Free 025 Rich and Dangerous by Carolyn Keene Page A

his goodbyes. He even made George burst into giggles by taking her hand and kissing it.
    “Till tonight,” he said with a wink as he left.
    George closed the door behind him, then collapsed against it with a deep sigh. “He’s fantastic,” she said dreamily. “Utterly and completely fantastic.”
    Bess rolled her eyes and smiled. Then her face turned serious. “Come on, Nancy—who did it?”
    “Take it easy, Bess, it’s too soon to know. There’s Jack, Pieter, Alison—even Madame Rosa might be the culprit, or Maximilian, the waiter—something’s up with him.”
    “Nancy, I bet it’s Alison,” Bess piped up. “Why else would she have run away? Maybe she stole the jewels and killed her sister—then, when you discovered the jewelry box, she had to run!”
    “Maybe . . .” Nancy pursed her lips, unimpressed.
    As for George, she had other things on her mind. “Did you notice his eyelashes? They have to be an inch long—and those eyes are pure amethyst. . . .”
    But George’s poetic rhapsodies were lost on Nancy. She was busy thinking about Alison Kale. She remembered Sarah saying not to blame Alison for whatever might happen. Did Sarah Amberly know that her sister might be dangerous? Or did she sense that someone else might want her to look that way?
    “Where?” Nancy asked earnestly, thinking out loud. “Where did Alison go? Was she kidnapped? Has she been killed? Or is she in hiding? Right now, Alison Kale is the key to this mystery. Without her, we’re as much in the dark as good old Joe Ritter.”
    “Nancy,” Bess interjected, “in case you forgot, this is a big city. She could be anywhere! Where are we supposed to start looking for her?”
    “Well,” Nancy said thoughtfully, “why not at the beginning? In her bedroom, that is? Maybe she left some clue to her whereabouts.”
    Once again the three friends made their way silently to the Amberly suite and opened the door, which was unlocked.
    “Oh, boy—this place is beginning to really scare me,” muttered Bess as they made their way to Alison Kale’s room and slowly pushed the door open.
    Instantly, they froze in their tracks. There, sitting calmly on the bed, pointing a small silver pistol at them, was Pieter van Druten.
    “Wait!” screamed Nancy. “Don’t shoot!”
    But it was too late. With a cruel smile on his lips, Pieter pulled the trigger.

Chapter

Eleven
    B ANG—YOU’RE DEAD !”
    A small flame emerged from the hammerlock of the pistol. Pieter used it to light his cigar. “Fooled you, didn’t I?” he said. “That will teach you to come barging into other people’s rooms uninvited.”
    A cigarette lighter! The girls all nearly collapsed in relief. Bess giggled nervously, but Nancy and George were not amused in the least. “I notice you’re in someone else’s room yourself, Mr. van Druten,” she pointed out.
    “Ah, brilliant! You’re a very observant young lady, Miss Drew,” he said, complimenting her.“I’m sure that’s one of the things Sarah found so attractive about you.” He blew a smoke ring in her direction. Coughing, Nancy waved her hand to disperse the noxious cloud.
    “Of course,” he continued, turning the cigar over in his fingers and regarding it lovingly, “the lady whose room we’re all sitting in isn’t here. Nor is she anywhere to be found. You, of course, Miss Drew, with your keen powers of observation, will have already noticed that fact.”
    Nancy nodded slowly, waiting for him to say more. Pieter van Druten obviously had a lot on his mind, and if she let him, Nancy was sure he would go on.
    “Won’t you have a seat—you and your charming young companions?” He gestured around the room at several chairs and a divan. Nancy, George, and Bess took seats, feeling rather uncomfortable and put off by Pieter’s condescending tone.
    “My, my—Sarah would have been so happy to see us all here together,” he said, smirking a bit. “How I wish she could have been here. . . .” He