The E-Mail Mystery Read online

  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.”
r />   “It really sounds as if something funny is going on,”

  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.
r />   Drew explained. “In fact, we got another one this

  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