The Spider Sapphire Mystery (10 page)

“Ready! Get set! Go!”

The four swimmers dived in. Each one made a long underwater swim. When he rose to the surface, the racer plowed madly along to the opposite end of the pool, gave a quick push with one foot, and started back. Each of the four girls egged on her particular friend.

“Go!”

“Hurry up!”

“Swim, swim!‘.

“Give it to ‘em!” George cried out, rooting for Burt, although she was supposed to be an impartial judge.

Whether it was her cry of encouragement, or because Burt was the best swimmer, no one could say, but he did come in first and was pronounced the winner.

As he climbed from the water, shaking his head to get the water off, he said with a grin, “I like Africa! This is the first race I’ve won in a long time!”

By now most of the others in the Emerson safari had gathered and soon the pool was full of swimmers. There was some horseplay, then finally everyone came to sit in the chairs or on towels spread on the ground. One of the boys had brought a transistor radio. When he turned it on, they could hear an American record being played.

“That music makes it seem as if we weren’t so far away from home,” Bess spoke up.

Record after record of American-composed songs and dances followed. Presently a waltz came on.

Ned stood up and called out, “How about you girls putting on a show? A water ballet?”

“Good idea,” said Gwen. “Come on, girls!”

Without time for any rehearsing, the performers were forced to make up their own ballet. From the enthusiastic clapping, they judged it was good. It was evident to the watching boys, however, that Gwen Taylor far outshone the others. She was grace personified in the water and Hal’s remark about her being a nymph was true.

As the record ended and the girls pulled themselves up over the side of the pool, the boys clapped loudly. Then Ned said, “We didn’t call this a contest and we have no prize, but I’d like to tell you, Gwen, that you’re a beautiful dancing swimmer.”

“Oh, thank you, but I thought everybody else was marvelous,” she said.

Some in the group who were not yet aware of Gwen’s change of attitude looked at her in amazement. Many of them crowded around her and she knew from this that she was now “in.”

Someone called out, “It’s almost lunchtime. Meet you all on the patio.” The meal was to be served here.

The swimmers arose and walked toward the club. Nancy, Bess, and George, towels around their shoulders, went up the slight incline of the beautiful green lawn and entered the main building. They got the key to their room from the desk clerk.

As Nancy unlocked their door, Bess remarked, “Phew! What a horrible odor!”

The three girls walked through the short hallway and stepped inside the room. They looked around. Suddenly all of them gave a gasp of dismay.

The girls rushed forward disbelievingly. In a moment Bess burst into tears. “My lovely dresses!” she wailed.

George’s face turned red with anger. She went to the closet and opened it. Every dress was gone.

“This is an outrage!” she stormed.

Nancy was grim. For several moments she said nothing. What vandal had been in here and done such a sadistic thing? “Our enemies!” she decided.

Turning on her heel, Nancy went out the door and hurried to the manager’s office. She told him what had happened and asked him to come and see the damage. Upon looking at the still smolder ing fire, he stood still in amazement.

Then he turned to the girls. “Why would anyone do such a thing? I’ll get the room boy at once and see if he knows anything about this.”

He telephoned to the employees’ quarters and in minutes the room boy arrived.

“Roscoe, do you know anything about this?” he asked.

When the boy saw the mess in the fireplace he stared at it blankly, and denied any knowledge of the vandalism. Roscoe said he had brought in more wood, tidied up the room, then gone out and locked the door.

“Someone must have come in through the open window,” Nancy said to the manager.

He excused the room boy, who went off. “I’m sure Roscoe is honest,” he said. “And anyway, what would he have to gain by burning your belongings?”

The girls agreed. Finally Nancy told the manager that she was trying to solve a mystery here in Africa.

“I think that certain people who don’t want me to learn the facts perpetrated this outrage.”

The thought went through her mind, “Could it possibly have been Mr. Tagore?” It seemed unlikely, yet from the beginning she had wondered if he might be involved in the theft.

The manager offered to send someone to town immediately to purchase clothes for the girls. “Thank you,” said Nancy, “but I think we can borrow enough from our friends to last us until we get to Nairobi.”

Bess spoke up. “Let’s ask Gwen first. She has lots of clothes.”

The manager and Bess left together. She returned in a few minutes saying that Gwen was delighted and would herself take charge of asking for donations from the other girls. Within fifteen minutes she knocked on their door and came in with her arms loaded. Behind her were two other girls, one of them carrying a suitcase which contained underwear and shoes.

“Oh my goodness!” said George. “I couldn’t wear all these clothes in a week!”

“This is like Christmas,” Bess added. She had spotted a frilly white dress and said, “Nancy and George, do you mind if I take this one?”

“No,” Nancy replied. “It looks just like you.”

The various articles of clothing were distributed. As the three from River Heights gazed at themselves in the mirror a few minutes later, George grinned and said:

“Who am I?”

Gwen giggled. “I think you’re Dot Bird. Nancy, you look lovely in the light-blue linen that used to be mine.”

By the time the River Heights girls reached the patio, the story of the fire in their room had spread among other guests. Mr. Tagore left his table and came over to speak to Nancy. She introduced her friends.

“I am sorry to hear about your loss,” he said. “Only someone with a criminal mind could have done such a thing. I regret that Africa has treated you so badly.”

“It was a great loss indeed,” Nancy answered. “But our friends kindly shared their clothes with us.”

Mr. Tagore asked whether the three girls had also lost the jewelry they had brought.

“Yes, we did,” Bess replied. “It was in the suitcases and the fire ruined everything.”

“Perhaps,” Mr. Tagore suggested, “the jewelry was not burned but was stolen.”

Nancy had not thought of this possibility and agreed that it could be true.

Mr. Tagore had evidently finished his lunch because he said good-by and went into the hotel.

Nancy and her friends found two tables under a flame tree overlooking the large grassy area, which was surrounded by other small, tree-shaded tables, To one side were spits on which turkeys, squabs, and pigs were roasting. In front of these stood long tables loaded with a variety of food, including tropical fruits. Smiling chefs were in attendance to help serve the buffet.

Bess was ecstatic and started to heap her plate. One dark glance from George and she put back a luscious-looking pork chop.

Halfway through the meal, Ned said, “Here come the dancers.”

Members of the Choku tribe, all men, appeared from a rear garden. Their gay costumes included short, fringed skirts, large shaggy headdresses, and anklets. They carried bongo drums between their knees and moved in a circle as they played and danced. Each motion was part of a story. At times the men swung the drums under one arm. Every so often they would squat.

“The rhythm is great,” said Dave. “And the dance is not very different from some of ours. Now at our next fraternity dance maybe I’ll get a costume, a bongo drum, and—”

“Dave Evans,” said Bess, “if you dare show up in a brief costume like these men are wearing, I—I won’t let on I know you!”

An hour later the group left the patio. The plan was to take a hike and later go swimming. Nancy, Bess, and George decided to change their clothes and went to the desk for their room key.

The clerk handed each girl a gift-wrapped package. Smiling, he said, “These are with Mr. Tagore’s compliments.”

Puzzled and amazed by the gifts from Mr. Tagore, Nancy, Bess, and George hurried to their room and tore off the wrappings. In each box lay a necklace of African semiprecious stones.

“They’re beautiful!” Bess exclaimed. “I guess Mr. Tagore’s pretty nice after all.”

George, who rarely wore jewelry, clasped her necklace around her neck and looked in the mirror. “Hm! This will go well with sports clothes.”

Nancy was very pleased with her necklace. It was a little more elaborate than that of the other girls and had bold beads between African jade stones. She had seen it in the window of one of the club’s shops.

Suddenly George turned around and said, “As long as we suspect Mr. Tagore of being implicated in the spider sapphire disappearance, I think we should return these gifts.”

“Oh no!” Bess cried. “I don’t believe he’s a crook. He has a real nice face. I don’t care what you do, but I’m going to keep my necklace.”

Nancy smiled. “Whatever we do, let’s not be hasty. Even if Mr. Tagore sent this gift to throw us off the scent, we ought to have a little more proof that he’s not an honest man.”

“How do you hope to do that?” George asked.

“By making a few discreet inquiries among the hotel personnel,” Nancy answered. “I’ll begin at the desk.”

Bess pleaded that she not start her investigation now. The girls had promised to meet their friends at the pool. “Once you get to sleuthing, no telling how long it will take. Ned will be furious.”

Nancy laughed and agreed to wait until after the swim period was over.

It was close to six o‘clock before the girls returned to their rooms. Nancy dressed at once, this time in an intriguing print of African animals donated by a girl named Beth Jones. The young detective walked out to the desk and began talking to the desk clerk about the hotel’s evening entertainment. Gradually she turned the conversation to Mr. Tagore.

The clerk said, “He’s a very fine gentleman. Been coming to the club for six years. He’s a great lover of birds and enjoys our collection very much.”

“And he’s very fond of jewelry too, I assume,” Nancy said. “He wore a beautiful diamond ring and gave us three girls necklaces.”

“That’s just like him,” the clerk said. “Always doing thoughtful things for other people.”

At that moment an arriving guest took the clerk’s attention and Nancy went to her room. She reported the clerk’s high opinion of Mr. Tagore.

“That settles it,” said Bess. “If we try to return these necklaces now, we’d only hurt his feelings. I think all we should do is thank him.”

The other two agreed. But when they looked for Mr. Tagore in the dining room, he was not in sight. Finally the girls wandered back to the desk and asked the clerk where he thought they might locate him.

“Mr. Tagore has checked out,” the man said. “He left here about two hours ago.”

“For Mombasa?” Nancy asked.

“Yes.”

The girls turned away and Bess said, “I guess we’ll have to call on Mr. Tagore in Mombasa to thank him.”

Two mornings later the Emerson group left the Safari Club. There was not a single clue to the person who had burned the suitcases and clothes of Nancy and her roommates. After checking in at their Nairobi hotel, the three girls went shopping. First they bought suitcases, then went from shop to shop filling them.

Everything proved to be easy to find except shoes. They bought some for rough walking but saw nothing for dressy wear except styles with extremely high, narrow heels. They did not want these.

“I guess we’ll have to keep wearing the borrowed ones,” George said finally. “I’m tired of shopping. Let’s go home!”

They took a taxi back to the hotel. At once they changed to some newly purchased attire, and called the laundry service for a quick cleaning job before returning the borrowed apparel.

At that moment Gwen wandered into the room. When she heard the plan, she refused to take back anything she had given and said the other girls in the group felt the same way.

Nancy laughed. “You’re all wonderful. Anyway, if you want to borrow any of your own clothes, let us know!”

Nancy telephoned Ned and asked if he would accompany her to the agency for which Tizam had worked.

“Meet you in five minutes,” Ned replied.

The agency was within walking distance of the hotel. When Nancy and Ned entered the office, the staff was busy with clients who were planning safaris. Nancy noticed that one of the men was free, so she and Ned approached him.