After a bit of coaxing, Nancy finally got the full story out of Helen. Helen took a deep breath, a sign that Nancy understood to mean that Helen was practically furious, and told Nancy everything Jenny had just told them. Apparently, last night, before Jenny joined Helen and Emily at the Lilac Inn, Mr. Archer came home and told them that it had been an interesting day. He had told his tellers about Nancy working on Josiah’s case and had told them that if she were to come into the bank, to show her into his office immediately. During that time, a young woman came in by the name of Jean Grey. She seemed more interested in learning more about Nancy Drew than opening a new bank account. This aroused Mr. Archer’s suspicions, and told his employees that only Nancy, Helen, or Emily could get any information. But Jean Grey seemed insistent on learning more about Nancy, until Mr. Archer began calling the police. She ran out of the bank. About an hour later, someone who looked like Nancy came into the bank and said that Emily requested that she take out Gloria’s jewelry. The teller had no reason to suspect that this wasn’t Nancy and gave her all the jewelry. Mr. Archer was told about it and thought it odd, but gave no more thought to it as Emily was free to do what she wanted with her mother’s jewelry and was free to ask her friends to get it for her. He spoke about it at home with his family. Jenny thought it was really weird since they knew the girls were heading to the Turners for dinner. When she got the call from Nancy, she thought about asking, but completely forgot to when she heard about the break-in. It wasn’t until they got up this morning that Jenny remembered about Emily’s jewelry and told them about it. Helen called Nancy right away while Emily and Jenny called Mr. Archer.
Nancy was sitting up in her bed by the time Helen was finished, eyes wide as she glanced at the place where that picture had been and her closet. This was to try and give Nancy a bad name!
“I don’t know what those jerks were thinking, robbing the bank while you were with us! Pretty horrible attempt at framing someone, if you ask me.”
Nancy pursed her lips. “I’m beginning to think that they weren’t trying to frame me, but that they were sending me a message. They know what’s been going on, they’re watching us.” She drummed her fingers against her chin. “Was the ghost back last night?”
“Yes, she was,” grumbled Helen. “And this time Jenny and I both saw her!”
Nancy gasped. “You both did?”
“Yes! She wasn’t as bloody as Emily saw her the night before, but it was definitely her.”
Nancy cracked a smile. “You don’t sound so scared.”
“Because I don’t think she’s really a ghost, like you figured. A real ghost would just vanish into thin air, this ghost ran into the nearby forest.”
Nancy chuckled slightly. “That definitely doesn’t bode well for our friendly neighborhood ghost.”
Helen scoffed. “Definitely, especially once I pointed that out to Emily. She’s been thinking the same now, that it isn’t a real ghost. She’s less afraid of her now, but she is worried that the ghost might try to break in, which is a reasonable concern.”
“Oh definitely.” Nancy thought for a second before letting out a gasp.
“Nancy?”
“What if our ghost and my imposter are the same person?”
“What?”
“Think about it! This would have to take someone who’s either a professional make-up artist or simply really good at cosplaying in order to pull off a convincing ghost, and a pretty convincing me.”
“You’re right! But, we still don’t know who it is.”
“This is true. But there may be a way to find out. I’ll have to think more about it, but I might be returning with a plan, and I’ll need all three of you to help.”
“That would be fantastic, we really have no clue what to do.”
Nancy chuckled. “Don’t worry, for now, just keep looking for clues near the sightings. I don’t know yet if I’ll be back tomorrow or early Tuesday morning. Either way, I’m definitely going to be there when we head over to the Tophams. I’m not going to miss that.”
“Good.”
There was a knock at Nancy’s door. “Nancy? Time to get up and get ready for church!”
“Oh, there’s Hannah. I’ve got to go. Thanks for the update.”
“Of course! I’m not going to let some jerk go around smearing my friend’s name like that. Though poor Emily, now she’s practically got nothing but the inn! And she’s concerned that she might have to sell that!”
“Well we won’t let her. We’ll find her stolen jewelry, and mine, and Josiah’s will, and catch the crooks.”
“Pretty tall order, but we’ve got to do this.”
“That’s the spirit! Well, I really do need to go now. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Alright, bye!”
Nancy hung up the phone and quickly got ready for church. She and her father were able to get there with plenty of time before church started. Nancy tried to keep her mind off of the mystery, but her mind just wouldn’t keep quiet. There were too many questions she had. She finally managed to wrangle her brain into submission, knowing she would have plenty of time at home to go over every detail. Besides, she still had to call Bess and George.
Carson and Nancy visited with a few people before heading back home. As soon as Nancy got in the door, she raced up the stairs to change and call her two friends.
“Aah, Nancy!! We were just thinking of calling you!” came Bess’s voice over the line, followed by an ear-piercing squeal.
“Well, if you didn’t blow out my eardrums, you definitely blew out Nancy’s,” said George.
Nancy chuckled nervously as she rubbed her ear before returning the earpiece to it. “You very nearly did. So glad you’re excited.”
“So, did you get a chance to talk to the handsome Frank Hardy at all this week?” asked Bess rather coyly. Nancy let out a squeak before clamping a hand over her mouth. “You did! You totally did! So, what’s the news from the Hardys?”
Nancy told them everything the boys told her.
“Ooh, is Frank opting to start Hardy and Sons as soon as possible to wed you?” cooed Bess.
Nancy groaned. “Bess, Mr. Hardy wants them to finish college before they start Hardy and Sons, and Frank agrees with him.”
“Yeah Bess, Frank is the more studious and slightly nerdy one, remember? Joe’s more likely to talk like that, but then, that’s why you like him.”
Bess giggled. “What can I say, they’re a couple of hotties! Too bad they’re not here at the beach, there are so many handsome men out here. Too bad you couldn’t come either, Nancy.”
“Speaking of, what have you been up to besides chatting up the Hardys?” Nancy chuckled, then took up the narration of her own mystery. When she got to the part about Deirdre, she heard a fierce growl from George.
“I could wring that girl’s neck!”
“And I wish I could be there to comfort you, though it sounds like Helen did a fine job.”
Nancy chuckled slightly. “Yeah, and the Hardys did help too.”
“What? You talked to the Hardys twice in one week? And we weren’t there? Go figure,” said Bess with a huff.
Nancy laughed. “Well, let me explain why that was.” She continued with her tale, telling them about Emily’s ghost, the treasure hunt for Josiah’s will, and the most recent additions of the break-in and that someone impersonated Nancy to steal Emily’s inheritance.
“What?” blurted George.
“Oh, who would do such a horrendous thing?” exclaimed Bess.
“Someone who wants me off the case, obviously,” said Nancy. “I guess they thought the ghost would scare me off at first, but when that didn’t seem to work, they broke into my house, stole some of my things, and impersonated me to steal Mrs. Crandall’s jewelry.”
“But the ghost is still showing up!” said Bess.
“Well yes, I’m not there right now. But Helen is now thoroughly convinced that this ghost simply couldn’t be real, and has managed to convince both Emily and Jenny of the same thing, which I’m glad for.”
“Well, if there’s anyone to convince Emily it isn’t a ghost, it would be Helen. But now it seems like you have a lot on your plate, dealing with shape-shifting ghosts, a lost will, and a bunch of mean streaks.”
“And it isn’t even Halloween!” blurted Bess.
Nancy’s eyes widened as she glanced at her closet. Halloween! Of course! Maybe a little cosplay of her own was in order. She pursed her lips. “You are absolutely right.”
“I am?”
“She is?”
“Well, of course I am, it’s only the beginning of summer break.”
“Maybe it’s time for the ghost to get a little spook of her own.”
George chuckled. “I know that tone, wish I could be there to help you out. What do you have in mind?”
“That I think it’s time to pull out my old Halloween costume and give her a scare in kind.”
“How in the world can you make Audrey Hepburn look scary?” blurted Bess. “As a matter of fact, why in the world would you want to make Audrey Hepburn look scary?”
Nancy got up from her bed and walked over to the closet. She pulled out a wig of dark curls and turned it over. “I’ll probably just use the wig to disguise myself and scope out the place tonight, then get myself a costume and really scare her tomorrow night. Two can play at this game.” She began to smile mischievously.
“Oh man, I really wish I could be there with a camera and record you scaring her!” George laughed.
Bess chuckled. “That would definitely be fun to see! Maybe you can have Helen record it and send it to us!”
Nancy’s face fell. “I wish I could, but I have a suspicion that Jane Willoughby might be behind all this.”
“How could she if you saw the ghost and Jane at the same time!” said Bess.
“Not that she’s the ghost, but more like she hired someone to scare Emily into selling Lilac Inn.” Nancy pursed her lips. “The only problem with that line of thinking is that not many people will buy Lilac Inn if they knew there was a ghost with it!”
“And there’s a chance it could be sold for cheaper than what it’s worth,” pointed out George.
Nancy nodded. “That too.”
Bess chuckled. “Something tells me that whoever’s behind this didn’t quite think it through.”
Nancy laughed. “I think you’re right, which means the police and I should be able to catch them. But they’re trying to make things harder, which only makes me want to solve this even more.”
“You go get them, Nancy!” cheered George.
“But please be careful,” said Bess, “I wouldn’t want to tell Frank you went and got yourself killed.”
“Oh, will you stop being so overdramatic.”
“What? I’m being serious!”
Nancy chuckled. “Don’t worry, I will go and get them, and I’ll be careful at the same time.”
“Good. Well, we need to go, sounds like Grandma Sharon has just arrived.”
“Oh yeah, we wouldn’t want to upset her,” said Bess. “Call us soon!”
“No, we’ll call her. We’ve got so much planned over these next few weeks that I think I’m going to be dizzy.”
Nancy chuckled. “Well, either way, you two better come back in one piece.”
George scoffed. “You better be in one piece when we get back.”
Nancy laughed. “Oh don’t worry, I will.”
“Oh, Grandma Sharon’s coming into our room! We’ll talk to you later, Nance! Bye!”
“Bye!” said Nancy with a slight chuckle as her friends hung up. She hung up her phone and pocketed it. She glanced at the wig she was still holding. She clenched her teeth with determination before looking at the clothes that remained in her closet. She figured on just changing her top for now, and grabbed a floral-print blouse off its hanger. She then grabbed a red sweater off another hanger and tossed both on her bed. She went to her desk and rummaged through the drawers. “Aha!” She pulled out four LED bracelets. She smiled. “Perfect.” She pulled out her phone again and set her alarm for eleven o’clock. She placed it by her bed and let out a breath. Hopefully, this would work.
Chief McGinnis and his mother arrived promptly at six o’clock. Dinner went well, despite Togo insisting on everyone giving him attention and food. They visited until almost nine o’clock. Mrs. McGinnis needed to go home and let her body rest. Nancy helped Hannah finish cleaning up while Mr. Drew made sure everything was well secured. Everyone was in bed by ten o’clock.
Nancy’s heart pounded when her alarm went off. Togo merely rolled over and went back to sleep while Nancy cautiously got out of her bed and quickly and quietly changed. She figured on going light, so only took her phone, her keys, the wig, a flashlight, and the LED bracelets. She didn’t put her shoes on until she was outside and the front door was relocked. So far so good. She tiptoed briskly towards her car, got in, and prayed it would start quietly. She winced when the engine started, but no lights turned on in the house. She kept her lights off until she had pulled out into the middle of the street.
Nancy parked across the street, and almost a block away from Lilac Inn. She quickly donned the wig and two of the bracelets before turning off her car. She got out and quietly closed the door. She tiptoed towards Lilac Inn, hoping that the ghost would be there tonight. She figured on trying the path the ghost seemed to take, and come in from the woods. She crouched down as she got closer to the inn, the lilac bushes giving her adequate hiding places from any peering eyes from the inn. She was startled to hear some rustling from the other side of the bush. Had she made in time? Was it the ghost? Nancy noticed that whoever was moving around on the other side was getting closer. She bit her lip, took a soft breath, it was time. She popped the LED bracelets and stood up. She paused as her eyes and the other girl’s eyes met. Both of their eyes widened with shock, Nancy’s in particular as the girl looking back at her looked like an exact replica of herself!