Close Encounters (Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective Book 21) Read Online Free PDF Page B

upstairs to our room, taking our jackets with her.
    I followed Sarah into the lounge. This was the perfect chance to track down the cameraman who had filmed the UFO sighting. After a cursory glance at the crowd I asked Sarah if he was still there, or if he’d already gone to his room.
    Sarah looked up from filling a mug with hot chocolate. “Oh, you mean Frankie Lee. He’s not staying at the inn. Ms. Sanchez rented a house for him up the road a ways. His family’s flying in from the West Coast next week to spend some time here, and we just didn’t have room.” She handed me the drink. “He should still be around, though. I overheard him say he had to speak with Ms. Sanchez about some production notes.”
    “I’d like to meet him,” I said.
    “I’d be happy to do the honors,” she said, but we hadn’t moved two steps away from the buffet when a spare, rangy man stopped us. “Who’s your friend?” he asked Sarah. He was over six feet tall, and he looked like he was in his seventies. His sandy hair was faded and thinning; his face was narrow. But his pale blue eyes shone sharp as a hawk’s. He smiled and reached out to shake my hand even before we were introduced.
    “Oh, Ethan, this is Nancy Drew. She and her friends are visiting Winifred. And, young as she is, she’s a bona fide detective.”
    I was dismayed at that introduction—I like to keep my sleuthing private when I can, just in case it gets in the way of my getting some evidence. Ethan lifted his eyebrows. “Impressive,” he said.
    “And Nancy, this is Ethan Brody. He’s the mayor of Brody’s Junction.”
    “Who’s a detective?” a shorter, beefy man inquiredas he walked up. He wore a state trooper uniform and held a cup of coffee in one hand.
    “Nancy here is,” Sarah said. Then she introduced me. “This is Captain Rupert Greene. Rupert’s stationed at the barracks just outside of town.”
    Captain Greene seemed to appraise me carefully as he shook my hand. “Someone called you in to investigate?”
    “I’m just here visiting friends,” I told him.
    He nodded, but I sensed he didn’t believe me.
    Mayor Brody chuckled. “Rupert, don’t look so suspicious. A detective on the case might be just what we need.” From his tone I couldn’t tell if the mayor was mocking me. Not that I wasn’t used to officials being skeptical. After all, teenagers aren’t usually known for investigating crimes. Speaking of crimes, though—I wondered if these guys were talking about the UFO sightings.
    “What’s there to investigate?” I was sure I knew the answer, but figured playing a bit dumb wasn’t a bad idea here.
    “Alien invaders!” the captain said, grinning from ear to ear.
    The mayor patted the captain on the shoulder. “Our lawman here likes to joke about our small town being on the front lines of an intergalactic war zone,” he said with a disarming smile. “But don’t lethis joshing fool you. He’s taking it seriously enough to cordon off the perimeter of the sightings.”
    Captain Greene let out a hearty laugh. “Ethan’s right. I’m pretty skeptical they’re the real thing.” Then he asked, “Were you around earlier this evening?”
    “Yes.”
    “So what’s your take on our otherworldy visitors?” His tone was serious, but the shadow of a smile played across his lips.
    I saw I had an ally. The state police captain believed the UFOs were about as real as the man in the moon. “That they have more to do with this world than the stars,” I answered. I wondered if I could convince him to give me access to the area where the UFOs had appeared.
    Mayor Brody’s eyebrows shot up even higher. “You’ve found yourself another skeptic, Rupert.” He turned to me. “You think our UFO sightings are hoaxes, then?”
    Our sightings. That was a strange way of putting it. But I attributed his remark to hometown pride. “Probably,” I answered.
    “Which is why,” Izzy Sanchez said as she joined us, “I want to use Nancy