Nancy Drew: 1. The Old Clock at Lilac Inn

Sunday Plans

 After a bit of coaxing, Nancy finally got the full story out of Helen. Helen took a deep breath, a sign that Nancy understood to mean that Helen was practically furious, and told Nancy everything Jenny had just told them. Apparently, last night, before Jenny joined Helen and Emily at the Lilac Inn, Mr. Archer came home and told them that it had been an interesting day. He had told his tellers about Nancy working on Josiah's case and had told them that if she were to come into the bank, to show her into his office immediately. During that time, a young woman came in by the name of Jean Grey. She seemed more interested in learning more about Nancy Drew than opening a new bank account. This aroused Mr. Archer's suspicions, and told his employees that only Nancy, Helen, or Emily could get any information. But Jean Grey seemed insistent on learning more about Nancy, until Mr. Archer began calling the police. She ran out of the bank. About an hour later, someone who looked like Nancy came into the bank and said that Emily requested that she take out Gloria's jewelry. The teller had no reason to suspect that this wasn't Nancy and gave her all the jewelry. Mr. Archer was told about it and thought it odd, but gave no more thought to it as Emily was free to do what she wanted with her mother's jewelry and was free to ask her friends to get it for her. He spoke about it at home with his family. Jenny thought it was really weird since they knew the girls were heading to the Turners for dinner. When she got the call from Nancy, she thought about asking, but completely forgot to when she heard about the break-in. It wasn't until they got up this morning that Jenny remembered about Emily's jewelry and told them about it. Helen called Nancy right away while Emily and Jenny called Mr. Archer.

Nancy was sitting up in her bed by the time Helen was finished, eyes wide as she glanced at the place where that picture had been and her closet. This was to try and give Nancy a bad name!

"I don't know what those jerks were thinking, robbing the bank while you were with us! Pretty horrible attempt at framing someone, if you ask me."

Nancy pursed her lips. "I'm beginning to think that they weren't trying to frame me, but that they were sending me a message. They know what's been going on, they're watching us." She drummed her fingers against her chin. "Was the ghost back last night?"

"Yes, she was," grumbled Helen. "And this time Jenny and I both saw her!"

Nancy gasped. "You both did?"

"Yes! She wasn't as bloody as Emily saw her the night before, but it was definitely her."

Nancy cracked a smile. "You don't sound so scared."

"Because I don't think she's really a ghost, like you figured. A real ghost would just vanish into thin air, this ghost ran into the nearby forest."

Nancy chuckled slightly. "That definitely doesn't bode well for our friendly neighborhood ghost."

Helen scoffed. "Definitely, especially once I pointed that out to Emily. She's been thinking the same now, that it isn't a real ghost. She's less afraid of her now, but she is worried that the ghost might try to break in, which is a reasonable concern."

"Oh definitely." Nancy thought for a second before letting out a gasp.

"Nancy?"

"What if our ghost and my imposter are the same person?"

"What?"

"Think about it! This would have to take someone who's either a professional make-up artist or simply really good at cosplaying in order to pull off a convincing ghost and a pretty convincing me."

"You're right! But, we still don't know who it is."

"This is true. But there may be a way to find out. I'll have to think more about it, but, I might be returning with a plan, and I'll need all three of you to help."