THE CREATION OF NANCY DREW
Nancy Drew struggled this way and that. She twisted and squirmed. She kicked and clawed. But she was powerless in the grip of the man.
“Little wildcat! You won’t do any more scratching when I get through with you!”
“Let me go!” Nancy cried, struggling harder. The man half-carried, half-dragged her across the room. Opening the closet door, he flung her roughly inside. Nancy heard a key turn in the lock. The sliding of a bolt into place followed.
“Now you can starve for all I care!” the man laughed harshly. Then the steady tramp of his heavy boots across the floor told Nancy Drew that he had left the house.
—The Secret of the Old Clock (1930 edition)
As any of the generations of fans of the fictional girl detective Nancy Drew — heroine of hundreds of serial novels published from 1930 to this day — can tell you, Nancy does not stay locked in the closet for long. She tries to pick the lock with a hairpin, then uses a clothing
