Stop the Clock (Nancy Drew (All New) Girl Detective Book 12) by Carolyn Keene

later. That way, Ned and I could go together to Chief McGinnis’s office.
    “That’d be great,” Bess said. “That’ll give me a chance to take a look under the hood. On the way over here, I heard a pinging noise, and it has me concerned.”
    “Well, just make sure it’s put back together before I need it again,” I said.
    Bess held up her hands. “Have I ever failed you before?” she said.
    I grinned. “No, never,” I agreed.
    After Bess and George left, I suddenly remembered that I needed to address some envelopes to children’s writers in the area. I had pulled their addresses off the Internet, and I planned to send them fliers about the celebration, with a note asking them if they’d like to attend as a special guest of the Mahoney Library.
    “Sorry, Ned,” I said.
    “No problem, Nancy. I’ll just look around at the different collections,” Ned said. “This place has always fascinated me.”
    It didn’t take me long to get through the addressing, and I collected Ned. As we were pulling out of the library parking lot, I saw Deirdre getting into her car. Where had she been?
    When we got to police headquarters, we found Chief McGinnis in the snack room, his mouth full of jelly doughnut. He held up a box with only one left. “Want it?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “I never, never take a person’s last doughnut, Chief,” I said. “It’s a creed I live by!”
    Well, that joke totally went over his head. I could tell that Ned was trying not to laugh—whether at the chief or the joke, I wasn’t sure.
    Chief McGinnis wiped the sugar off his face with the back of his hand, and said, “If you want information about the library clock theft, then I have to—”
    I shook my head. “No, no,” I said, interrupting him. “I’m here to fill you in on what I know so far.”
    Chief McGinnis stood up quickly. “Oh, well, that’s a different story altogether,” he said. “Come on down to my office, and you can tell me what you’ve found out, so . . .” He stopped. I was sure he had suddenly realized that he was looking way too eager to get information on the case, so he redirected his sentence with, “Well, it’s probably stuff we already know.”
    “I know, I know, it probably is,” I said, humoring him.
    When we finally got to Chief McGinnis’s office, Ned and I sat in the two chairs in front of his desk. Chief McGinnis turned on a tape recorder, gave the date and the time, then said, “Please state your name and address.”
    I went along with the charade. We’ve been doing this for years: I get recorded, he takes the credit!
    “Now, Ms. Drew, please tell me what information you have that relates to the theft of the library clock,” Chief McGinnis said.
    At that moment I had a thought. I decided only to tell Chief McGinnis my suspicions about Ralph Mullins—how I thought he might have stolen the clock himself so he could sell it. “He’s a locksmith at the university,” I said. “He could have figured outa way to get into the library when nobody was inside.”
    When I finished talking about Ralph Mullins, I stopped. Chief McGinnis looked at me for several seconds, but he didn’t stop the tape recorder. “Go on,” he finally said.
    “That’s it,” I said.
    I knew Ned wouldn’t prod me to add anything about Willy Franklin. I had decided that it might be better if I just presented Chief McGinnis one suspect at a time, and right now, Ralph Mullins seemed a stronger suspect than Willy Franklin.
    Chief McGinnis narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you sure?” he said.
    “Yes, I’m sure,” I told him. “What’s wrong? Don’t you think this is good information?”
    “Now really,” Chief McGinnis said. “Ralph Mullins is one of our suspects too. He’s had several run-ins with the law, so naturally he was at the top of my list. In fact, we have a tail on him. We know his every move.”
    I shrugged. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll keep digging too, and maybe I can come up with