Nancy Clue Mysteries 3 - A Ghost in the Closet (33 page)

"I do need to get my luggage," Nancy realized.

"I'm too tired to even think of going anywhere right now," Midge admitted. She was sitting cross-legged on the tile floor, her head on Velma's knees. "You sure missed a show, honey," she told her girlfriend. Midge was still chuckling at the sight of Myra Meeks racing from the shock treatment room with her arms flung up in alarm.

"I took pictures of the whole thing," Uncle Nelly assured them.

Midge looked alarmed. "Not of me in my-er-costume?" she fretted.

"You mean the candy-striper's uniform you were wearing when you rescued us?" Cherry wondered innocently. "You didn't look half bad, but really, Midge, I'd stay away from Peter Pan collars if I were you," she advised helpfully before hopping on the elevator to the top floor, Nancy by her side.

Midge blushed and buried her face in Velma's lap.

Velma grinned and ran her hands through Midge's closecropped hair, "Take me home, honey," she sighed. "It's been an awfully long day in awfully high heels."

"It's been a long month," Midge replied. She got up and held out her arms. Velma fell into them. "Do you want to go home? Really go home, I mean?" Midge murmured.

Velma nodded. "I miss our old boring life," she admitted. "Promise me something, Midge. No more chasing after cunning crooks, evil priests, mad scientists or power-mad matrons. Promise?"

"Promise," Midge said softly. They headed for the door.

"I'd better go see if Agent Andy needs me," Frank cried. The secret agent was in Dr. Fraud's office gathering evidence sure to keep the evil doctor behind bars for years to come. Frank first checked his reflection in the washroom mirror. He smoothed his crew cut and brushed the wrinkles from his slacks.

"Oh, brother," Joe said as he sank into a chair. "Love!"

He turned to Mrs. Hardly. "Don't worry, Mother. I won't ever go running off all starry-eyed like Frank."

"It's true," Mrs. Hardly thought. "Frank is the image of his father, but Joe, well, Joe will always be my boy!"

CHAPTER 56

A Tearful Reunion

When Cherry flung open the door to the private room, she got a pleasant surprise. The patient seemed happier and more relaxed than when Cherry, had visited her last. "Nurse, you forgot to give me my pills," the woman scolded when she saw Cherry. She laughed when Cherry blushed with alarm. "And I'm feeling better than I have in years!" the patient cried happily. "I'm going to ask Dr. Fraud to change my medication."

Cherry gasped. "You remember Dr. Fraud's name?" she cried. "You are getting better. Before I leave, I'll speak to Nurse Fiscus and have her schedule you for the various therapies sure to set your mind working again," she promised. She decided not to tell the woman about Dr. Fraud's arrest until she was sure she could handle the shock.

Cherry hoped she could get the woman an appointment in Hairdo Therapy that very day, for if she were going to rejoin the general population, she would need an updated look.

Cherry took a few hairpins from her own coiffure and twisted the woman's thick reddish-gold hair into a simple upswept hairdo. "There. With your hair off your face, I can really see your distinctively charming features. And the fog has disappeared from your lovely blue eyes. Why, with a fashionable suit, a set of pearls and a new hairdo, you'll look just as well put together as any of the River Depths smart set!"

The woman flushed with pleasure. "Oh, Nurse," she cried happily.

"Oh, Nancy!" Cherry cried back clapping her hands in glee. This was her most successful case ever!

"Yes?" Nancy asked as she stuck her head through the door. She had gotten her suitcases, slipped into a fresh travel suit, and was engrossed in juggling all thirteen-pieces of her matching grosgrain leather luggage set. "Guess what!" she cried as she clung precariously to her cosmetics travel case. "I can laugh about it now, but we were doomed from the start! I forgot to scrape my monogram off my luggage!"

"Oh, I wasn't calling you," Cherry told her. "I was exclaiming over my patient, whose name also happens to be Nancy."

The woman tugged at Cherry's uniform. "My name's not Nancy," she said. "I remembered right after you left. My name is-"

At the sound of the soft, lilting voice, Nancy looked up, gasped and lost her grip on her bags. A hat box spun crazily out of control. A shoe case burst open and a pair of baby alligator sling-back pumps skittered across the floor. But Nancy didn't notice her wardrobe had run amok, for she was fixated on the sweet-faced woman at Cherry's side.

"Mother?" Nancy cried in wonderment. For a split-second, she stood frozen in the doorway. Then she raced across the room, dropped to her knees and buried her head in the woman's lap. She began to sob.

"Mother, it's you, isn't it? It's really you!"

"Yes, Nancy," the woman murmured as she stroked her daughter's soft shiny hair. "It's Mother."

CHAPTER 57

"Shall We Dance?"

"Another canape?" Willy offered the handsome young secret agent seated on the Hardly davenport. As soon as Willy had heard the news that the whole family was safe and sound, he had started whipping up an array of delicious treats for the hungry detectives.

"These are d-e-licious!" Agent Andy cried as he took a bite of a yummy creamed-crab puff. He delighted Willy by asking for the recipe.

"Oh, it's a family secret," Uncle Nelly said.

"There will be no more secrets in this family," Mr. Hardly warned with a good-humored tone.

Uncle Nelly gave Willy a happy hug. "Everyone's safe, the bad guys have gone to jail, and Mrs. Hardly likes what I did to the guest washroom," he sighed.

"I never liked that Carson Clue," Fennel shuddered. "But to think he staged a fake car accident and put his wife away in a sanitarium all these years, not to mention the reprehensible manner in which he treated his own daughter-" His voice broke off.

"That's all over," Midge assured him. "Nancy's made remarkable progress just this week, and seems happier than ever now that she's got her mother back. Plus the poodles are on their way home!"

"Case closed," Joe cried.

"Except for Myra and Milton Meeks, that is," Chief O'Malley grinned. They had decided that that evening's annual Wives of the Atomic Age Dress-up Ball was the perfect place to arrest the Meekses. While the detectives sat in the living room discussing their strategy and snacking on tasty treats, their dates were upstairs changing into party outfits.

"So this is the plan. We'll get into the dance and wait for just the right moment, then slap the cuffs on the Meekses," Jackie schemed.

"Maybe we can goad Judge Meeks into publicly admitting his plot to blow up a rocket ship and ruin Father's good name," Joe added.

"I can't wait to see the expression on Myra's face when she finds out the jig is up," Midge grinned.

Just then Cherry came running downstairs in her stocking feet, clad in an off-the-shoulder evening dress of rich crimson that left bare her creamy white shoulders. "Velma needs her lipstick," she told Midge.

Midge blushed and fumbled in her pocket for the tube. "It's a spare," she explained.

"Cherry, that color is you!" Uncle Nelly exclaimed.

"It may be too revealing," Cherry confessed. But from the look on Jackie's face, Cherry knew that the risk was well worth taking.

"It was nice of Nancy to loan it to me," Cherry acknowledged. Before Nancy had taken her mother home to rest, she had given her chums her sanitarium outfits to wear to the Ball. Velma was upstairs slipping into a sophisticated bare-back emerald satin dress with a silk stole while Mrs. Hardly had reached into her closet for a chiffon creation of striking sapphire.

Uncle Nelly reached for a needle and thread. "I'll just take up the hem a half-inch so when you dance, everyone will see the ruby slippers on your feet. Myra's going to be pea green, for her coral-colored gown can't even begin to compare with this creation. Oh, I almost feel sorry for that woman!" Everyone laughed.

"Do you think Myra is as evil as all that?" Joe wondered.

"Myra's crime is worse in a sense," Fennel Hardly said. "She looked the other way while her husband broke the law because of the financial benefits. And I suspect Myra knew all along that the paramnesiac in the tower was Rebecca Clue. The commitment order we found in Dr. Fraud's files was signed by Judge Meeks. They both have a lot of explaining to do and a lot to atone for.

"When people shut their eyes to what's happening around them, they're just as guilty."

Joe nodded. "I understand, Father. What do you think will happen to them?"

Agent Anderson answered. "Judge Meeks will be charged with tampering with the space program, a federal offense that carries a stiff prison sentence; and libel for his lies about your father. Myra will no doubt get off with a lesser punishment, but she will do time in jail."

"Do you think there are Women's Clubs in prison?" Joe wondered.

Jackie hooted and shot Midge a sly grin.

"There's plenty of them. I'm sure Myra will climb to the top in no time," Midge laughingly replied.

When Velma, Cherry, Mrs. Hardly and Frank came down the stairs resplendent in their best evening outfits, their dates jumped up and whistled in admiration. While the girls made sure their purses contained hankies and compacts, Chief O'Malley checked to see he had the right equipment in his pockets.

"All set," he declared. "I've got handcuffs with the Meekses' name on them."

"Do you have a pair with my name on them?" Midge wondered wistfully.

The chief laughed and tossed her a shiny new set, "Courtesy of the Lake Merrimen Police Department for a job well done." Midge stowed her reward in her pocket, then swept Velma out the door and into the Hardly's top-notch sedan. The others followed.

Chief O'Malley gave Joe a wink, then held out his arm. "Looks like you're my date, Joseph," he grinned. Joe looked the strong man in the eye and blushed at what he saw. Although the chief had a light tone in his voice, Joe could tell he was dead serious!

Joe gulped. "Okay, chief," he whispered.

"Call me Mike," the chief smiled as he gave Joe's hand a little squeeze. Joe blushed. How many nights had he dreamt of just this moment?

CHAPTER 58

"And the Winner Is..."

"Our first dress-up ball together," Cherry sighed happily as she and Jackie alighted from the back seat of the Hardly family sedan. Cherry felt a sudden stab of guilt when she saw the lavish hotel where the dance was taking place. "If only Nancy were here," she cried.

Jackie looked none too pleased to hear this.

"I mean, it's so sad that her nice dress is here without her," Cherry explained.

Jackie gave her a hug. "Cherry, you don't even know what you've done for Nancy, do you? You're the reason she has her mother back," she said proudly. "Cherry, you're amazing!"

Cherry blushed prettily. "I was just doing my duty," she protested. But before she could go any further, Jackie stilled her objections with a kiss.

"Say cheese," Uncle Nelly cried as he snapped a commemorative picture of the happy couple. Cherry clung to Jackie's arm as they made their way into the ballroom of the lovely downtown Merrimen Arms.