Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Six and a Half Keys
Chapter Nine
Nancy didn't feel like doing any more investigation, so she called her longtime boyfriend, Ned Nickerson.
"Hey, Ned!" she said.
"Hey, Nance! How's the case coming along?"
"Well, I've met all the suspects, but I need a little help," Nancy said. "I need a handsome, intelligent man who's good at solving tough problems."
"I'd be honored to help you," Ned said.
"Great!" Nancy said. "So you'll ask Frank Hardy to call me?"
"I...you want Frank to help you?" Ned asked.
"Or Joe, but he won't stop trying to get me to work for him at the Hardy Boys Detective Agency and Cheeseburger Store," Nancy said. "No offense, but his burgers are kind of nasty. Why does he think he can make burgers, when he can't even make johnny cakes?"
"Maybe I can help you on the case," Ned said. "What do the Hardys have that I don't?"
"Years of experience and connections with international secret agents," Nancy said. "I have a feeling this case is going to expand into something big, like an attempt to steal the Crayon Jewels."
"And obviously, the Hardys can help more than me," Ned sighed.
"Don't feel bad, Ned. You're good at lots of stuff."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"You know...other things," Nancy said, suggestively. Perhaps that line of dialogue was a bit too suggestive, because it was cut out of the game before the official release, so the testers were the only ones who got to hear it.
Poor Ned was so shocked, he fell backwards onto the ground and didn't speak for another three hours. That brought a quick end to the phone call. In the meantime, Nancy called the Hardy Boys.
"Hey, Nance!" Joe said. "You ready to flip the spatula for an exciting career?"
"No," Nancy said. "I just wanted to know if you guys have access to DEGAS, spelled like it rhymes with 'Vegas'."
"Did you want to go to Las Vegas, Nancy?" Frank asked. "I bet we can solve some interesting mysteries there."
"I'm in the middle of solving a mystery now," Nancy said. "Someone stole Adela Czerna's jewels, and it's a really frustrating case because I don't know how to type the accent marks over her name."
"You should try calling Ned," Joe said. "I'd bet he has a five-page slideshow on the topic, ready to go."
"Ned is lying unconscious on the ground, because...reasons," Nancy said. "So, do you know someone who can help?"
"I know lots of doctors," Joe said. "I keep getting knocked unconscious during our investigations, so I'm on a first-name basis with everyone at the Bayport General Hospital's head trauma unit."
"I want someone to help me with the jewel database, not with Ned!" Nancy said. She groaned. It was so annoying, having to deal with detectives who said ridiculous things all the time.
"Then you want Agent Zane Garrett," Frank said. "He's with the ICA, and he helped us solve a mystery in Boston, right before we helped you with the Salem mystery."
"I don't like to talk about the Salem case," Nancy said.
"I don't remember much of the Salem case," Joe said. "I remember that someone drugged the tea, and then I had terrible hallucinations every night for a month. It was bad."
"I'll message Agent Zane and have him send you the file," Frank said. "And Nancy? If you don't have a laptop with you, you'll have to get one. The DEGAS file is way too complicated for a phone. It's, like, two pages long. With color."