Stop the Clock (Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective Book 12)
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Authors: Carolyn Keene
Stop the Clock
Just as I’m gearing up to help plan the Mahoney Library’s seventy-fifth anniversary celebration, the beautiful old clock, the very centerpiece of the library, is stolen. There’s nothing like a good theft to stop a party!
Naturally, I throw down the streamers and get to work. Turns out lots of people wanted that clock—and what’s inside. If I don’t hustle, this might become two crimes instead of one. . . .
Catch my next case:
Trade Wind Danger
ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
Simon & Schuster, New York
Cover photograph copyright © 2005 by
Michael Frost
Cover designed by Debra Sfetsios
Ages 8–12
kids.simonandschuster.com
0705
Let me introduce myself. I’m
Nancy Drew.
My friends call me Nancy. My enemies call me a lot of other things, like “that girl who cooked my goose.” They actually sometimes speak like that, but what can you expect from criminals? See, I’m a detective. Well, not really. I mean, I don’t have a license or anything. I don’t carry a badge or a gun, in part because I wouldn’t touch a gun even if I could, and also because I’m just not old enough. But I
am
old enough to know when something isn’t right, when somebody’s getting an unfair deal, when someone’s done something they shouldn’t do. And I know how to stop them, catch them, and get them into the hands of the law, where they belong. I take those things seriously, and I’m almost never wrong.
My best friends, Bess and George, might not totally agree with me. They tell me I’m wrong a lot, and that they have to cover for me all of the time just to make me look good. Bess would tell you I dress badly. I call it casual. George would tell you I’m not focused. By that she’d mean that once again I forgot to fill my car with gas or bring enough money to buy lunch. But they both know I’m always focused when it comes to crime. Always.
Nancy Drew
Time flies. . . .
“Oh, this is awful!” Bess said. “Who would want to steal the library clock? I mean, who would have the heart?”
Ahead of us we saw Mrs. Corning at the circulation desk. She was literally pulling out her hair. Her normally perfect bun looked like a seeding dandelion, hairs drifting everywhere. She was also gesturing wildly at one of Chief McGinnis’s officers.
“Mrs. Corning!” I shouted to her, momentarily forgetting that we were in a library and that I wasn’t supposed to make a lot of noise.
Mrs. Corning looked in our direction. “Oh, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy!” she cried. “I’m so glad you’re finally here!” She turned back to the officer. “Now, perhaps we’ll be able to solve this crime!” she added in a hostile voice.
#1 Without a Trace
#2 A Race Against Time
#3 False Notes
#4 High Risk
#5 Lights, Camera . . .
#6 Action!
#7 The Stolen Relic
#8 The Scarlet Macaw Scandal
#9 Secret of the Spa
#10 Uncivil Acts
#11 Riverboat Ruse
#12 Stop the Clock
Available from Aladdin Paperbacks
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
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www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2005 by Simon and Schuster, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN PAPERBACKS, NANCY DREW, and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
NANCY DREW: GIRL DETECTIVE is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
First Aladdin Paperbacks edition July 2005
Library of Congress Control Number 2004113787
ISBN 0-689-87336-0
ISBN 978-1-43911-313-4 (eBook)
Chapter 2: What Else Can Go Wrong?
Chapter 3: Ralph Mullins’s Threat
Chapter 5: Guilt by Association
Chapter 6: This Is Not a Coincidence!
Chapter 7: Just Like an Old Case
Chapter 8: The Smalley Sisters Return
Chapter 9: Searching for Evidence
Chapter 10: A Suspect Leaves Town
Chapter 11: The Puzzle Is Almost Complete
Stop the Clock
Stolen!
W
atch out, Nancy!” Bess
shouted.
I slammed on the brakes of my car just in time to miss an SUV speeding down Bluff Street. “Oops!”
“I’m telling you, Nancy,” George said. “You’ve got to stay focused!”
“Sorry,” I said. “I was just thinking about the library celebration and how we should decorate for it.”
Actually George was right. I did need to stay more focused. The problem is, I usually have so much on my mind that it’s racing a hundred miles per hour. It’s pretty hard to stay focused with that kind of a brain.