The Nancy Drew Case Files #45: Out of Bounds (1995)

Even though Nancy and the gang are out of high school and apparently not bothered with college or anything, Bess is now dating Bill, a player on a local high school football team with a shot at the state championship. Through him, she met Cynthia, the cheerleader girlfriend of the quarterback, Rob. Rob gets sacked pretty hard during the game but gets back up, plays, and scores the winning touchdown.

They all head over to Touchdown, this cafe in town, for a celebration. Though Cynthia works there as a waitress, Pete, her manager, fires her when they come in and sit down. He claims that she stole from the register. Nancy agrees to go undercover and find out who really stole the money.

Rob passes out and goes to the hospital but checks out against medical advice. Nancy pretends to be his sister and gets the nurse to reveal that he has a liver problem. She tries to con the doctor, but he refuses to tell her anything except that her “brother” really needs to take a break. Anytime someone tries to talk to him, Rob flips out on them. Nancy finally goes to the coach who just tells her to stop worrying and that if there was something wrong with his players he would know it. Rob also keeps acting out in irrational ways. It's steroids, isn't it?

Working undercover helps her learn a few things. Edgar is super skinny but a nice guy who helps her out. He tells her that Pete was a big deal football player in high school, which is what helped him get the manager job. Mike, his assistant manager, actually went to college for restaurant management, and isn't happy that the owner blew him off for someone with no experience. Pete flips out on Nancy multiple times and seems a little unhinged.

She follows him to a gym and overhears him talking to someone named Doc about the packages and his boys. It's steroids, isn't it? Nancy then meets the front desk worker who gives her his number and tells her to call sometime. He also tells her that the gym is for bodybuilders only. It's totally steroids.

Lonnie, one of the players, seems way more unhinged than the rest. He confronts Nancy multiple times and actually gets in her face about asking too many questions, and he even attacks a teammate when the guy barely brushes him when walking by. Lonnie has an unhealthy interest in George and keeps asking her out though. Nancy suspects him when someone breaks her car window and when someone grabs her and throws her against a wall while making a threatening comment.

Nancy randomly stumbles on Edgar leaving an envelope for Pete and steals it. There's a note inside about how he still owes $5,000. She keeps following Pete and Mike around and trying to find out what's going on with Edgar. Edgar finally confesses that Mike keeps giving him envelopes to give to Pete but he thought they were just schedules and stuff.

She calls up the gym hottie and asks him to lunch. This is just an excuse for her to pump him for some information though. Nancy tells him all about Rob's outbursts and liver problems, and he tells her that it's totally steroids. She then gets up and rushes off. When he calls her back, she tells him that she has a boyfriend, and he's totally fine with it! He even PAYS FOR HER LUNCH!

Lonnie finds out that Nancy is actually Nancy Drew, Girl Detective. He flips out on her about being a sneak and a snoop before telling Pete. Pete then fires her because she's a snoop, which I don't think is legal. Nancy and the gang go to the cops and tell them their suspicions before setting up a sting. They send notes to the guys and to Pete and ask them to meet at the football field.

Just in case you missed it, it's totally steroids. Pete latched onto guys he thought had a chase at professional careers and made them sign contracts that they would use him as their agent later. He then convinced them to take these magic pills. Only Rob was doubtful and finally stopped. They all show up and talk about everything in front of Nancy and the gang, though the cops are late.

When the guys catch them, Doc pulls out a gun and goes all crazy. George tackles him and knocks the gun away from him. Nancy and Bess take down Pete, and everyone freezes when the cops finally show up. We later find out that Mike knew what was going on and kept blackmailing Pete rather than going to the cops. Once he got arrested, Edger got the manager job. Despite losing their top three players, the football team wins the state championship though.

*Nancy is a little uncomfortable at the football game because the team were their big rivals when she was in high school. I'd probably be more uncomfortable going there to watch my best friend root for a high school guy though.

*When Nancy meets the guy at the gym, he asks her out, she turns him down, he asks for her number, and she says that she can get his instead. Is it really that hard to just say that you have a boyfriend??

*Gym dude not only pays for her lunch but also tells her that her boyfriend is a lucky guy. I'm not totally sure I'd be on board with dating a girl who constantly forgets to tell people she has a boyfriend and frequently goes out with other guys.

*George doesn't like Lonnie from the very beginning and says she doesn't want to go out with him, but Bess convinces her that he's a nice guy. I'd say Bess has terrible taste in guys. Also, if your friend doesn't want to date some random guy, don't make her!