turned to Susan and said, “Do you have any idea who
that guy might have been? If it was a guy, that is. I'm
not a hundred percent sure.”
Susan shook her head. “No idea. I didn't see him.
Did you catch his hair color or anything like that?”
“No,” Nancy said. “Whoever he was, he was listening
in on our conversation about Jade.”
“That is so spooky,” Bess said, shuddering. “I
wonder why he's interested in Jade?”
“Kidnappers, eavesdroppers—this could be intense,”
George remarked.
“I don't know why the guy was so interested in what
we had to say about Jade. But if he eavesdrops on us
again, I plan to find out,” Nancy said firmly.
Then she remembered the silver key chain. She held
it up in the air. “Susan, do you recognize this, by any
chance?”
Susan stared at the key chain and frowned. “No. It's
not mine, anyway.”
“What's up with the weird shape?” Bess asked,
pointing to the top part of the key chain. “It looks like a
lightning bolt.”
“Kind of looks like a country,” George observed. “Or
maybe a state.”
“A state!” Nancy turned the key chain over in the
palm of her hand. “George, you're brilliant! This is the
state of California, and”—she paused and turned to
Susan—“and Jade is from California, right?”
Susan gasped. “Right.” She grabbed the key chain
from Nancy. Then she pulled a key out of her pocket
and held it up against the muddy key.
“This is the key to our room,” Susan announced.
“Which means that this is definitely Jade's key chain.
Whoever was eavesdropping on us had Jade's room
key.”
“Could it have been Jade herself?” Nancy asked
Susan.
Susan's eyes widened. “You mean—you think Jade
might have dropped it? But why would she eavesdrop
on us? If she's alive, why wouldn't she let us all know?”
“This is getting way, way too weird,” Bess said with a
shudder.
Early morning sun streamed through the gauzy
curtains and flooded the cabin bedroom with light.
Nancy stirred and rubbed her eyes. She blinked
sleepily at the travel alarm clock on her nightstand.
“What time is it?” George mumbled from her bed,
which was across the room.
“Ten after seven,” Nancy replied.
Bess, whose bed was right next to George's, pulled
her covers over her head. “Way too early,” came her
muffled voice. “Going back to sleep now. G'night.”
Nancy smiled. Typical Bess, she thought.
Nancy propped a couple of pillows behind her back
and sat up. She stretched lazily. Despite the fact that
she was in a strange place, she had slept well.
The cabin was simple but comfortable. It was ca-
sually furnished, with the three beds and a table and
chairs and a couple of old lamps. The only decorations
were a copy of an eighteenth-century map of the
Everglades and a framed photo of a manatee, which
looked like a cross between a hippopotamus and a
whale. There was a small living room off the bedroom.
Susan had arranged for the three girls to stay in the
cabin. It was convenient, because the dorm was just
fifty feet away.
Nancy noticed just then that there was a broom
propped up against Bess's nightstand. “Um, Bess?
What's up with the broom?”
Bess's blond head popped out from beneath the
covers. “Isn't it obvious? To protect us from alligators.
In case one gets into our cabin.”
George chuckled. “The alligators would have had to
knock first, Miss Scaredy-cat. Our door was locked.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Bess explained. She re-
arranged her pillows, then nestled deeper under her
covers. “Anyway, I'm going back to sleep. I don't know
about you guys, but I couldn't sleep last night. It was so
loud outside, with all those animals and bugs making all
that racket. Plus, it was hard to relax knowing that. . .
that weirdo eavesdropper was out there somewhere. I
mean, what if he's the one who kidnapped Susan's
“If Jade was kidnapped,” Nancy reminded her. “We
don't know for sure yet.”
“Or what if it was Jade herself?” Bess added. “In a
way, that's even weirder.”
George sat up in her bed. “I just thought of
something. Did you say ten after seven, Nancy? Didn't
we tell Susan we'd meet her at seven-thirty?”
“Oh my gosh, yes!” Nancy exclaimed. “Come on,
Bess, get up. We've got to meet Susan for breakfast in
twenty minutes.”
“Did someone say breakfast?” Bess flung her covers
off and jumped out of bed. “Last one dressed is a
rotten egg!”
The cafeteria was crowded with park employees and
volunteers eating breakfast. As Nancy, Bess, and
George walked in, they were greeted by the delicious
aroma of coffee, eggs, and bacon.
Nancy had dressed quickly in denim cutoffs and a
pink T-shirt. Bess had put on white shorts and a yellow
top, and George was wearing khaki shorts and a red
tank top.
The three girls went through the line, piling their
trays with granola, yogurt, muffins, and fresh fruit.
Nancy noticed the same thing happening that had
happened at dinner the night before. George got a lot
of curious stares from the park employees and
volunteers. Obviously, people noticed the resemblance
between her and Jade Romero.
They found Susan sitting at one of the tables by the
window, working on a plate of French toast and fresh
mango slices. The window overlooked the bay, which
was dotted with sailboats and fishing boats. Susan was
dressed in her park volunteer outfit.
“Hey, good morning,” Susan called out. “Did you
guys sleep well?”
“Some of us did,” Nancy said, grinning at Bess. “And
you?”
“Like a rock,” Susan replied. “I've been working
super-hard lately. Plus, I've been training for a
triathlon. So getting to sleep at night is no problem for
me!”
Nancy and her friends set down their trays on the
table and sat down. Nancy took a sip of orange juice,
then said, “Susan, about Jade's disappearance. How do
you want us to go about getting to the bottom of it?”
“I'm all tapped out of ideas,” Susan admitted. “What
do you think we should do, Nancy?”
“Maybe we could start out by talking to other park
volunteers who worked with her,” Nancy suggested.
“And how about her friends? Did she have any here,
besides you?”
“Not too many,” Susan replied. “Jade was kind of
shy, she kind of kept to herself. There was one guy,
though.”
Susan glanced around the room, looking for
someone. After a minute s
he said, “There he is! Jade's
boyfriend. Or he was, whatever. Let me introduce
you.”
Susan waved to a dark-haired guy who was just
getting up from a table across the room. She gestured
for him to come over.
While the guy was walking over, Susan leaned across
the table and whispered, “I was thinking, Nancy. About
that key chain. I can't believe it was Jade who was
eavesdropping on us. That just doesn't make sense.”
“If it wasn't Jade, it was someone who had her key,”
Nancy pointed out. “And either she gave it to the
person or the person stole it from her.” She added,
“Still, we can't rule out the fact that she may have
dropped it, either last night or at some other time.
Maybe even before she disappeared.”
“Hey, did you want me?”
Nancy glanced up. The guy Susan had called over
was standing at their table. Nancy saw that he was
really cute, with curly dark brown hair and blue eyes.
He was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt.
He glanced at Nancy and Bess, then his gaze
stopped at George. His jaw dropped. “I—I don't
understand,” he stammered. “Susan, is this some kind
of a joke? Because if it is, I don't appreciate it.”
“I know, the resemblance is uncanny, isn't it?” Susan
said to him, smiling softly. “Obviously it's not Jade,
though. It's my friend George Fayne. And this is Nancy
Drew and Bess Marvin. They're visiting from up
north.”
“Wow” was all the guy could manage, still staring at
George.
“Girls, this is Griffin Carey. He's a fellow park
volunteer, and he's training to be a ranger.” Susan
turned to Griffin. “Nancy and her friends are going to
help me—help us—try to find Jade. Nancy has a lot of
experience solving mysteries.”
Before Griffin had a chance to respond, Nancy said,
“You might be able to answer some questions for us,
Griffin.”
Griffin frowned. “Questions? About what?”
“About Jade,” Nancy explained. “Like, how was she
acting around the time she disappeared?”
“D-disappeared?” Griffin repeated dumbly.
“Do you have any idea what might have happened to
her?” George spoke up.
“Nancy's a super detective,” Bess said with a smile.
“If anyone can find Jade, it's her!”
Griffin's face began turning red. He clenched his
hands into fists. “I can't believe you're asking these
questions!” he exploded all of a sudden. “Jade is dead.
She didn't disappear,' she's D-E-A-D, dead. Let her
rest in peace and drop your crazy investigation!”
4. A Strange Clue
“Did you hear me? I said, drop your crazy investiga-
tion!” Griffin repeated.
Nancy stared at Griffin. He was furious, acting as if
he was going to start throwing things.
Nancy was really taken aback. Why had he reacted
this way? she wondered. She would have thought that
Griffin would be happy to have the case “reopened,” so
to speak.
Bess smiled nervously at Griffin. “I think you've got
us all wrong. We're trying to help.”
Griffin whirled around and glared at her. Nancy
decided that asking him more questions about Jade
would not be a good idea, at least for the moment.
“Look, Griffin. I'm sorry, we didn't mean to upset
you—” Nancy began.
Then Griffin seemed to come out of it. He shook his
head quickly and even managed a sheepish smile. “I'm
sorry; it's my fault. I didn't mean to take it out on you.”
“It's my fault, Griffin. I should have explained
sooner. See, I invited Nancy and her friends to come
down here. I was hoping they'd help me look for Jade,”
Susan said.
Griffin glanced at her. Then he turned to Nancy.
“No, really, I shouldn't have reacted like that. It's just
that . . . well, since Jade died . . . I haven't been myself.
I don't know if Susan mentioned it to you, but Jade was
my girlfriend.”
“You don't have to answer this question. But why are
you so sure she died?” Nancy asked him.
Griffin's smile disappeared. His eyes filled with
tears. He brushed them away with the back of his
hand. “Some people are saying she ran away and didn't
want anyone to find her. That's totally wrong. She had
absolutely no reason to run away—none. She was
happy here, she was happy with her life.”
“Then what do you think happened to her?” Nancy
asked him gently.
“What happened was, she went backcountry
camping alone,” Griffin replied. “Not the smartest
move in the world, I'll grant you, but she had a mind of
her own, and you couldn't talk her out of something
once she'd decided on it. And while she was camping,
she must have—something terrible must have
happened to her. The Wilderness Waterway is very
tough canoeing. And it's full of stingrays, sharks,
alligators.”
He turned his head away and dabbed at his eyes
again. He clearly couldn't go on talking about Jade.
Bess's eyes filled with tears, too. “That is so awful,”
she murmured, sniffling. She broke a cranberry muffin
in half and started munching on it. “So awful. Griffin,
you must be totally heartbroken. Here, have a muffin.”
She extended the other half of the cranberry muffin to
him.
Griffin shook his head. “No, thanks. But you're right,
Bess, I feel totally heartbroken. Which is why I lost my
temper a minute ago. I really, really apologize.”
Griffin fixed his eyes on Nancy. “Still, I meant what
I said. You should drop this investigation. You need to
let Jade rest in peace, and you can't put the people who
cared about her through more pain and heartache.”
“Do you think Griffin is hiding something?” Nancy
asked Susan.
It was after breakfast, and the four girls were taking
a walk along Florida Bay. They were on a wooden
boardwalk that was bordered on one side by massive
mangrove trees. Sunlight shimmered on the water, and
dozens of fishing boats dotted the horizon. Seagulls,
pelicans, and great blue herons swooped through the
air and dove into the briny waves, doing some fishing
of their own.
“Hiding something? Nancy, he's grieving for his lost
love!” Bess protested.
Susan adjusted her green baseball cap and frowned
at Nancy. “I'm not sure I understand your question.
You mean, about Jade? Why would Griffin hide
anything about Jade?”
“Did the two of them get along?” Nancy asked
Susan. “Did they fight a lot? Was she planning to break
up with him or anything?”
George stared at Nancy. “Are you thinking Griffin
might have had something to do with her disap-
pearance, Nancy?”
Nancy shrugged. “Anytime anyone s
tarts telling me
to drop the investigation,' I get a little suspicious.
That's all.”
Susan looked thoughtful. “Jade and Griffin got along
fine. They'd been dating for six months, something like
that. I think she was planning to invite him to go to
California with her, to meet her parents. So it was
pretty serious.”
She added, “I don't know, Nancy. From what I can
tell, Griffin is a nice guy. I can't believe he had
anything to do with what happened to Jade.”
The four girls continued down the boardwalk. They
passed a park ranger leading a group of high school
students on a walking tour. “Male alligators can grow to
sixteen feet in length,” she was saying to the students.
“Just what I needed to hear,” Bess muttered to
Nancy
Nancy smiled, but her mind was on Jade. She tried
to sort out her thoughts about Griffin. It was weird that
he had insisted that the investigation be dropped—on
the other hand, Nancy had no reason to think that he
was guilty of foul play.
As they walked, Susan pointed out various trees and
plants, like mahoganies, bromeliads, and orchids.
“See that tree over there?” Susan said, pointing to a
short, slender tree. “That's a gumbo-limbo. The
nickname for it is the tourist tree, 'cause it has a red,
peeling bark.”
Bess frowned in confusion. “Huh? Run that by me
again?”
Susan laughed. “You know, like tourists who come to
Florida and don't wear enough sunscreen and get real
bad sunburns.”
“Oh, I get it,” Bess said, nodding. “Well, in case
anyone is wondering, this tourist brought lots of
sunscreen. SPF fifteen, SPF thirty, SPF forty-five, you
name it.”
Just then Nancy noticed a nest of baby birds cradled
in the branches of a red mangrove. “What kind of birds
are those?” she asked Susan.
“Ospreys.” Susan smiled wistfully. “It's sad. The
Everglades used to have hundreds, even thousands of
native species. Now, in part because of the shopping
malls and housing complexes and other buildings that
have gone up around the edges, the park has all sorts of
terrible problems. We're losing birds, animals, fish,
insects, and plants faster than we can count them. We
have water management issues, pollution . . .”
“You mean, cute little birds like that are becoming
extinct?” Bess asked, staring at the osprey nest.