Nancy and Frank found dark areas in the food court to hide as they waited for the mall to close. They had found out from Vicki the robbery was going to occur at the jewelers. The group was also going to rob the electronics store.

The two of them stayed hidden until the mall closed. Once they were sure everyone had left, they climbed out of their hiding spot. They moved through the shadows toward the jewelry store. They moved into the foliage in the middle of the mall that separated the seats for people to rest.

They sat in the foliage, out of sight. They waited for more than an hour. Frank said, “I wonder if they’re going to show.”

“We need to wait.” She looked at Frank. She could just make out his facial features in the darkness. “We just have to be patient.”

“I just hope Vicki didn’t send us on a wild goose chase.”

Nancy remained quiet. She hoped it wasn’t a wild goose chase either. She hoped Vicki had been honest with them and wasn’t setting them up for trouble.

They both heard footsteps. They looked around. Nancy could see the group coming from the far end of the mall. They were trying to stay in the shadows, but they weren’t being too successful.

Nancy felt a hand on her shoulder and she whispered, “I see them.”

They stayed still. The group only had six people. Frank and Nancy were able to pick out Chief quite easily as they moved to the jewelers. The group was also wearing black. As they watched the group, they were able to pick out Joe.

Frank and Nancy slowly and silently, climbed out of the foliage. They both knew they needed to catch the group after they actually took something. They moved quietly toward the group.

“This needs to be done fast,” Chief said. “This store has the state-of-the-art security system. Go.”

“All right, Henry. Let’s move.”

“Don’t call me that,” Chief said. “Just move.”

All of a sudden, Nancy and Frank heard glass breaking. Alarms sounded. The light on the store came on.

“Hurry!” Chief yelled.

Nancy and Frank moved into the open. Frank spoke first. “You don’t have to hurry. You’ve all been caught.”

The big guy turned quickly as did the others. Chief said, “It looks like we caught a pair of mall rats.”

“No one is going anywhere,” Frank said.

“Who is going to stop me?” Chief asked.

“I will,” Frank said, taking a step toward him.

Joe stepped away from the group. “I’ll stop you too.”

“We had a spy among us!” Chief exclaimed. “I should’ve known.”

Two of the guys behind Chief ran at Frank and Joe. The four started fighting. Nancy saw a third guy run toward her. As he tried to run past, Nancy stuck her foot out and tripped him. They guy hit the floor face first and laid still.

Nancy looked back at the jewelers and saw one guy still standing there looking around. He waited a moment, then ran at Nancy. But he didn’t get far, because she also tripped him.

“POLICE! FREEZE!”

Nancy turned her head and saw the police, along with mall security standing there. They had their guns pointed at all of them.

“Everyone! Hands in the air!”

Nancy slowly raised her hands. She said, “I‘m Nancy Drew. This is Frank and Joe Hardy. We’re private detectives.”

“Quiet. Everyone is going to the police station.”

“You need to talk to Chief McGinnis. He knows what’s going on.”

“Quiet.”

Frank and Joe got to their feet. Everyone was handcuffed. Nancy looked at Frank and Joe as they were led out to the waiting police cars. Nancy realized that Chief was gone. She looked at Frank and saw him looking around. She realized he noticed Chief was also missing.

Nancy said, “I’m sorry I got you two involved.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Frank said. “We’ll get everything sorted out at the station.”

“I hope so,” Nancy said.