Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading and following this story! Thank you especially to EvergreenDreamweaver and max2013 for your reviews on the last chapter!

Chapter XIX

"Okay, so what's our plan here?" Ned asked. It had turned out to be a very strange date, but that's how things usually went with Nancy. One minute, they were in a coffee shop having a cup of coffee and the next they were making plans with a known thief to take down a gang of murderers, kidnappers, and who knew what else.

"We need to find out what this Ferris Dock place is," Nancy replied.

"Ferris Dock?" Robin repeated. "That's over near Baker. It's not usually called that anymore, though. That was just its nickname thirty years ago when a guy named Ferris drowned just off of it. They never could figure out exactly what happened."

"Then that must be it," Nancy said. "That was easy. Too easy. But then, I guess it should be obvious that this is another trap."

"The text says they want you to go alone," Ned reminded her. "You're not going to. That's not a question."

Nancy shook her head. "No, I'm not going to. Uh, Ned, could I talk to you privately for a second?"

She and Ned stepped to the side and held a whispered conference. Throughout it, they stole a few furtive glances at Robin, as he was the topic of their discussion.

"We can't trust him," Nancy said. "I'd like to, and I honestly don't think he's in with these people, but I can't take the chance of just trusting him."

"Why not?" Ned asked. "He did help rescue George, and it's a long step from playing Robin Hood to joining in with murderers."

"I know, but they've played a similar game before," Nancy explained. She whispered a few highlights of the story of the original Moriare case.

"You're kidding me, right?" Ned stared at her when she'd finished. "That's dedication to a cause. I hope they paid him well."

"Never mind that," Nancy replied with a touch of impatience. "The point is, we can't trust Robin."

"Then we've just got to figure out a way to get him to leave," Ned said. "We'll just tell him we can take care of this ourselves, he can leave his number, and we'll call him when we get results."

Nancy shook her head. "We're better off if we can keep an eye on him. A constant eye. We have to make sure he doesn't report to anyone in any way." She paused. "There is one thing in his favor. When we were staking out Jim's Grill, I saw him go into it. There were a couple of teenagers that he ran into and none of them seemed happy to see each other. I'll just bet they were Clarissa and Terry, although I couldn't see their faces."

"It doesn't prove anything," Ned told her. "At least, nothing definite one way or the other. We're going to need some more people to deal with this. I don't suppose the police are an option?"

"They are," Nancy told him, "just not yet. We'll call them in later. For now, we need Dad, Burt, Dave, and any other guys you can think of who might be willing to help."

"Okay. There's a few I could call," Ned agreed.

He pulled out his smartphone and began sending texts, deciding that this was a better way than calling to make sure Robin didn't overhear. Meanwhile, Nancy tried to place a call to Carson, but he didn't answer. With a little bit of disappointment, she left a message on his phone for him to call her as soon as he could.

"Are we going to go?" Robin asked after a while. "Or do you have a different plan, Nancy?"

"Have any of them gotten back to you yet, Ned?" Nancy inquired.

Ned shook his head. "No. What about your dad?"

"Nothing," Nancy replied. "By the time we get to Baker, it will be dark. That's probably what they want."

"But if they said you should be there, and you don't go -" Robin paused. "How do you make up your mind about things like this?"

"I'm going to have to get some advice," Nancy said. "You guys stay here. This shouldn't take too long."

She hurried into another room and closed the door. She placed a call to Frank's phone and waited for him to answer. When he did, the first thing she said was, "Are you at home, Frank?"

"Yeah," Frank told her. "Just studying for midterms. What's going on? Have you had a break in the case?"

"Sort of. At any rate, something has come up with it," Nancy replied. "Is Joe there?"

"He's in his room," Frank said. "I'll see if he wants to talk."

"Good," Nancy told him. "I could really use help from both of you."

There was a pause for a minute or two in which Nancy could only hear Frank's muffled voice. Then Frank came back on, his voice taking on the more distant and less clear sound of being on speaker phone.

"You still there, Nance?" he asked.

"Mm hmm," Nancy replied. "Is Joe there?"

"Hi, Nancy," Joe said. "What's going on?"

Nancy quickly explained the situation from the coded text to the current dilemma. "What do you think I should do? Should I go now? Should I wait? What?"

Both the Hardys were quiet as they considered the issue. Finally, Joe spoke up, "Nancy, if Terry Shanth is involved in this, then it is definitely a trap. I don't think you should risk it."

Nancy bit her tongue before she could say anything. That was so unlike Joe to be the one advising caution to the point of throwing away the chance to solve a mystery. "What do you think, Frank?" was all she said.

Frank seemed just a little bit caught off guard. "Um. I agree with Joe that it's definitely a trap. What's going to happen if you don't go?"

"Who knows?" Nancy replied.

Frank sighed. "I know what'll happen. They'll get away and maybe they'll decide to disappear again or maybe they won't. Either way, it doesn't matter. They're determined to get us and they will sooner or later, and they will if we don't stop them. You've got to get help, Nance, and you've got to put a stop to this once and for all."

"Right," Nancy agreed. "The police then?"

"Yeah. It'll still be risky, but –" Frank began, but Joe interrupted.

"Risky? It's going to more than that. It'll be suicide. The police were there last time, and –" He let out his breath. "It didn't do too much good."

Both Nancy and Frank were quiet for a minute, considering the problem. Finally, Nancy spoke up, "You've got a point, Joe. These people are dangerous. The trouble is that it's not a matter of deciding whether or not to chase after them. We're involved either way, and it's going to catch up with us sooner or later. Tonight I've got a chance to meet them as much on my own terms as I ever will have. It's not much – not much at all, but it's better than nothing. I'm going to do it. I'll have the Baker police waiting there, and we'll get these people once and for all."

NDNDNDNDND

Nancy tried to call Carson several times, but had no luck getting him to answer. Finally, since they didn't have much time to spare before it got dark, she, Ned, and Robin left for Baker. The police there were more than willing to cooperate and said they would be in place at the dock in case the Moriare gang should turn up there.

On the way to Baker, Nancy and her companions put the finishing touches to their last-minute plan. After making sure the police were in place, Nancy would go ahead and go to the dock, while Ned and Robin would hang back with the police. Neither were too enthusiastic about the plan, but Nancy reminded him that they wouldn't get anywhere unless she at least looked like she had come alone.

It was dark by the time they got to Baker. After dropping Ned and Robin off with the police, Nancy drove to the dock and parked her car. It was too dark and cold to get out, so all she did was park, hoping someone would make some contact with her.

As the minutes dragged on slowly, Nancy began to wonder if maybe she had the wrong idea about what she was supposed to do at Ferris Dock. After all, the text hadn't said anything about someone meeting her there. It had only said to go there. Maybe some message had been left for her there, and she wouldn't see it if she just sat in her car in the dark.

She let a little more time pass. Then she zipped up her coat and pulled her gloves on. Using her flashlight in an attempt to spot some sign or message on the darkened dock, she began walking around the area. She was starting to shiver and was just about to give up the search for tonight when she spotted something in a bush about a stone's throw from the dock.

As she picked it up, she realized that it was a large shoebox. Curiously and a bit cautiously, she removed the cover and looked inside. There was something within wrapped in paper. She unwrapped a small corner and saw a gleam of gold in her flashlight's beam. It was no difficult matter to guess what the object was.

Shaking her head in bewilderment, she carried the box to where the police were waiting with Ned and Robin. She handed the box to the officer in charge of the operation, explaining, "I think this is the stolen chalice from the church in River Heights."

The officer removed the paper and nodded. "It certainly looks like it."

"I have to admit," Nancy said, still confused about the whole thing, "it was disappointingly easy to find."

"That's kind of how it was in the book, too," Ned told her. "I mean, you hear so much about the Quest for the Holy Grail, and then it turns out that the Grail wasn't even really lost."

"Well," Robin spoke up in an admirably indifferent voice, "it looks like Robin Hood is cleared for that one."

"Not necessarily," the head officer replied. "Just because we found the chalice doesn't mean that Robin Hood didn't steal it."

"But clearly the people who have been tormenting Miss Drew stole it," Robin protested. "They told her just where it was, after all."

"But how do we know that Robin Hood isn't in league with these people?" the officer pointed out. "Even if he isn't, though, there are plenty of charges against him to put him away a long time."

Robin barely perceptibly squirmed. "Aren't you skipping the rather important step of capturing him before he can be 'put away'?"

"Thanks to Miss Drew, that's practically taken care of already," the officer announced.

"What?" The word was echoed by Nancy, Ned, and Robin, the last of whom suddenly dropped his bravado and became pale.

The officer either didn't notice or ignored the surprise in Nancy's voice and face as he continued, "Thank you, Miss Drew, for phoning in that tip about this fellow and then letting him lead you here to collect the evidence."

"But I –" Nancy tried to protest.

"You told them?" Robin asked, looking utterly betrayed.

"No," Nancy insisted.

Robin sighed heavily. "I should have seen it. You said you couldn't promise not to tell anyone. I thought, given the circumstances -"

"But I didn't," Nancy insisted.

"I guess that's the phone call you went to make privately," Robin continued. "You did seem a lot more eager to come after you made that call."

"No." Nancy shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "You should probably stop talking now."

"Yes, let me read you your rights first," the officer interjected.

As he went through the formalities of arresting Robin, Nancy stepped back, trying to figure out what was happening. Ned, who was similarly bewildered by the situation, followed her.

"You didn't really tell the police about him, did you?" Ned asked.

"No." Nancy spoke almost sharply. "I didn't. I wouldn't have. I mean – I don't know what I mean. It's a weird situation to be in as a detective, and I didn't want to be in it. Knowing the identity of a thief whom I absolutely did not want to turn in, that is. I don't know how the police found out."

"Someone must have called them," Ned told her. "Whoever it was must have said she was you. Who even knew who Robin is besides the two of us?"

Nancy thought for a moment and then the answer came to her with sudden clarity. "Terry Shanth, Clarissa Margot, Lynn Morgan."

Ned threw his head back and groaned. "Right. But why? What do they have against Robin now?"

"This is what they said they'd do to him if he didn't cooperate with them," Nancy reminded him. "And I guess it's an extra piece of vengeance against me to have him think I turned him in."

NDNDNDNDND

A little while later, Nancy and Ned took rooms in the hotel, intending to drive back to River Heights the next morning. Nancy was still feeling dejected as she unlocked her room and went inside. When she turned the light on, she was startled to see a woman sitting on her bed.

"Nancy Drew," the woman greeted her. "I think it's time we had a talk."