📚 NANCY DREW📓
in
🎠SNOW MYSTERY🎠
by Ann ♪
~A Nancy Drew Fanfic~
Chapter Four
Nancy and Ned saw two forms up ahead, one obviously in the motion of throwing something. Another crash sounded. One of the vandals stepped through the open window to retrieve the brick he’d thrown. He snatched it up and got back out.
“Those punks!” exclaimed Ned, angry at what was taking place and with the opportunity to do something about it right in front of them, got out his phone, recording while Nancy called the police. They both increased their pace simultaneously.
The two vandals had not yet seen Nancy and Ned, until they were nearer, but it was obvious when they were seen. Nearly running into each other in their hurry to get away, the vandals took off sliding on the snow coming back to reclaim the sidewalk that had been cleared earlier. One of the jerk duo tripped, which caused the other one to end up copying the non-graceful move.
Nancy caught sight of a long scarf that one of the vandals had dropped on the sidewalk. She picked it up and got Ned’s attention. Tossing him one end of the scarf, she gestured quickly and he nodded, already knowing the plan. A grin couldn’t be kept off of Ned’s face as he and Nancy wrapped up the situation. The punks were attempting to stand up and unwittingly gave Nancy and Ned the opportunity to wrap then tie the scarf around them.
Burglar alarms had gone off in the two stores as soon as they’d been hit. An officer en route to the scene, responding to the alarms and Nancy’s call, traveled as quickly as was wise to get there fast but in one piece. When he reached the vandalized shops, he was surprised to see the apprehended individuals responsible for the destructive crime.
“Are we glad to see you, Officer!” one of the vandals burst out. “These two stole my scarf and tied us up! We think they were going to rob the stores after breaking the windows, but we stopped them.”
“By getting yourselves tied up?” The officer wasn’t buying their claim.
“Well, we hadn’t planned on that.”
“That’s the first truth they’ve said,” Ned told the officer.
“We’re the ones who called,” explained Nancy.
The vandals weren’t done claiming total innocence. “We never went in that store!”
“There are several things to disprove that.” Nancy gestured toward the inside of one of the shops. A piece of material had gotten caught and ripped when the vandal had climbed in to get the brick. They had dropped the bricks when the officer had arrived.
The one whose coat was suspiciously missing a small section of it and that also happened to be exactly the same design and color, denied it. Even as he stood there wearing the proof. “She’s setting me up! Now I know why she ripped my jacket right before you got here, Officer. She put it there!”
Nancy rolled her eyes.
“I’m sure the security camera will tell the story.” The officer’s voice was matter of fact with maybe a little amusement in it as well.
The vandal who hadn’t said much, decided to do so at that moment. “You can’t. It’s just their words against ours. You see, we saw them destroy the cameras.”
The officer, whose backup had just arrived, looked at the small, high quality security cameras strategically located and found that they had indeed been destroyed.
“See? Just like we told you.” The vandals looked smug, mistakenly believing they had been convincing and without the cameras, they figured nothing could be proven. They weren’t worried about witnesses.
Ned cleared his throat, but didn’t say anything, he just lifted up his phone and had a big grin on his face.
The vandals weren’t happy about this at all. They thought they’d taken care of being caught on a camera then these two do-gooders came along. So they changed their tune and tried for another spin. “Look, it was just a prank, a practical joke. A misdemeanor.”
“It was destruction of private property,” responded the second officer.
The vandals realized the game was up, but they refused to talk, even once the arresting officer had taken them to the police station. The second officer remained at the scene as it got secured and took Nancy and Ned’s statements. Shortly into it, the officer was needed concerning the actual damage and stepped over to where another officer was gathering evidence.
While that was going on, Nancy quietly asked Ned, “So how much video proof did you get?”
Ned couldn’t help but grin. “Very little. The camera on my phone is pretty good, but with the snow coming down, what got recorded is not the clearest or best quality. Their voluntary confession is even better.”
“Great bluff! And without lying.” She smiled up at her boyfriend.
He shrugged modestly. “It can be done.”
************
The snow stopped overnight and the next day was sunny. The Nickersons and Nancy had breakfast at the restaurant Ned had spotted the previous evening. The food tasted as good as it had smelled. Quite a few people in Hopeville also thought so and were dining there as well.
Wide windows looked out over a beautiful landscape, covered in twinkling white. Tables were situated so that the scenery could be enjoyed while eating.
Music flowed as patrons ate and schmoozed. Voices rose in animated conversation at a table next to Nancy and the Nickersons.
“It’s obvious something is going on around here. We need to do something about it.” The pretty lady, Emmie McCabe, speaking had a no-nonsense way about her. Her eyes sparked with a combination of determination and righteous indignation. “With more vandalism last night, this needs to be stopped. We’ve had troubles for a week and a half now. Just after we put a stop to that puppet councilwoman’s bullying and plans to mess up everyone’s holiday traditions, things started happening. I think they’re connected. She didn’t like when she didn’t get to change our religious traditions into meaningless acts of nothing. This is America. We have a right to worship and to our beliefs.”
Another person, Norm Levitt, at her table nodded in agreement and he added, “She seemed more than a little ticked off. There are a bunch of theories floating around, but nothing definite. On any of the incidents. So far, we’ve had someone or several someones breaking windows – more of that happened yesterday evening and some visitors stopped it, plus there’s been vehicles torched, tires slashed, and there’s been a couple of cyber attacks, money disappearing from the bank, and pets getting alarmed and barking warnings, but no one has been caught disturbing our peace, ours or our animals.”
Nancy glanced at Ned and his parents. They recognized that look in her blue eyes. A mystery needed solving and people needed help.
“The history of this town has had its ups and downs, but I believe a place that can have enough faith during the Depression, a second world war, and manage to rebuild at that time, won’t let a loudmouth like that ex-councilwoman steal any freedoms nor allow attacks to change any beliefs,” stated Katie, Norm’s wife, one of the people at the neighboring table.
“I was born when this town was rebuilt, after it got hit hard and very nearly destroyed by crooks. My parents were legal immigrants who worked hard in their new home after escaping horrors that pre-dated World War II. They knew it was worth it not to give up.” Dominick, or Dom as he was known to his friends, Borten, the man who spoke, had eyes full of unyielding determination that sparkled with eternal, youthful hope. “Like a lot of people leaving Europe and all over the world at the time, they very well knew of the dangers of what they were escaping and were thankful for their new life in America. I felt it strongly when my parents first taught me about good vs. evil when I was a small child. It has not ebbed one iota.” The light in his eyes seemed to flash for emphasis.
Emmie, the one who’d started the passionate conversation, picked up the sentiment. “Right. This town is too smart, tough, and brave to put up with unconstitutional behavior like that.”
Nancy was so interested in what was being said, which couldn’t really count as eavesdropping since the people at the next table could be overheard without any effort at all, she forgot to eat.
All of a sudden, the fire alarm went off. Startled gasps and worried voices joined the sounds of the fire warning. Employees worked to get the patrons calmly to the exits. Ned picked up some of his food as he stood up. It was too good to waste and it had just gotten there. Plus, he was getting really hungry.
He, Nancy and his parents joined the flow toward the door. It was a good-sized breakfast crowd. Some panicked, but many remained calm, knowing that was best for everyone’s safety.
Nancy wondered if this, too, was part of the ongoing sabotage. She had linked hands with her boyfriend, staying connected in the crowd. She was well aware that one of the problems with people panicking is that their actions not only affect themselves, but everyone else, too. It endangers others and causes them to be in precarious positions by the pushiness of the fear-stricken individuals.
~ TAP/CLICK HERE FOR CHAPTER FIVE! ~
Hardy and Drew Mysteries 