Nancy Drew: Vandalism and Romance

Chapter 3

Nancy climbed into the cute car she owned and buckled her seatbelt like always. She was very safety conscious, and as she checked her mirrors she decided to pull down the sun visor mirror to check her hair. It was about shoulder length but pulled back into a ponytail with stray hairs in her face, she often thought of cutting it really short, something manageable and too short for a pony tail. When her hair was fixed she closed the visor and let her eyes look at the bird shaped air freshener hanging on the mirror; then at the stickers of flowers and such she had on her dashboard. She had the car since she was 16 and had been slowly decorating it and making it home. Finally the detective started up the car and drove onto the road.

Serendipity, it was a bit bigger of a shop that looked more modern than scoop. When Nancy parked out front she noticed more cars here. Being out of town often meant she never went to this store but it already seemed to be more popular than she knew.

Entering the store a bell went off and she noticed right away it was busy just like the parking implied. A line was at the counter and every table was full with people eating and chatting. As she gazed around the store she noticed two familiar people. Ned and Deidre. She studied them and noticed how Deidre grinned widely and Ned looked... bored. Soon she turned away and walked towards the line hoping to not be seen. However it was too late when she heard his voice.

"Nancy, you're back in town." He said getting up from the table and walking close to her with a tiny smile.

"Hey, yeah flew back in a few days ago." She told him as he stepped closer with open arms. When close enough she put her hands up near his chest to stop him with a faint shake of her head.

"I see... Well, how long will you be around?" he asked, sounding defeated.

"Not sure yet, depends when I'm needed to leave again I guess." she shrugged telling the truth.

"Ned you're on a date with me," Deidre hissed from her seat.

"I know sorry, I was just catching up." He told her before looking at Nancy. "Well good to see you, what are you doing here at Serendipity? I thought you liked scoop." he continued ignoring Deidre once again.

"I do, which is why I'm helping Toni. Scoop was vandalized last night." she said looking at the line get a bit shorter then looking to Deidre, she avoided looking at Ned too much.

"That's awful!"

"Yeah so sad oh well bye nancy!" Deidre snapped and Nancy smiled before nodding.

"Goodbye you two," she said, taking the out presented to her. She saw Ned wave a bit as she turned away with a soft sigh. That wasnt fun.

The line had only four people in it when she got to it officially, and thankfully it didnt take long for those four to be served. Soon it was her turn at the counter. The young woman taking orders had wide eyes and looked stressed.

"How can I help you today?" she asked.

"Hi, I'm looking for Jacob Crows."

"He's in his office uh.. let me get him," she rushed away to a door and disappeared for a moment. Soon she returned with a tall man with blonde hair and soft eyes. He smiled at Nancy as he approached her.

"How can I help you ma'am?" he asked with a smooth voice.

"I'm Nancy drew."

"Ah Nancy drew," he cut her off. "I've heard of you. Very famous in town, very keen." He complimented. "Can I get you anything?"

"Thank you, I'm actually here on business not to snack." She informed him. "May I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course. What about?" he asked.

"The recent vandalism at scoop. We have reason to put you on the list of Suspects." she told him, taking out her notebook.

"My, that is alarming. Let's go to my office, Miss Drew." He led the way to his back office, which was organized, small, and neat. Jacob sat on one side of the desk in his seat and Nancy sat on the other side ready to write.

"So Jacob, I hear you tried to buy out Toni many times?"

"Oh yes. See, it was always my dream to run an ice cream parlor. Ever since I visited my grandpa's. So when I moved here I wanted to start one. Well I found scoop and saw how good it was and just wanted to join. Of course Toni always said no, or was too busy. I thought after the last election she may change her mind but she still hasn't. So I opened this place up, with the help of some inheritance I turned this run down old cafe into an ice cream shop! " he beamed.

"And how is business?"

"Amazing! Ever since we got the waffle cone Chips to dip in our ice cream we got more popular! We put the dip in Serendipity after all!" He chuckled a bit. She nodded at him and moved on quickly.

"So, you would have no reason to say, run Toni out of town or vandalize her shop?"

"What? Did someone really vandalize scoop? I hoped you were kidding"

"Yes, a brick was thrown through the window with a note some time before this morning. A threatening note."

"Poor Toni. She may have told me no but I still hope for her success."

"So you weren't jealous? Or trying to win business?"

"Nancy, ice cream is a wonderful thing and I believe more than one place can sell it without competing."

"That isn't really an answer Mr crows." She pointed out.

"No. I did not vandalize scoop," his voice turned more harsh, "I respect Toni greatly and would never do that. Now if you'll excuse me I have paper work to do. Please try our ice cream on the way out, or don't. Either way please see yourself out!"