The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene

Emily, and Mrs. Willoughby hurried forward. They stared aghast at the spear in Nancy’s hand.
    “N-Nancy! You’ve been in danger!” Helen gasped.
    Nancy gave a wry smile. Just then John McBride, dressed in slacks and sports shirt, hurried toward the group.
    Before Nancy had a chance to question him, John exclaimed, “Fine thing, Nancy Drew! Standing me up to go skin diving!”
    “Standing you up?” Nancy retorted. “Where were you?”
    “In the apple orchard,” John replied. “Waiting for you, where I said I’d be.”
    Nancy shook her head. “There’s been a horrible mix-up. I’ll tell my story first.”
    When she had finished, John and the others expressed amazement and concern.
    “Nancy,” the young man said, “I didn’t phone any message to you. Someone else did, apparently to keep you from seeing me in the orchard.”
    “What’s all this about the orchard?” Nancy demanded.
    John reminded her that at eleven o’clock she had hailed him from the patio. “I had just returned after failing to find the missing tools. You were wearing the pink dress you had on the night before. You said you had something to discuss with me, and asked if I would meet you at twelve-thirty in the apple orchard. I said I’d be glad to.”
    “Why, I was in Benton at eleven o’clock!” Nancy exclaimed. “I wasn’t the girl you talked to!”
    John looked dumfounded. “But the girl sounded and looked exactly like you.” He added that he had taken a sandwich with him to the orchard, but left at one-thirty, deciding that Nancy had changed her mind.
    Emily caught her breath. “Oh, Nancy! It must have been the girl who is impersonating you!”
    John nodded somberly. “I’m afraid so. I sure was fooled. And someone wanted to get you away from here and even harm you, perhaps fatally!”
    Helen looked distressed, and Mrs. Willoughby wrung her hands. “We must report all this to the police immediately. No one at Lilac Inn is safe.”
    Emily, though concerned, still held back. “Please—not until Dick gets home tomorrow. In the meantime, Nancy may solve the mystery.”
    Her aunt reluctantly agreed. Nancy had been silent, trying to fit the various elements of the puzzle together. It was evident to her that her “twin” had firsthand knowledge as to where she and others at the inn would be at certain times. Nancy was certain the girl’s actions further indicated accomplices, and dangerous ones at that, judging from the spear thrower. Offhand, Nancy could not imagine anyone at the inn being involved in such scheming, not even Maud.
    “Has anything else been stolen?” she asked abruptly.
    “I haven’t heard of any losses,” Emily replied.
    “What’s the next move, Detective Drew?” Helen spoke up.
    “I’m not sure,” Nancy replied thoughtfully. “But I do agree, for the time being, it would be best not to have the police investigate either the river or the inn. Since our enemies apparently want me out of the way, it must mean they want to stay here. Let’s hope we can catch them before they decide to leave!”
    John changed the subject. “I’d like to investigate the place in the river where you saw that ‘shark,’ Nancy. Also, I’ll try to find out who used the inn’s canoe. See you later.”
    Nancy returned to her cottage. She put away the skin-diving gear and set the spear in the closet.
    “I’d better hang on to this for evidence, even though there probably aren’t any fingerprints on it except mine.”
    She took out her pink dress. It looked crisp and fresh.
    “My impersonator sure is a quick-change artist,” Nancy thought. “She must have let herself into the cottage while I was in Benton, and returned the dress while I was at lunch.
    “I’d better lock every window and put a padlock on the door,” she determined, selecting a green cotton dress to wear, “and also make some inquiries around here. Maybe someone saw a girl enter this cabin.”
    A newspaper Helen had bought that morning lay on