The Case of the Artful Crime Read Online Free PDF Page A

won’t be able to serve dinner tonight. And please tell Loreen to send everyone home.”
    Shawn stayed in the kitchen with the firefighters while, outside in the dining room, Nancy found Bess talking to Elliot.
    â€œWhere is everybody?” Nancy asked.
    â€œLoreen has them doing inventory downstairs,” Bess said. “The sight of her staff standing around doing nothing drives her nuts.”
    â€œLoreen is actually quite nice,” Elliot disagreed. “It’s only lately that she’s been, well, irritable.”
    â€œDo you know why?” Nancy asked him.
    Elliot shook his head. “No, not really.”
    Remembering that she wanted to keep her identity as a detective secret, Nancy quickly controlled her impulse to barrage Elliot with questions.
    Suddenly Elliot’s face lit up. “I know where I’ve seen you before. I’ve been trying to figure it out all day. I saw your picture in the paper. You’re Nancy Drew, the detective.” He hunched his shoulders and leaned forward conspiratorially. “Are you investigating all the weird stuff that’s been happening here?”
    Nancy shook her head. “Just trying to earn some extra money, that’s all.”
    â€œReally?” Elliot asked doubtfully.
    â€œSure,” Nancy said lightly. “Please don’t tell anyone about me, okay? I want to fit in here, and I’m willing to work hard and do my share.”
    â€œYour secret is safe with me,” Elliot assured her.
    Nancy gave Bess the message from Shawn about calling the reservations, and Bess went off to find the maître d’. “Now I have to tell Loreen to send everyone home,” Nancy added with a sigh.
    â€œI’ll tell her,” Elliot offered, getting up. “I have to talk to her about something else, anyway. I’ll see you later.”
    As soon as he had gone, Bess reappeared. “I think you should drop this case, and I’m ready to quit the coatroom,” she said to Nancy. “Whoever is doing all this stuff means business. We could have been killed in there.”
    Nancy nodded gravely. “I know. At first I thought it was a disgruntled employee playing pranks. But it’s become a lot more serious than that.”
    â€œThen you’ll give up the case?” Bess asked.
    Nancy shook her head. “You know me. I can’t give up just when things are beginning to heat up. I’d lie awake nights thinking about it, wondering who was responsible. Besides, I’d like to help Shawn, if I can.”
    â€œWhich means I can’t quit, either,” Bess said with a sigh.
    â€œIt’s okay with me if you want to,” Nancy told her.
    â€œForget it,” Bess scoffed. “I got you into this. I’m not leaving you all alone. Let me go help Lee cancel those reservations, and then we’ll get out of here. I just want to go home and soak all of this soot out of my pores.”
    Nancy was about to follow Bess when she saw Shawn coming out of the kitchen. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute,” she told Bess.
    â€œThat was just what I needed,” Shawn said, rubbing his eyes wearily. “Over a thousand dollars in fines.”
    â€œOuch,” Nancy sympathized. “Didn’t you tell them you suspect arson?”
    Shawn shook his head. “I decided not to. I don’t need that kind of story getting around. If customers hear there’s an arsonist with a gripe against this place, they’ll never come here.”
    â€œI see your point,” Nancy said. “Do the firefighters know how the fire started?”
    â€œNo, but they think it started with the linens in the cabinet,” Shawn replied.
    â€œThose linens burst into flame awfully fast,” Nancy said, remembering that she and Bess had only stepped away for a minute or two when the fire started. “I’ll bet they were soaked with something. I didn’t smell gasoline, lighter