The Clue of the Broken Locket (11 page)

Everyone waited, hoping most of the audience would have left the sidewalk near the alley. But they were not to be cheated out of a close view of their favorite performer!

“I’ll just have to chance it,” Niko said finally. “Tonight two cars are waiting. Some of us will go in the first, and the rest in the second. We’ll go to your motel first, girls, then decide what to do for the rest of the evening.”

As the guard opened the stage door, the uproar began again. Cecily shrank back. Inadvertently, Nancy was the first one to leave the building, with Niko directly behind her. He grabbed her arm and guided her through the mob toward the first car parked in the alley.

The driver hopped out and quickly opened the rear door for Nancy and Niko. As soon as they were seated, Niko locked the doors and said to the driver, “Get us out of here!”

The car started slowly forward. “Quick, Nancy! Crouch down!” the bandleader advised, to keep the crowd from spotting them and stopping the car. The plan succeeded and they finally reached the street. The driver turned right, and when they had gone a block, Niko and Nancy sat up. The musician said, “Take us to the Stratford Motel.”

At the next corner Nancy expected the driver to turn left. Instead, he went straight ahead. After three more crossings, she realized he was going far out of the way to the motel. She whispered this to Niko, who queried the driver. But the man merely said, “I know where I’m going!”

Suddenly panic seized Nancy. She whispered to Niko, “Is he your regular driver?”

“No,” he answered. “Never gave it a thought. Why?”

The young sleuth spoke directly into Niko’s ear. “I’m afraid we’re being kidnapped!”

NIKO turned quickly and looked at Nancy, a stunned expression on his face. “Kidnapped!” he whispered back. “You mean it?”

Nancy nodded, murmuring, “I’ll explain later. We’d better hop out at the next red light. If we get separated, let’s meet at the motel.”

Niko agreed and they watched for their chance, It came in about two minutes. As they reached a busy intersection, the light showed red and the driver stopped. Quick as a wink, Nancy and Niko were out of the car. They did not even take time to close the doors, but dashed left and right through the maze of stopped automobiles and ran in opposite directions down the cross street. Nancy found a cab and told the driver her destination. She hoped Niko had had as good luck as she had. When her taxi pulled up in front of the motel she was relieved to see that he had just arrived.

Cecily, with the others, came to greet them in the lobby. She smiled but pretended to be hurt. “I thought you two had run off together!”

Niko did not smile. “Wait until you hear what happened!”

When he and Nancy finished the story, their friends sobered instantly. “Kidnapped!” cried Bess fearfully, while Cecily grew pale.

“Do you think those record pirates are behind this, Nancy?” George asked. “They may have found out you were investigating them and want you out of the way!”

“Yes,” Nancy declared. “And furthermore, I think I was the one those men intended to hit with the rock at the cottage. Because the lights were dim they mistook Cecily for me.”

Ned spoke up. “I don’t like this whole thing. Nancy, you’ve risked enough danger.”

“Those crooks probably trailed Nancy from Misty Lake,” Dave declared.

“Dave!” Nancy cried out. “You’ve just given me an idea—about those mysterious Driscolls.”

The others clamored to hear it. “I did have a hunch the brothers were doing some kind of secret work on a machine,” Nancy went on. “Well, I now am very suspicious that they’re mixed up in this record pirating. We girls heard cricket-like noises on the fraudulent record. That one, and many others, could have been made right near Misty Lake where the crickets are plentiful.”

“Namely at Pudding Stone Lodge!” Ned guessed.

“Yes.”

The others were astounded by Nancy’s theory. She went on, “As soon as we get back to Misty Lake, I’m going directly to Neal Raskin’s office again and see what I can find out.”

“Right now, how about some ice cream?” Burt suggested.

The group went into the Stratford’s soda shop. They selected a table in a far corner and Niko kept his back to other guests, hoping he would not be recognized.

“I’m sorry we’ve had such a hectic evening,” he apologized.

Nancy chuckled. “I’m to blame too, Niko. So don’t worry. We loved your show, anyway.”

A short while later the young singer asked to be excused. “I admit I’m absolutely beat,” he said.

The other boys insisted upon driving Niko to his hotel to be sure there were no more incidents. The girls waited in the lobby until Ned, Burt, and Dave returned.

Nancy and the cousins were delighted when the boys decided to accompany them to Misty Lake.

“We’ll get a room at that Mrs. Hosking’s place.” Ned grinned. “Nancy, you know we couldn’t leave you with such a complicated and dangerous mystery to solve.”

Soon afterward, the girls bade their friends good night. “See you in the morning,” said Bess.

Nancy urged that they get an early start for the lake. “It’s Sunday morning and there won’t be too many cars on the road, so we can make good time. On the way, we can stop and go to church.”

The others agreed, and after breakfast the boys and girls set off in the two cars. After attending church services, they stopped at a roadside restaurant for noontime dinner.

During the meal, the mystery and its various aspects became the sole subject of conversation. Ned chuckled. “Nancy, you certainly can get yourself involved in the most baffling cases. I’d like to bet that police chief at Misty Lake hasn’t found out as much as you have!”

Nancy laughed. “What have I found out? Not much. I have only suspicions, I’m afraid!”

Nevertheless, when they reached Misty Lake village, Nancy discovered that Ned was right. Chief Stovall, who happened to be on duty at headquarters, admitted that he had learned nothing about the lake mysteries.

“I think I know who may have been bothering you at the cottage, though,” he said. “A report reached my desk that a man had escaped from a mental institution and was hiding out in this area. But he’s been recaptured.”

Chief Stovall went on to say that he and his men had searched around the entire lake for clues to the phantom ship but had found nothing that warranted further investigation. “Are you positive, Miss Drew, that you really saw this—thing?”

For answer, Nancy said, “Mr. Henry Winch and some summer residents saw it before we did. I’m sure you have found him a very truthful citizen.”

The police chief scratched his head. “Yes, we have.”

Nancy smiled and changed the subject. “Do you know where Mr. Neal Raskin lives?”

“Yes. But if you’re planning on seeing him, you can’t do it before tomorrow. I happen to know he’s out of town until then.”

Nancy left headquarters and reported the chief’s conversation to her companions. Ned said, “Well, Nancy, it looks as if you’ll have to solve this mystery without the chief’s help.”

They stopped at Mrs. Hosking’s to pick up Satin, the cat, and reserve a room for the boys. Then they all went down to the cottage. They ate supper in front of a roaring fire, and soon afterward the boys said good night.

“We’ll meet you in the village tomorrow morning,” Nancy told them. “I’ll need your help in a sleuthing project.”

Ned saluted. “We’ll be ready and waiting.”

When the young people met the following day, Nancy explained what she had in mind. She suggested that Ned call on the jobber.

“You might pretend you’re interested in doing outside saleswork next summer, and get him talking about records in general and then Niko’s latest one in particular.”

Ned said he would be glad to do this and drove out to Raskin’s office on the highway. When Ned returned somewhat later, he was flushed with excitement. “I picked up a great clue!” he said. “I’m sure I’m not mistaken. Raskin was the driver of the car that went off with Nancy and Niko!”

“What!” the others cried in unison.

Ned went on, “That’s not all. He got a phone call while I was there. The person on the other end of the line talked so loud I could hear him. He said he was Webby. Isn’t that the name of one of the men who was on the dock, Nancy, when you were hiding under it?”

“It certainly is,” she replied. “Oh, Ned, your sleuthing has been marvelous. Do you know what this means? Raskin, Webby, and the Driscolls are partners in some scheme and I am sure it’s pirating records!”

“Are you going to tell the police?” Bess asked.

“Not right now. I want more evidence before I talk to Chief Stovall or Detective Morton again,” she said. “I think we should all go and make a thorough search of the Pudding Stone Lodge grounds for clues. But let’s try to do it without being seen.”

“That’s going to be pretty hard,” said George, “if they have spies around.”

Nevertheless, everyone agreed to the idea and they went back to Misty Lake. The boys and.girls watched intently as they walked through the woods to the cottage, but saw nobody.

The girls put on hiking shoes and the group set off. The plan was to circle the estate. The boys were to stay among the trees near the lane which led from the road to the lodge, go around the house, and make their way to the beach. Meanwhile, the girls would take the woods trail that led to the foot of the bluff below the stone house.

They separated. When the girls reached the area where they had heard the humming noise, they began an intensive search along the base of the incline for a hidden door that might lead underground to the lodge. The place was tangled with weeds and at this point sharply rocky.

“We’ll have to tear these vines apart,” George declared.

Suddenly the group was startled by children’s shrieks from above. At once the girls raced up the path to the bluff. As they paused behind some bushes in an overgrown garden near the house, they saw Vince Driscoll and the twins. He was tossing each youngster in turn high into the air and pretending that he wasn’t going to catch them. The little boy and girl looked terrified.

“We must do something!” said Bess.

Just then the agonized scream of a woman came from the house!

As the woman’s scream died away, Vince Driscoll set the twins on the ground and looked upward at the house. The four girls followed his gaze but could see no one at the windows. Who had screamed? Mrs. Driscoll? Or someone else?

Instinctively Nancy’s eyes turned to the bull’s-eye window. Was someone imprisoned in that room?

Vince now grabbed the children and rushed them into the house. Bess was so indignant she forgot to be fearful. “That’s downright cruelty to children!” she said. “I think we should stop it!”

Nancy, George, and Cecily agreed, but George cautioned, “If we antagonize the Driscolls now, they’ll never let us come back here.”

The girls continued to speculate on the woman who had screamed. “It might even be that red-haired girl!” said Nancy.

“Then she certainly can’t be in league with the Driscolls,” said Cecily. ”Oh, dear! I wish we could help her, and also find out if she is Susan Wayne.”

Nancy was thinking the same thing. She put in words an idea which had been in her mind for some time. “I believe the twins are a key to some mystery involving the Driscolls. The red-haired girl knows it and they don’t dare let her get away to tell it.”

The others were speechless at first, then George said flatly, “I believe you’re right, Nancy. But what can we do?”

Nancy felt that for the present the girls should continue their search. George suggested that since they were not far from the house, they might look again for the iron bird. She pointed to part of a broken stone bench, partially covered with weeds. “This place evidently was a garden at one time,” she said. “Some ornamental bird might have been standing in it.”

Cecily was eager to follow George’s hunch, so the girls, trampling the tall grass, pulled up matted vines and kicked aside small loose stones to see if they were concealing any object.

Nancy had just pushed another stone out of the way, when the toe of her shoe hit something hard. She leaned over and saw that it was a protruding piece of rusty metal.

Excitedly she dug around it with the heel of her shoe. The other girls came to assist. George found a stout tree branch and began to use it like a spade. Finally the girls were able to pull the object out of the ground.

“The iron bird!” Cecily exclaimed, gazing at the rusted ornament.

The other three girls were excited. “Do you think the directions to your family fortune are still inside it?” Bess asked Cecily.

With almost loving care, Cecily ran her hands over the neck and body of the bird. She failed to find any kind of an opening.

“Let’s try the legs,” Nancy suggested.

There was no indication of an opening on the legs themselves, but under the bird’s foot, the young sleuth thought she detected where a section had been soldered on.

“We can never get this piece off here,” George stated. “Why don’t we carry the bird to the cottage and work on it?”

Bess wondered about the advisability of taking the ornament off the property, but Cecily assured her that if it contained something belonging to her, she had every right to remove it, at least temporarily. So the four girls lifted the heavy iron flamingo and carefully descended toward the trail through the woods.

“Whew!” said Bess. “This weighs a ton. I wish the boys would show up and help carry it.”

The three youths after an unsuccessful search of the grounds had returned to the cottage. When they saw the girls approaching they ran out to greet them.