Free Nancy Clue Mysteries 1 - The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse by Mabel Maney Page B

remembered something. I overheard the men who took Velma talking about food. I think they were discussing pies, of all things. Now what kind was it?" he mused.
    "Apple," guessed Midge.
    "Chocolate?" guessed Cherry. "Pecan? That's my favorite."
    "No, it was a fruit." Tom thought a minute. "I've got it!" he cried. "I he..rd them say something about cherry pie."
    "Cherry pie!" Cherry yelped. "They weren't talking about cherry pie, they were talking about me! That settles it; they were after me! I just remembered-Velma was wearing my buttercup-yellow frock! They must have gotten us mixed up! But who are they?"
    "Would it help if we had the license number of the car?" Tom suggested.
    The girls blinked at him with astonishment.
    "You have the license number?" Midge cried.
    "Well, you know I have this habit of memorizing things for fun," he said.
    "Why didn't you say so sooner?" Cherry admonished.
    "I forgot," Tom said apologetically. "I get nervous when things like this happen."
    "And they call females the weaker sex," Midge teased. "Let's have it." Tom closed his eyes, and concentrated. In a moment, he recalled not only the license number of the car, but other details, as well.
    "It was a fabulous shiny red convertible with California plates," he recalled. "I wish I had one!"
    "Midge says we can't call the police; how will knowing the license number of the car help us? We can't trace it ourselves," Cherry pointed out.
    "I know a cop we can trust!" Tom declared. "Midge, remember that uniform party I went to at the Miraloma Club last month?" Midge shook her head. She didn't remember.
    "You know," Tom urged. "I borrowed your cafe curtains for my costume. I went as Lawrence of Arabia."
    "I remember now," Midge nodded. "Our curtains never looked so good. He returned them washed and pressed," she told Cherry.
    "A uniform party? I could go to one of those," Cherry babbled nervously, remembering the two starched nurse's uniforms tucked securely in her luggage.
    "My point is," Tom continued, "at the party there was a girl dressed as a cop who turned out to be the real thing. She said to call her if I ever needed a friend on the force. Her name is Betty. I don't remember her last name, but she's the only girl cop in town, so it shouldn't be too hard to track her down."
    While Tom went downstairs to call the police station, Cherry went into the bathroom to powder her nose. Tom returned a few minutes later with good news. "Betty's on her way over," he reported. "She said not to touch anything, but I told her it was too late."
    Cherry grimaced as she surveyed the topsy-turvy bedroom. "Nancy Clue would have known not to touch anything," she mused.
    For a moment, her thoughts strayed from the drama at hand. It had been only two days since she had read about the murder of Carson Clue, but so much had happened in the meantime, she hadn't had a spare second to think about it. "I've been too busy even to read the newspapers. Golly, I hope Nancy's okay," she thought anxiously. Reluctantly, she put all thoughts about Nancy aside, and set about helping Tom and Midge straighten the room.
    While Tom tidied, he whistled a lively tune.
    "What a festive melody," Cherry said. "What is it?"
    "I don't know," Tom replied. "It's been going round and round in my head for the last hour, but I can't remember the title. This happens to me all the time, and it just drives me crazy!"
    "I know the title of that song," Midge said. "It's called `San Francisco'. It's from that old Clark Gable movie-why?"
    Tom shrugged. "I don't know why, but I can't get it out of my head. I must have heard it recently, and...I've got it! One of the men was whistling it. That's where I heard it! Why, I think they inadvertently gave me a clue!" he gasped. "They must be headed for San Francisco!"
    "And we're going to stay just one step behind them," Midge declared. "We're going to San Francisco, too!"
    Midge threw some clothes into a old leather valise, along with the book from Nurse Marstad.