010 Buried Secrets Read Free

“Everybody was running.”
    “You said it,” he agreed. “Well, we’ll keep on it, check the gun registrations. Maybe something’ll turn up. Anyway, at least we don’t have a dead body on our hands, thanks to you.”
    Nancy smiled and turned to Todd Harrington. Except for a tear in one knee of his pants, he looked fine. He didn’t look happy, though, and Nancy didn’t blame him. He’d just been shot at, and Brenda was still at his side, hounding him with more questions.
    A man had just moved up to his other side. And as Nancy crossed in closer, she heard him say, “As assistant to the mayor of River Heights, I want to assure you, Mr. Harrington, that the mayor’s office will do everything it can to help find the person who shot at you.”
    “Thanks, I appreciate it,” Todd Harrington said, wrapping a handkerchief around his scraped hand.
    “Mayor Abbott is outraged,” the assistant went on, “that such a thing could happen in his peaceful town, and—”
    “But why do you suppose it happened?” Brenda broke in. “Mr. Harrington, could it possibly have anything to do with the death of your father?”
    “I’m sure it doesn’t,” Harrington said. He glanced around, obviously hoping that someone would rescue him from Brenda. When he saw Nancy, his eyes lit up. “Excuse me,” he said, stepping away from the other two.
    When Todd Harrington reached Nancy, he stopped and held out his hand. “I have to admit that when you first leaped on me, I was ready to have you arrested,” he said with a smile. “But now all I want to do is thank you. You can knock me off a platform anytime.”
    Laughing, Nancy shook his hand. “Thanks,” she said. “Let’s hope I never have to do it again.”
    “Well, well,” Brenda said, walking over to them. “If it isn’t Nancy Drew, the heroine of the day.”
    “Nancy Drew?” Todd asked. “Is that your name?”
    Nancy nodded.
    “Good,” he said. “Now all I need is your address. I’d like to send you a little something.”
    Nancy started to say he didn’t need to, but Brenda broke in again. “Oh, you don’t need an address, Mr. Harrington!” she said sarcastically. “Just write ‘Nancy Drew, U.S.A.’ I mean, everyone knows who Nancy Drew is.”
    “Everyone but me, I’m afraid,” Todd admitted.
    “Are you serious?” Brenda gave Nancy a slywink. “Why, Mr. Harrington, Nancy Drew is River Heights’s famous girl detective. Isn’t that right, Nancy?”
    Nancy bit her lip to keep from saying something nasty, but Todd Harrington seemed impressed. “A detective?” he said.
    “Amateur,” Brenda pointed out quickly.
    “No kidding!” Todd went on, ignoring Brenda. “Well, who knows? Maybe you’ll help find whoever took a shot at me.”
    “I’ll try,” Nancy said with a laugh. “I can’t resist a good mystery.”
    “I think you should let the police handle it,” Brenda told her. “But if you want to solve a mystery, there’s an even better one to work on—the strange death of John Harrington.”
    “Miss Carlton, I hate to be rude, but I wish you’d drop that subject,” Todd Harrington said. “If there was anything strange about my father’s death, I’m sure the police would have found it. It’s past. It’s over. Now, please leave it alone!” With a nod to Nancy, he walked off toward the van.
    “Honestly, Brenda,” Nancy said. “Why don’t you just drop it? You’ve gotten a wonderful story today.”
    “Because it’s so interesting,” Brenda retorted. “I mean, look at the facts. The body of John Harrington was found at the bottom of the cliffsoutside his family mansion. There was no suicide note. The man was just about to be elected governor of the state. He was also just about to become a father—Todd’s father. You don’t kill yourself when you’re on top of the world.”
    “Maybe it was an accident,” Nancy said. “Maybe he slipped and fell.”
    “You don’t slip and fall out of a tower window,” Brenda