Nancy Drew and The Mystery Of The Ghost Maiden

Chapter Twenty-four

The owner of the drive-in walked up to see what was lying on. He was tall, in his mid-forties, and had a short black beard. "What is it this time Stan?" the man asked.

"YOU DIRTY SNAKE! YOU STILL OWE ME FORTY DOLLARS FROM OUR LAST POKER GAME!" the stalker yelled.

"I don't owe you anything. That was a fair game!" exclaimed the owner as he stepped closer.

"NO, IT WAS NOT! YOU CHEATED ME SOMEHOW!" Stan yelled as he began to become irate.

"It is time for you to leave. Stan, you are bothering my customers!" insisted the owner.

"I DO NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANY OF YOUR CUSTOMERS! I AM NOT LEAVING UNTIL YOU GIVE ME BACK THE MONEY!"

"That is it! I have had enough of this! I am calling the law right now!" fumed the owner before he picked up the phone.

"YOU WILL HAVE TO KILL ME BEFORE I WILL LEAVE THIS PLACE WITHOUT THE MONEY!" yelled Stan as he began to throw bags of popcorn on the ground.

Just then Nancy's view was cut off but once the police sirens could be heard, Stan became upset and ran off to a small gray car parked at the road. As the car pulled away, she was able to write down the license plate number with a pen and a small notebook she pulled out from her purse.

"NED HE IS HERE!" Nancy exclaimed to Ned when she made it back to his car.

"Who is here Nancy? Is it your father?" the young man asked as he looked around, seemly very confused.

After quickly jumping back into the car the young girl replied "No, it's the man you chased through the woods! If we hurry, there is still a chance to catch him!"

"Nancy he is dangerous! We should just leave this to the police! I do not want you to get hurt." Ned replied with a stern look in his eyes.

"By the time the police arrive, he will be long gone! Ned, please help me." the young girl begged.

As if agreeing silently, the car roared to life and they drove to the entrance. "Now which way?" he asked.

"He made a right turn out of here but the vehicle he was in was moving pretty slow. Most likely needs repairs done to the engine."

In response, Ned drove faster but the car was still not in sight. So the teens drove around the area hoping to run into the stalker by chance.

"Well Nancy looks like we lost him," Ned said while running his fingers through his thick brown hair. "Any ideas. Babe?"

"At least we still have the license plate number, however, I would have really liked to be able to tail him. I need more clues to figure out what is really going on behind the scenes." Nancy said. Just then they jumped up when a nearby car backfired.

"Hey, that looks like the car I saw take off with the stalker in it earlier!" Nancy exclaimed. "That is him! Make sure you don't lose him this time. He must have pulled in to the gas station to fuel up. We are so lucky to be right here at this moment!" the young girl said excitedly as she pointed towards the old junk heap of a car, it was an old rust bucket, barely recognizable as a Ford Vedette. The bumper was missing and the body of the car was dented in a few places.

The teenagers managed to follow him for about ten miles before the stranger made a sharp right turn. Ned missed the turn and had to do a U-turn to double back. This lost them time while the criminal managed to slip away.

"Oh man we are never going to catch him now!" the young man exclaimed when they met a red light at the intersection. All the two could do watch as the old car made one last turn before it disappeared into the traffic.

Both of them drove around until nine thirty that night but didn't see hide or hair of the man. The stranger had seemed to be heading out towards the lake with the last turn he took but it was not enough to investigate.

Bonus files:

Hey, readers are you wondering what the old rust bucket looked like brand new. Keep in mind our story is set back in the sixties not too long after the car was made. This reminds me of the cars seen in the old Batman comics from years ago.