Nancy caught the woman before she fell to the floor. She quickly glanced around to see if anyone would help or if any of her relatives were nearby, but no one seemed to pay them much attention. Nancy gently righted the woman back into her chair. The woman came to with a start, though she was still battling to keep her eyes open.

"Oh, oh my. Th-thank you, young lady. I-I . . . oh, can you call me a cab? I must - I must get to my room."

"Your room? Are you staying at a hotel?"

The woman nodded slowly. "Yes, yes, I-" The woman seemed to have fainted again. Nancy bit her lip as she made sure to keep the woman from falling again. Where was she staying? Sure, this wasn't Chicago, but River Heights still had its fair share of hotels. It would take a little while until she narrowed it down. But right now, it seemed to be her best option. She gasped, she needed to let her friends know, and they could help her narrow them down! Keeping a firm hand on the lady, Nancy reached into her purse, pulled out her phone, and called Helen.

"Hey Nancy! Where are you? We're just about finished!"

"Good, I have a lady here in the food court who needs to get to her hotel room, but she's fainted before she could tell me where she's staying!"

"What? Oh my! We're checking out right now, we'll meet you there right away! Oh, as a matter of fact, Izzy and Emily aren't getting anything. I'll send them to help you!"

"Thank you!" Nancy hung up her phone and quickly threw it back in her purse. She turned back to the woman. What could she do to help her? She looked around for the woman's purse. Maybe there was something in there to give her an idea of what she needed to do, or something to give her. Just anything. She found it under the woman's chair and picked up quickly. She paused. Should she really look through the purse? Nancy glanced at the woman's face. Did she really have a choice? Letting out a huff, Nancy began to rummage through the woman's purse. She pulled out the woman's wallet. There was an I.D. in there with the name Marie Alexandra. But it was the picture of a little boy, about one year old, with an adorable smile, twinkling blue eyes, and dressed in a sailor's uniform that caught Nancy's interest. The picture looked old and faded, but in good condition.

A soft moaning prompted her to return the wallet to the purse. The woman was coming back around! A sharp gasp also caught Nancy's attention. She swiveled her head to find Izzy and Emily looking at her.

"Why, why that's Mrs. Alexandra!" said Emily.

"She's staying at Lilac Inn?" asked Nancy, her eyes widening.

Emily bobbed her head. "Yes! She's the wealthy woman who's staying in the master suite!"

Nancy sighed with relief. "Oh thank goodness! I was sure we would have to call every hotel in town to find out where she's staying!"

"But I wonder why she's here, or even how she got here," asked Emily.

"We'll ask her when she's able to answer us. Right now we should get her back to the Inn. Can you help me get her to my car?"

"Oh, of course!" chorused Izzy and Emily. They rushed to the table.

Nancy tried to wake Mrs. Alexandra up. She moaned a little and her eyelids tried to open.

"Mrs. Alexandra?" said Nancy. "Mrs. Alexandra? Can you stay awake long enough to get my car?"

Mrs. Alexandra grabbed Nancy's arm. "Louise, oh Louise, my precious Louise!"

"Mrs. Alexandra, we're going to get you to the Lilac Inn," said Nancy. "But we need you to walk a bit. Can you do that?"

The woman seemed to become more alert and nodded feebly. "Oh, oh yes, I-I think so."

"Good. These are my friends, they're going to help, alright?"

The woman merely nodded and tried to stand. Izzy stepped in to help Nancy support the woman, while Emily grabbed her purse as well as Nancy's. Emily took care of the doors on the way out and between the three of them, managed to get the woman situated into Nancy's car.

Nancy bit her lip as she glanced around at the seats. "Hmm, there's not going to be enough room for everyone."

Izzy scoffed. "I don't think Helen and Ida are going to mind spending a little bit more time in the mall."

"Oh I know they won't," said Nancy as a twinkle came into her blue eyes, "but their father's bank accounts might."

Izzy chuckled. "Oh, no argument there."

"But then what should we do?" asked Emily.

Nancy thought quickly. "Izzy, call Ida and tell her we're taking Mrs. Alexandra to Lilac Inn and we'll be back in about thirty minutes. Emily, call Lilac Inn and explain the situation to Jane. Maybe ask her to have the maid ready when we get there."

"On it!"

Izzy and Emily got into the back of the car on either side of Mrs. Alexandra while Nancy quickly slid behind the wheel. "Are we ready?"

"All buckled!" called out Emily. Izzy gave Nancy a thumbs up as she put her phone to her ear.

"Great! Hang on!" Nancy pulled out of the parking lot and drove as quickly as she could from the mall to Lilac Inn. Along the way, Izzy and Emily made their calls as Nancy had asked. Ida and Helen, as predicted, did not have any problems with staying at the mall, but asked them to hurry it up so they could have lunch together. Jane told Emily she would be waiting with Mrs. Alexandra's maid in the entry. Meanwhile, the woman kept going in and out of consciousness, muttering about Louise, Michael, and Louise again. Nancy's heart ached for the woman. She could hear the anguish in her voice when she muttered those names, and so lovingly too. She wondered if Michael was the little boy in the picture she saw in Mrs. Alexandra's wallet. What had happened to her family?

As soon as Nancy pulled into the parking lot of Lilac Inn, Jane came outside, followed by the maid and Gil Gary. Working together, they got Mrs. Alexandra into the sitting room and laid her down on one of the couches. The maid, Anna, went to work reviving her mistress. In a couple of minutes, Mrs. Alexandra was sitting up, eating some soup.

"Thank you so so much for getting me here," said Mrs. Alexandra, giving Nancy a kind but wane smile. She turned to Izzy and Emily and told them the same. "Please let me know what I can do to repay you."

Nancy waved her hand. "Oh no need! I'm just glad you're alright, Mrs. Alexandra."

Mrs. Alexandra shook her head. "Please, I insist. I want to do something for you."

"Well, I can't exactly think of anything right now," said Nancy slowly.

Mrs. Alexandra patted her hand. "Then we'll talk about yours later." She turned to Izzy and Emily. "And what about you two? What will you accept?"

Izzy shrugged. "I don't know. I've got whatever I could ask for."

"Same here," said Emily, "and, well, I wouldn't know what I could ask of you either."

Mrs. Alexandra smiled again, this time more strongly. "Well, I have a whole assortment of trinkets and odds and ends that I have been selling to Mr. Faber. It's why I'm here, actually. I have so many things! Perhaps you would like one of those?"

Nancy leaned in, excitement sneaking into her voice. "Really? Would you happen to have anything that could work for a present for a father?"

Mrs. Alexandra thought for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "No, no I do not, unfortunately. But, I can send you to Mr. Faber, perhaps he may have just the thing you're looking for."

"Maybe he does! I've never been to his store," said Nancy. "I've never even heard of him until now."

"My goodness, that must be rectified immediately! Anna, please go get one of Mr. Faber's cards from my other purse."

Anna gave a little curtsy. "Right away, Madame." She left the room and dashed up the stairs.

"Mr. Faber has a lot of antique pieces and is always getting more. If you can't find something when you go in today, perhaps he will find something later."

"Oh man, I hope it's today," said Izzy, "seeing as how Father's Day is tomorrow."

Mrs. Alexandra glanced at Izzy before turning to Nancy in shock. "What? Whyever did you wait so long?"

"It wasn't her fault, really," said Emily. "Nancy's a detective and she was solving the mystery of my grandmother's house." Emily paused and pursed her lips as she glanced at Nancy. "And, and her father was being held a prisoner in the tunnels that connect my grandmother's house to this Inn."

Mrs. Alexandra turned from Emily to Nancy with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, and before that, she was working on finding our inheritance," said Izzy, indicating herself and Emily. "My great-uncle left us his estate and all his wealth, and Nancy was making sure some cocky, incompetent crooks didn't get away with it."

"Oh yes, she's absolutely amazing!" cheered Emily.

Nancy blushed slightly. "Oh goodness! I had loads of help!"

"But you still pieced everything together and found it!" said Emily.

"Madame, the card," said Anna.

Nancy noticed Mrs. Alexandra seemed to come out of deep thought before taking the card from Anna. "Oh, yes, thank you Anna." Mrs. Alexandra pulled a pen out of her purse and wrote something on the back of the card. "Give this to Mr. Faber. He'll know that I sent you." She handed Nancy the card with a smile. "I do hope you find something for your father soon. And, and if you could, come here tomorrow afternoon for tea? Your friends are invited as well."

"Oh, thank you so much! And I accept."

"I work here, so I kind of have no choice in the matter," said Emily with a chuckle.

"I'll answer for my sister as well as myself, we'll be here," said Izzy.

"Oh, you have a sister?" asked Mrs. Alexandra.

Izzy nodded. "Yes ma'am, she's at the mall with another friend of ours. Which, speaking of, they're probably wondering where we are."

"Right, we should head back. But first, may she come as well?" asked Nancy.

Mrs. Alexandra smiled. "If she wishes, yes. And thank you again for your help!"

Nancy grasped the woman's hands. "And thank you for this recommendation. I hope the rest of your day goes much better, and we'll see you tomorrow!"

Mrs. Alexandra smiled. Nancy noticed that the smile went all the way into her blue eyes. "Thank you, I think it already is much better."

The girls said goodbye to her and Jane before dashing back out to the car and rushing back to the mall. They met up with Ida and Helen and told them about the whole adventure as they ate lunch.

"Why, what a way to meet a wealthy lady," said Ida. "And what a way to meet the best detective in River Heights!"

Nancy waved off the compliment. "Nonsense, I'm not the best!"

"I said in River Heights," said Ida.

"Yes, yes, I know what you said. But really girls, all this talk about me being the best when I've only solved two mysteries isn't warranted!"

"Alright, alright, we'll call you the best after you've solved your third mystery. Happy?"

Nancy rolled her eyes, but her lips were beginning to curl into a smirk. "At least five, come on." The group burst out laughing before turning to talk about plans for Katherine and her family. After they finished their meal, they loaded their purchases into the trunk and headed straight over to Mr. Faber's. Nancy bit her lip when she pulled into the tiny parking lot of the building. No wonder she had never known this was here, the store was practically hidden by the shopping center next door. There weren't any flashing lights to announce the position of the store, so most would have passed it up quite easily if they weren't looking for it.

"Wow, I guess this store is just one of the many secrets of River Heights," said Helen as they got out of the car. "I never knew this was here!"

Izzy snorted. "And of course, Nancy's the one to find it."

Nancy scoffed. "I wouldn't have found it either if Mrs. Alexandra hadn't told me about it!" She glanced at the store. "Though I do wonder how he manages to stay open. It doesn't look like there are many people walking around in there."

"His prices might be pretty high," quipped Ida.

Nancy paled. "R-right, well, I hope I can find something within my price range for Dad."

Izzy patted her on her back. "Your luck hasn't run out yet. Come on, let's see what we can find."

Helen nudged Ida on their way in. "Looks like you're finding out more on your tour of River Heights than those of us who live here!"

Ida fistpumped. "Yes!" The others laughed.

"Excuse me," muttered a man as he walked past them out of the store.

"Excuse us," chorused the girls as they walked in.

Emily gasped when she glanced at the shelves. "Oh, oh my, this place, oh this place is wonderful!" The shelves were full of the most unique antiques the girls had ever seen, and all were arranged artistically. "Mom would have loved this," she whispered.

Nancy turned to her. Emily's eyes were beginning to fill with tears. "Are you alright?" asked Nancy.

Emily sniffed as she quickly pulled out some tissue to wipe her eyes and nose with. "I, I'll be fine."

Nancy placed an arm around her shoulders. "If you need to take a moment, I can take you back to the car or give you the keys."

Emily smiled. "Thanks Nance, I'll let you know if I need to head out for a moment."

Nancy nodded. "Alright."

"Well come on, let's explore!" said Helen. They spread out, looking over each piece carefully. Nancy, however, went towards the counter. She wanted to give Mr. Faber the card before she forgot. On her way there, she stepped on something. Bending over, she picked up from under her foot. It was a wallet. She opened it to find some identification, and gasped. In it was the exact same picture of the little boy that Mrs. Alexandra had!

(Author's Note: Hello my rosy readers! Welcome back to another chapter! And what's this? A double post? Aw yeah! Hopefully I can keep doing it this way. But after that rumbling going on about the Hardy boys, and since I am blissfully not watching the mess that continues to be the CW's Nancy Drew, I figured something a little more fun was in store. That being said, I didn't get the other story submitted in time like I had wanted, even though the first chapter is available to read on Wattpad, the story is called Rita Root if anyone is interested, hint hint wink wink, but that does mean I can push that one to the back for a bit and work on these more. Especially since as soon as I posted it on Wattpad, I got back to work on Nancy Drew, Hardy boys, and the Boxcar/Oz stories. Yeah, my head's more into those. So that will give me a bit more time to flesh out the characters and the world for Rita Root and concentrate more on getting these, now, five fanfics done. Phew! So a bit of breathing space, lol, but since three are working so well right now, and the other two, Monoplane's Mission and Sprite Society, are only giving me a few problems that I'm sure I can work out once I give them a bit of space, we're doing good. Oh, also, got a title for another original story, but that's gotta wait until later because right now it's just a title, lol. I do aim to have it finished in time for St. Patrick's day, but it'll probably have to be for St. Patrick's day next year. So, will update you more on A Shamrock Shanty once I've got details all squared away and I start posting it on Wattpad! XD Also, Elizabeth Joan-hbndgirl, you are such a gem for reviewing every chapter! Thank you! Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day! God bless!)