Nancy Clue Mysteries 3 - A Ghost in the Closet (23 page)

"Nothing," Midge glared at her, but soon changed her mind when she got a look at the delicious spread. "I am a little hungry," she admitted. Velma gave her a deviled egg and a kiss.

After ten minutes of happy eating, Midge lit a cigarette and gave a great big satisfied sigh. "Where do you think Jackie is? She wouldn't try to go in there without us, would she? Do you think Frank and Joe have made it into the caverns yet? And, more importantly, do you think Willy and Nelly will adopt me?"

"Me, too," Velma smiled, thinking of the lovely creations Nelly had thrown together using Nancy's basic wardrobe, some scraps from his sewing kit, safety pins and his keen sense of style.

"Nancy has never looked lovelier than she did this morning when she left for the sanitarium dressed in that snowwhite satin gown with its white velvet stole and matching muff," Velma remarked. "I especially liked the paste diamond necklace and brooch set Nelly whipped up for her. Why, she really did look like a movie star!"

Midge groaned. "Don't tell Jackie that," she warned Velma. "Besides, I don't think Nancy's all that good looking. I mean, she's a pretty enough girl in a collegiate sort of way, if you like that type," she grumbled.

"Nancy's a charming girl and you know it," Velma scolded her. "You just don't want her to be Cherry's type, that's all."

"I just want what's best for my friends," Midge retorted. "And I think what's best for Jackie and Cherry is each other. You don't really think Cherry's going to pick a high-strung debutante over a big strong, handsome cop, do you?" Midge baited her girlfriend. "Would you?"

"You have to ask?" Velma arched one plucked brow.

"What has Cherry told you about Jackie?" Midge asked, scooting close to Velma.

"I won't say," Velma said stubbornly, adding, "It's top secret."

Midge could tell she meant business! "I hate it when you get like this," Midge complained. She moved to the far end of the seat and pretended to ignore her girlfriend.

"Well, I hate it when you sit so darn far away," Velma shot back.

Midge grinned and slid back. She put her arm around her girl and nuzzled her neck. "You are the most aggravating girl I've ever met, Miss Pierce," she said softly.

"And you, mister, are one big busybody."

"I like to be informed," Midge said in her own defense.

"What would the gang back home say if they knew what a gossip you really were?" Velma giggled. Midge shot her a withering look. Velma started to laugh even harder.

"What's so funny?" Midge cried.

"Nothing," Velma said quickly. "Just something silly that popped into my head. It's gone now."

"What was it?" Midge wondered.

"I can't remember," Velma told her with all innocence.

Midge didn't believe her. "I'm going to pester you until you tell me," she threatened.

Velma sighed. "You really want to know what was making me laugh?" she wondered.

"Uh-huh," Midge said.

"You sure?"

"Sure I'm sure," Midge retorted. "And don't lie. I know when you're lying. Your bottom lip quivers."

Velma grinned. "I was just wondering what the gang back home would say if they knew, well, if they knew who really gets to keep the keys for all the handcuffs you bring home," Velma giggled.

CHAPTER 35

And Brains, Too!

Midge gasped. "Velma! You promised you'd never tell!" she exclaimed, throwing up her arms in alarm.

"Honey, of course I'll never tell," Velma reassured her. "Now see, you wanted to know what I was thinking and now that you do, you're hurt!" "I'm not hurt," Midge moped.

Velma could tell she was lying. "Midge, I would never tell anyone about how you like to be-"

"Shhh," Midge warned her. "People can hear."

"What people?" Velma wondered, looking around the deserted area.

"People on vacation," Midge shot back lamely.

Velma stifled a giggle. She hopped into her girlfriend's lap. "Honey, you know I would never say anything that would get you kicked out of that little club of yours back home," she teased.

"Oh, Jesus," Midge groaned. She covered her eyes with her hands. "I don't even want to think of how fast information like that would travel through the bar. I can just see it written on the washroom door in great big letters. Midge-Fontaine-likes-to-be-"

"Midge Fontaine likes to be what?" Jackie's voice rang out.

"Oh, good, you're back," Midge cried, eager to change the subject. "Did you see any way in? What's the back of the house like? Any more armed guards?"

"Midge Fontaine likes to be what?" Jackie asked Velma, ignoring Midge. Midge turned scarlet and shot Velma a warning look.

"Midge Fontaine likes to be right," Velma laughed.

"Midge usually is right," Jackie grinned, jumping into the front seat of Nancy's smart car.

"We saved some food for you," Velma told her, handing her a cup of steaming coffee and three cream cheese and jelly-nut sandwiches.

"I'm starving," Jackie admitted as she wolfed down the food. Then she told them what she had found. "The electrified gate rings the entire property, but there is a service entrance in the back. If we can convince the guard to open the door even a crack, we can muscle our way in. I'm sure between the two of us we can overpower any guard in there."

"The three of us," Velma added.

"I stand corrected," Jackie said with a grin. Midge groaned.

"The only question is how to get past Myra Meeks without raising any suspicions," Jackie mused.

"We could lure her away," Midge suggested.

"Or just tie her up and take the consequences later," Jackie added. "Of course, she'll eventually have to be let loose and then the whole Lake Merrimen police force will be swarming around down there."

"Oh, Myra will be going out soon," Velma blithely informed them.

"She will?" Jackie and Midge chorused in amazement.

"How do you know that?" Midge wondered.

Velma grinned. "It's simple logic, darling. I read in yesterday's newspaper that tonight is the annual Wives of the Atomic Age Dress-up Ball. Myra is sure to be there, seeing as she's the president of the organization."

"But that's hours from now," Jackie pointed out.

"Pay attention, kids," Velma said brightly. "Tonight Myra is going to a dress-up ball and you know what that means."

Midge and Jackie exchanged puzzled looks. "No we don't! " they cried.

Velma rolled her eyes in mock disgust. "It means she's going to the hairdresser's, and someone of Myra's stature is sure to have the first appointment of the day, which is always ten o'clock." Velma checked Midge's watch. "That's eleven minutes from now, and since it takes seven minutes to get to downtown River Depths-" As if on cue, the gate opened and a spiffy black Thunderbird with white leather seats emerged. Behind the wheel was Myra Meeks, clad in a smart summer suit, dark glasses and a white chiffon scarf. At her side was her poodle Precious, wearing a red rhinestone-studded collar.

The two girls looked at Velma with frank admiration.

"She can cook, too," Midge bragged.

"Now we've got to keep Myra Meeks away from the house for as long as possible," Jackie declared.

"We could send Velma to detain her somehow," Midge suggested. Velma gave her a little kick in the shins. "Ouch," Midge cried.

"No good," Jackie nixed the notion. "She knows Velma and might suspect something is up. Although I do like the idea of sending a girl. Now if we could only find just the right girl. Who do we know that we can trust, has similar interests to Myra, plus has the talent to pull this off?"

CHAPTER 36

Nelly to the Rescue

"I'd be delighted to help!" Uncle Nelly cried into the phone. If truth be told, he was getting a little antsy waiting around the Hardly house for something to happen. So far he had rearranged the den, wallpapered the guest washroom, sewn some darling tieback curtains for the kitchen and had just started to cut a pattern for a nifty new housedress.

"Swell, Uncle Nelly," Midge said into the telephone outside the diner where Velma was refilling their thermos with strong coffee. Caves were notoriously cold and damp and the girls would need all the fortification they could get. "All we know is, she's gone to get her hair done but we don't know where," Midge told him.

"No problem," Uncle Nelly assured her. "I know for a fact that Mr. Francis does her 'do. I'll call and have him prolong her comb-out, which will give me time to select just the right outfit, hop in my car and race downtown to head her off."

"Do whatever you have to do to keep her occupied," Midge urged him. "We've got to have plenty of time to get into her summer house and find the entrance to the caverns. Have you heard from the others?" she then asked.

Uncle Nelly confirmed that both teams had apparently reached their destination and that the transmitters were blinking away on the Radar-O-Scope.

"Good luck with Mrs. Meeks," Midge cried. She had decided against telling Uncle Nelly about the impending explosion. He would need his wits about him when dealing with Myra Meeks.

"All systems go for Operation Stop Myra," Uncle Nelly replied.

"The boys found a way into the caverns, and Nancy and Cherry are inside the Sanitarium," Midge reported.

"All the more reason for us to hurry," Jackie exclaimed. When Velma returned from the diner, the girls headed back to the Meekses' summer house, gulping coffee and discussing their strategy on the way. The very first thing they had to do was find a way inside the guarded house, even if it meant using the gun strapped to Jackie's side!

Midge noticed "Secret Love" was playing on the radio. "A song about unrequited love is the last thing we need," she thought. She turned the dial, searching for a new station when she heard Fennel Hardly's name.

"What's that?" Jackie cried. Midge turned up the volume. A man's voice crackled over the radio.

"Judge Milton Meeks today issued an arrest warrant for well-known detective Fennel P. Hardly, charging him with espionage and consorting with known Russian spies. According to NASA officials, the plans for the latest rocket project, the MaxxThruster, reported stolen last week, were found in Fennel P. Hardly's possession early today after investigators searched the detective's pockets."

"I hope they didn't search his pockets too closely," Midge muttered as she remembered what Cherry had told her about Fennel's true identity.

"If those plans were found on him, they were planted," Jackie growled. "And if it's a lie, Judge Meeks is really playing hardball. But why? What's his gripe with Fennel?

"We've got to be really careful," Jackie added a warning.

"I hope we're doing the right thing," Midge muttered as they sped along the lakeside road. She took a good, long look at her girlfriend. If anything ever happened to Velma, Midge didn't know what she'd do!

"I know what you mean, Midge," Jackie said. "Uncle Nelly's an awfully nice fellow. I feel bad sticking him with Myra. But I have confidence in him. Besides, my experience with self-important people like Myra Meeks is that they're all talk; the minute something threatening happens, they fold like a leaf in the wind."

"I don't like that Myra Meeks," Midge admitted. She scowled as she remembered the meddlesome matron's manipulative manner during Nancy's murder trial.

Jackie shook her head. This was becoming much more than a simple kidnapping. Somewhere in this pleasant lakeside resort town, a bomb was going to go off, and they had to find it! "If we fail, a great many people could be in grave danger," Jackie thought glumly. "And the good name of Hardly will be forever besmirched!"

CHAPTER 37

To the Tunnels!