Nancy Drew: 1. The Old Clock at Lilac Inn

Helping Hands

 The girls were mostly quiet on the way back to Lilac Inn, each lost in their own thoughts. So, they had all the clues now, everything they needed, as Josiah's final poem said, to find the treasure. Now they just had to put the pieces together and see how they fit, if they could even get them to fit correctly. Was it hidden in Ariel Park? But where exactly? Nancy couldn't think of any other reason for why Josiah gave them the map of Ariel Park next to his house if it wasn't important, so the only logical explanation was that the will was buried there. That made sense. But now, the question was, where exactly in Ariel Park? Maybe that was where the rest of the clues came in, to give them a hint to the exact location of the will. Nancy squeezed her eyes shut for a second. She had to wait until they got back to Lilac Inn before she could let her mind wander over the different possibilities. Right now, she had to concentrate on getting everyone to Lilac Inn safely. But her brain just wouldn't stay quiet. She was so close, she could feel it. And she had to keep a constant eye on Jane, the Tophams, and now Buddy and Jean. She bit her lip, would she be able to find the treasure and get the evidence needed to put them all behind bars if they were indeed just trying to worm Emily's inheritance out of her? A lot of that would just be suspicion and circumstantial evidence, really, not very many hard facts. The only one she might be able to put behind bars was Mary Mason since she did steal all the jewelry, provided they could catch her. And catch her they must.

When they entered Lilac Inn a little bit later, they had a surprise waiting for them.

"Nancy! Emily! Helen!"

"Why Judy, you're here!" blurted Emily as she knelt to give the tyke a hug.

"Well, you two certainly acted fast," said Nancy as she walked towards the front desk where Mary and Edna were standing surrounded by some luggage.

Mary shrugged. "It was my day off. Figured to get the moving started, at least."

"That, and it was easy since we told Judy we were coming to see you. She was really helpful!" Judy grinned at the praise. Edna glanced at Jane. "And Jane here was wonderful! She found us a room that we could use!"

Jane waved her hand. "Oh posh, it was nothing. We had an empty room, might as well put it to use, right?"

Edna grinned. "Right!"

Jane turned and took a key out of the desk. "And speaking of, here's the key to your room. Let me take you up and we can figure out where Judy's bed is going to go."

"You're bringing Judy's bed here?" blurted Helen, eyes wide.

"Yes," said Mary firmly, "that bed has been in the family for generations, we are not parting with it now."

Jenny nodded. "Fair enough."

Mary glanced at her. "Um, I don't believe we've met . . . but you look familiar." Nancy quickly introduced them.

"Oh!" blurted Edna. "Why you're Jim's little girl! Except you're not so little anymore, you're practically all grown up!"

Jenny grinned. "Basically!"

Edna hugged her. "Well, it's great to see you! But we really should try to get as much moved over here as possible."

"Would you like some help?" asked Nancy. "I have my car. It can fit quite a bit."

"Oh definitely," said Emily, shooting a knowing look at Helen.

"What? What's wrong with being prepared?"

"You just don't need to bring the kitchen sink," quipped Emily.

Helen scoffed. "Lucky for you, I didn't." The girls burst out laughing.