The Secret of the Old Clock — “Nancy Drew” Series

Eighteen-year-old Nancy Drew lives with her father, a prominent lawyer, and Hannah Gruen, the housekeeper who has cared for Nancy since her mother’s death years earlier. Nancy’s intuitive nature makes her an asset to her father’s cases. As Nancy drives through the country, she sees a little girl run into the road and nearly get hit by a moving van. The van speeds away, and Nancy rushes to the child’s rescue.

She takes the child, Judy, home and meets the girl’s aunts, Mary and Edna Turner. They’ve been Judy’s guardians since her parents’ deaths. They admit to Nancy that money is getting tight. Their wealthy cousin, Josiah Crowley, had promised to provide for them in his will. But when Josiah died a few months earlier, all his money went to other cousins, the Tophams. Known in town for their wealth and arrogance, the Tophams took Josiah in near the end of his life. Still, he wasn’t especially close to the family. The Turners and other relatives wonder if Josiah wrote a later will that included them.

Nancy investigates, talking to other potential heirs of Josiah’s fortune. The struggling Hoover sisters are former neighbors of Josiah’s. One has an amazing voice but can’t afford vocal training. Josiah’s cousins, the Mathews brothers, work a small farm and have always dreamed of traveling. Elderly Abby Rowen desperately needs medical care she can’t afford. Nancy becomes convinced another will exists, and she’s desperate to help her new friends receive the money they need.

Abby says Josiah once said something about his will and a clock. Nancy goes on a hunt for the clock Abby describes, eventually convinced she’ll find it in the Tophams’ vacation cabin. She peeks inside the cabin to find most of the furniture has been moved. Three thieves return to the cabin just then, the same men in the moving van that nearly hit Judy. They lock Nancy in the closet and escape with most of the Tophams’ things. Nancy fears she may die there until the caretaker, whom the thieves had also locked up, arrives and sets her free. They contact the state police, who help Nancy pursue the moving van. Nancy finds the van hidden off the road when the crooks stop for dinner. She sneaks into the back of the van, finds the clock, and narrowly escapes before the thieves return. She then contacts the police and helps them capture the crooks.

Nancy finds Josiah’s journal inside the old clock. He writes that he has hidden his will in a safe-deposit box. With her father’s help, Nancy gets the will and confirms that it is the most recent version. She’s delighted to be able to tell the Turners, the Hoovers, Abby and the Mathews brothers that they’ve all been left large sums of money that will enable them to significantly improve their circumstances.