Free A Secret in Time by Carolyn Keene

to suppress her excitement.
    It was a fifty-thousand-dollar insurance policy for the rose brooch. That wasn’t so strange—Mr. Brown had said it was worth that much. What interested Nancy more was the date typed at the top of the page. It wasn’t from a few months ago, when Mr. Brown had said he got the brooch. It was dated just a few days before the antiques expo.
    That seemed a little too coincidental. If the broochis so valuable, Nancy thought, why would Mr. Brown wait until right before the expo to insure it . . . unless he knew it was going to be stolen? He could collect fifty thousand dollars if someone took the brooch. Maybe Russell Brown had arranged the robbery himself!

8
Break-in!
    Nancy walked casually back to Bess and George. “Let’s go,” she said in an excited whisper, giving her friends a look that said she would explain once they were outside.
    â€œThanks, Mr. Brown,” Nancy called, opening the door.
    The antique dealer turned around as the three girls left. “Let me know if you come up with anything, Nancy,” he called to her.
    Once outside, Nancy didn’t head for the car but walked toward the back of the building.
    â€œWhere are you going?” George asked.
    Nancy put a finger to her lips. “I’m looking for an orange van,” she whispered.
    Bess gasped. “You think it was Mr. Brown?” she asked.
    â€œI’ll tell you in the car,” Nancy said.
    While Bess and George went down the path to the car, Nancy circled the farmhouse, looking for a garage, a clump of trees, or anything else that might conceal a van. There was nothing except flat, dry ground and a gray sedan parked in the driveway. Disappointed, Nancy followed the drive to the road and got into the back seat of George’s car.
    â€œWhat did you find?” George asked, turning around in the driver’s seat to look at Nancy.
    â€œNot a van,” Nancy admitted, “but you’ll never believe what was on Brown’s desk.” She described the insurance policy.
    â€œYou mean he wanted the brooch stolen?” Bess asked.
    â€œVery possibly,” Nancy replied, “though I’m still not ruling out a real robbery.”
    â€œWhat about the orange van?” George asked.
    Nancy sighed. “It’s not parked here. But Brown could have hidden it somewhere else. It’s also possible that he’s working with whoever was driving the van.”
    â€œSo now we have three definite suspects and a question mark,” George said.
    â€œExactly,” said Nancy with a nod. She opened her notebook and added Russell Brown’s name to her list. “Brown could be working with Lydia or Kimberly, or with someone else. If only I could remember where I saw that orange van before. . . .”
    â€œI’ve been thinking about that, too,” George said.“I have the impression I’ve seen more than one of them. And remember those green stripes along the side? I keep thinking they’re a logo for a company or something.”
    Nancy nodded. “Right. This is going to bother me until we figure it out.”
    George started the car and drove to Nancy’s house to drop her off. “So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” she asked.
    Nancy leaned forward over the front seat. “I think it’s time we paid Lydia a visit. And I’d like to spend some time tracking down the orange van. But in all the excitement today, we’ve forgotten the main thing.”
    â€œI haven’t forgotten,” Bess said, grimacing. “ ‘The clock is ticking, but not for long.’ ”
    â€œRight,” Nancy said. “Tonight could be the night.”
    George looked a little worried. “You’ll call us if there’s any trouble, right?”
    â€œThanks for the support,” Nancy said, “but there are two police officers sitting in an unmarked car right across the