“I’ll never understand you,” said Bess. “How can you pass up a chance to go to New York, the most glamorous city in the world, just so you can run in some stupid race? What’s the big deal?”

“Don’t be dumb, Bess. I’ve been training for this race for months. It may only be the River Heights marathon, but it’s important to me.”

“Yummm,” Nancy savored one last mouthful of ice cream before putting down her spoon. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said with a toss of her reddish gold hair.

Bess eyed the remains of Nancy’s sundae hungrily. “No,” she told herself, “I refuse to blow my diet before we even get to New York. I mean, you never know who I might meet,” she said, looking at her friends. “In New York, anything’s possible.”

Nancy and George exchanged knowing smiles. Bess was sure to find cute guys in the Big Apple, just as she did in River Heights.

“Well, if I know Nancy,” George said, “you two will probably wind up in the middle of an adventure. Remember the last time we were in New York? We didn’t even have time to go shopping!”

George was right. Intrigue and mystery seemed to find Nancy wherever she went. At eighteen, she was already a rising star in the world of detectives.

“No way,” Nancy protested. “This time I’m just going to be a tourist. I’m going to spend some time with my aunt, Eloise, do some shopping, see a Broadway show—”

“A Broadway show? Are you kidding? There are at least six that I’m dying to see!” Bess exclaimed.

“Hey, you two,” Nancy declared, looking at her watch. “Now we had better hurry.”

And with that, the three girls paid their bill and filed out of the ice cream shop.

“Here we are,” Bess said, staring up at the elegant old apartment building. “This street always looks like a movie set of ‘old New York’ to me. Like it’s a hundred years old, at least.”