tall, dark and dangerous (Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson) - complete

chapter 6

Nancy glanced at her watch one more time. Six-fifty.

She didn't have to do this. She could call Ned and tell him she wasn't feeling well, that she had changed her mind, or that the dress didn't fit, something, anything...

But she could feel it. She could feel the connection between them, and her curiosity was undeniable. She knew that she could make any decision she wanted, and it wouldn't matter.

She knew with total certainty that, no matter what, at seven-oh-five she would be in the hotel's lobby waiting.

Humphrey had come back to the hotel the night before with a few tidbits gleaned from his date with Stallings's assistant, but he and Nancy had waited until breakfast to discuss their findings. Nancy had lain awake for quite some time Friday night, feeling anxious, deciding that she absolutely would not keep the date Ned had practically demanded she attend Saturday night, then ten minutes later deciding that she might never have a better opportunity to truly question him about what he had done that night, especially in light of the research she and Humphrey had done.

If he sent me the note, he'll try to encourage me to drop the investigation.

But maybe he sent it to see if I would tell him about it, and he's trying to scare me so I'll confide in him about the case...

He's not involved. He can't have been involved. He wouldn't have done this.

You don't know!

Nancy still hadn't made up her mind about him. She hadn't yet found anything that made her think he had been involved, but, worse, she hadn't found any conclusive evidence that anyone else had been involved—and so the partners were all still equally suspect.

Humphrey had brought up Interregnum in conversation with the assistant to see if it meant anything to her, but it hadn't. He had decided to track down the reference, given that he had nothing better to do. While he had been casting his net the afternoon before, though, he had called Carlton Gordon's assistant, and when he was told that Gordon wasn't taking appointments, Humphrey had somehow sweet-talked the woman into seeing him briefly Saturday afternoon.

Nancy, after her breakfast meeting with Humphrey, had taken a quick trip to a department store. She had bought a new pair of gold peep-toe pumps and a light wrap, along with the undergarments that the dress required. Then she made an appointment at the makeup counter and another in the salon for late that afternoon, telling herself she could always cancel them if she changed her mind about going on the date. She had remembered an out of the way store her Aunt Eloise had taken her to a few times, one that specialized in quirky vintage clothes and accessories, and when she visited she found a black velvet and sequin clutch along with a black cuff bracelet. She took photos and sent them to Bess for approval, and Bess said they should work—and reminded Nancy that she still hadn't explained about the dress.

All day Nancy fought with herself, her attention split between the case and her internal debate. When she exhausted her options with one, she focused on the other. She told herself that Ned was complicit and that was the only reason he was lavishing so much attention on her. He was doing his best to seduce her so that when she finally found the evidence against him, he could convince her there were extenuating circumstances, that he hadn't meant it at all.

She told herself that Victoria Parker was the guilty one. Parker had been desperate for better returns, and when she found that Mark was opposing some scheme that could earn her back everything she had lost and more, and convincing Kate to go along with it, she had killed the larger threat and convinced Mark to keep quiet about what she had done.