“I’m afraid I was overly impressed by Morrison’s credentials, since the Cabbott is such a major museum,” Dean Jarvis confessed. “I should have checked his references more carefully. I’ve learned an important lesson.”
Michael turned to Nancy. “I don’t know how to thank you,” he said, staring deeply into her eyes. For exactly one second Nancy imagined that she was the girl in First Kiss, Michael’s inspiration. Then she tore herself away and looked at Ned. He was smiling at her, his eyes filled with love. Nancy turned back to Michael. He was a handsome, fascinating man who had needed her help, but he wasn’t Ned.
“What will happen now?” George asked.
“I spoke with Sergeant Weinberg a short while ago,” Nancy answered. “Dr. Morrison, Jenkins, and Sanders face criminal charges. Rina will be prosecuted, too, but the authorities are likely to be lenient because she’s agreed to testify against Dr. Morrison in the earlier forgery.”
“What about Jamie?” Ned asked.
“Debbie took Jamie back to the halfway house last night,” Dean Jarvis told them.
“Mrs. Shephard is making sure Jamie gets more intensive counseling, and I told Jamie if she worked on her high school equivalency degree, she can apply to Emerson next fall,” Debbie informed them. Then she took Nancy aside a moment. “I spoke with Michael and he arranged to pay for those art supplies Jamie took.”
As the group drifted out of the museum, Nancy watched, amazed: Bryan was inviting George to a climbing trip the next weekend; Dean Jarvis had asked Debbie to temporarily take over as curator of the museum; Michael was taking Debbie to lunch to celebrate. Romance and good fortune seemed to be in the air. Nancy turned to find Ned.
“Hi, gorgeous,” he said, stepping up behind her.
She leaned back against his chest and let out a sigh. “One more case over and done with.”
“Almost. There’s one detail unexplained,” Ned said as they walked into the sunshine hand in hand. “What about that EC ticket stub?”
“That bothered me, too,” Nancy admitted. “But here’s my theory. When Rina stole Bryan’s climbing gear, she took his windbreaker, too. He’d worn it to the EC concert.”
“And he put the ticket stub in his pocket.”
“Right. Rina wore the jacket when she skated across campus—remember the hooded figure? She must have had it on the roof. The stub fell out.”
“Brilliant, Nancy.” Ned gave Nancy a big hug. “Dean Jarvis has a lot to thank you for.”
“Actually,” Nancy said, a twinkle in her eye, “it’s Michael who should be thanking me now.”
“Him again?”
“Yup,” Nancy pointed to the parking lot. Michael was climbing into Debbie’s white Subaru. “I didn’t just find his painting. I may have helped him find the girl of his dreams.”
Ned threw back his head and laughed. “Like I said, Drew, positively brilliant.”
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Carolyn Keene, The Stolen Kiss
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