The Case of the Rising Stars

2016·0.38 MB·english

by  Carolyn Keene [Keene

The Case of the Rising Stars

“We’ll be filming a shoot-out,” the director explained to the
spectators. “But don’t worry, the bullets are blanks.”

Someone yelled, “Action!” Dan Redding, the show’s handsome
star, jumped up and fired his gun toward the “criminal” crouching
in the doorway of a building to Nancy’s right.

Nancy heard a clang. She looked up and saw a bullet hole in a No
Parking sign above her head!

Nancy turned back to tell Redding his gun was loaded with real
bullets, not blanks. Then she saw him whirl around and point the
gun directly at her.

Wait! Nancy wanted to scream, but the word froze in her throat.

Redding pulled the trigger and fired again.
NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES

#57 The Triple Hoax
#58 The Flying Saucer Mystery
#59 The Secret in the Old Lace
#60 The Greek Symbol Mystery
#61 The Swami’s Ring
#62 The Kachina Doll Mystery
#63 The Twin Dilemma
#64 Captive Witness
#65 Mystery of the Winged Lion
#66 Race Against Time
#67 The Sinister Omen
#68 The Elusive Heiress
#69 Clue in the Ancient Disguise
#70 The Broken Anchor
#71 The Silver Cobweb
#72 The Haunted Carousel
#73 Enemy Match
#74 The Mysterious Image
#75 The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery
#76 The Eskimo’s Secret
#77 The Bluebeard Room
#78 The Phantom of Venice
#79 The Double Horror of Fenley Place
#80 The Case of the Disappearing Diamonds
#81 The Mardi Gras Mystery
#82 The Clue in the Camera
#83 The Case of the Vanishing Veil
#84 The Joker’s Revenge
#85 The Secret of Shady Glen
#86 The Mystery of Misty Canyon
#87 The Case of the Rising Stars
NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES

#87

THE CASE OF
THE RISING STARS

CAROLYN KEENE

A Minstrel Book
PUBLISHED BY POCKET BOOKS
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either
products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A MINSTREL PAPERBACK Original

A Minstrel Book published by
POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

Copyright © 1989 by Simon and Schuster, Inc.
Cover art copyright © 1989 by Linda Thomas
Produced by Mega-Books of New York, Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof
in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of
the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN: 0-671-66312-7

First Minstrel Books printing February 1989

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

NANCY DREW, NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES, A MINSTREL BOOK
and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Printed in the U.S.A.
Contents
____________________________________________________________

1 Kidnapped 1
2 An Important Clue 13
3 The Plot Thickens 23
4 Breakfast with a Suspect 33
5 Shooting Star 45
6 Room 1203, Revisited 62
7 Eileen Braddock Explains 69
8 Speeding Terror 79
9 Death Threat 87
10 A Major Setback 93
11 Too Many Questions, Too Few Answers 100
12 The Trail Gets Hot 109
13 The Sands of Time 117
14 It All Comes Together 126
15 The Sands Run Out 133
16 In the Spotlight 143

1

Kidnapped

The detective flung open the heavy brass doors and
strode into the lobby of Chicago’s Buckingham Hotel.
Nancy Drew, standing in the check-in line with Bess
Marvin and George Fayne, could tell he was a
detective. He was making it so obvious. He wore a
trench coat and a felt hat, just like a detective in an old-
fashioned movie mystery. He also had an enormous
magnifying glass dangling from a chain around his
neck.
The doors slammed shut behind the detective.
Overhead, the chandelier quivered ominously. A hush
settled over the crowded room.
“There has been a murder,” the detective said
quietly. His voice drifted through the elegant wood-
paneled hall. “And every one of you is a suspect.”
“The butler did it!” shouted a teenage boy.
Everybody laughed.
1
The detective laughed too. He was a tall young man
who looked to be in his early twenties. He unbuttoned
his trench coat. Underneath, he wore faded jeans and a
T-shirt that said, “Everybody Loves a Mystery Lover.”
Then he stood at the end of the check-in line behind
Nancy, Bess, and George.
“That was pretty funny,” said blond, blue-eyed Bess,
turning to the young man.
“Just trying to liven things up,” he said. “All this
waiting is really boring. Last year’s convention was
much better organized. This your first time at a
Mystery Lovers Convention?”
The girls nodded.
“I guess you’re not too familiar with mysteries,
then.”
Nancy and her friends shared a private look. The
young man obviously didn’t know that Nancy Drew was
a famous detective from River Heights. At the age of
eighteen she had already solved mysteries all over the
world. Nancy never liked to brag, though. All she said
was, “I’ll bet you’ve been to a lot of these conventions.”
“Five,” he said.
Nancy tucked her reddish blond hair behind her ear
and fixed her keen blue eyes on the young man. “And
I’ll bet you’re about to tell us everything we need to
know.”
“Excellent deduction.” He laughed. “They’ve got all
kinds of exhibits. Mystery books, TV shows, movies,
2