(#20) The Clue in the Jewel Box (11 page)

“It must have been during the early days of the Revolution. I was away from the palace when the trouble started. There was such turmoil that I could not get back for some time.”

“Then the song may have been added while you were away,” Nancy suggested. “Perhaps someone tried to provide you with an important clue —a clue meant for no other person. Who besides yourself had access to the Easter egg, Mrs. Alexandra?”

“Only a few trusted servants in the palace.”

“Who in your country was skillful at making music boxes?” Nancy asked eagerly.

“Conrad Nicholas,” Mrs. Alexandra said, “the husband of Nada’s sister. Nada was the nurse of my grandson Michael.”

“Could she have borrowed the Easter egg?”

“Yes.”

“Why, it all fits in beautifully!” Nancy exclaimed. “Mrs. Alexandra, I’m convinced some jewel box contains a vital clue, and it must be this Footman. Maybe it holds a secret greater than all your jewels! The box may have another opening, perhaps in the legs of the Footman.”

“But I have already examined the little statue from his head to the top of his boots! The secret, if there is one, has been cleverly hidden.”

“Mrs. Alexandra, do you mind if I try?”

Smiling, the former queen placed the jewel box in Nancy’s hands. With trembling fingers the young detective began to explore the porcelain and enamel figure inch by inch.

CHAPTER XIV

A Question of Honesty

ALTHOUGH Nancy carefully ran her fingers over the Footman figurine, pressing here and there, she did not discover a spring or release mechanism. The only opening appeared to be the one under the black coat.

“I can’t find it.” Sighing, Nancy returned the figurine to her hostess. “Someday, with your permission, I would like to try again.”

“By all means.”

A clock chimed the hour of two-thirty. Reminded that she should leave at once for the fashion show, Nancy hurried away.

A few minutes later, upon reaching the Woman’s Club, she was surprised to see an excited crowd near the main entrance. A policeman had placed someone under arrest.

Approaching closer, Nancy observed that the suspect, who was arguing with the officer, closely resembled David Dorrance. At once the man turned and recognized her.

“Miss Drew, tell this policeman he’s made a mistake!” he pleaded.

“I’m not sure-” she began.

“Sure, you recognize met See!”

He gave the familiar white handkerchief signal. Nancy had but a moment to spare, because she was late now. She did not know what to say. As she hesitated, Dorrance added:

“I came here to see the show.”

Nancy was convinced that he was the man who had come to her home. The policeman knew Nancy and asked her for a definite identification. She hesitated to answer, because she had not forgotten the double handkerchief episode on Main Street. Finally she told the officer she could not identify Dorrance as the wanted pickpocket.

“I don’t believe this is the man you want. At least, he’s not the one who stole Mr. Baum’s wallet.”

“Go on in, then,” he told the man. “Sorry.”

Dorrance would have lingered to chat with Nancy, but she had no time. She hastened to the dressing room and donned the Renaissance gown just as the orchestra began to play.

“I’ll try to do better than yesterday,” she said to Katherine when it was her turn on stage.

With perfect composure and the grace of a professional model, Nancy went through her simple routine. She returned to the wings amid thunderous applause.

“You were a sensation!” Helen exclaimed. “You and that gorgeous gown are the talk of the show!”

During a brief intermission Nancy wandered out into the audience. Before she got all the way down the center aisle, a woman close by uttered a piercing wail.

“My pocketbook! It’s been stolen!”

Immediately the entire room was thrown into confusion. In the resulting excitement, Nancy spied David Dorrance slipping out the exit.

Forgetting her part in the show, Nancy sped after the fleeing man. When she reached the door, he was hurrying toward an alley.

“Wait!” she called.

The man turned, but did not pause. Nancy spied two little boys directly ahead and shouted:

“Stop that man! Don’t let him get away!”

The boys attempted to block his path, but he shoved them away angrily. Nancy ran after him as fast as she could. The long evening gown impeded her progress.

Nevertheless, she began to gain on the thief. At the end of the alley, the man darted around a corner. He saw a long coil of barbed wire lying on the ground. Seizing it, he threw it in such a way that Nancy could not fail to run against the sharp barbs.

Unsuspecting, she ran straight into the wire. Her gown caught in a dozen places, tearing badly. Aghast, she halted.

“Oh, this beautiful gown!” she thought, seeing that it had been torn beyond repair. “I’ve ruined Katherine’s chances completely!”

Out of breath and disheveled, Nancy returned to the clubhouse. It was time for the second half of the fashion show to begin.

Suddenly in the throng Nancy saw David Dor rance!

“Why, Miss Drew, what has happened to you?” he asked, walking over to her.

The man was perfectly composed. There was no indication, either in his breathing or the color of his face, that he had been running.

“I mistook him again for the pickpocket!” Nancy thought, chagrined.

“Just a little accident,” she replied, and dashed to the dressing room. A sudden thought came to her.

“It’s uncanny that Dorrance and the thief are so often in the same place! I’m going to talk to the police about it!”

Nancy found Katherine and Helen waiting for her. When they saw the ruined gown, they were dismayed.

“Oh, Nancy, how did it happen?” Helen managed to say at last.

Nancy told about pursuing the pickpocket. “I ought to stick to sleuthing and give up trying to model in fashion shows,” she concluded grimly. “The two certainly don’t mix.”

“What are we to do?” Helen asked, sinking into a chair. “The dress can’t be mended.”

“I don’t appear in the show again until tomorrow afternoon. That gives us twenty-four hours. Couldn’t you duplicate the dress, Katherine? You had a good bit of material left over.”

“In so short time! No, no.”

“Maybe part of it could be saved,” Nancy added. “The sleeves are in perfect condition.”

“And so is all the back except the train,” Helen encouraged her. “Couldn’t you just make a new front and replace the train, Katherine?”

“I could sew all night, if necessary,” Nancy offered.

The designer made a hasty examination of the gown. A minute later her eyes lighted up. “I can do it!”

The girls hastened to Katherine’s shop. For two hours they sewed steadily. By then it was evident that the work could be finished in time.

“We go home now and rest,” Katherine urged. “I finish the dress tomorrow.”

The young designer locked the shop, and the three girls walked down the street. At the comer Nancy left the others to go to police headquarters. There she reported her suspicions regarding Dorrance and his double.

“It seems strange to me that those two men should always be in the same place at the same time,” she said to Chief McGinnis.

The officer gave her a friendly smile. “Do you think they are brothers—twins maybe?” he asked.

“They look enough alike,” Nancy replied. “At first I thought only one was a thief, but now I’m wondering whether Dorrance is really innocent.”

“I’m glad you’ve told me this,” said the chief. “As you know, my men haven’t been able to catch that pickpocket, or solve the mystery of the rash of thefts going on in River Heights. You’ve given us a new clue.”

When Nancy arrived home she found an urgent telephone message awaiting her from Anna. It requested her to come to the Alexandra house as soon as possible.

“Of course I’ll go,” Nancy said to Hannah Gruen, “but I hate to meet Michael.”

Nancy thought it best to go to the rear entrance and parked on a back street. Anna met her at the door, and they conversed in the kitchen.

“Is Mrs. Alexandra ill?” Nancy inquired anxiously. “Your note—”

“She is sick here.” Anna indicated the region of her heart. “Sick because of Michael.”

“What has he done now, Anna?”

“I learned something dreadful only yesterday. Madame Marie has given him many valuables to sell.”

“I knew Mrs. Alexandra had sent him once to Mr. Faber.”

“Not once, but many times. And he has gone to other shops. The prices paid have not been high. Much too low for their value.”

“How dreadful!” said Nancy.

“Something is wrong,” Anna declared. “I say it is time to ask questions of Michael. But Madame Marie will not do it!”

“Doesn’t he bring back signed receipts?”

“He gives her nothing, except a few dollars.”

Nancy’s mind was working fast. “Anna, can you give me a list of the pieces Mrs. Alexandra has sold through Michael? Also the amounts he gave her?”

“I have it all here,” the woman declared.

“Then I’ll check the items at once with the shopkeepers,” Nancy promised.

At that moment a door slammed and Michael’s whistle was heard in the hall.

“I must go quickly before he sees me,” Nancy whispered, opening the screen door.

She slipped through the garden to the back street, and drove at once to Mr. Faber’s shop. The antique dealer was looking out the front door.

“Oh, Mr. Faber,” she greeted him, running up, “may I talk with you a moment?”

“Certainly,” he replied, noting her agitation. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Nancy replied. “Are you willing to tell me how much you paid Michael for the ring he sold to you?”

“Three hundred dollars. It would have bought more if he had been willing to wait for me to find a buyer. He insisted Madame Alexandra had to have cash at once.”

Nancy inspected the sales list she had brought with her. According to Anna’s notation, Michael had given his grandmother only one hundred dollars for the ring. Apparently he had kept the remaining money.

“Mr. Faber, I’m sorry to say this, but I think Michael is dishonest. Please examine this list.”

The antique dealer frowned as he read the amounts paid by various shopkeepers for other treasures.

“These objects are worth far more than Madame Alexandra received,” he said. “Come into the shop while I telephone.”

His anger aroused, Mr. Faber called one of the firms listed. He learned that a jade and enamel vase had been sold for a large amount, but Michael had given his grandmother only a small percentage of the money received. Another dealer reported he had paid the young man five hundred dollars for an antique tapestry. Yet only one-fifth of this had been turned over to Mrs. Alexandra!

“Michael has cheated his grandmother!” Mr. Faber exclaimed.

“It’s just possible Mrs. Alexandra intended Michael to have the rest as spending money, but did not wish to tell Anna,” Nancy suggested.

“It will kill Madame Alexandra if she finds out that her grandson is a common thief,” Mr. Faber declared.

“We must do nothing until we are sure,” said Nancy with determination.

It was dark when Nancy finally left the antique shop. She reached her own street and turned into the Drew driveway. The windows of the house were dark.

“Hannah must be in the basement and forgot to turn on the first-floor lights,” Nancy thought as she parked and walked toward the side door.

Suddenly, from behind some tall bushes, two men arose. Stocking masks hid their faces.

“All right!” muttered one of them.

Nancy started to scream, but a hand was clapped over her mouth, and she was held in a grip of steeL

CHAPTER XV

A Threat

As Nancy struggled vainly to free herself, one of the men spoke. His voice sounded disguised.

“Nancy Drew, I’m warning you that if you don’t do as we tell you, you’ll be sorry, and your father sorrier. You’ve got to mind your own business!”

Nancy squirmed sideways, trying to see her captors. The men’s masks made it impossible to distinguish their features.

The taller of the two gave her a rough shake. “Will you promise?”

“Promise what?” Nancy mumbled as the hand on her mouth was lifted slightly.

“Stop trying to be a detective!”

“Are you afraid I’ll have you arrested?” Nancy countered.

An automobile was coming down the street, its headlights cutting a path along the dark pavement. The engine had a familiar sound. Her father’s car! Nancy took heart. She must keep on sparring for time until he turned in.

She struggled to break free. “Take your hands off me!” she mumbled but the men paid no attention. They held on tighter and once more made their demand.

The car, which had been approaching slowly, turned into the Drew driveway. Nancy gave a quick jerk, freeing her mouth for a second.

“Help! Help!” she shouted.

The man who held her gave the girl a sudden push which sent her reeling into the steps of the side porch.

“Come on!” he snapped to his companion. “We’d better get out of here!”

Crouching low, they ran along the hedge, and disappeared into the protecting shadows of the garden next door.

Carson Drew leaped from his car and hurried to Nancy’s side. She fell into his arms, exhausted by the encounter.

“Why did you scream?” he demanded anxiously.

“Two men—” She pointed to where they had gone. “Oh, Dad, if you hadn’t come, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Breathlessly Nancy told him how his timely arrival had saved her from further threats. She and her father quickly ran in the direction the men had taken and searched in the neighbor’s garden, but the strangers had disappeared.

“Did you recognize either of them, Nancy? How were they dreased?”

“They wore stocking masks. The build of one of the men resembled that of David Dorrance and his double.”

“The thief is afraid you’re getting too hot on his trail,” Mr. Drew said thoughtfully.

Nancy told of her suspicions and of her report to the police.