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put on hold. I’m all set.”
    Bess and George had overheard enough to guess that Nancy’s travel arrangements to London had been finalized. Both clamored for details, and Nancy found herself wishing her two girl friends could accompany her on the flight to England.
    They were equally wistful. “Gee, wouldn’t it be great if we could shop at the London stores together, and take in a concert at the Palladium!” said George.
    “Instead of which, we’ll be flying home to River Heights,” said Bess regretfully.
    “Never mind, maybe we can make it a threesome next summer,” Nancy said hopefully.
    Their chat was interrupted by the bell from the lobby. The police officer had arrived. Nancy buzzed him in, then opened the door to meet him when he stepped off the elevator. He strode toward her down the hall, a sharp-featured, steely-eyed man in plain clothes.
    “Sergeant Weintraub, narcotics squad.”
    “I’m Nancy Drew, Sergeant. Please come in.”
    She introduced him to her aunt and friends, and invited him to sit down. “I suppose you’ve been told why I called?” she said to him.
    “Only briefly. I’d like to hear it in your own words, Miss Drew.”
    Nancy explained how she had found the plastic bag full of white powder in her handbag after returning from the concert. “I assume this is cocaine, or am I jumping to conclusions?”
    He examined the evidence. “Nope, it’s coke, all right—high grade stuff from the looks of it. Any idea how this got in your purse, Miss Drew?”
    “Someone put it there, obviously.”
    “But you’ve no idea who?”
    Nancy hesitated a fraction of a moment. “Not really. I suppose it could’ve been almost anyone we passed in the street or at the concert.”
    Weintraub looked dubious. “People don’t usually give this stuff away. Once it’s cut and sold, this much alone could bring several thousand dollars.”
    “Or several years in prison, I imagine,” Nancy said wryly, “which might be a good reason for getting rid of it in a hurry.”
    The detective nodded. “Yeah, that figures. Maybe someone had to ditch it fast, and your handbag was the nearest convenient place. At this press party for the Crowned Heads that you went to, did you see anyone handle your purse?”
    Nancy thought of the silver-clad figure she’d glimpsed leaving the powder room. “No, but that’s not saying it couldn’t have happened.”
    “How well do you know the Crowned Heads?”
    The titian-haired teenager shrugged. “Not very. We just met them at a garden party on Long Island two days ago.”
    “And on the strength of that, you attended their press party last night?”
    “Lance Warrick saw us in the audience and had one of the ushers bring us an invitation.”
    Sergeant Weintraub frowned thoughtfully. “He didn’t by any chance invite you to the private party later on at his hotel?”
    “As a matter of fact he did, during the press reception. But it was already getting close to midnight and, well, we thought it best to come on home.”
    “Smart girl!”
    Nancy shot the narcotics officer a cool glance. “What exactly are you implying?”
    “It so happens we got an anonymous phone tip saying there’d be drugs at that party.”
    Nancy was startled, as the significance of his remark flashed through her mind. “You don’t mean you raided the Crowned Heads’ hotel suite?”
    Weintraub nodded emphatically. “We sure did, with a search warrant. If you’d been there with that bag of cocaine in your purse, you’d probably be behind bars right now, Miss Drew!”

7
Surprise Meeting
    Timing, thought Nancy, was everything. Later she wondered how differently her whole adventure in England might have turned out if she hadn’t chanced to pass that particular door at Heathrow Airport at that particular moment.
    Her transatlantic flight had been smooth and uneventful. She had read Wicca: The Way of Wisdom until she dozed off around 11:00 P.M. When she awoke, daylight was seeping in the curtained