Actually, Bess was the only one who was looking to fall in love. George was still attached to Jon Berntsen, a boy she’d met on a ski trip, and Nancy’s relationship with Ned Nickerson was in good shape at the moment. Nancy knew that Bess, with her blond hair and pretty figure, would probably have a date in fifteen minutes flat; while slender, athletic, dark-haired George was sure to set some kind of swimming, volleyball, or surfing record. As for herself, Nancy was looking just to have fun and go home with a great tan.

In her last case, Smile and Say Murder, she’d discovered that the world of publishing could be deadly, when she’d exposed a clever plot that included murder. So a Florida vacation seemed the perfect way to unwind.

“There it is,” she said, pointing to a gleaming white stucco building. “The Surfside Inn. They were right—every room has a window facing the ocean.”

“And the boys,” Bess said with a sigh.

“Let’s hurry and change so we can hit the beach,” Nancy suggested, as she pulled the car into a tight parking space on a side street next to the hotel.

“What do you mean, ‘we’?” George asked with a laugh. “You’ve got a case to solve, remember?”

Nancy laughed, too. “It’s not a case,” claimed the young detective. “I’m just checking up on Kim. It’ll take me all of five minutes.”

Kim Baylor, a friend of all three girls, had been in Fort Lauderdale for ten days. Just before Nancy left River Heights, Kim’s mother had called and told her that Kim had decided to stay on an extra week. Mrs. Baylor wasn’t really worried, she said, she simply wanted Nancy to drop by Kim’s hotel and see that everything was all right. She’d felt that Kim had sounded odd over the phone, but thought she was probably just being an over-protective parent.

“I bet I can solve your mystery for you without even talking to Kim,” Bess told Nancy as they piled out of the car. “It’s simple—Kim met a fabulous guy and she’s staying on because she’s madly in love.” Bess tugged two canvas bags from the back of the car, then stared across the street at a tall, well-muscled boy running toward the ocean. “Just look at him,” she said dreamily. “What couldn’t I do with an extra week down here!”