Once Upon a Thriller (Nancy Drew Diaries #4)(24)

“Sheriff Garrison,” I screamed. “HELP!!!”





CHAPTER THIRTEEN





Facing the Facts


PAIGE TURNED AROUND AND GASPED.

There stood not only me, but Sheriff Garrison, Ian, Ned, Lacey, Rick, Mr. Tate—and what seemed like the entire population of Avondale.

“Ms. Samuels, just what do you think you’re doing?” asked the sheriff.

“I’m—I’m—,” she sputtered.

“Caught red-handed, I’d say,” Lacey said, and walked into the room.

I thought Paige was going to pass out, but instead she placed the statue on a shelf—right next to an old typewriter—and then she sat down at one of the writer’s desks.

“I’m sorry,” she began. “I didn’t mean for—”

Sheriff Garrison interrupted her. “Stop right there, Ms. Samuels. You have the right to remain silent.”

And then he and Ian walked calmly over to the owner of Paige’s Pages and escorted her to their police car.



One week later Bess, George, and I were sitting in my kitchen, having apple pie and chocolate butterscotch cookies—just the treats we were craving.

George took a sip of lemonade and said, “So Sheriff Garrison was ready to arrest Lacey O’Brien for the crimes? The ‘intruder’ at our cabin turned out to be a bear—that’s what he said, right? See, Bess. I told you he and Ian needed help. It’s a good thing Nancy was there.”

Bess rolled her eyes but smiled at her cousin. “And Paige was so jealous of Lacey’s success and her marriage to Rick. But still, to go to those lengths?”

I sighed. After Paige’s arrest, Alice Ann had actually visited her in jail. I don’t know if she went just to find out more gossip or to finally be a friend, but Alice found out that Paige had always felt she was competing with Lacey, as far back as high school. But she never came out ahead—even though she had attended the prom with Rick. That’s the photograph I saw in the old yearbook.

When the bookstore started doing poorly, Paige planned to close it. But then she devised a plan to make money from the insurance company—an idea taken straight from Lacey’s mysteries. The fire was meant to look like an accident. But once she realized that the fire and police departments suspected foul play, she started to cover it up.

I took my plate to the sink and let the water run over the leftover crumbs.

“I think there was a part of her that wanted to get caught,” Bess added. “Why else would she join the writers’ space and hide the statue in her own locker? She was bound to be found out, especially after getting the writer’s room key from Mandy.”

Bess had a good point. I wondered whether, when I’d picked up the paper with her locker combination on it at the grocery store, Paige had been deliberately dropping clues.

“Well,” I told my friends, “I’m glad no one got hurt. Broken hearts, maybe, but nothing else. And now I’ve got one more mystery for you to solve.”

George groaned. “Please, Nancy. Say you’re joking. How much more can we take?”

I started to laugh. “Where do you think I put the latest Lacey O’Brien mystery? I can’t find the book anywhere!”