The Stolen Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

at once.
    Nancy only half-listened to the girls’ conversation, her mind on the case. Something about Debbie was not on the up-and-up. Nancy needed to talk to her more to figure out what.
    After breakfast Nancy headed straight for Debbie’s room. She knocked on the door. Leaning close, she heard shuffling noises inside, and then the door opened a crack. Debbie blocked Nancy’s view of the room.
    â€œMay I come in?” Nancy asked. “I have some questions.”
    Debbie hesitated, then opened the door. Nancy walked in and took a quick glance around. Debbie appeared to be alone. The L-shaped room had a bunk bed, two desks and bureaus, and a tall oak bookcase. The pale peach walls were covered with artwork. Through the open window Nancy could smell the flowers in the backyard. Then she noticed the empty plate on one of the desks. “Feeling better?” she asked.
    Debbie seemed confused.
    â€œYou ate all your breakfast.”
    Debbie drew in her breath and fiddled with some bottles on her dresser. “You said you had some questions,” she answered, avoiding Nancy’s eyes.
    Nancy began the conversation carefully. “Did you paint this?” Nancy pointed to a watercolor of running horses on the wall.
    Debbie shook her head. “Not me. I don’t paint. One of the girls at the halfway house painted that.”
    â€œThis, too?” Nancy stood in front of a childlike drawing of a farmhouse.
    â€œNo. That’s Rina’s.”
    Nancy couldn’t keep the look of surprise off her face. Rina seemed much too sophisticated to paint such a simple scene.
    Debbie must have read her expression. “It’s her latest style. Rina’s always trying out new styles.”
    Nancy walked to the far corner of the room. “The Mona Lisa,” she said in surprise.
    â€œMy roommate Kate made that copy this summer as an assignment for an art course she’s taking in Paris,” Debbie told her. “She sent it to me for my birthday. She’s a wonderful artist.”
    â€œI don’t think I’ve met Kate on my other trips to Emerson,” Nancy said. “Where is she?”
    â€œStill in Paris—until next week.”
    â€œBut what about her classes?”
    â€œI enrolled Kate, and she wrote to her teachers telling them she’d be late. Her registration packet is in her desk.”
    Nancy took a closer look at the painting. “Kate’s copy looks so much like the original—except that it’s smaller, I think.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Debbie said. “No one’s allowed to copy the art the exact size as the original. Otherwise, the copy might be passed off as an original. And that would be forgery.”
    â€œThat’s odd, isn’t it. I mean the distinction between a copy and a forgery.”
    â€œA copy is a forgery only when there’s the intent to deceive.” Debbie sounded bored. “Now, Nancy, if you don’t have any more questions—”
    â€œJust a couple of things about the robbery. Really, I won’t take long.” Nancy took a seat on the bottom bunk. Debbie leaned against the closet.
    â€œHow long have you been assistant curator?”
    â€œSix months.”
    â€œAnd Bryan? How long has he been a guard?”
    â€œI hired Bryan right after I was appointed,” Debbie replied. “Rina suggested him for the job. In fact, she gave me that painting as a thank-you present for hiring him.” Debbie glanced at Rina’s painting. Nancy couldn’t read Debbie’s expression.
    â€œSo Bryan and Rina split up after you two began working together,” Nancy said thoughtfully.
    â€œYes,” said Debbie. “As I told you last night, we started dating this summer, which got Rina upset.” Debbie eyed Nancy nervously. “I don’t understand what these questions have to do with the theft of First Kiss.”
    Nancy wasn’t sure, either. All she