My hands lay folded on my lap. Everyone was sitting in the Drew's living room. Mr. Drew looked as if he might be sick. Hannah Gruen was in tears, blaming herself for leaving Nancy alone. Bess and George were sitting side by side, sullen, as were the Hardy Boys and their father, Fenton Hardy.
Chief McGinnis was asking all of us dozens of questions. He was the head Chief of Police in River Heights. He was also very fond of Nancy, since she had helped him crack a few cases. She even worked for him a little before joining the Justice Department.
"Are you sure it wasn't cold feet?" The Chief asked.
Anger started to boil up inside me at his question, "Of course not! You and me both know Nancy would never just pack up and leave like that!"
Carson pulled my back down onto the couch, "Ned," he said, "I know you're upset. We all are, just try to stay calm."
I took some deep breathes and nodded. I had no idea where Nancy was. We had all tried to call her, but discovered that her phone was lying on the floor near the kitchen next to a candle stick. Hannah was sure someone had hit Nancy with the candle stick, but the Chief said only Nancy's finger prints were on it. Whoever did this left behind little to no evidence.
"Ned is right," Bess chimed in, "Nancy would never have just taken off like that. I think she was defiantly taken."
"Just trying to eliminate possibilities Miss. Marvin." The chief breathed a long sigh and said, "I'm going to head back down to the station and set up a search party. Meanwhile, I would like you all to go back to your houses and wait. Maybe Nancy will return. You never know, she can take care of herself."
Carson nodded his head sadly, "Thank you chief."
"We can't just sit here! We can help! The Hardy Boys work for the Justice Department! Their Father does too! We can help!" I was surprised by my own temper, but Nancy was important to me. Really important.
"Look," Chief McGinnis said, "You wanna try to get to the bottom of this, by all means do! I'm just doing my job!" He was obviously very flustered by this whole case.
With that, the Chief excused himself and went out the door. The room was silent though my mind of screaming thoughts. I would find Nancy. I would.
