The E-Mail Mystery
Page 1
Contents
1. A Puzzling Coincidence
2. Mysterious Transmissions
3. An Unexpected Encounter
4. A Stranger in the Shadows
5. Caught Off Guard
6. Well-Kept Secrets
7. Trailed!
8. Scared Away
9. The Vanishing File
10. A Spy On-Line
11. Hide and SEEK
12. A Shocking Discovery
13. Late-Night Stakeout
14. The E-mail Trail
15. An Inside Job
16. Summer Vacation— At Last!
1. A Puzzling Coincidence
Nancy Drew woke up with the sun, her blue eyes
sparkling. “Summer vacation, at last!” she breathed.
She jumped out of bed and put on gym shorts and her
favorite blue T-shirt.
Nancy slipped into well-cushioned running shoes
and attached a yellow portable cassette player to her
waistband. She pulled a terry-cloth sweat-band over
her long reddish blond hair and left her bedroom. She
heard the shower running down the hall and knew her
father was awake and getting ready for a busy day at his
law office.
Before Nancy made it down the stairs, the phone
rang. She raced back up the stairs and picked up the
hall phone on the second ring.
“Is Carson Drew there?” a frantic-sounding male
voice asked on the other end of the line. “This is Bob
Jamison—I'm a client of his. I have to speak to him
right away.”
“No, I'm sorry. He's not available right now,” Nancy
said. “I'll be glad to take a message, though.”
She heard a click at the end of the line and realized
that the caller had hung up abruptly.
“I wonder why he was in such a hurry,” Nancy said
as she hung up. She jotted a note to her father on the
pad beside the phone. Then she headed out into the
early morning air, closing the front door behind her.
Before she started her run, Nancy stretched out her
muscles, using the front steps as a kind of gym bar. She
maintained an easy pace as she ran around River
Heights Park, listening to her favorite tape and
greeting the other early morning runners with a smile.
She breathed deeply, her skin glowing from the fresh
air and the exertion.
Nancy hummed along with the music in her
earphones, thinking about what a lovely summer it was
going to be. She planned to spend the first few weeks
in River Heights, visiting friends she didn't get to see
enough of during the year, including her friend Bess
Marvin.
Then Nancy was going to join her friend George
Fayne, who was Bess's cousin, to do some sailing up in
Bridgehaven. George, who was teaching sailing at the
nearby marina, had invited Nancy to come for a visit.
Nancy was looking forward to the trip.
Nearly at the end of her run, Nancy turned up the
driveway to the house where she lived with her father
and their longtime housekeeper, Hannah Gruen.
Hannah had been like a mother to Nancy since Nancy's
mother had died, when she was three.
Nancy slowed to a walk, then stretched out again.
Next she ran up the stairs two at a time, jumped into
the shower, and dressed for the day in jeans and a
colorful cotton shirt.
By the time Nancy got downstairs, her father,
attorney Carson Drew, was seated at the kitchen table,
looking at some legal papers. He was so engrossed in
his reading that he barely noticed the steaming pile of
pancakes sitting in front of him. Hannah was at the
stove making another batch and greeted Nancy with a
smile.
“How was your run, dear?” Hannah asked.
“Great! I went all the way around the park. It's
gorgeous outside. Not a cloud in the sky, and flowers
are blooming everywhere.”
Nancy's stomach rumbled as she sniffed the rich
aroma in the air. “What smells so good?” she asked as
she took a seat across from her father.
“Your favorite breakfast,” Hannah said. She handed
Nancy a plate of pancakes.
“Mmm. Your blueberry pancakes are always super,
Hannah, but these look really delicious!” Nancy turned
to her father, who usually echoed such compliments to
Hannah. Today, however, Mr. Drew was silent.
Hannah raised her eyebrows at Nancy. “It's those
fresh blueberries,” she said. “You know I always like to
get the first fruits of the season.”
Still not a word out of Carson Drew. Nancy grinned,
then said, “Of course, it's the motor oil on top that
makes them taste so good. Don't you agree, Dad?”
“Yes, of course, Nancy,” Mr. Drew replied.
Nancy and Hannah laughed out loud.
“What?” Mr. Drew asked innocently. “Did I say
something funny?”
“Not really, Dad,” Nancy said. “It's just that you're
not all here.”
“I'm sorry, Nancy, Hannah—I guess I'm a little
preoccupied.”
“Is something wrong, Dad?” Nancy asked.
“I'm not sure. I've been involved in several cases
recently that settled out of court very quickly—much
sooner than I would have expected.”
Nancy's father was a respected attorney, and he
often told Nancy about some of the more interesting
details of his cases.
“I thought settling was good,” Nancy said. “Doesn't
it mean that both sides are happy?”
“Yes,” Mr. Drew said, “but some of these cases were
settled too quickly. Two of them were settled barely
after I'd gotten any information from my client.”
“That sounds odd,” Nancy said.
“It is a bit odd. People often get better settlements
by going to court,” Mr. Drew said. He put aside his
legal papers and began to attack the stack of pancakes
in front of him. “Nancy was right, Hannah. These are
delicious. Please pass the motor oil,” he added with a
grin.
Nancy passed him the jug of maple syrup, smiling at
his joke. “I knew you were listening. Is there anything
that connects all these clients to one another?”
“Two things,” Mr. Drew replied. “Williams and
Brown represented all the opposition. Also, all these
clients have been through a criminal court case in the
past.”
“Do you think there's something that they're trying
to hide by settling quickly and not being in the public
eye? Maybe something related to their criminal cases?”
Nancy asked.
“I'm not sure,” Mr. Drew said. “But these clients did
seem unusually scared. They wouldn't even talk to me
after they settled. They wouldn't explain what had
happened. Some of them are people I've known for
years.”
Nancy said. “Why are these clients so scared? Are you
sure there aren't any connections, other than Williams
and Brown, between them? Or the companies they're
settling with? Or—”
“Hold on, Nancy,” Mr. Drew said with a smile. “All
your speculating does give me an idea. I have to devote
my time to the Harris embezzlement case, at Central
City Savings and Loan. I was wondering if you would
be interested in coming in and—”
“Helping out around the office?” Nancy finished the
sentence for her father. “I'd be glad to. When do I
start?”
“How does today sound?” Mr. Drew answered. “You
could put the files related to these cases on disks for
long-term storage. You could E-mail some letters and
hand-deliver some notarized documents regarding the
settlements to Williams and Brown.”
“Sounds great,” Nancy replied. “This will keep me
busy before I go visit George. It'll be great to see Ms.
Hanson again. Also, I'll get to meet the new associate,
Blaine Warner. And you've got some other new people,
right?”
“Yes,” her father replied. “There's Henry Yi, our
paralegal. He's very bright. And Byron Thomas is our
summer law student intern. He's quiet but very
thorough in his work. I think you'll like them all. I'll be
needing their help on this new Harris case, so you'll be
pretty much on your own.”
“I may also be able to discover what's going on with
all those settled cases while I do the filing, Dad,”
Nancy said. “I mean, is there one big corporation
behind all these cases that doesn't want to be exposed
for manufacturing faulty products, or—”
Now it was Carson Drew's turn to laugh. “Nancy,
you're always looking for a mystery—whether it's my
not talking at breakfast or clients settling their cases
early, or—”
Before Mr. Drew could finish his sentence, he was
interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. “Who
could that be calling this early in the morning?” Mr.
Drew wondered out loud. He stood up and walked
over to pick up the kitchen phone. “Hello?” he said.
The person on the other end of the line was
speaking so loudly that Nancy could hear the words
clearly. “Mr. Drew, I've decided to take the settle-
ment,” the person said.
“Bob? Is that you?” Nancy's father said. “What's the
matter? I thought we—”
“I've made up my mind, and I don't want to go
through the whole court thing again. Just take the
settlement. Take the settlement!” he yelled. Nancy
could hear the click of the receiver as the caller hung
up abruptly.
Mr. Drew stared at the receiver for a second before
he, too, hung up. “I think you've just found yourself a
new case, Nancy.”
2. Mysterious Transmissions
“Was that Bob Jamison?” Nancy asked.
“How did you know?” her father asked as he began
to gather the legal papers he had been reading.
“I could hear his voice from all the way over here,”
she replied. “I forgot to tell you that he called really
early this morning, just before I went out for my run.
You were in the shower, and I told him you weren't
available at the moment. He sounded really upset.”
“This is disturbing,” Carson Drew said. “Bob didn't
even give me a chance to ask him why he wanted to
settle. He sounded positively frantic.”
Hannah started clearing the breakfast table. Nancy
helped her rinse the dishes before putting them in the
dishwasher.
“I'm on the case, Dad,” Nancy said.
“If you're working in your father's office today,”
Hannah told Nancy, “you'd better go change out of
your jeans.”
“Good idea, Hannah,” Nancy said. “I'll just be a
minute.”
“Fine,” her father replied. “That way I can look over
this file again.” He took his papers out of his briefcase
and sat down on a comfortable chair in the living room.
Nancy ran upstairs and changed into a light tan
spring suit. She put on a white blouse, a gold chain,
and added a touch of pale lipstick. “That's better,” she
said, examining herself in the mirror.
Nancy picked up her suit jacket, grabbed a small
leather portfolio, and ran downstairs to meet her
father. He smiled at his daughter's quick transfor-
mation and packed up his papers in his briefcase.
“'Bye, Hannah,” Nancy called out as they opened
the front door.
“See you later, you two,” she replied from the
kitchen. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Let's walk this morning, Dad,” Nancy said, once
they were on the sidewalk. “It's such a beautiful day!”
“Good idea,” Mr. Drew replied. “I'm glad I'm not
carrying one of my fifty-pound briefcases.”
Nancy gazed fondly at her blue Mustang sitting in
their driveway. It had been a gift from her father, and
she loved that car. But she was looking forward to
talking with her father on their way to the office.
Father and daughter walked in silence for a while,
enjoying River Heights in early summer: daffodils,
hyacinths, and tulips in a riot of yellows, pinks, and
purples decorated the front lawns of many of the
houses. Rosebushes filled the air with their heady
scent.
“Dad,” Nancy said as they walked, “if I run into any
problems cleaning up your computer files, I can call
Bess for advice.”
“Bess?” Mr. Drew asked. “I didn't know Bess was a
computer whiz.”
“You know how she's always loved reading ro-
mances?” Nancy asked. “Well, she's just joined an
Internet chat group about historical and contemporary
romance novels. Being on-line was so interesting to her
that she learned all about computers, communications
systems, Internet links, Web browsers—all that stuff.”
“Bess chatting about romance novels on-line. That's
a novel idea,” Mr. Drew said as they neared the
downtown business district where his law offices were
located.
“Very funny, Dad,” Nancy said with a giggle.
During the conversation, Nancy and her father
arrived at the downtown office building that housed his
law practice. They entered the lobby and rode the
elevator up. Once inside the reception area, Nancy
greeted Mr. Drew's longtime legal secretary and
personal assistant, Ms. Hanson.
“Nancy, how nice to see you!” Ms. Hanson said as
Nancy entered the office with her father. “What a
pleasure. Or is it business?”
“A bit of both,” Nancy replied, hanging up her suit
jacket.
“Nancy's going to clean up all those files on the
computer about those cases that settled recently,” Mr.
morning—Bob Jamison.”
“Bob Jamison!” Ms. Hanson exclaimed. “You just
met with him yesterday.”
“I know, I know,” Mr. Drew said. “He sounded just
like the others. He didn't want to go to court again, and
he didn't give me a chance to ask him why he wanted
to take the settlement so quickly. But as I was saying to
Nancy this morning, I can't focus on settled cases
now.”
“Because of the Harris case, right?” Ms. Hanson said
with a knowing nod.
“Exactly,” Mr. Drew replied. “It's got us all so busy.
That's why I've asked Nancy to come in and help out.”
“Well, it's lovely to see you again, Nancy.”
Mr. Drew left the reception area and headed into
his private office, leaving Nancy and Ms. Hanson
alone.
“Boy, another one for the collection,” Nancy
commented, reading the inscription on the base of a
large silver award cup that her father had received
from the legal community.
“You bet,” Ms. Hanson said. “And you can bet there
are a few other law firms that wish they had your
father's reputation—and his business.”
“Oh, Ms. Hanson, quit cheering for the home team.”
Nancy turned to see a handsome young man step into
the reception area.
“Who's the new assistant?” he asked as he flashed a
grin at Nancy.
“Henry Yi, meet Nancy Drew, Carson's daughter,”
Ms. Hanson said. “She'll be helping out in the office
for a week or so.”
“Oh, wow, the boss's daughter,” Henry said as he
shook hands with Nancy. “Better watch my step. Nice
to meet you. I'm the chief cook and bottle washer
here—also known as the paralegal.” Henry flashed his
attractive grin again.
“Nice to meet you, too, Henry,” Nancy replied,
gently removing her hand from his.
Henry turned quickly as another young man walked
past them in the hallway. “Byron, come here,” he called
out to the young man, who was carrying a stack of files
in his arms.
“Nancy, this is Byron Thomas, our summer law
school intern,” Henry said. “Oh, well, I guess you can't
shake hands right now, can you, Byron? This is Nancy,
Mr. Drew's daughter. You two will probably be seeing
a lot of each other in the library. She's helping out here