Free Danger on Parade by Carolyn Keene

you’re thinking—are you?”
    Nancy exchanged a look with Bess, then said to her aunt, “I know you feel responsible for us, but clearing Bess is really important. If sneaking into Louis Clark’s office gives us proof against him, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
    After a short silence, Nancy’s aunt threw up her hands. “Well, I can’t let you two go alone. If you’re going, so am I. Nancy, you always add excitement to my life when you come to visit,” she said with a smile.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    â€œHere goes,” Nancy said under her breath some fifteen minutes later. She, Bess, and Eloise were pretending to browse through the housewares department on the seventh floor at Clark’s. To their right was the hallway that led back to Louis Clark’s office. Luckily, the salesman was helping another customer and had his back to them.
    Signaling to Bess and her aunt, Nancy started casually down the hallway. She was relieved to see that the area near Louis Clark’s office wasdeserted. The door was locked, but it was a simple lock, and Nancy was able to open it using a credit card. In a moment, the three were safely inside the office, with the door locked behind them.
    â€œLook for anything unusual, or anything dealing with the parade or the explosion,” Nancy whispered. “I doubt he would hide the costumes here, but maybe we’ll find something indicating who his connection is at Mitchell’s.”
    She started at Louis’s desk, while Bess and Eloise looked through the shelves and closet. All the papers on the desktop seemed innocent enough—memos, marketing reports, and publicity strategies. After quickly flipping through them, Nancy started to open desk drawers. She came to a halt at the fourth drawer down.
    â€œWhat’s this?” she murmured. A small wooden rack of test tubes was nestled on top of some papers. Nancy took out the rack, then carefully uncapped one of the tubes and sniffed the fragrant, musky liquid inside. She recapped it and sniffed the liquid in another tube. It was similar to the first but slightly fruitier. When Nancy smelled the third test tube, she knew immediately that she had smelled the scent before.
    â€œBess, Aunt Eloise, come here!”
    â€œWhat is it?” Bess asked as she and Nancy’s aunt hurried over to the desk.
    â€œDo you have the sample of Forever that Jules gave us?” Nancy asked Bess.
    Bess rummaged through her bag and pulled out the small vial of perfume, which she handed to Nancy. Nancy pulled the top off and sniffed. Then she took another whiff of the liquid in the test tube.
    â€œNancy, what does this have to do with the parade?” her aunt asked, looking confused.
    Nancy couldn’t keep the excitement from her voice as she said, “I think Louis Clark is trying to steal Mitchell’s exclusive perfume!”

Chapter

Eight
    Y OU ’ RE KIDDING !” Bess exclaimed. She sniffed the two fragrances. “They really do smell exactly the same,” she agreed.
    â€œYes, but that doesn’t seem like enough to prove that he stole Mitchell’s scent,” Eloise pointed out.
    Her aunt had a point, Nancy realized. Looking back in the drawer, she saw a sheet of paper with several formulas written on it. Next to the formulas labeled #3, there was an asterisk and the word Forever, followed by a question mark.
    â€œHere’s our proof!” Nancy exclaimed. She pointed to the #3 label on the test tube she was holding, then showed Bess and her aunt the matching formula on the sheet.
    â€œPlus Louis’s handkerchief was found at the warehouse,” Bess added excitedly. “That mustbe why he broke into the lab, to steal the formula!”
    Nancy’s aunt still didn’t look convinced. “I think you should be sure before you go accusing the owner of one of the biggest department stores in New York. Why don’t you ask