Nancy Drew: 2 . The Hidden Staircase

Around the Corner

"Woohoo! Way to go Nancy Drew!" Joe's voice cheered over the speaker.

Frank chuckled. "I told you you would find him, and the tunnels."

"And you did it all without Jim Caldwell's poems. You rock!"

"Speaking of, did you find the book?"

"Oh yes," said Nancy with a nod, "we went back in yesterday and got everything they stole from one of the side tunnels. We were able to find the mechanisms that opened the doors in the attics and the sofa seat at Twin Elms. The people who own both places know where everything is now."

"Aw sweet! You know, they could turn that into quite the Halloween attraction!"

Nancy gasped. "Joseph Fenton Hardy, that is a brilliant idea!"

"Yeah!" Joe paused. "Wait, why did you use my full name?"

"Sorry, it just rolled off the tongue naturally."

"Uh-huh," said Joe.

"You know, she can tell Bess now," quipped Frank.

"No!" Joe paused. "On second thought, go ahead, as long as you tell me her middle name."

"Only with her permission," said Nancy with a snicker.

"Then don't tell her without my permission!"

Nancy laughed. "I'll try not to."

"I don't like the sound of that," mumbled Joe.

Frank chuckled. "Well, I'm glad to hear everyone has a happy ending."

"Same with you! I'm so glad that Ken is with his real uncle and not that criminal. And it sounds like you're absolutely spoiling the poor boy."

"No we're not," said Joe, "we're just showing him around Bayport, that's all. It keeps us busy too until we get another mystery."

"You haven't found one yet?"

"No, but now it seems like we're even, two for two."

"And I bet we'll get started on our next mystery first," quipped Joe.

Nancy laughed. "It's possible, but you never know, I could start on my next one before you two."

Joe scoffed. "Yeah right."

"Yeah, well, Dad's going to have a new one here soon. Some guy's coming tomorrow, I think it was. And that's all he's told us so far. He might let us help him on this one, but by the sounds of it, I think he wanted to tackle this himself. We'll see."

"In the meantime, I'm hoping we'll get a good one of our own," said Joe. "Ooh, maybe we'll even find our own set of underground tunnels!"

"Don't count on it, Joe," said Frank.

"What? I can still wish, can't I?"

"Nancy! It's almost time!"

"Oh, my dad's calling me. I gotta go. But it was great to catch up! And I really do appreciate all the support."

"You're welcome," said Frank.

"Hey, that's what friends are for," said Joe. "But we'd better let you go. Have a great weekend!"

"Thanks! You too!"

"Bye!" they chorused before hanging up the phone. Nancy smoothed out her blue and yellow party dress before turning to the mirror and double checking to make sure she looked alright. She grabbed her purse and rushed downstairs where her father and Hannah were waiting.