The Sign in the Smoke (Nancy Drew Diaries #12)(36)

And gasped.

There was something crammed way in back—something hidden from plain view when you opened the drawer.

Is Bella trying to hide something?

I reached in and nearly recoiled. Hair! The silky strands tangled between my fingers as I grasped the thing and pulled it out. . . .

Only to find myself holding a long silver wig.

I was so surprised, I dropped it.

I remembered what Kiki had said when she got pulled under. She claimed the person doing the pulling had long, silvery-blond hair. Just like Lila had . . . and Bella certainly seemed interested in the incident with Lila.

I picked up the wig with shaking hands. Why would Bella do this? Trying to scare campers and counselors in the water, stealing sleeping bags, setting the clearing on fire? What did Bella have to gain if Camp Cedarbark failed? She was a counselor here, after all. She was a Camp Larksong alum, who claimed to love the camp.

I didn’t have any answers. But gathering the matches and the wig, I moved toward the door.

And tripped over a pair of black Chuck Taylors. I picked one up—the tracks matched the ones I’d seen the night the sleeping bags were stolen. And they were too big to belong to the campers.

I headed out of the cabin.

I definitely had enough to share my suspicions with Deborah.



“I think I may have our culprit.”

Deborah looked up in surprise as I made my announcement while opening the door to her office.

“Just like that?” she asked.

“Just like that,” I replied. “Well, I haven’t figured out her motive yet. But I’m pretty sure the person trying to sabotage Camp Cedarbark is”—I paused, and Deborah’s eyes lit with excitement—“Bella.”

I went over everything I knew: Bella’s strange behavior when we’d arrived at camp, her concern with the “ghost” story and wanting to hold the séance. I explained how Bella didn’t have an alibi for any of the strange happenings—she’d excused herself before the swim tests, could have easily snuck away from the campfire when the sleeping bags were stolen, could have snuck away from whatever she was doing when two of my campers were pulled under during their swim time, and I saw her sneak out of the mess hall when the fire was lit in the clearing. Plus, I added, she reeked of smoke later that evening, and I’d found the matches and wig in her bunk. It felt pretty clear that she was the Camp Cedarbark saboteur.

I was expecting the camp owner to look surprised. But instead she looked away, thoughtful, and then gave a rueful little laugh. “Bella. Oh, of course.”

“Of course what?” I asked. What does Deborah know that I don’t?

Deborah shook her head and sighed. “I should have known not to hire someone who had ties to this camp! It was silly of me.”

I was getting frustrated now. I could feel my eyes bugging out. “Ties to this camp? What ties to this camp?”

Deborah looked at me, her eyes apologetic. “Nancy, I should have told you. I’m sorry. It just never occurred to me that there could be a connection.” She paused, leaning her elbows on her desk. “Bella’s family tried to buy Camp Larksong a couple of years before we did. Her family wanted to renovate it and reopen it too. But their financing fell through.”

I stared at Deborah, putting all that together in my head. Bella’s family wanted to buy Camp Larksong? That could explain why she seemed to know so much about the Lila incident. And if she succeeded in scaring everyone away . . . ruining Camp Cedarbark’s first year . . . maybe she thought the camp would go back on the market for a cheaper price? Or maybe her goal didn’t even go that far. Maybe she just wanted to get revenge on the people who’d succeeded where her family had failed.

“Bella was a Camp Larksong alum too,” Deborah said. “Maybe she decided that if her family couldn’t have the camp, no one could.”

I let out a sigh. Even though it all lined up, there was something unsatisfying about this conclusion. It was all about money? Or revenge?

“Why do you think she focused so much on the Lila incident?” I asked. “Was she involved somehow? Did she have an ax to grind?”

Deborah looked at me blankly. “Well, you’re the amateur detective, Nancy,” she said. “But from my perspective? She just wanted to convince people the camp is haunted. Because then people would get scared, and eventually, the camp would fail.”

I frowned, thinking that over. It made sense, of course. And that explained why Bella told us the story right away and wanted to hold a séance the night the CITs arrived. She was setting up the story that an angry ghost lived at the camp.

Deborah suddenly stood. “Let me get Miles. The eleven-year-olds are at the lake now. Sandy and Susie can keep an eye on them while Miles brings Bella back here. We’re going to have to work something out for tonight. Maybe Sam can take over as lead counselor.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Wait—you’re bringing Bella here? Now?”

“Of course.” Deborah looked at me like she couldn’t believe I wasn’t following this. “She can’t stay here, Nancy. Not when she might be putting campers in danger.” She paused. “The only good news is . . . I guess the campout tonight can go on.”



“Excuse me?” Bella sputtered about half an hour later.

We stood in Deborah’s office. Miles said that Bella had not been pleased to be escorted back to camp in front of all her campers. She’d seemed even less pleased to find me waiting for her in Deborah’s office. And when Deborah began explaining why she’d been brought there, I thought her eyes might roll right out of her head.