drew

"You're Not Nancy Drew"
By Jennifer Joy Arend

         It was midnight in Las Vegas, but you would never know it. Neon lights and flashing signs dazzled on streets still crowded with tourists, gamblers, and clubbers. The city never slept.
         Downtown, Las Vegas City Savings & Loan was being robbed, but no one realized it. The man fumbling with the security system was obscure in his black suit, and people didn't slow down long enough to peek into the shadows that hid him from their casual glances. This was all for the better. If someone were to find out about what he was doing, he might have to take drastic measures. The
thought startled him because he was not a heartless man. He was only a desperate one.
         Finally, he heard the buzzing of the system and a light flashed. The doors were open. He entered feeling calmer than he had expected. In a rush (although there really wasn't any more danger of getting caught), he opened the main safe and took as much money as he could fit in his pockets.
         The next day, the bank managers were frantic. How could this have happened? How did the thief get past the security system? If he had not known the code, he would have only had three guesses before a silent alarm would have alerted the police. Was he just a good guesser, or did he know the code? And if he did--------how?
         Sherrie Regard's mother was a clerk at the bank. When she got home from work that evening she was sullen, and began railing on to her husband about the missing money.
         "There's about $100,000 gone, and no one can justify where it went or how it could have been stolen," Sherrie overheard. "And if we don't find the money soon we'd better just pray that our insurance comes through or this could be an insufferable loss."
         Sherrie was 15 years old, and not at all interested in banking affairs. But, she loved mysteries and this sounded almost like one of her "Nancy Drew" novels. Her mother told her she was much too old for such things, but Sherrie did not agree.
         "Mom," Sherrie interrupted. "Can I go with you to work tomorrow? I'm off school, and I'd like to do some research on the computers."
         Sherrie often used the bank computers to surf the net. In most cases though, she wasn't doing research. The bank had the computers hooked up to the internet for online transactions, but when Sherrie was there all that could be heard from the computer room was the endless pounding of keys as Sherrie talked to sometimes a dozen or so pen pals through instant messenger.
         Although asking to use the bank computers was a common request, Sherrie's mom was as not easily fooled.
         "Sherrie, you can ride with me to work tomorrow, but please restrain yourself from getting involved in the mystery of the missing money. I know you think your detective instincts are acute, but darling this is not a mystery novel, and you're not Nancy Drew."
         Sherrie sighed and nodded her head. She climbed the steps to her room feeling tears come to her eyes. Her mother's interminable onslaught on her obsession with mysteries was really starting to get to her.
         Well I'll show her, she thought. She dried her tears on her pillow case and reached for the book she had been reading. Soon she was lost in the book, solving the mystery alongside Nancy Drew. She even knew who the criminal was before Nancy did. After she crawled into her bed that night, she thought long about the missing money. Suddenly she had a plan.
         The next day, Sherrie went with her mother to the bank and was taken straight to the computer room. Well, actually it was only a little office with three computers, but most bankers did internet transactions from their desks. These were just in case the other computers were down.
         For a while, Sherrie chatted and ineffectually searched for a Nancy Drew website. Then, when she knew it was 3:00, the busiest time of day, she crept out of the room unnoticed, and began to search for clues. She had no idea what she was looking for, but she figured that no detective knew what to look for right away.
        Either her detective instincts were in fact acute, or fate was on her side that day. Sherrie gasped when she saw a gold cufflink glistening in the sunlight below one of the front windows. A hand reached for her's as she reached for the cufflink.
         "Thank-you Miss! I've been looking for that cufflink all morning!" A bright smiling teller took the cufflink from her hand and walked away. With a disappointed sigh, Sherrie went back to looking for clues.
         She'd been searching for about an hour before she came to the door of the bank president's office. She stopped to eavesdrop, and put her ear to the door.
         "Mr. Brinton, I'm very sorry. I thought this was one of my cufflinks. I had lost one, but I found it on the floor by my window. It must be yours. These are your initials engraved here. I have no idea how I could have thought it was mine," Sherrie heard the teller say.
         That would explain why the security system didn't go off. The president would know the code------of course! In her excitement, Sherrie ran from the door of the office to her mother's desk among the clerks.
         "Mom, I know who the thief is!" She shouted excitedly.
         With a frown, Mrs. Regard put a finger to her lips to silence her.
         "Sherrie, I don't have time for games right now. Go and finish your research."
         Sherrie opened her mouth to explain, but no words came out. Her mother had gone back to her work, and it was a lost cause.
         Still, when Sherrie heard one of the managers talking about the insurance, she knew she could be the bank's last resort.
         So, Sherrie went wondering again, determined to get her hands back on that cufflink. It was almost closing time now. She would have to hurry. She went up to the smiling teller's window uncertain of exactly what she planned to do.
         "Hello...um...could I perhaps see one of your cufflinks, sir?" She asked.
         The teller's smile faded, and his face was flushed.
         "Why?" He inquired.
         "Well," she answered innocently. "My dad's birthday is coming up in a few days, and I was thinking of buying him cufflinks, but I don't know what kind or anything. Could I see yours?"
         The teller looked relieved, and Sherrie wondered if he was really that stupid or if he just wanted to believe her.
         "Ok."
         He handed her both cufflinks. Sherrie studied them carefully, and noted the initials. She also noticed the letters L.V.C.B.P. What did that stand for? Oh well it's probably nothing, she thought.
         "J.B.," she stated pointing to the initials. "What's your name?" She asked.
         "Joseph Bradford," he answered.
         She handed the cufflinks back to the teller, and hurried down to the president's office. It wouldn't be easy asking the president to see his cufflinks, but she was sure going to try.
         Surprisingly, Mr. Brinton welcomed Sherrie into his office.
         "I've been wanting to ask you if you had some spare time to maybe teach me about the internet." He chuckled. "But I haven't had the time today to ask you. I'm delighted that you stopped by, Miss Regard."
         Sherrie smiled. "I'd be glad to."
         She pretending to be just noticing his cufflinks.
         "Oh, Mr. Brinton, may I see your cufflinks?" She gave him the same excuse about a gift for her father, and he handed them to her.
         The initials were the same, and only one of the cufflinks had the letters L.V.C.B.P. just like the teller's. Sherrie cried out in surprise.
         "What's the matter?" Mr. Brinton looked concerned.
         "Those are the same initials as one of your tellers," she explained quickly. He still looked puzzled at this as he showed her out.
         Sherrie sat down on a bench outside of the president's office. She considered the facts in her head.
         The teller saw me pick up the cuff-link. He told me it was his. Then I heard him give it to Mr. Brinton. The letters were L.V.C.B.P. on just one of the cufflinks of each pair. What could that stand for? Las Vegas City......BANK PRESIDENT! I bet the teller is trying to frame Mr. Brinton! He has Mr. Brinton's true cuff-link which he could say that he found and show it to the police. It makes perfect sense. It was the teller! But now what?
         Sherrie didn't think for long, and that was good because time was running out. The plan was simple. She would simply tell Mr. Brinton to take a good look at his cufflinks.
         She went back to his office, saying that it was important. Just then her mother came running towards her.
         "Sherrie, Mr. Brinton does not need to be bothered right now! The police are here to arrest him!"
         So, the teller had wasted no time. Sherrie forced her way into Mr. Brinton's office and told him what to look for on his cufflinks. He looked even more confused, and as quickly as she could, Sherrie explained.
         Sherrie also explained things to the police, and she was surprised that they listened to her------a detective wannabe! But, they did.
         When the teller was questioned, he was so nervous that he confessed to everything. When he was arrested, Sherrie's mother had only her designing daughter to thank.
         "Sherrie, if you hadn't finagled your way into the bank today, no one would have ever known the truth." "Thank-you." She paused then added, "Nancy Drew."
         Sherrie smiled as she climbed the steps to her room once again, thinking maybe it was time to write her own mystery novel.

You're Not Nancy Drew 2001 © Jennifer Joy Arend

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