The party was in full swing when I finally spotted Heather, Clay, and Leslie Simmons walking into our backyard and pausing by the drinks table. Right behind them was Morris Granger.
I hurried to meet them, reaching our guests at the same time as Dad. “Hi.” I greeted Leslie and her parents with a wink. “I’m so glad you could make it.” I thought Dad might be surprised to see that Leslie was back safe and sound, since I hadn’t yet had a chance to fill him in on the conclusion of the mystery. But I quickly realized that Heather and Clay must have called him at his office to give him the news. I only hope they hadn’t spilled the beans about anything else.…
Next Dad turned to shake Granger’s hand. From their hearty greeting, I quickly deduced that Granger was one of Dad’s clients. I was a little surprised by that; I’d had no idea they knew each other.
Just then Granger turned to me with a broad smile. “And young Nancy!” he declared, reaching out to pump my hand. “It’s delightful to see you again, as well.”
“Again?” Dad raised an eyebrow at me quizzically. “I didn’t realize you two were acquainted.”
I grinned at him sheepishly. “Yes, we met yesterday,” I admitted. “It’s sort of a long story.”
With Morris Granger’s help, I quickly filled Dad in. Leslie and her parents listened silently, sipping at sodas, and halfway through the story Bess and George wandered over to join the group.
By the time we finished telling the story, Dad was shaking his head. “I should have guessed,” he said. “Anytime Nancy gets that faraway look in her eyes, it means she’s on the trail of another mystery.”
Mr. Granger laughed, reaching for a second soda. “Well, she certainly solved the heck out of this one,” he said admiringly.
I smiled weakly, exchanging a glance with Bess and George. We’d solved it, all right—but too late to do anything to help Leslie.
“That reminds me,” Mr. Granger said. “I suppose this means I owe you that reward, Nancy. Is it all right if I drop off a check tomorrow, or would you like me to wire the money directly into your bank account?”
I gaped at him, not understanding what he was talking about at first. “What?”
“The reward,” Mr. Granger repeated. “The ten thousand dollars for the person who tracked down Leslie. That’s what I promised, and I never go back on my word.” He smiled at me. “Besides, you earned it.”
I gulped, finally remembering his offer at the Simmons house the previous night. Ten thousand dollars! Images of all the things I could buy with that kind of money flashed through my head. It was tempting—but I knew what I had to do.
“Well, first of all, if I did earn the reward, my friends earned it right along with me,” I said slowly, glancing at Bess and George. “If you’ll just let me talk with them for a moment…”
The three of us huddled a short distance away. When Bess and George heard what I had in mind, they both quickly nodded, even though I could see that George had been adding up in her mind all the electronic equipment she could buy with her share.
We rejoined the group. “We’d like to thank you very much for your generous offer, Mr. Granger,” I said. “But if it’s all right with you, we’d like the money to go directly to Leslie to help pay her way at the conservatory next year.”
Leslie and her parents gasped. “Oh, Nancy!” Heather Simmons exclaimed. “We can’t—we couldn’t…”
“Done!” Granger exclaimed, sounding delighted. He shook my hand, then reached for Bess’s and George’s as well. “I’ll have my accountant make out the check first thing in the morning.”
Mr. and Mrs. Simmons were still babbling in protest, while Leslie just looked shocked. Bess smiled at them. “I know it won’t pay for the whole thing,” she said. “But we hope it will help.”
“Oh, it will!” Clay blurted out. “That is, it would… that is… Are you girls really sure about this?”
It took a few more minutes to convince them that we were, indeed, serious. Finally Heather and Clay accepted the offer gratefully, while Leslie burst into tears and hugged me, Bess, and George.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” she cried. “This is so amazing! How will I ever repay your kindness?”
I grinned. “Well, I can’t speak for these guys,” I said, gesturing to Bess and George, “but as for me, you can just consider us even now. After all, I owe you one.” I winked at her.
Mr. Granger and Dad looked perplexed, but before they could comment, Leslie turned and hugged Mr. Granger.
When she let him go, her mother stepped forward. “I want to thank you too,” she told Granger. “Not just for the money, but for everything you’ve done in helping to find Leslie. I—I wouldn’t have expected that. I think I misjudged you.” She cleared her throat. “In fact, you’ve been so generous to us that I’m almost tempted to thank you by not declaring for the mayor’s race.”
She sounded as if she was only half kidding. Morris Granger immediately shook his head, smiling. “I accept your thanks wholeheartedly,” he said, taking Heather’s hand. “But don’t even joke about withdrawing from the election. I want to be mayor, but I also want the people of River Heights to have a real choice.”
Heather smiled back at him. “Okay. But now that I know what a nice man you are, I’m going to feel a little guilty about beating you in November.”
“We’ll see about that,” Granger said with a chuckle. “I still look forward to doing my best to humiliate you in the polls!”
Heather Simmons laughed. “Fine. Then I’ll continue looking forward to beating you in a landslide.” Her face fell. “Oh. That’s if I get my paperwork in on time. I’ve been so distracted this week…”
Suddenly I remembered that the deadline was the next afternoon. Oh, no! After all that had happened, would Heather miss out on the election?
But once again Morris Granger stepped in, offering to send over someone to help get the paperwork in on time. “In fact, I know just the person,” he said. “A bright young intern I just hired yesterday. Very smart young lady.”
I exchanged a curious glance with Bess and George. Another hunch had just popped into my mind. But it couldn’t be.…
“An intern?” I spoke up. “Where did you find her?”
Granger shrugged. “My good friend Jack just sent her to me,” he said. “Jack Halloran, that is. He’s the head of Rackham Industries, you know. He seemed to think she would be a perfect fit for my office.”
He, Dad, and the Simmonses looked slightly confused when Bess, George, and I burst into hysterical laughter.
Luckily, Granger’s offer to send his new intern Deirdre Shannon to help Heather Simmons seemed to be a sincere—if misguided—offer, rather than an effort to sabotage her. My friends and I also offered our help, as did Leslie and several other partygoers. Before long it was clear that Heather Simmons was going to have no trouble filing her paperwork in time.
The party continued. A few minutes later Chief McGinnis wandered over as Ned and I were telling Lucia Gonsalvo about Leslie’s disappearance and rescue. He listened for a moment or two, looking increasingly disgruntled.
Finally he threw both hands into the air, nearly spilling the drink he was holding. “That’s it!” he exclaimed. “I might as well just resign right now—Miss Drew here can just handle all the crimes in River Heights herself. She certainly seems to hear about most of them before I do!” He shook his head, muttering something about newspaper headlines and humiliation.
Lucia smiled soothingly at him. “Don’t worry, Chief,” she said. “I foresee that this particular case will not make the newspapers.”
She winked at me. I realized that it was a pretty safe prediction, psychic powers aside. Now that Heather Simmons was definitely going to run for mayor, she wouldn’t want that sort of publicity if she could help it. It would only distract the voters from the real issues of the election. In fact, she and Clay had already decided not to press charges against the Sharons. While my friends and I were a little disapp
ointed at the thought that Mr. and Mrs. Sharon wouldn’t be punished for what they’d done, Leslie was relieved. It turned out that poor Diane Sharon had been clueless about her parents’ scheming all along, and she felt extremely sorry. Leslie didn’t want her friend hurt any more than she already was.
As the chief stomped away, still looking grumpy, I checked my watch. “It’s time,” I whispered to Ned. Glancing around, I saw that Leslie, Hannah, and Mr. Granger were nowhere in sight.
Excusing myself from Lucia, I hurried over and climbed onto a bench near the barbecue grill. “Pardon me!” I called loudly, clapping my hands for attention. When the partygoers were all looking at me, I continued. “Thanks for coming tonight and helping to celebrate Dad’s birthday.”
I paused as a few people cheered. Dad grinned as several friends clapped him on the back and cracked jokes about his advancing age.
“Okay,” I said. “Now, some of you already know that I had a little trouble shopping for a gift for Dad this year. It’s not easy to find something special for a man who already has just about everything. I must admit, I never did find anything in any of the stores I went to over the past couple of weeks.”
Dad stepped forward, smiling at me. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he called out. “Bringing Leslie Simmons home safely and even getting her tuition partially paid at the conservatory is really all the gift I need.”
Everyone cheered at that. I blushed, realizing that the entire party must have heard about my adventures already.
“Thanks,” I said. “But it’s funny you should mention Leslie, Dad.… If you all wouldn’t mind joining me in the living room, I’d like to present Dad’s very special gift.”
Murmuring curiously, the crowd followed me into the house through the back door. As Dad entered the living room, he let out a gasp. Several pieces of furniture had been pushed back against the walls, and a grand piano was sitting in their place. Several dozen folding chairs were set up nearby. Hannah and Mr. Granger were standing in front of the piano, grinning.
“You—you got me a piano?” Dad sounded perplexed. “That’s incredible, but I don’t really play—”
“No, no.” I laughed. “It’s a rental—Mr. Granger and Hannah helped arrange the whole thing. Come on out, Leslie!”
Leslie Simmons stepped into the room from the hall, dressed in a beautiful, flowing black gown. She was holding a sheaf of sheet music, which she placed on the piano as she sat down at the keyboard.
“This is your gift,” I told Dad. “Leslie has agreed to play a short recital for us tonight.”
Once again the entire crowd cheered. There was a moment of chaos as everyone searched for a seat on the living-room furniture or the folding chairs. The overflow simply sat on the floor or leaned against the walls.
“Thank you, Nancy!” Dad said, giving me a hug as he took the seat of honor right at the front of the audience. “This is the most fantastic gift I’ve ever received.”
I hugged him back. “All right, everyone,” I called out. “I think we’re ready to get started. Enjoy!”
We all settled back to do just that. As the first lovely notes filled the air, I could hardly stop smiling. After all we’d been through in the past few days, this was just about the happiest ending I could imagine.
Have you read all of the Alice Books?
THE AGONY OF ALICE
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ALICE IN RAPTURE, SORT OF
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RELUCTANTLY ALICE
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ALL BUT ALICE
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ALICE IN APRIL
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ALICE IN-BETWEEN
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OUTRAGEOUSLY ALICE
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ALICE IN LACE
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ALICE THE BRAVE
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ACHINGLY ALICE
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ALICE ON THE OUTSIDE
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GROOMING OF ALICE
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ALICE ALONE
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SIMPLY ALICE
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STARTING WITH ALICE
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PATIENTLY ALICE
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ALICE IN BLUNDERLAND
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