A Secret in Time by Carolyn Keene Page B

the stairs was Hannah offering to make the police a pot of coffee. Good old Hannah, Nancy thought with a smile.
    Nancy changed into her nightgown and climbedinto bed. With the officers downstairs and the thief scared off, at least for the night, she could finally get some sleep. She rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the case.
    Lydia, Kimberly Burton, and Russell Brown had all been at the expo and in a position to steal the brooch. Lydia and Mr. Brown had the clearest motivation. Lydia needed start-up money for her business. Mr. Brown had recently taken out an insurance policy and could collect money on the stolen brooch. Lydia had had the best opportunity to hide the brooch inside the clock. She’d been alone at Mr. Gordon’s booth right after the robbery was discovered. And while there was still nothing specific tying Kimberly Burton to the case, she had been in the best position to sabotage Nancy’s car.
    And then there was Henry Gordon. He’d been alone with the clock briefly, but that was before the robbery occurred. True, he’d been insistent about delivering the clock after the expo, but that was entirely consistent with what Nancy knew about him. He was a good businessman. Besides, the police officers tailing him hadn’t turned up anything unusual. Nancy wasn’t ready to cross his name off the list yet, but he was definitely taking a back seat to the other suspects.
    Nancy kept juggling the possibilities, but no clear theory emerged. Something didn’t add up. She turned over onto her side and bunched up her pillow.She really had to go to sleep or she’d be too tired to think. Nancy tried to make her mind go blank, but a question kept appearing: Where had she seen that orange van before?
    Nancy rolled over onto her stomach and sighed. At this rate, she’d be up all night.
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    Nancy awakened to sunlight streaming through her window and turned to look at the clock. It was ten-thirty! She jumped out of bed. She’d overslept, and there was so much to do.
    Grabbing her phone, Nancy punched George’s number and asked her to pick her up in half an hour. She was sitting on the curb in front of her house, munching a piece of toast, when George and Bess arrived.
    â€œWhat happened to the police?” Bess asked, nodding toward the vacant spot across the street where the blue sedan had been parked.
    Nancy climbed into the back seat. “Hannah’s serving them breakfast.”
    â€œDoes that mean they didn’t get the thief?” George asked. “Did someone break in last night?”
    â€œIt’s a long story,” Nancy said. “I’ll tell you on the way to Lydia’s house.”
    By the time Nancy had finished telling the cousins the details of the break-in, George was turning onto Lydia’s street.
    â€œSo you think the thief will come back?” asked George.
    â€œI think so,” Nancy replied, “especially now that it looks as if the police are gone. “
    â€œUnless the thief decided not to take any more chances,” said Bess. “Maybe he’s skipped town.”
    Suddenly George slammed her foot on the brakes. “Doesn’t look like it,” she said as Nancy and Bess were jerked forward in their seats.
    Nancy looked up and saw what had made George react so abruptly. Parked right in front of Lydia’s house was an orange van with green stripes.

10
A Moving Story
    Nancy stared at the van in amazement. There was no mistaking it. The van looked exactly like the one that had nearly run them off the bridge the day before.
    George immediately pulled over to the curb, and the three girls jumped out of the car. As they neared the van, Nancy finally got an answer to one of the questions that had been troubling her. Beneath the three lime green stripes painted along the van’s side was a company logo: RapidSend.
    â€œThat’s