Shadow of a Doubt Read Online Free

calls, Nancy thought as she looked for a parking place near 1476 East Main Street.
    She slammed on her brakes as she approached the building. Four police cars and an ambulance were parked right in front of it. Police officers were milling around on the sidewalk in front of the building.
    As Nancy watched, the rear doors of the ambulance were yanked shut and the van pulled away from the curb and roared off, siren blaring.
    Nancy walked over to the nearest police car and approached a detective whose badge read Ryan.
    â€œWhat happened here?” she asked. “Some kind of accident?”
    Detective Ryan looked Nancy up and down. “Not exactly. Some poor guy jumped or fell from his apartment. It looks like it probably was a suicide.” He shook his head slowly. “Sad, really.”
    A feeling of dread washed over Nancy. “Who was it?” she asked. “Do you know his name?”
    Detective Ryan glanced at Nancy with a confused expression. “You seem pretty curious about all this. Unfortunately, I have a lot to do here. You’ll probably read about it in the paper.” He turned and started to walk away.
    Nancy followed him. “Please. I’ve got to know his name,” she begged breathlessly.
    â€œOkay,” Detective Ryan said finally. “Since it’s so important to you. His name was Gleason. Robert Gleason.”

Chapter

Four
    N ANCY DREW IN a sharp breath. “Oh, no,” she murmured. “It’s not possible—”
    Ryan reached out and put a comforting hand on Nancy’s arm. “Was he a relative of yours?” he asked.
    â€œNo,” Nancy answered slowly. “No, I didn’t know him.” She looked beyond the detective to where several police were standing guard outside Gleason’s building. “Did he leave a note?” she found herself asking.
    â€œYes, he did,” Ryan said. He gave Nancy a curious look. “Let me ask you something—if you didn’t know him, why are you so interested?”
    Nancy wasn’t too keen on explaining what she was doing outside Gleason’s building or why she wanted to know so much about him. “I was really just curious,” she explained.
    Ryan continued to look at her carefully. “Wait a minute,” he said. “I thought I recognized you—now I know why. You’re Nancy Drew, the detective, aren’t you?”
    â€œYes, I am,” Nancy said. “I was driving by, and I suppose you could say my instincts took over. If there’s anything I can help with—”
    â€œThat’s okay,” Ryan answered with a smile. “I’d be happy for your help if I needed it, but you can leave this one to us.”
    Nancy could tell she wasn’t going to get any more information out of Ryan, so she didn’t press the point.
    She slowly crossed the street and headed back to her car, thinking. Now that Robert Gleason was dead, it would be really hard to find out what connection, if any, he had to the harassment of her father. Unless . . .
    She could check out his apartment for evidence. The police were probably making a sweep of the place now. Still, there was a good chance she’d find something they’d missed because they wouldn’t be looking for the same things.
    Several police officers were still standing in front of Gleason’s building talking withDetective Ryan. He put out his arms to usher them toward the door. Now was her chance.
    Nancy dashed across the street and darted around Gleason’s building to the alley that ran behind it. On the back wall of the building she spied a short flight of steps that led down to a gray metal door with a single grimy window. She could just make out an elevator to the right in the basement. Lights above the elevator showed it was stopped at the fifth floor. Gleason’s floor.
    After trying the door and finding it locked, Nancy darted back up the stairs to look at the building