(#30) The Clue of the Velvet Mask (11 page)

“Very good. A splendid place for scrutinizing guests. Come with me now and I’ll find an outfit for you.”

Nancy decided to postpone her call to the auctioneer’s office. At the entertainment company she selected a well-tailored black dress with white collar and cuffs and a dainty ruffled cap.

“I have some news for you,” Mr. Lightner said, walking with Nancy to the front door. “I’m taking Linda Seeley back.”

“Oh, I’m so glad!”

To have Linda reinstated in the firm was a great relief to Nancy. Nevertheless, if the series of thefts which had damaged the company’s reputation continued, Linda might be blamed again.

“That makes this party tonight an important one,” Nancy thought. “Oh, I do hope everything goes along without trouble!”

Upon arriving home Nancy was pleasantly surprised to find Ned Nickerson lounging on the porch.

“Schoolbooks are locked up,” he joked.

“Ned! I’m glad to see you!”

“What’s in the box? A new dress for a date with me tonight?”

“Maybe.” Nancy told him of her plan to play the part of a maid at the Dwight party.

“How about coming with me? I think I could get you in as a checkroom boy. Want to help me catch a couple of masked thieves?”

“Well,” Ned replied, “since you put it that way, the answer is, naturally, yes. But what do I know about checking men’s hats or coats?”

“It’s easy, and maybe you’ll spot one of the Velvet Gang. I’ll telephone Mr. Lightner.”

Arrangements were made for Ned to obtain a uniform and assist the regular checker.

“Now bring me up to date on the recent happenings,” Ned urged Nancy. “Remember, we didn’t have a chance to talk alone on Friday night.”

Rapidly she related how the thefts threatened Mr. Lightner’s company with ruin. She told him about Peter Tombar and Ralph Snecker, and their apparent association.

“I’m inclined to think that both of them are mixed up in the thefts,” she concluded. “The Velvet Gang may be working with them. At any rate, I want to investigate the Blue Iris Inn further.”

“I’m surprised that you and George haven’t been out there tearing the place apart board by board,” Ned remarked, grinning.

At mention of George’s name, Nancy sobered and told him of their friend’s unhappy state of mind.

“Her parents are worried and so am I,” she said. “We can’t understand what’s wrong.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ned said.

He went home to dinner but was back at the Drews’ by seven o’clock.

“You’re a very handsome checkroom boy!” Nancy declared when she saw him in his uniform. “How do I look?”

“Lovely, but not natural. What a hairdo!”

“I had to disguise myself as much as I could.”

“Be careful tonight, both of you,” Mr. Drew advised as the couple left the house. “I’ll wait up until you’re home safe.”

Mr. Lightner, who had arrived early, was waiting for Nancy. He whispered that every precaution had been taken to avert another robbery and no trouble was expected.

“Six plainclothesmen are here to watch the guests. Nothing can go wrong.”

Nancy and Ned were assigned to separate cloakrooms upstairs. Nancy found herself paired with a rather indifferent maid named Hilda.

“All we have to do is stay here and help the ladies with their things,” the girl told Nancy. “Just don’t get the stuff mixed up, that’s all.”

For the next hour Nancy checked guests’ belongings efficiently, and quickly hung them on racks. Many of the costumes worn were very lovely and she recognized some as having been rented from Lightner’s. Masks were of every form and shape. Nancy could not identify anyone.

After the dancing had started in the ballroom below, Mr. Lightner came upstairs. He informed Nancy that no guest had appeared without a properly marked admission card.

Relieved that no suspicious person had been observed, Nancy relaxed a little. Hilda stretched out comfortably on a lounge.

“We’ll have a few hours now with nothing to do,” she advised Nancy. “Take it easy before the rush starts.”

Nancy preferred remaining alert and was standing near the door when a tall man in a striking costume came up and presented a check.

“Madam needs her coat,” he said in low tones. “A long dark-green one. Hurry, please.”

Nancy glanced intently at the stranger. She could not see his face plainly, for a white silk scarf that matched his Moorish costume served to mask the lower portion. His intense black eyes disturbed her, however.

She knew the coat he meant without comparing the numbered tickets, for there was no other like it. Deliberately she took her time, pretending she could not find the garment.

“Hurry!” the man urged again, speaking with a slight British accent.

More suspicious than ever that he was the thief she had previously encountered, Nancy purposely turned her back and maneuvered to run her hand into the inner pocket of the coat. Instantly her fingers encountered something made of cloth and very soft.

She quickly took out the object. It was one of the masks used by the daring members of the Velvet Gang! After tucking the velvet hood back in the pocket, she took the coat from the hanger and handed it to the man. With a suggestion of a French accent, she inquired:

“Madame is ill? She is leaving the party so soon? Perhaps I can help her?”

“No thanks,” he replied, still keeping his face muffled in the white scarf. “I’ll attend to her.”

As soon as he was gone, Nancy told the dumbfounded Hilda, “You’re in charge here alone now.”

Unmindful of the maid’s protests, Nancy hurried down the hall in pursuit of the man carrying the green coat. Passing the room where Ned was stationed, she gave him a prearranged signal. Immediately he joined her at the stairway.

“What’s up?” he asked quickly.

“Keep an eye on that man in the Moor’s costume,” Nancy whispered. “No matter what happens, don’t let him escape you.”

From the staircase, the couple saw him move directly to a bent, white-haired old lady with glasses, who was waiting in the hallway below. She was not costumed.

Nancy and Ned watched intently as the man solicitously helped the woman put on her coat. Then they parted, the man turning toward the dance floor, and his companion moving slowly toward the entrance at the side of the house.

“Follow him, Ned!” Nancy whispered excitedly. “I’ll watch her.”

Ned started off in pursuit. The man dodged in and out among the dancers, and finally headed toward the kitchen. He pushed open the swinging door and darted inside.

Determined not to lose track of the man, Ned also slipped through the door. He found himself in a large pantry and caught sight of his quarry disappearing through a door that apparently led to the basement.

Heedless of possible danger, Ned hurried across the kitchen. Reaching the entrance to the cellar, he opened the door and peered down the steps, at the same time flicking the basement light switch. The cellar remained dark. The man must have removed the bulb, Ned thought, in order to hamper pursuit and allow time to escape through the basement exit.

Lighting a match, Ned cautiously descended the stairs, looking for the fugitive. He was not in sight.

By the time Ned reached the bottom step, the match was burning his fingers and he dropped it. As he started to light another, Ned felt a thud, then a searing pain in his temple. The blow sent him sprawling on the cement floor, his head throbbing. He had been ambushed!

CHAPTER XV

Captured!

WHERE was the prowler? Ned reflected dizzily. Rising to his knees, he saw the beam of a flashlight far across the expansive basement. The dim figure holding the light was studying the electricity panel.

“He’s going to pull the switch and plunge the whole house into darkness so the Velvet Gang can rob the place!” Ned thought. “I must stop him!”

Although his knees sagged, Ned pulled himself to his feet and crept toward his enemy. The man’s hand reached for the switch. Ned sprang at his quarry, but a split second too late. The switch was pulled as the two went down in a tangled heap, rolling on the hard cement floor.

The struggle was a desperate one. Ned had but one purpose in mind: to knock out this muscular, wily opponent so that he could switch the lights on again. The other was as fiercely bent on keeping Ned pinned to the floor.

Meanwhile, Nancy had concentrated on the white-haired woman. Following at a careful distance, she observed the agile way the old lady walked when she thought she was not being noticed.

“That getup is a disguise, I’m sure,” Nancy told herself. “In fact, that woman has the same figure as the one who was at both the Hendricks’ party and the musicale at the Elkins’ home.”

It became apparent to Nancy that the woman knew exactly where she was going. The “old lady” stepped quickly past the side entrance and turned into a hallway.

With a sharp intake of breath, Nancy recalled that farther down the hall a priceless silver peacock was displayed on a table in front of a gilt mirror.

“I must catch her before she can steal it!”

Nancy stealthily drew closer to her quarry. But a creaking board beneath the thick broadloom carpet betrayed her presence. The woman turned swiftly to look over her shoulder. Seeing Nancy, she was so startled she forgot to maintain her bent position and straightened abruptly.

Nancy lunged forward to seize the thief. But she snatched only empty air. With amazing agility the woman side-stepped her. Just then the lights went off throughout the house.

Spurred by a realization that the thieves were about to score again, Nancy groped frantically for the “old lady.” But suddenly she froze as a man’s voice behind her commanded:

“Stand where you are! Don’t move!”

Nancy immediately recognized the voice as that of Detective Ambrose. He had mistaken her for one of the thieves!

Ignoring his order to stand still, she kept feeling her way forward and groping for the elusive “old lady.”

“She’ll head straight for that silver peacock,” Nancy reasoned, “so that’s where I’ll go.”

In the darkness Nancy stumbled into the woman and quickly seized her.

“Let me go!” hissed the thief, clawing at her.

“Help!” cried Nancy, trying to hold the woman, who fought like a tigress!

Just then the lights went on. Detective Ambrose was running down the hall toward Nancy and her captive, a green-cloaked figure in a black velvet mask.

“Hang on!” Ambrose shouted.

“She has the peacock!” Nancy cried as the prisoner vainly tried to hide the long-tailed silver bird beneath her coat.

The detective seized the masked woman and held her firmly while Nancy retrieved the valuable ornament. Then she pulled off the velvet hood.

Nancy had expected to expose the Javanese masquerader from the Hendricks’ party. Instead, she faced the sullen-looking young woman who had assisted in George’s abduction.

“One less masked thief!” Detective Ambrose exclaimed. “Where are the rest of them?”

The woman did not answer. After a moment the detective snapped a pair of handcuffs on her.

“Come along, sister,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nancy had glimpsed something white sticking out from behind a nearby cabinet. She pulled out the wig which the masquerader had been wearing.

Before Nancy could tell the detective about it, Mrs. Dwight, accompanied by Mr. Lightner, came hastily down the hall. Both had been fearful of trouble when the lights went out.

“What happened?” Mr. Lightner demanded.

Mrs. Dwight who looked faint said nothing.

“Well, I guess we’ve got to give Miss Drew credit,” the detective said. “She caught the thief!”

“Very fine,” said Mr. Lightner. “What I want to know is how this woman got in here.”

Nancy held up the wig. “She was wearing this. Did you admit a white-haired lady?”

Mrs. Dwight hastened to explain about the invitation to the woman she had never seen.

“Help!” cried Nancy, trying to hold the thief

“It was this way,” she said apologetically. “Miss Wilkins, one of the invited guests, called me early this morning to ask if she could bring her elderly aunt and uncle. I told her yes, but explained the necessity for them to have properly marked invitations.”

“You sent the extra ones?” Nancy asked.

“Yes, by special messenger. I marked the invitations myself,” Mrs. Dwight admitted. “It was a mistake, I realize now, but I know Miss Wilkins well. I had no reason to distrust her.”

Mrs. Dwight at once sought Miss Wilkins among the guests. The young woman immediately denied knowing the prisoner. Furthermore, she asserted she had no aunt nor uncle who had requested invitations.

“Just as I suspected,” Ambrose declared. “This woman is a smart cooky. She used Miss Wilkins’s name to get marked invitations.”

During the questioning of the prisoner, plainclothesmen had been searching the grounds. Now one of them reported to the detective that none of the gang had been found.

Nancy spoke up. “This woman wasn’t working alone. A man was with her. He was probably the ‘uncle.’ I talked to him. Oh, where did he go?”