Bonfire Masquerade

BONFIRE MASQUERADE

NANCY
DREW

girl detective
^®

#1 Without a Trace

#2 A Race Against Time

#3 False Notes

#4 High Risk

#5 Lights, Camera …

#6 Action!

#7 The Stolen Relic

#8 The Scarlet Macaw Scandal

#9 Secret of the Spa

#10 Uncivil Acts

#11 Riverboat Ruse

#12 Stop the Clock

#13 Trade Wind Danger

#14 Bad Times, Big Crimes

#15 Framed

#16 Dangerous Plays

#17 En Garde

#18 Pit of Vipers

#19 The Orchid Thief

#20 Getting Burned

#21 Close Encounters

#22 Dressed to Steal

#23 Troubled Waters

#24 Murder on the Set

#25 Trails of Treachery

#26 Fishing for Clues

#27 Intruder

#28 Mardi Gras Masquerade

#29 The Stolen Bones

#30 Pagent Perfect Crime

#31 Perfect Cover

#32 Perfect Escape

#33 Secret Identity

#34 Identity Theft

#35 Identity Revealed

#36 Model Crime

#37 Model Menace

#38 Model Suspect

#39 Green-Eyed Monster

#40 Green with Envy

#41 Seeing Green

#42 Secret Sabotage

#43 Serial Sabotage

#44 Sabotage Surrender

#45 California Schemin'

THE
HARDY BOYS

UNDERCOVER BROTHERS
^®

#1 Extreme Danger

#2 Running on Fumes

#3 Boardwalk Bust

#4 Thrill Ride

#5 Rocky Road

#6 Burned

#7 Operation: Survival

#8 Top Ten Ways to Die

#9 Martial Law

#10 Blown Away

#11 Hurricane Joe

#12 Trouble in Paradise

#13 The Mummy's Curse

#14 Hazed

#15 Death and Diamonds

#16 Bayport Buccaneers

#17 Murder at the Mall

#18 Pushed

#19 Foul Play

#20 Feeding Frenzy

#21 Comic Con Artist

Super Mystery #1: Wanted

Super Mystery #2: Kidnapped at the Casino

#22 Deprivation House

#23 House Arrest

Haunted: Special Ghost Stories Edition

#24 Murder House

#25 Double Trouble

#26 Double Down

#27 Double Deception

Super Mystery #3: Club Dread

#28 Galaxy X

#29 X-plosion!

#30 The X-Factor

#31 Killer Mission

#32 Private Killer

#33 Killer Connections

#34 The Children of the Lost

Super Mystery #4: Gold Medal Murder

#35 Lost Brother

#36 Forever Lost

#37 Movie Menace

Available from Aladdin

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Aladdin paperback edition July 2011

Copyright © 2011 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

NANCY DREW and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

NANCY DREW: GIRL DETECTIVE is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERY STORIES is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

HARDY BOYS UNDERCOVER BROTHERS and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.

For more information or to book an event contact the

Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
www.simonspeakers.com
. Designed by Sammy Yuen Jr.

The text of this book was set in Meridien.

Manufactured in the United States of America 0611 OFF

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Library of Congress Control Number 2010937926

ISBN 978-1-4424-0328-4

ISBN 978-1-4424-0329-1 (eBook)

CONTENTS

  1    Shop Till You Drop

  2    A Quick Study

  3    It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To

  4    Strike One

  5    Ghost Tour

  6    Wrong Side of the Tracks

  7    The Fire Spreads

  8    Real Party Killers

  9    Madame Leveaux Knows All

10   The Case Heats Up!

11   Hot Pursuit

12   A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

13   Knocking the Case Out

14   Murdered? Or Murderer?

15   This Party Is the Bomb

16   To the Res-Krewe!

17   All Dressed Up and Ready to Blow!

18   Crashing the Party

CHAPTER
1

NANCY
SHOP TILL YOU DROP

I watched as the couple drew closer and closer to my position. They were smooth, I had to give them that. They were young and beautiful and well-dressed. They were chatting and laughing as they walked, carrying big shopping bags. They had no idea what they were in for.

This was going to be fun.

“Hi!” I said loudly as I leaped out in front of them. “Can I help you with anything?”

They both jumped a little. I was standing way too close to them, and they stepped backward. The smile on my face grew even wider.

“No thank you, uhh …” The woman leaned forward to read my name tag. “Nancy. No thank you, Nancy. I think we're good.”

She took the man's hand. They smiled at me, clearly expecting me to move out of their way. I stayed right where I was. After an awkward moment, they tried to go around me. At the last minute, I stepped in front of them again.

“Are you sure?” I asked in my perkiest voice. “I think this dress would look really great on you.”

I held up a sky blue silk dress. It was actually my favorite thing in the store—blue being my favorite color. The skirt was delicately ruched, and the neckline was trimmed in beautiful lace. It would have looked great on anyone.

The woman smiled at me again, although this time, it seemed a little forced.

“No. Thank you.”

Her voice was still upbeat, but it was cold and steely now too. It was hard for me to keep from laughing.

“What about these?” I pulled a pair of men's oxblood leather shoes from off a nearby counter. “Sir?”

“Not interested,” he said. He didn't even bother looking at them. He ran a nervous hand through his hair. “We're just browsing. And actually, I think the money is about to run out on our meter, and we need to be leaving. Right, honey?”

The woman nodded, and they slipped past me. Now they were moving at a quicker pace. They'd stopped laughing. The chase was on.

I tugged at the collar of my salesgirl uniform and pulled the name tag closer to my mouth.

“Bess,” I whispered. “They're headed your way. They're spooked. Have fun!”

I counted to five and then walked slowly after the couple, hiding behind racks of clothes but keeping them in sight as they made their way through the store. Everything and More was River Heights's biggest, fanciest, and most expensive department store. On any given day, it had hundreds of shoppers. And today, it had two very special visitors: Shiloh and Ian Frommer, the brother-and-sister shoplifting team that had been on a two-year, multistate shoplifting spree. They often impersonated a soon-to-be-married couple, looking for things for their registry, which was the story they'd given Everything and More. It'd been estimated they'd stolen over two million dollars' worth of merchandise.

And all of that was about to end, right here, right now.

Shiloh and Ian were making a beeline for the exit that led straight to the mall parking lot. Even if they got out, it wouldn't do them much good—George had disabled their car's engine. But I doubted they were going to get out the door. Especially because they were about to walk right past the cosmetics counter.

“Hi!” yelled Bess, way too loudly, as she emerged
from behind the counter. Shiloh nearly screamed. Ian flinched. Bess smiled.

“Can I interest you in our latest fragrance? It's called Stolen.”

Both Ian and Shiloh opened their mouths to say something, but before they could respond, Bess had sprayed them with perfume. From this angle, it looked as though it had gone right in their faces.

Ian inhaled sharply, and started coughing and hacking. Shiloh was frantically rubbing her eyes with her fists. Tears were streaming down their cheeks. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“I am
so
sorry,” said Bess in her sweetest, fakest voice. “Here, let me help you with those.”

Bess reached out to take one of the shopping bags from Ian.

“No!” he barked, setting off a fresh round of coughing. He pulled away from Bess. “We're fine.”

Still unable to breathe properly, Ian and Shiloh power walked away from Bess. They were desperate now. They knew something was up.

“
Aaand
it's your turn, George,” I said into my name tag mic.

I could see the hope in Shiloh's and Ian's faces as they neared the exit. It almost looked like they were going to get out. Almost.

George stepped in front of the exit, dressed in a one
piece janitor's uniform. Behind her, she pulled a mop and bucket. Whistling, she ran the mop over the tiled floor in a few quick strokes.