Close Encounters

by Carolyn Keene

As the paramedics took Frankie away, I blurted my whole story. The captain listened, incredulous.

  At the end he just glared at the mayor. “I didn’t think you’d go this far, Brody,” he said.

  But the mayor wasn’t cowed. “This girl has been skeptical all along. She started out convinced there were no UFOs. How can you believe her? She’s a prejudiced witness.”

  “Maybe so,” Bess said, coming out from behind the van. She showed them the camcorder. “I found this in the van and taped a very interesting conversation that proves Nancy’s right and the mayor and his entourage are wrong. Besides, I’m willing to testify that I was kidnapped by the mayor and that man too.” She pointed at Frankie, who was coming to, even as he was being carried to the ambulance.

  “And I overheard Izzy talking earlier. The whole scheme was her idea,” I added.

  Captain Greene then motioned for his men to bring Izzy and the mayor down to the barracks immediately. He asked me to go along and give my statement. Meanwhile, he confiscated the camcorder and the tape, as well as the contents of Izzy’s van, as evidence.

  I told Bess I’d meet up with her later. She told me George was already back at the inn, being coddled by Sarah and Winnie. Her head wound hadn’t been serious and had stopped bleeding long before they’d gotten to the local emergency room.

  As we stood there, a haggard figure stumbled out of the woods. Everyone gasped. “Aldwin!” Captain Greene exclaimed. “You’re all right.”

  His sister got out of one of the police cars. She hurried toward him and tried to take his arm.

  Aldwin shook her off. “No time, Addie. I have to warn the town. Those aliens are for real, and they’re planning an invasion. I know. I was with them!”

  Addie May folded her arms and sadly shook her head. “Aldwin Nichols, I think this time you’ve really lost it.” She asked the remaining paramedics to take Aldwin to the hospital for observation, and they agreed that a checkup was in order.

  Nathan walked up to me, looking dismayed. “Maybe the worst crime here is that they sent Aldwin over the edge.”

  I took Nathan’s arm. “Oh, I think he’ll find his way back soon.” Lowering my voice, I added, “Don’t forget, he’s the town prankster.”

  “To think last night I thought I’d never want to eat again,” I declared late the next morning. George, Bess, and I were seated in Winnie’s café, indulging in stacks of pancakes drenched with real Vermont maple syrup, and celebrating the very fact that we’d survived a pretty grueling experience.

  George’s appetite also didn’t seem the least bit affected by her concussion.

  “You girls have turned into town heroes,” Winnie declared, pouring us another round of coffee.

  “Even though we proved the UFOs were fake?” Bess asked.

  “Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the long run Brody’s Junction’s being the victim of a scam—a scam, by the way, spiced up by kidnappings—did more to put this place on the map than a real UFO sighting could.”

  “If there are such things,” George laughed. As the door opened to the jangle of bells, we all looked up.

  Standing in the doorway was Ellie Dorian, looking a bit sheepish. I realized that in all the commotion of the night before, I hadn’t asked George about Ellie’s meeting with Winnie and her confession about sabotaging the café and stealing the recipe book.

  “You’re back?” Winnie seemed surprised, but her voice held real warmth.

  Ellie, on the other hand, seemed a bit nervous. “I told you I would be. Here,” she said. “I brought you this.” She handed Winnie a manila envelope.

  I wondered what it could be. I had noticed when I’d come into the café earlier that the recipe book was back on the counter.

  “Come on in, sit down, have some coffee.”

  Ellie hesitated a moment before accepting Winnie’s invitation. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind one of your scones as well. I sort of miss them.”

  From the way Winnie beamed at the request, I sensed Ellie’s request for a scone was some kind of peace offering. After Winnie served Ellie, George spoke up.

  “I’m going to send you one of my scanners,” she told Winnie. “That way you can scan in the recipes yourself and make a copy of the whole collection for Ellie.”

  Ellie surprised us with a blush. “Oh, that’s not necessary.” She bit her lip, then turned to Winnie. “I hope this doesn’t wreck things again between us, but I didn’t tell you everything yesterday.”

  I saw Winnie tense. Ellie hurried on. “Inside that envelope is a disk. . . . You see, I already scanned in all the recipes.” Catching George’s eye, she shrugged. “I don’t know how to hack into computers, but otherwise I’m a pretty savvy user.” Turning back to Winnie, she added, “So I made a copy for you today.”

  Winnie’s face visibly relaxed. “That’s great,” she said.

  Bess kicked me under the table. I got the message and motioned for George that we should switch tables. We moved to the back table, taking our coffee. It was obvious the two cousins needed to talk things out.

  “I feel we really did some good here,” Bess said softly as we sat down.

  “Sure, but I feel like I need a vacation,” George added, gently patting her head.

  “So let’s try again,” I suggested. “But not in UFO country.”

  “What, no Roswell for you?” George joked.

  I laughed. “I’ve had enough of those flying saucers to last a lifetime.”

  “Besides, we all know now they aren’t for real,” Bess reminded us.

  “Or are they?” I wondered aloud.

  Both Bess and George gaped at me. “You’re joking,” George said.

  “Um, not really,” I admitted. I told them about the sighting the night before. “That UFO was different from the others,” I mused. “It made a different sort of noise, and it traveled ahead of me on a back road. It seemed to be . . . well, alive or something.”

  “Nancy Drew, you’re putting us on.” George stared at me, waiting for me to laugh. All I could manage was a weak smile. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “Whatever I saw, Frankie Lee had nothing to do with it. I asked him this morning when I went to the hospital with Captain Greene to identify him. Frankie thought I was putting him on—rubbing salt in his wounds. Then he said it was probably some trick of light—something about the snow and distant headlights.”

  “See, that’s a good explanation,” Bess said.

  “I’ll never know,” was all I conceded. “And believe me, I hope I never have to investigate anything paranormal again. Give me your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, purely human nasty crime, and I’m there!”