Mystery at the Ski Jump (10 page)
Read Mystery at the Ski Jump Online
Authors: Carolyn Keene
Tags: #Women Detectives, #Detective and Mystery Stories, #Girls & Women, #Mystery & Detective, #Juvenile Fiction, #Adventure and Adventurers, #Mysteries & Detective Stories, #Fiction, #Fur Garments, #Mystery Fiction, #Women Sleuths, #Adventure Stories, #Hides and Skins, #Swindlers and Swindling, #Drew; Nancy (Fictitious Character), #General, #Identity Theft, #Mystery and Detective Stories
“I said, where do you want the stock sent?”
“Why, to the Winchester Post Office, of course. General Delivery,” the man snapped. “As soon as I make this sale, I’ll beat it to Dunstan.”
The receiver clicked as the man abruptly ended the conversation. Nancy hurried back to the Hotel Canadien, where she found her father waiting in the lobby.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “I’ve been called home on urgent business. I’ve already notified Chuck that we’ll be leaving on the next plane.”
Nancy had no chance to tell about the man on the telephone until she and her father were seated in the plane.
“I’m sure I was talking to Sidney Boyd,” she declared. “The one who sold stock and earrings to that actress in New York. And then stole the earrings from her!”
“Obviously you’re right,” the lawyer agreed. “But in order to trap this man, you’ll have to supply him with new stock certificates.”
“I know. Dad, would it be possible to make copies from Hannah’s certificate?”
Mr. Drew looked thoughtful. “I know a printer who would do a rush job for us. However, I must warn you that it’s illegal to print fake stock even for a worthy purpose. I’ll contact the authorities and get permission.”
As soon as the plane landed at River Heights, Mr. Drew went to his office. Meanwhile, Nancy searched several telephone directories for a listing of Mrs. Bellhouse. There was none, so she went to the public library and thumbed through the city directories. Apparently no one by the name of Sidney Boyd’s intended victim lived in Winchester or in any of the nearby towns.
At dinner Mr. Drew reported that he had received permission to have Hannah’s stock certificate copied. The printer would have the papers ready by noon the next day, and Mr. Drew would rush them to Montreal where a colleague would remail them to Winchester.
“That’s great,” Nancy said. “But something worries me, Dad. I can’t find Mrs. Bellhouse’s address anywhere.”
“Never mind!” the lawyer reassured her. “As soon as those stocks are mailed, we’ll notify the Winchester police. They can watch the General Delivery window at the post office and shadow Sidney Boyd after he picks up the package.”
Nancy shook her head. “Mr. Boyd may call for the package under another name. Perhaps Mitzi always sends the stocks that way.”
“Well, ours will be addressed to Sidney Boyd, since that’s the only name we know. Of course, the fellow may send someone else to the post office to get the parcel, and he may collect the money from Mrs. Bellhouse before he goes to the post office. We’ll have to remember that we’re taking a gamble.”
Nancy nodded. “But the odds would be with us if we could find Mrs. Bellhouse and catch that man in the act of selling her his fake stock.”
Hannah Gruen spoke up. “If this Mrs. Bellhouse is elderly, she probably sees a doctor from time to time. Why not ask Dr. Britt about medical people in the area who might know her?”
“A wonderful idea!” Nancy exclaimed, hurrying to the telephone. At her request, Dr. Britt agreed to do this.
The next morning Bess and George arrived at the Drew home, eager to trade news with Nancy. George reported that John Horn had gone ice fishing, but would speak with the Drews as soon as he returned.
“He says Chuck Wilson’s a right handsome fellow,” she added.
Bess sighed. “Nancy has all the luck!”
“Well, wish that my luck holds out,” Nancy said, smiling, “at least until Dr. Britt contacts me.” At that moment the telephone rang.
The caller was Miss Compton, Dr. Britt’s office nurse. She told Nancy, “Dr. Green recently placed a woman named Mrs. Bellhouse in the Restview Nursing Home, at the edge of Winchester. Visiting hours are between two and three-thirty.”
Nancy thanked the woman and hung up. After telling the cousins what she had learned, she said, “Let’s have a talk with Mrs. Bellhouse.”
The girls started off immediately. Just before two o’clock they reached the rambling white nursing home. A uniformed nurse greeted them and Nancy explained their mission.
“Can you come back tomorrow?” the woman asked. “Mrs. Bellhouse has been ill and she’s sleeping now. She shouldn’t have callers today.”
As the girls returned to the car, Nancy proposed that they stay near the nursing home to see if Sidney Boyd showed up. They waited an hour but the suspect did not appear.
The next day Nancy learned from the detective on duty at the Winchester Post Office that Sidney Boyd had not been there. “It’s probably too soon,” she thought.
At two o’clock Nancy and her friends were again at the nursing home. The nurse they had spoken to the previous afternoon led the girls to a sunny front room on the second floor.
Mrs. Bellhouse was a fragile old lady with silver hair and faded blue eyes. She smiled as Nancy approached her bed. “Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m Nancy Drew, Mrs. Bellhouse, and these are my friends, George Fayne and Bess Marvin.”
“So young,” murmured the old lady. “Did my relative Sidney Boyd send you? Sidney’s the husband of my dear cousin Elsie.”
“Are you expecting him today?” Nancy asked.
“This very afternoon!” Mrs. Bellhouse said. She motioned for Nancy to bend nearer. “I have something for Sidney, but I don’t want that starchy old nurse to know,” she said with a chuckle. “See?”
The old lady pulled out a drawer of her night table. Under some tissues lay a pile of currency.
“It’s a thousand dollars!” the woman confided.
Nancy pretended surprise. “That’s a most generous gift,” she remarked.
“No such thing,” Mrs. Bellhouse answered.
“Sidney’s selling me stock in a wonderful fur company. The dividends will end my financial worries.”
George had posted herself near a front window. When a car parked and a man got out, George gave Nancy a signal and the three girls said a hasty good-by to Mrs. Bellhouse.
In the hall Nancy said quickly, “George, you go downstairs and call the police. Bess and I will hide in the room that connects with the one Mrs. Bellhouse is in. It’s empty.”
The girls retreated just as a man with a pencil-thin mustache strode up the stairs and into the woman’s room.
“Cousin Clara!” he exclaimed.
Nancy and Bess, watching through a crack in the connecting room, saw Sidney Boyd clasp Mrs. Bellhouse’s hand. “You look well today. Charming! I wish I were free to spend the afternoon with you. However, I’ve brought you the stock certificate.”
“Sidney, I’ve been thinking of dear Elsie,” Mrs. Bellhouse quavered. “She never let me know when she married you.”
“I’m sure she did. You’ve probably forgotten,” he said quickly. “Now, before that crabby old nurse comes back—do you have the money?”
“It’s right here,” said Mrs. Bellhouse.
“Fine, Cousin Clara. Here’s the stock.” He handed her an envelope. “And I’ll take the money. Wasn’t that easy?”
Nancy and Bess watched indignantly. Then they heard footsteps behind them. It was George, who tiptoed forward and whispered, “Police on the way!”
As Boyd started to leave his victim, he cocked his head and listened. An automobile had just stopped in front of the house. The man looked out a window, then ran from the room.
Nancy followed him as he bolted down the back stairway. “Come on, girls!” she urged.
The steps were narrow and unlighted. Halfway down, they turned sharply. Here Bess tripped and fell against Nancy, who was just ahead of her.
“Oh,” Nancy murmured, grasping for the rail and managing to regain her balance.
George quickly helped Bess to her feet but the delay had given Sidney Boyd a head start. When the girls reached the rear porch of the nursing home, their quarry was nowhere in sight.
“I’m so sorry,” Bess said tearfully.
“Never mind,” George said, “but you sure were clumsy,” she chided.
“Let’s separate and look for him,” Nancy suggested. George dashed around the east side of the house, while Bess raced toward the rear of the grounds,
Nancy made a beeline for the grove of birches at the west side of the nursing home. She spotted Sidney Boyd crouched behind a clump of saplings.
The man saw her coming. He jumped up and sprinted toward the road. Nancy, still running, cried out loudly, “Help! Help!”
Hearing Nancy’s cry, George flagged down the two approaching policemen. “Hurry!” she urged, jumping into their police car. “The thief is down the road, and my friend is chasing him!”
Boyd now crossed the road and started into a field. The officers left their car and sprinted after the swindler. Within seconds the man was a prisoner.
“What’s the meaning of this outrage?” he sputtered.
“You’ll know fast enough,” one of the policemen told him as they walked toward the road where Nancy and George were waiting. “Suppose you listen to this young lady.”
“Who’s she?” Boyd snapped.
“I’m Nancy Drew,” the young sleuth spoke up.
“I never heard of you,” the man said, sneering.
The policemen, the prisoner, Nancy, and George rode back to the nursing home. Bess was waiting at the entrance.
“Nancy, I’ve been talking with the nurse,” she said. “We’d better not tell Mrs. Bellhouse about this—the police can give her her money back somehow. If she knew the stock is worthless she might have another attack.”
“What do you mean—worthless?” Boyd demanded.
“You know there’s no Forest Fur Company,” George said, “and Dunstan Lake, Vermont, isn’t on the map.”
Boyd smiled coyly. “If there’s anything phony about the Forest Fur Company, that’s not my fault. I’m merely a broker, and I find this news quite shocking.”
“There’s a warrant out for your arrest,” said one of the policemen. “Let’s go!”
The other officer turned to Nancy and said, “I’d like you to follow us.”
At the Winchester police station, the captain praised Nancy for her fine detective work. “Miss Drew,” he said, taking a piece of paper from his desk, “I think you’ll be interested in this. The arresting officers recovered it from Boyd’s pocket, along with the thousand dollars he took from the woman in the rest home. It’s part of the reason that fellow’s behind bars now.”
The letter, postmarked New York, read:
Dear Sid,
Tell the boss to come across with some pay or there won’t be any more stock printed.
Ben
“That’s clear evidence,” Nancy said. Returning the paper, she added, “I haven’t heard of Ben.”
The captain smiled. “We know now that the fur stock is printed in New York and that Boyd is definitely one of the gang. I’ll have the New York police trace Ben.”
“I’ll appreciate it if you’ll let me know what comes of this,” Nancy said, and told the captain good-by. She returned to her car, where Bess and George were waiting.
“Hypers!” George exclaimed. “You were in there so long we thought we might have to bail you out!”
As Nancy drove toward River Heights, she told her friends what had happened.
“It seems to me this case is pretty well cracked,” said George. “Don’t you think you need a vacation, Nancy?”
Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “Good idea,” she said. “How would you like to go to Aunt Eloise’s lodge in the Adirondacks? She has a vacation coming up. Maybe she’d come with us”
“Why, we’d freeze up there!” Bess exclaimed.
“It’s between semesters at Emerson,” Nancy pointed out, ignoring the protest. “We could invite the boys.”
The girls began making enthusiastic plans. Suddenly Bess exclaimed, “I’ll bet there’s something behind this idea of yours. Does it have to do with the fur mystery?”
“Could be,” Nancy admitted. “Remember, Aunt Eloise first heard of Dunstan Lake when she was at her summer home. It’s possible the gang has headquarters in that vicinity.”
“And you want to add detectives Ned Nickerson, Dave Evans, and Burt Eddleton to your investigation squad!” George declared.
“Exactly,” Nancy admitted. “Suppose you come to my house while I phone Aunt Eloise. I hope we can start day after tomorrow.”
Bess looked worried. “What if the boys can’t go? It wouldn’t be safe up there without some men. The Adirondacks are full of bears.”
“Who sleep all winter!” George hooted.
Nancy laughed. “There probably won’t be anything more dangerous than a few minks.”
“But the stock swindlers—” Bess began.
“No need to worry yet,” Nancy advised. “First, I must ask Aunt Eloise if she can go.”
CHAPTER XIII
The House Party
NANCY telephoned at once to her aunt. Eloise Drew readily agreed to act as hostess for a house party. “I never dreamed that my clue about Dunstan Lake would bring such an interesting vacation!” she said.
“My hunch may be wrong,” Nancy warned. “But we’ll have fun, anyway.”
“Suppose you pick me up at the station in York Village near camp,” her aunt suggested. “I’ll arrive there at three-thirty.”
Bess and George hung over Nancy’s shoulder as she said good-by, and then placed a call to Emerson College. The three boys were enthusiastic about a trip to the Adirondacks. Burt said they could take his family’s station wagon.
“Wonderful,” said Nancy. “But we’d better have two cars, so I’ll take mine, too.”
The boys said they could stay only a few days, however, since they had only a short vacation between semesters.
This news made Bess pout. When the long-distance conversation was over, she complained, “That’s not much time to solve a mystery and have some fun, too!”
Everybody was excited about the excursion to the Adirondacks except Hannah Gruen. The housekeeper worried about possible accidents on the icy roads and a blizzard that might keep them snowbound. “And then you don’t know the ways of the woods in the wintertime.”
“Hannah,” Nancy said, “would you feel happier if someone like John Horn was around to guide us?”
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