Free Circle of Evil by Carolyn Keene Page A

you ever consider becoming a detective?”
    â€œWhy bother?” Ned said with a laugh. “I’ve got you, remember?”
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    As Ned drove Nancy home, the two of them joked and laughed and talked about everything but the case. It felt good, Nancy thought, to forget about it for a little while. She decided to try not to think about it the whole night. Maybe all the clues would fall into place in the morning.
    â€œDid I tell you how great you look tonight?” Ned asked as they got out of the car and walked to Nancy’s house.
    Nancy shook her head, smiling. “If you did, I didn’t hear it. Go ahead, tell me again.”
    â€œYou do look great,” Ned said softly, reaching out and pulling her closer.
    They were on the front porch then, and just as Ned was about to kiss her, Nancy pulled away, staring over his shoulder.
    â€œWhat is it?” Ned asked.
    â€œThe door,” Nancy said, pointing. “It’spartly open. And I remember locking it when I left.”
    â€œMaybe Hannah’s home,” Ned suggested, “and she just didn’t shut it all the way.”
    Checking her watch, Nancy shook her head. “It’s too early. And, anyway, if she were home, she’d have turned on the porch light.”
    Slowly, Nancy pushed the door open and stepped inside. She was sure Hannah wasn’t there, but just in case, she called her name, three times. There was no answer.
    Behind her, Ned said quietly, “I’ll check the kitchen.” Nancy heard his footsteps as he cautiously made his way into that room. She continued walking slowly through the house, peering into one room after the other. They were all empty, and nothing even looked disturbed.
    Maybe I just didn’t pull the front door closed tightly enough, she thought, trying to remember. It had never happened before, but there was always a first time.
    Nancy was just starting to relax when she reached her father’s room. One look, and her heart started pounding again. The door was closed. Carson Drew never shut it except when he was changing his clothes.
    Her mouth dry, Nancy quietly put her hand on the doorknob, counted to three, and threw the door wide open.
    A curtain billowed as the door opened, but nothing else moved. Slowly scanning the room, Nancy saw that the bed was made, the closet door was closed, the drawers were shut. Then her eyes moved up to the ceiling. There, dangling from the light fixture, was one of her father’s neckties—made into a noose! Attached to it was a note scrawled in greasy bloodred lipstick:
    Your dad might be gone now, but he has to return sometime. We’ll be waiting. Get off the case, Nancy Drew!

Chapter

Eleven
    S TARING AT THE ugly message, Ned whistled softly. “Don’t you think it’s about time to call the police, Nancy?”
    Nancy shook her head. “If it was anybody but Detective Ryan, I’d say yes. But he’d tell me it was all my own fault for messing around in police business.”
    â€œBut if you tell him why it happened—because you’re getting too close to the robbers—then he’d have to listen,” Ned said.
    â€œMaybe,” she said. “But if he brings the police in and lets them swarm all over thecountry club, I guarantee there won’t be another robbery in River Heights—at least not by these people. I haven’t scared them off because they know I’m working alone and they think they can scare me off. But they wouldn’t bother to threaten a whole police force. They’d just lie low until the whole thing blew over.
    â€œLet’s get this picked up before Hannah comes home,” Nancy said. “If she sees this, she’ll freak. I don’t want her worrying about it until she has to. This just fries me,” she said. “I know they’re trying to scare me, and they have. But they’re also making me very angry.”
    After Ned