Bonfire Masquerade

  BONFIRE MASQUERADE

  NANCY DREW

  girl detective®

  #1 Without a Trace

  #2 A Race Against Time

  #3 False Notes

  #4 High Risk

  #5 Lights, Camera …

  #6 Action!

  #7 The Stolen Relic

  #8 The Scarlet Macaw Scandal

  #9 Secret of the Spa

  #10 Uncivil Acts

  #11 Riverboat Ruse

  #12 Stop the Clock

  #13 Trade Wind Danger

  #14 Bad Times, Big Crimes

  #15 Framed

  #16 Dangerous Plays

  #17 En Garde

  #18 Pit of Vipers

  #19 The Orchid Thief

  #20 Getting Burned

  #21 Close Encounters

  #22 Dressed to Steal

  #23 Troubled Waters

  #24 Murder on the Set

  #25 Trails of Treachery

  #26 Fishing for Clues

  #27 Intruder

  #28 Mardi Gras Masquerade

  #29 The Stolen Bones

  #30 Pagent Perfect Crime

  #31 Perfect Cover

  #32 Perfect Escape

  #33 Secret Identity

  #34 Identity Theft

  #35 Identity Revealed

  #36 Model Crime

  #37 Model Menace

  #38 Model Suspect

  #39 Green-Eyed Monster

  #40 Green with Envy

  #41 Seeing Green

  #42 Secret Sabotage

  #43 Serial Sabotage

  #44 Sabotage Surrender

  #45 California Schemin’

  THE HARDY BOYS

  UNDERCOVER BROTHERS®

  #1 Extreme Danger

  #2 Running on Fumes

  #3 Boardwalk Bust

  #4 Thrill Ride

  #5 Rocky Road

  #6 Burned

  #7 Operation: Survival

  #8 Top Ten Ways to Die

  #9 Martial Law

  #10 Blown Away

  #11 Hurricane Joe

  #12 Trouble in Paradise

  #13 The Mummy’s Curse

  #14 Hazed

  #15 Death and Diamonds

  #16 Bayport Buccaneers

  #17 Murder at the Mall

  #18 Pushed

  #19 Foul Play

  #20 Feeding Frenzy

  #21 Comic Con Artist

  Super Mystery #1: Wanted

  Super Mystery #2: Kidnapped at the Casino

  #22 Deprivation House

  #23 House Arrest

  Haunted: Special Ghost Stories Edition

  #24 Murder House

  #25 Double Trouble

  #26 Double Down

  #27 Double Deception

  Super Mystery #3: Club Dread

  #28 Galaxy X

  #29 X-plosion!

  #30 The X-Factor

  #31 Killer Mission

  #32 Private Killer

  #33 Killer Connections

  #34 The Children of the Lost

  Super Mystery #4: Gold Medal Murder

  #35 Lost Brother

  #36 Forever Lost

  #37 Movie Menace

  Available from Aladdin

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Aladdin paperback edition July 2011

  Copyright © 2011 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  NANCY DREW and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  NANCY DREW: GIRL DETECTIVE is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERY STORIES is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  HARDY BOYS UNDERCOVER BROTHERS and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.

  For more information or to book an event contact the

  Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Designed by Sammy Yuen Jr.

  The text of this book was set in Meridien.

  Manufactured in the United States of America 0611 OFF

  2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

  Library of Congress Control Number 2010937926

  ISBN 978-1-4424-0328-4

  ISBN 978-1-4424-0329-1 (eBook)

  CONTENTS

  1 Shop Till You Drop

  2 A Quick Study

  3 It’s My Party and I’ll Die If I Want To

  4 Strike One

  5 Ghost Tour

  6 Wrong Side of the Tracks

  7 The Fire Spreads

  8 Real Party Killers

  9 Madame Leveaux Knows All

  10 The Case Heats Up!

  11 Hot Pursuit

  12 A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

  13 Knocking the Case Out

  14 Murdered? Or Murderer?

  15 This Party Is the Bomb

  16 To the Res-Krewe!

  17 All Dressed Up and Ready to Blow!

  18 Crashing the Party

  CHAPTER 1

  NANCY SHOP TILL YOU DROP

  I watched as the couple drew closer and closer to my position. They were smooth, I had to give them that. They were young and beautiful and well-dressed. They were chatting and laughing as they walked, carrying big shopping bags. They had no idea what they were in for.

  This was going to be fun.

  “Hi!” I said loudly as I leaped out in front of them. “Can I help you with anything?”

  They both jumped a little. I was standing way too close to them, and they stepped backward. The smile on my face grew even wider.

  “No thank you, uhh …” The woman leaned forward to read my name tag. “Nancy. No thank you, Nancy. I think we’re good.”

  She took the man’s hand. They smiled at me, clearly expecting me to move out of their way. I stayed right where I was. After an awkward moment, they tried to go around me. At the last minute, I stepped in front of them again.

  “Are you sure?” I asked in my perkiest voice. “I think this dress would look really great on you.”

  I held up a sky blue silk dress. It was actually my favorite thing in the store—blue being my favorite color. The skirt was delicately ruched, and the neckline was trimmed in beautiful lace. It would have looked great on anyone.

  The woman smiled at me again, although this time, it seemed a little forced.

  “No. Thank you.”

  Her voice was still upbeat, but it was cold and steely now too. It was hard for me to keep from laughing.

  “What about these?” I pulled a pair of men’s oxblood leather shoes from off a nearby counter. “Sir?”

  “Not interested,” he said. He didn’t even bother looking at them. He ran a nervous hand through his hair. “We’re just browsing. And actually, I think the money is about to run out on our meter, and we need to be leaving. Right, honey?”

  The woman nodded, and they slipped past me. Now they were moving at a quicker pace. They’d stopped laughing. The chase was on.

  I tugged at the collar of my salesgirl uniform and pulled the name t
ag closer to my mouth.

  “Bess,” I whispered. “They’re headed your way. They’re spooked. Have fun!”

  I counted to five and then walked slowly after the couple, hiding behind racks of clothes but keeping them in sight as they made their way through the store. Everything and More was River Heights’s biggest, fanciest, and most expensive department store. On any given day, it had hundreds of shoppers. And today, it had two very special visitors: Shiloh and Ian Frommer, the brother-and-sister shoplifting team that had been on a two-year, multistate shoplifting spree. They often impersonated a soon-to-be-married couple, looking for things for their registry, which was the story they’d given Everything and More. It’d been estimated they’d stolen over two million dollars’ worth of merchandise.

  And all of that was about to end, right here, right now.

  Shiloh and Ian were making a beeline for the exit that led straight to the mall parking lot. Even if they got out, it wouldn’t do them much good—George had disabled their car’s engine. But I doubted they were going to get out the door. Especially because they were about to walk right past the cosmetics counter.

  “Hi!” yelled Bess, way too loudly, as she emerged from behind the counter. Shiloh nearly screamed. Ian flinched. Bess smiled.

  “Can I interest you in our latest fragrance? It’s called Stolen.”

  Both Ian and Shiloh opened their mouths to say something, but before they could respond, Bess had sprayed them with perfume. From this angle, it looked as though it had gone right in their faces.

  Ian inhaled sharply, and started coughing and hacking. Shiloh was frantically rubbing her eyes with her fists. Tears were streaming down their cheeks. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

  “I am so sorry,” said Bess in her sweetest, fakest voice. “Here, let me help you with those.”

  Bess reached out to take one of the shopping bags from Ian.

  “No!” he barked, setting off a fresh round of coughing. He pulled away from Bess. “We’re fine.”

  Still unable to breathe properly, Ian and Shiloh power walked away from Bess. They were desperate now. They knew something was up.

  “Aaand it’s your turn, George,” I said into my name tag mic.

  I could see the hope in Shiloh’s and Ian’s faces as they neared the exit. It almost looked like they were going to get out. Almost.

  George stepped in front of the exit, dressed in a one piece janitor’s uniform. Behind her, she pulled a mop and bucket. Whistling, she ran the mop over the tiled floor in a few quick strokes.

  “Out of our way!” hissed Ian. George stepped aside politely, and Ian and Shiloh stomped right past her. Or at least, they tried to. Ian’s feet flew out from underneath him, just like a cartoon character stepping on a banana. Shiloh slid and skidded, her arms windmilling, bags flying everywhere.

  BAM!

  She went down like a ton of bricks. They tried to get up, but neither could gain any traction. Ian began crawling away. The automatic doors opened in front of him. It looked like he was going to get away.

  “I don’t think so,” said George. She pushed a button on her lapel mic, and the doors slammed shut.

  “What is this?” said Shiloh, lifting her hand off the floor. Something shimmered on her palm. Suddenly her other hand shot out from beneath her, and her head hit the floor.

  “Oops,” said George. “Did I fill my bucket with oil instead of water? My bad!” She laughed.

  I walked over and looked down at Shiloh and Ian trying to get up.

  “Here,” I said. “Let us help you.”

  Bess, George, and I began picking up the bags, as well as the many stolen items that had gone flying out of them when Shiloh and Ian fell. I found six MP3 players, a dozen necklaces, three expensive suede wallets, two watches—and the very same dress I had recommended!

  “My, my, my,” said Bess. “Quite the shopping spree you two have been on.” She was holding up two purses, full of other people’s stuff. Looked like they’d been practicing a little pickpocketing to go with their shoplifting.

  “All right, Chief, we’ve got them with the merchandise,” I said, leaning into my name tag microphone. Chief McGinnis was waiting for my word to send in his men.

  I looked down at Shiloh and Ian, then put my hand to my chin, considering.

  “You know, I have something else that I think might look great on both of you.” I pulled out two pairs of handcuffs and snapped them on their wrists. “And look, they’re a perfect fit!”

  Bess laughed. She picked up the dress I’d shown the couple earlier. She held it against me and looked appraisingly.

  “This would look great on you,” she said. “You think they’ll let us keep some stuff as a reward for a job well done?”

  George and I both laughed. Bess had an eye for clothes that we could appreciate, but didn’t always share.

  I saw flashing blue and red lights and heard an approaching police siren. Chief McGinnis and his men were always great to have around once George, Bess, and I had solved the real problems. Before that, they usually just got in the way.

  “Are these our shoplifters?” Chief McGinnis asked. “Yup,” I said. “We even gift wrapped them for you.” I pointed to the handcuffs.

  “Well done, girls!” “Thanks, Chief,” said Bess. She held up the dress. “Now I’ve got one little question for you… .”

  Once everything was squared away with Chief McGinnis (Bess got the dress), we all hopped in my car and headed back to my place.

  “Let’s get some sushi!” said George as we drove. Crime fighting is hungry work, and Taste of Tokyo was right on the way. After loading up on sushi, sashimi, and miso soup, we finally made it back to my house and set up camp in the living room to talk over the details of the case.

  “George, those mics were awesome!” I said. I’ve always admired George’s tech skills.

  “Yeah!” agreed Bess. “And when you remote-controlled the automatic doors closed? Priceless!” She leaped up and did a great impression of Ian Frommer slipping in the oil.

  “Hello!” Dad’s voice came from his office. I’d heard him on the phone when we came in. His voice was quiet and clipped, the way it was when he was working on a serious case.

  “Sorry, Dad! Are we being too loud?”

  “No, no. It sounds like things went well?”

  “Yeah, Mr. Drew,” said George. “Nancy’s plan worked perfectly. Got them both, red-handed, stolen merchandise in their bags.”

  Dad laughed to himself. Sometimes my cases made him worry, but I knew he was proud of the work that I did.

  “Look, Nancy, I’ve got an important case coming up. Do you remember my friend Daniel Brumfield?”

  “Maybe. The name sounds familiar.”

  “He’s a friend of mine from college, lives down in New Orleans. You met him a long time ago. Anyway, he just called me and said he needs some help. A warehouse of his was burned down, and on top of figuring out who did it, and going through the insurance paperwork, he’s having a hard time deciding whether or not to sell the property.”

  A mysterious fire? My Spidey sense was tingling already.

  Dad ran his hand through his hair. “And Hannah asked for the week off, since it’s her birthday. And I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you here alone—who knows what kind of trouble you might get into.”

  Normally I’d bristle at that remark, but I already had an idea of what kind of trouble I was going to be getting into in New Orleans, and I was looking forward to it.

  “Plus, it’s Mardi Gras, so I trust you’ll have a way to amuse yourself.”

  “Ahem.” Bess stood up. Her face was very serious. “Mr. Drew, I know that you would never presume to ask George and me for such a big favor, but I want you to know that we are coming with you. To keep Nancy occupied, of course, so you can get your work done.”

  Dad’s lips twitched into a smile. He opened his mouth, but Bess held up her hand.

  “No, Mr. Drew, no need
to thank us. It’s simply our duty, as Nancy’s friends.”

  “Well, I appreciate the sacrifice, girls. You really are the best.” He reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out some folded papers. “I already bought you both tickets. Here are the itineraries.”

  “Woo-hoo!” George and Bess whooped at the same time.

  “Mardi Gras, here we come!” I yelled.

  CHAPTER 2

  FRANK A QUICK STUDY

  For what values of x is the function

  g(x) = (sin(x^{20}+5))^{1/3} continuous?

  I read the problem over twice. Then a third time. I was pretty sure it was a calculus problem—mostly because it was in my calculus textbook. Aside from that, I was totally lost.

  Joe and I had been on back-to-back ATAC missions for over a month now. I was so far behind in my homework, I was barely ahead of the rest of the class anymore. I stretched my legs, trying to bring some feeling back into them. I’d been sitting on a chilly Parisian park bench for over an hour, and I was all pins and needles.

  “Hey, Frank.” Joe’s voice crackled in my earpiece.

  I looked down and half covered my mouth. Though the street was mostly deserted, I didn’t want anyone to see me talking into empty space.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “You’re doing homework, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” I whispered guiltily. “I’ve got a lot to catch up on. Why does it matter?”

  “Well, because unless I’m mistaken, Sara Schulenberg just crept out of the windows you were supposed to be watching!”

  I slammed my textbook shut and grabbed the night-vision binoculars from my bag. They’d pretty much blow my cover to anyone watching, but if Joe was right, it was too late to worry about that now.

  I counted the windows—six up, four over. The lights were still on in Sara’s hotel room. And Joe was totally wrong. Sara was standing right there, to the side of the second window, mostly hidden by the curtains … exactly where she was last time I looked, ten minutes ago!

  I focused the binoculars more tightly. The figure was so still. Too still. It wasn’t Sara, it was a mannequin. I’d been tricked.

  “I—uhhh—I have a big test next week,” I told Joe, trying to explain how I’d missed her. “But I undid the alarms on both her cars, and her motorcycle. And I deactivated the bombs she placed as booby traps at the entrance to the hotel garage. She won’t get far.”