When Nancy is asked to find a professional dancer who disappeared several years before, the young detective becomes involved in a mystery reaching far beyond a missing-person’s case.

Clues lead to a huge estate which the dancer is to inherit if she can claim it in time. During Nancy’s investigation at Heath Castle, she and her friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne realize that its crumbling walls contain a secret, but what is it? And who are their enemies that try to foil their every attempt to unravel the intricate puzzle?

Danger lurks in a castle tower and throughout the vine-tangled grounds of the estate. The girls’ gripping adventures culminate in a dramatic climax when Nancy exposes a sinister plot to defraud the dancer of her inheritance.

“We must get out of here!” said Nancy.

Acknowledgement is made to Mildred Wirt Benson, who under the pen name
Carolyn Keene, wrote the original NANCY DREW books

Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., a member of The Putnam & Grosset Group,
New York. Published simultaneously in Canada. S.A.
NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES® is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster,
Inc. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

eISBN : 978-1-101-07723-8

http://us.penguingroup.com

CHAPTER I

An Urgent Request

“HURRY, Nancy!” Hannah Gruen called anxiously. The Drews’ housekeeper held the front door open as jagged lightning cut the sky.

Nancy raced madly toward the door, her reddish-blond hair flying in the wind. “Made it!” she gasped, laughing, as great drops of rain pelted the driveway.

The attractive, eighteen-year-old girl stepped into the hall and stopped in surprise. Behind Hannah stood a slender young policewoman in a blue uniform.

“This is Lieutenant Masters, dear,” said Hannah. “She arrived just before your car turned into the driveway.”

“I can’t stay long, Nancy,” the officer said, “so I’ll come right to the point. Will you help solve a mystery?” The woman’s dark eyes gazed into Nancy’s steadily. “I’m sure you can do it.”

Nancy was amazed, but merely said, “I’d like to hear about it. Won’t you come in and sit down?” She led the officer into the living room.

Nancy’s zest for adventure came to her naturally from her father, Carson Drew, a well-known lawyer. While helping him, she had solved her first case,
The Secret of the Old Clock.
Since then she had been successful in finding the solutions to several mysteries, the most recent one
The Secret in the Old Attic.
By now Nancy had an outstanding reputation, even with the police, as an amateur sleuth.

“Chief McGinnis recommended that I ask you,” Lieutenant Masters said, seating herself on the sofa. “He told me you have great insight into character.” The trim, dark-haired officer explained that she had just joined the River Heights Police Department. “This case is related to one of mine. I’m in charge of juvenile offenders.”

“Then your mystery involves a child?”

“Yes. A pretty little eight-year-old girl named Joan Fenimore. She’s been in trouble with the law and will be in more, I’m afraid, unless we can find her aunt. Nancy, have you ever heard of Juliana Johnson?”

“She was a dancer, wasn’t she?” Nancy asked.

“Yes. She disappeared ten years ago at the height of her career.”

“And she’s Joan’s aunt?”

“Yes. Juliana must be found within the next three weeks or lose an inheritance that a friend willed to her. If we can find her, surely she’ll help Joan and her mother and make a new way of life for Joan.”

“Three weeks!” Nancy repeated. “That means I haven’t a moment to lose!”

The lieutenant’s grave face broke into a smile. “Then you’ll take the case?” she said. “I’m so glad!” She glanced at her watch and rose quickly. “I must go now. The rain has stopped. I was on a call in this neighborhood and decided to drop by on the chance you were at home. Could you meet me at headquarters about three o’clock this afternoon?”

“Certainly,” Nancy replied.

“Fine! I’ll tell you all about it then, and we’ll go see Joan and her mother. By the way,” she added when they reached the door, “do you know Heath Castle, a big estate some miles outside of town?”

“Yes, I do,” Nancy said. “I’ve seen it from the river. It’s that spooky-looking place with those stone towers and the high walls around it.”

“Find out all you can about the place,” Lieutenant Masters said. “It’s Juliana’s inheritance. And thank you, Nancy. Little Joan really needs your help!”

After the policewoman had left, Nancy went to the kitchen and told Hannah about the mystery .

“Now you’re happy!” the kindly, middle-aged woman said fondly. “You have a new case! I just hope it won’t be dangerous.” Mrs. Gruen had been with the family since the death of Mrs. Drew when Nancy was three years old. The warm-hearted housekeeper had always been like a mother to the girL

“What do you know about Heath Castle?” Nancy asked her.

“Not much. It was built—”

“Hannah!” Nancy exclaimed. She was facing the window. “Look—in the yard!”

“What is it?” the housekeeper asked, peering through the glass. “Oh, what a shame!” she cried out. “All the hollyhocks are snapped off in the middle and the daisies are flattened into the mud from the rain!”

“That’s not what I mean,” said Nancy. “Look at the flower border where my new rosebushes were.”

“Why, they’re gone!” said Hannah. She stared in amazement at two holes filled with rain water.

“The bushes were dug up,” said Nancy, “and stolen!”

“Probably by the same thief who took plants from some of our neighbors,” Hannah remarked. “There’s been a rash of these thefts lately.”

“I’ll report it when I go to headquarters this afternoon,” Nancy said.

While she set the table and heated soup, Hannah made sandwiches. By the time the two had finished their lunch, the ground had dried a little and the sun was out.

They hurried into the back yard to inspect the damage. Except for the rosebushes, no plants were missing. Nancy could not find any clues to the thief. She and Hannah began cleaning up debris from the storm. Suddenly they heard the familiar song of one of River Heights’ well-known eccentric characters.

“Here comes my old friend Salty down the street!” Nancy laughed, shaking off her somber mood.

The good-natured, elderly man, once a sailor, had received his nickname from Nancy when she was a little girl. He had introduced himself to the Drew household as Boatswain Bostwick Bumpleton, “home from the salty seas.”

Nancy had tried to say his whole name but sometimes mixed it up. Once she addressed him as Bumple Boat and another time as Humpty Dumpty Bumpleton, much to his amusement. Finally the little girl settled on Salty and her nickname stuck to him.

The man’s cart bell tinkled merrily, and a moment later the jolly, weather-beaten sailor wheeled his wagon around the corner of the driveway. Spying Nancy and Hannah, he sang again:

“Clams by the bushel,
Clams by the lot,
Clams for the kettle,
Clams for the pot.”

“None for us today,” Mrs. Gruen called.

Salty smiled. “Come now,” he coaxed. “Ye can’t turn down my clams. They’re nutritious, delicious, delectable, respectable! Matter of fact, ye might even find a pearl in one of ’em!”

Nancy turned to Hannah. “Don’t you think we could use a few pearly clams?” she asked with a wink.

The housekeeper gave in. “Okay, a dozen. Nancy, please get my purse.”

Nancy darted away, but soon returned with the pocketbook and a container for the clams. After the elderly sailor had left, she and Hannah took the clams into the kitchen and Nancy started to open them with a sharp knife. Soon she had a pile of empty shells, but no pearls.

“I guess these haven’t anything in them but meat! Well, here’s the last one.”

Nancy opened the clam and was about to toss away the attractive, rainbow-colored shell when a tiny object inside drew her attention.

“A pearl!” she cried, holding it out for the housekeeper to see.

Hannah stared at the small white object. “I declare, it is one,” she acknowledged, “and may be worth some money!”

BOOK: (#22) The Clue in the Crumbling Wall

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