Stop the Clock (Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective Book 12) by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online Page A

everyone wrote down yesterday have disappeared.”
    “What?” Bess and George said in unison.
    “How could that have happened?” George said.
    “Mrs. Corning said it was because of my carelessness,” I told them.
    “Mrs. Corning said that?” Bess said.
    I nodded. “I put those papers on the desk she assigned me in the Reference Section,” I said. “She said that desk was safe—for library staff only. But someone must have taken them deliberately.”
    “Who would do that?” George asked.
    “That’s what we’re going to find out,” I said. “Come on!”
    We went out to the garage, got into my car, and headed to the library.
    When we arrived, we went straight to Mrs. Corning’s office. She was just hanging up the telephone. She saw us and motioned us inside.
    “Have a seat, girls,” Mrs. Corning said. She stood up, came around from behind the desk, and sat down with us.
    “Mrs. Corning, I am positive that I put those recollections that people wrote about the clock on top of the desk you assigned me,” I began. “I remember doing it. I just don’t understand how this happened.”
    “Perhaps you just think you did that, Nancy,” Mrs. Corning countered. “Yesterday was quite a strain on all of us. Maybe you just absentmindedly put them in the wastebasket instead of on top of the desk—because that’s where Mr. Franklin found them.”
    “Mr. Franklin?” I said. I looked at Bess and George.
    “Yes,” Mrs. Corning said. “I had to call him this morning about another matter, and that’s when he mentioned the recollections.”
    “What did he say?” George asked.
    “He said that last night, when he was cleaning up the library, he saw them in the wastebasket by Nancy’s assigned desk,” Mrs. Corning said. “He told me that he thought at the time that it was strange, since Nancy made such a big production out of getting people to write down what they remembered about the old library clock—but he said he just decided that you had changed your mind.”
    “No, I hadn’t changed my mind, and I would not have just thrown those papers away,” I said angrily. “Somebody deliberately put them in the wastebasket!”
    “Oh, Nancy, that is preposterous!” Mrs. Corning said. “Who would do that?”
    “Someone who’s trying to sabotage the seventy-fifth anniversary library celebration, that’s who!” I said. I looked straight at Mrs. Corning. “I don’t suppose you’d know what Mr. Franklin was doing yesterday afternoon between four and six o’clock?”
    “Well, as a matter of fact I do. He was doing some yard work for me—for which I pay him very well, if you’re thinking that I ask my employees to do personal things without compensation,” Mrs. Corning said. She stood up. “Nancy, I’ve never known you to blame other people for your mistakes, but if this celebration is to succeed, then you’ll just have to be more careful about what you do.” Mrs. Corning turned and started back to her desk. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, there are other things going on in the library that I simply must take care of.”
    I knew I had to get out of there before I said some things that I would regret later. I couldn’t believe that the very person who had asked me to chair the library decoration committee and to help find the missing library clock had now turned against me. Someone had deliberately set out not only to scuttle the library celebration, but to destroy my reputation at the same time, and I was determined to find out who it was.
    I led the way out of Mrs. Corning’s office, with Bess and George right behind me—but instead of stopping at my desk, I headed toward the opposite side of the reference stacks, where I knew there were some secluded tables. I had to think, and I didn’t want anybody else around right now except Bess and George.
    “What was that all about?” Bess said, as the three of us sat down.
    I shrugged. “My head’s still swimming from all the accusations that have