picture of the man, who was facing toward the car and its watching passengers. Unfortunately, the teenagers had been facing away the entire time, and Nancy never had seen their faces.

NDNDNDNDND

Carson arrived at the time he had said he was going to. After that, they abandoned the stake-out to make other plans. After some debate, they decided to split into two groups – Nancy, Ned, and Carson would try to find out anything they could about Lynn Morgan and Bess, Dave, and Burt would gather information on Robin Hood.

The search took the rest of the afternoon and yielded very few results. Bess and the two boys couldn't find out anything new, and all that the others learned was that no one in town seemed to have any idea who Lynn Morgan was.

Because it was late by then, they decided to get rooms at the one hotel in town and continue searching in the morning. There was a small restaurant attached to the hotel, and so they went there for supper. Most of them, though, only picked at their food, preoccupied with worry about George. It was getting close to twenty-four hours since her disappearance now, and with the fading light, their spirits were beginning to fade as well.

Nancy pulled the note that she had found in the knight's helmet out of her pocket and looked at it again, thinking. Maybe she had been too hasty earlier in assuming that she needed the black knight's armor. Surely Lynn had known that Nancy wouldn't be able to buy it. In that case, there must be something else that she needed to do with the armor.

On the other hand, maybe it had been a test – a test that Lynn had known Nancy would fail. If Lynn was a criminal, she wouldn't have hesitated to just steal the armor. Maybe that's what she wanted Nancy to do. If that was the case, then Nancy had already blown everything.

Taking a breath, Nancy told herself to think calmly about this. After all, what good would having the armor do her? Surely, even in the twisted mind of whoever was really behind this, she wasn't expected to use the armor as armor. There must be something else to the whole thing. There must be something more to that suit of armor than met the eye.

More than could be seen. Nancy sat up straighter at the idea. Of course! That could just be it. The trouble was, there was only one way to find out, and generally none of the rest of the group approved of that. Biting her lip, Nancy considered her options. If she was right, it would be worth any risk to check it out. If she was wrong, it would only take a moment to find out and no one else would know about it. She hated going off without telling anyone, but they would argue and possibly even talk her out of it. She couldn't take that chance.

NDNDNDNDND

It was close to midnight when Nancy slipped out of the hotel, leaving only a note behind to tell the others not to worry about her if her absence should be discovered. It was very dark, which Nancy was glad about, and the streets of Baker were deserted. Borrowing Ned's car, Nancy drove down a handful of streets until she was in the vicinity of Jim's Grill. She parked a few blocks up and walked the rest of the way.

When she arrived at the restaurant, she walked down the alley next to it, where it was practically pitch black. She used the dim illumination of her phone's screen to see where she was going, but she didn't use the flashlight for fear that would be noticed by someone. A short way down the alley, she came to a backdoor into the restaurant.

Nancy had found before that lockpicking was a useful skill to have, especially as a detective. She had the door open in a few moments, hoping there wouldn't be an alarm wire to it. She paused for a moment, but she heard no tell-tale beeping, and so she made her way inside.

The armor was in the main dining room of the restaurant and was visible through the windows to the street. Nancy considered this and decided she would just have to go without light so that she wouldn't be seen. This was easier said than done, and she had bumped into a table and knocked over a few chairs until she finally found herself crouching at the feet of the black knight.

Very carefully, she began feeling the thing with her hands to get some idea of how it was held together. When she had finally determined that she could take one of the legs off without the whole thing collapsing, she set about trying to do so. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard and she was soon holding the metal boot in her hand. She reached down into it. Nothing.

A little disappointed but hardly discouraged, she replaced the boot and removed the other one. She felt her heart beat a little faster as she realized that this one was heavier than its partner had been. With a thrill of excitement, she tried to reach inside, but it was filled nearly to the top with paper. Nancy knew by the feel that it was United States currency.

No wonder Jim couldn't sell the suit of armor for a few more days, she thought to herself. It made a perfect hiding place. No one would ever notice it by accident. The only way they could find anything hidden inside would be if they were looking for it.

Still, there were several questions remaining. Why was Jim hiding this money? Was this what Lynn wanted Nancy to find? If so, what was she supposed to do with it? If not, what was she supposed to look for?

Nancy turned the bills over in her hands as she contemplated the situation. Of course, she would have to leave the money there, but then how would Lynn - or whoever Lynn was working for - know that she had found it? What could Nancy do?

She decided she had better just put it back and wait and see. If this was what those people wanted, they would surely have some way of knowing that Nancy had found it. If not, it was back to square one. She was just preparing to stand up when she heard a sound behind her that made her heart stand still – a footstep.

Slowly she turned around. There in the dark shadows of the restaurant was another, darker shadow. It was standing next to one of the tables. As Nancy watched, it suddenly struck a match and lit a candle that was in the centerpiece of the table. By this light, she saw that it was a man dressed in predominantly green medieval clothing with a half-mask over the lower part of his face.

All of this, Nancy took in in a moment, for her eyes were rivetted on what the man was holding in his hands – a bow and arrow that were pointed straight at her.