Read Online 004 Smile and Say Murder by Carolyn Keene - Free Book Online Page A

kneeling by the couch next to Yvonne, holding her hand. Sondra was standing in the back, looking terrified. Ned was there, too, with Scott, Leslie, and a few other interns and staff members. But where was Mick? The art director was nowhere in sight!
    The prime suspect was looking more guilty every minute. And if Mick really had shot at Yvonne, that would explain the bad aim and the bad choice of a weapon. As far as Nancy knew, Mick was just an amateur with a grudge.
    All at once Nancy realized she could no longer point the finger at anyone other than Mick. The funny thing was, she didn’t want himto be the murderer. She would have much preferred that creepy, bad-tempered David be the guilty one. But there was David, with a perfect alibi, while Mick wasn’t even around to defend himself.
    Nancy dropped into a hardbacked chair by the door to Yvonne’s office. She felt overwhelmed. She’d never completely believed Mick was capable of masterminding the threats until just that moment. The art director had only one chance left at that point—to come into the Flash offices with an airtight alibi.
    Slowly people began drifting out of Yvonne’s office. Nancy stayed and talked to Yvonne, trying to get a better description of the masked intruder. How tall was he? Thin or heavyset? Was there anything distinctive about him? But Yvonne’s responses were too vague to help.
    However, very shortly three police officers showed up—a tall man who introduced himself as Detective Graham, a tough red-haired woman called Officer Bellows, and a refrigerator-sized man named Officer O’Hara who didn’t say much, but was very intimidating nonetheless.
    Detective Graham and Officer Bellows questioned several staff members. Yvonne had to describe the incident again.
    Then Detective Graham took some pictures of Yvonne’s office and dug the bullet out of her wall to keep as evidence. After that he went back to the precinct, leaving Officers Bellows and O’Hara behind to keep an eye out for anysuspicious activity. Yvonne got ready to leave, too, and David offered to take her home in a taxi. No one in the office seemed ready to do much work. The incident was too bizarre to brush off.
    An hour later, Mick sauntered into the office, a camera slung around his neck. “Hey, where’ve you been?” Leslie called to him. “You missed all the excitement here.”
    “What’s going on?” Mick asked.
    “Just a little murder attempt,” Scott replied. “Someone tried to shoot Yvonne! We’ve got no idea who.”
    Nancy said nothing. She had a couple of ideas who, she thought, scrutinizing Mick’s face. He was certainly an amazing actor. He really did seem shocked as Leslie described the whole incident.
    “You’ve got to be out of your minds,” Mick exclaimed. “All this happened while I was out?” He looked completely amazed.
    “What have you been doing?” Nancy asked casually.
    “Shooting photographs on the street.”
    Shooting photographs on the street? Nancy thought. Then he probably has no alibi. No one could vouch for his exact whereabouts at the time of the shooting.
    All at once, Mick’s serious expression softened into a grin. “Okay, guys, it was a good joke. I admit, I almost believed this insane story. Which one of you crazy geniuses thought it up? You actually fooled the Practical JokeKing!” Mick looked from face to face, but he was the only one laughing. Finally he said, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
    “You can see the bullet hole in the wall if you want proof,” Scott said. He stepped out from behind the reception desk. Mick followed him to Yvonne’s office.
    Nancy definitely didn’t want to miss Mick’s reaction to the sight of the bullet hole, so she followed Scott and Mick. It was a good thing, too, because as she stepped into the hall she heard someone walk into the reception area. “Hi, Brenda. Has anyone told you the big news?” Leslie said.
    Great, Nancy thought. Brenda Carlton was not exactly what she