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never saw the Casabian sisters again, it would be fine with you?”
    Silence.
    Why was the chief asking us that?
    “You mean . . . when Ned was interviewing us for the Bugle ,” I said slowly.
    “I said that to Ned,” George said. “I was only kidding.”
    “How did Deirdre know about that?” I asked.
    “Ned told Deirdre, apparently,” Chief McGinnis said. “He thought it was funny, but Deirdre did not.”
    While the chief was focused on his notes, I caught my friends’ eyes. What was going on?
    “Nancy,” Chief McGinnis said, looking up. “You saw your boyfriend Ned kayaking with Mia Casabian a few days ago. How did that make you feel?”
    Now I was really confused. Shouldn’t the chief be asking questions about the sisters? Or about any suspicious characters we might have seen? But I wasn’t about to argue with the chief of police.
    “I was upset,” I said, still confused. “He’s my boyfriend.”
    Chief McGinnis looked from me to Bess to George.
    “Isn’t it also true that a certain Camp Athena scheduled you girls to speak, but then you were replaced with the Casabian sisters?” he continued.
    “What does that have to do with—” George started to say before Bess spoke up.
    “That’s right,” Bess said. “Amy decided to ask the sisters instead of us.”
    “How did that make you feel?” Chief McGinnis asked. “Angry? Jealous?”
    Okay. Now I thought I knew what this was all about.
    “Excuse, me, Chief McGinnis,” I said. “Are you implying we have something to do with the Casabian sisters’ disappearance?”
    “I’m only following through on some concerns Ms. Shannon had,” Chief McGinnis said, nodding down at his notes.
    “Don’t tell me we’re suspects!” Bess exclaimed.
    “I prefer to use the term ‘persons of interest’ right now,” Chief McGinnis said.
    “Oh, man.” George groaned under her breath.
    I was too stunned to speak. I’d always known that Chief McGinnis didn’t like me and my friends to take on the same cases he was working on—but to believe Deirdre over us? Unreal!
    “We had nothing to do with the disappearance of the Casabian sisters,” I blurted. “Nevertheless, we refuse to answer any more questions without the presence of my dad—I mean, our lawyer.”
    “I’m only doing my job, girls,” Chief McGinnis said, shutting his writing pad. “That’s enough for today.”
    For today? Did the chief mean there was more questioning to come? The thought made me sick.
    “You didn’t tell him about your brakes, Nancy,” Bess said on our way out of the police station. “Or the strange guy in your driveway.”
    “Why bother?” I scoffed. “Thanks to Deirdre, Chief McGinnis isn’t exactly on our side.”
    “Oh, but he’s just doing his job,” George said sarcastically. “Give me a break.”
    “Well, it’s time we did our job,” I said. “We have to find out what happened to Mandy, Mallory, and Mia—to save them and ourselves .”

 

CHILLING ENCOUNTER
    “Y ou were right not to answer any more questions without a lawyer present,” Dad said.
    I nodded, not feeling much better. It was only a few hours after our “interrogation.” Bess, George, and I sat in my living room while Dad advised us on what to do next.
    It was handy having a lawyer for a dad, but I still wished we didn’t need one.
    “What do you think will happen, Mr. Drew? How serious is this?” Bess asked, wringing the fringe on a sofa pillow nervously.
    Dad said calmly, “I don’t think Deirdre’s word is enough to get you into trouble, but I will defend you should this go any further.”
    “Thanks, Dad,” I said.
    “I can’t believe this is happening, Mr. Drew,” George said. “We bust crimes, we don’t commit them.”
    “Of course,” Dad said. “To be on the safe side, I wouldn’t get involved with looking for the Casabian sisters right now.”
    I stared at my dad. He hardly ever discouraged us from working on any cases.
    “Why, Dad?” I asked.
    “You