The Magician's Secret (Nancy Drew Diaries #8)(23)

“Yuck,” George gagged. “He wasn’t asking you on a date, you know.”

“How do you know? Maybe he was,” Bess said.

It wasn’t hard to find Lonestar’s hotel room. The gaggle of reporters on the thirteenth floor gave away the exact spot. I couldn’t believe that the Towering Heights even had a thirteenth floor. I knew from years of detective work that most hotels don’t have them. Through the crowd I could see that yellow plastic police tape blocked off both Lonestar’s room and the one across the hall where Smallwood had been staying.

“Thirteen is the bad-luck floor,” Bess said. “Of course they are both being accused of theft. If they had stayed on twelve or fourteen, none of this would have happened.”

George stared at Bess as if she was nuts. “What are you talking about?”

Bess shrugged. “Just saying.”

“Ridiculous,” George countered. “Superstition is contrary to science.”

“And being a Virgo rising in the house of Aries, you’d say exactly that,” Bess replied.

To calm things down, I stepped between Bess and George, just like someone whose intellect is ruled by Sagittarius would; at least that’s what Bess told me.

We made our way down the hall and immediately discovered why Lonestar and Smallwood had stayed away from the resort.

Microphones and cameras were thrust in our faces.

“Nancy!”

“Nancy Drew!”

Several people were calling my name at once. There must have been twenty reporters plus their film crews gathered.

“Is Drake Lonestar the gem thief??” a woman shouted at me.

“I was told by my sources that it’s that woman from the jewelry store! I hear you went there to accuse her.”

“The nieces!” someone said, but a man corrected her, “You mean the daughters.”

“Ariana,” someone furnished a name.

“Ayela,” another called out.

“That other guy!”

I wasn’t sure exactly who the reporter was talking about, so I asked. “Hugo?” I wrinkled my brow.

“No! John Smallwood! He was caught on tape!”

The voices and accusations swirled around me. It seemed that the city was suddenly filled with a lot of amateur detectives, all with different suspects to accuse.

“I hear it’s Gritty Grand! Rumor is that she and that boyfriend singer of hers are in town in disguise.”

Wow. They’d found that out fast. Gritty was for sure in town. But the boyfriend? From the way she’d greeted Drake Lonestar, I wasn’t convinced she had a boyfriend.

“Where’s Lonestar now?” When a reporter asked me that, I knew my hunch had been correct. These reporters didn’t know that Drake had been arrested. Otherwise they’d have left the hotel and headed to the courthouse. They were still hoping he’d show up here.

“Nancy! Who stole the jewels? Do you know?” a man at the back of the pack yelled to me.

I’d had enough. Even if I had known, I wasn’t going to tell the tall guy from Channel Four before I told the judge, the police, my dad, or Ned. “Let’s go,” I told my friends.

Knocking on the hotel suite door would have started a huge media frenzy, ruining my subtle approach, so we turned around and headed back toward the elevators. The reporters continued to shout out at me, but luckily, no one followed. They weren’t leaving the hallway, just in case someone more interesting than me happened by.

We went back outside to the valet.

“Hey! We can go get a coffee now if you want. It’s almost time for my break.” In a blink he moved from behind the valet stand to Bess’s side.

She smiled at George with an I told you so grin.

I checked his name tag. “Look, Sawyer, we have a problem. I need to get to the thirteenth floor, past the reporters, and into Drake Lonestar’s hotel room. Can you help?”

I knew it was a lot to ask, but I was desperate. There was something in that room that would solve this case once and for all. I was sure of it.

“Hmm,” Sawyer said. “The thirteenth, you say?”

“Yes.” I explained the reporter problem.

He pursed his lips and said, “Look, I know who you are, Nancy Drew. You’re famous.”

I blushed. “Not really.”

“I was at the magic show. Drake Lonestar is fantastic. I’ve always loved magic. In fact, I’m a card-carrying member of the River Heights Magic Club.”

I didn’t even know there was a River Heights Magic Club. “We are going to prove he didn’t steal the gems,” I said.

Bess flashed a toothy grin. “And we’d appreciate your help,” she added.

“I’ll do it for Drake,” he said, winking at Bess.

Exactly three minutes later we were getting off the staff elevator on the thirteenth floor.

“I could have gotten a key,” Sawyer said, “but as far as I can tell, there’s no way around the reporters.”

“We need to bypass them,” I confirmed.

“We could have pulled the fire alarm,” George suggested. “Chased them out and cleared the hall.”

“Or climbed in over the balcony,” Bess said.

“Nah, this is safer,” Sawyer told us. He opened a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. “My dad works on the maintenance crew at this hotel. I’ve been hanging out here since I was a kid. I know every nook and cranny by heart. When I got old enough, they let me bus tables in the café; now I park cars. I’ll do maintenance with my dad this summer.” He grinned. “I’m working my way up.”