The Phantom of Pine Hill (15 page)

Bess did not reply. Instead, she suggested that the group hurry through the passageway into the library. She herself would go to Nancy’s room for the key to the new padlock. When she returned and opened it, the alarm sounded. Bess inquired of the physician how Nancy and George were.

“They’ll come around in a few minutes,” he answered. “No harmful aftereffects. As to Mr. Jenkins, he got a nasty bruise on his head as he fell. He’ll take a while to wake up.”

As the doctor finished speaking, Nancy stirred and opened her eyes. George took a few moments longer. Both girls blinked and looked from face to face. They were amazed to see the police, and stared up at Fred Jenkins, then across the floor toward his father.

Nancy sat up and asked what had happened. She and George were assisted to chairs and then Bess told her story.

Both girls looked at her in utter astonishment. “Bess, our timid one!” said George.

Bess merely smiled. Suddenly her legs were getting rubbery. She was feeling the emotional strain and flopped onto the couch.

“I think Fred can clear up many points of the mystery,” Bess said.

With a bit of braggadocio, the young man admitted that he had discovered the openings to the secret passageway. One day, while cleaning the dining room, he had caught the faint glint of metal between two of the panels above the mantelshelf. He had picked at it with a knife, and suddenly the door had opened. The rest was easy.

“My father,” he went on, “has two friends who know a lot about the sinking of the
Lucy Belle.
They think a treasure was taken from the wreck and buried somewhere around here. They went to the public library and the one at the university for some books that might tell about it but learned nothing.”

Nancy said, “They must be the men Ned heard talking one day.”

“They helped us trail you girls wherever you went. John Tregger and Hank More are smart. Oh, I shouldn’t have mentioned their names.” The police had already made notes. Nancy was sure the men would be picked up for questioning.

Fred shrugged and went on, “The four of us began to hunt and dig, but we didn’t have any luck. Then after I found the secret way to get into the library, and saw all those books, my father said he would look through them. He was sure there must be some old records which would give him a hint. While he worked, I stood guard.”

Nancy spoke up. “If you were trying to keep this thing so secret, why did you use light in the woods?”

Fred grinned. “That was my idea. After my father got into the locked room and disturbed the books, I heard Mrs. Holman say nobody but a phantom could get into it. I thought I’d make the whole thing spooky and scare people off while we were digging. By the way, we always covered the places over with leaves, so you wouldn’t find them!”

“What about the money you stole?” Nancy asked.

Fred looked blank. “I don’t know anything about any money, honest. You mean money taken from this room?”

“Yes, plenty of it.”

All this time the doctor had been working on Mr. Jenkins and now the thief regained consciousness. When he was assisted to a chair, Chief Rankin said, “As soon as you feel able,
talk.
”

The man looked sullenly from face to face, but glared at Nancy, George, and Bess. At first he was silent, but after a few prodding questions from Nancy, he admitted his guilt.

“I used to be a locksmith by trade,” he said, “and also an expert on opening safes.”

He admitted that the outfit at the river cabin was his. He had made keys to the various doors and padlocks in the Rorick home.

“If you could open the padlocks, why did you bother with the passageway?” George asked.

“So I wouldn’t get caught. I was hiding in the passageway several times while other people were in the room.”

Chief Rankin asked Jenkins why he had waited so long before robbing the safe. The man said he had found the combination a very tricky and difficult one to figure out.

“Tell me,” said Nancy, “did you take only small amounts of money at a time from the books to avoid suspicion?”

Jenkins gave a wise smile. “I knew that Mr. Rorick probably wouldn’t notice. A tenner here and there kept me supplied with all I needed.”

Fred stared at his father in shocked surprise. “What else did you take?” he asked.

Jenkins grinned at his son and confessed to the theft of the coins. He said those still missing were hidden in the guest house.

He also admitted having tried to frighten Nancy away from the Rorick home. When he found out the owner had asked her to solve the mystery, he had coaxed his two friends to help him scare her away. One had swamped Nancy and Ned’s canoe, the other had shrieked in the woods when Ned was in the Indian costume, “We hoped these things would get you off our trail,” he told Nancy, “but I guess you don’t scare easy.”

“Did you steal my pearl necklace?” she asked.

“Yes. It’s hidden in the cabin. You look under the floor boards. Why do I want to give it back to you? Because I admire your grit!”

This was the first time in Nancy’s life that a thief had voluntarily offered to return property because he admired her! She had to smile.

During the next fifteen minutes Fred Jenkins and his father made several other admissions. Fred’s father had thought of the prank of the thumbprints. He knew a very large man with huge thumbs and for a fee got him to make marks on several papers.

“I sure had you fooled that time I dropped one of the papers.” He smirked. “I was up in a tree all the time but you never spotted me.”

Fred admitted to pretending that there had been a phone call for Nancy about Hannah Gruen, and pushing the threatening note under the front door. He had taken Nancy’s car away to wash it. His father had helped him start the motor without a key. They had taken the car to the shack along the river. While Fred washed it, his father had made a key to the ignition to make it easier to drive back.

“We didn’t leave the key in the lock, but I said it had been there to make you think the phantom had done it and you’d worry.”

“What I want to know,” said Nancy, “is whether or not you found any part of the treasure from the
Lucy Belle.”

Mr. Jenkins shook his head. “If it’s true that the treasure is still around, it’s well hidden.”

Chief Rankin interrupted. “If you girls have no further questions to do with the robbery, we’ll take these two men in. Please ask Mr. Rorick to come down to headquarters and make a formal charge against them.”

The prisoners were led away. Bess said, “Won’t Uncle John and Mrs. Holman be amazed when they return? Just think, the mystery is solved!”

Nancy corrected her. “Only one of Uncle John’s two mysteries. Don’t forget we haven’t found the wedding gifts.”

George said she did not have one single hunch to offer Nancy. Bess declared her brain would not work any more.

“Well, I have an idea,” said Nancy. “Suppose that the Indians were kind to the exhausted survivors and helped the thieving crewmen bury the treasure, thinking it belonged to everyone. In return, the crewmen promised the Indians a share of it, but did not intend to keep the promise. When they sneaked back later to dig it up, the Indians, upon discovering they had been double-crossed, became furious at all the survivors and killed them.

“The old map shows that the massacre took place near the village. I’ll bet that’s where we’ll find the pine tree landmark Ned thought he had located on the shore.”

George stood up. “It’s a long chance, but let’s go!”

“Now?” Bess asked.

“Right now.”

Once more the girls got their digging tools and set off for the site of the Indian village. They found no old pine trees, but after a short search they located a huge, old stump.

“Let’s start here,” Nancy proposed.

As Bess shoved a spade into the ground, she remarked, “Nancy Drew, you’d better be right this time, because this is the last digging I’m going to do!”

Nancy and George laughed as they took positions and began to work. The ground was hard from lack of rain and the job was not easy. The girls kept on, however.

They had almost completed a deep circle around the stump, when suddenly George exclaimed that her spade had hit something. The other two girls began to help her dig away the earth. In ten minutes two iron chests were uncovered, one on top of the other. After crusted dirt had been brushed off, the words
Lucy Belle
could be seen on the lid of the top chest.

“We’ve found it!” George exclaimed.

The chest was locked and it took a lot of prying with a spade to lift the lid. The girls’ eyes bulged at the contents—a huge heap of gold coins!

“There must be millions of them!” Bess cried out.

“What a haul!” said George.

“But not for us,” Nancy reminded them. “I suppose this belongs to the town of Emerson.”

At her suggestion, the three friends combined their strength to lift the heavy chest out of the hole. Then Nancy brushed the earth off the one below it. The name Rorick stood out in bold lettering cut into the metal. Eagerly the girls hauled the second chest to the surface. In it they found a small leather trunk with a curved top. On this the name Abigail Rorick had been painted.

“The gifts!” Bess said in a hushed voice.

“Uncle John has the key to it!” Nancy exclaimed.

George said practically, “How are we ever going to get these things to the Rorick house? They’re too heavy to carry.”

For a few minutes no one could answer her question. Nancy glanced around at the trees. “Maybe we could make a carry-all of poles like the Indians used to do.”

At her direction, the three digging tools were laid a few feet apart. Next, the girls gathered blown-down saplings, which they debranched and placed side by side across the metal part of the spades.

“Won’t we have to tie the chests onto the poles?” Bess asked.

Nancy said she did not think so if the girls held the handles of the spades close to the ground as they dragged them along.

It was hard work, but slowly the trio pulled their precious cargo through the woods and up to the Rorick back lawn. Just as they arrived at the rose garden, Mrs. Holman glanced from the kitchen window. A minute later she and Uncle John hurried out, astonished.

“What on earth—?” the housekeeper began.

For answer, Nancy slipped open the chest of coins. “And you have the key to the little trunk, Uncle John.”

“I can’t believe my eyes!” he cried out. “Where? How?”

The utter bewilderment on the faces of the two older people almost amused Nancy. “We’ll carry these inside while you get the key, Uncle John.”

He went for it and inserted the dainty key into the corroded lock, and after much difficulty, finally turned it. As the girls pushed back the lid, everyone gasped in admiration.

Neatly packed was one of the most exquisite wedding dresses they had ever seen. With it were very pointed high-heeled white satin slippers, now yellowed with age.

The lovely veil looked so fragile that the girls were afraid to touch it, but they did pick up the ivory-handled, hand-painted fan which had been the French queen’s gift to Abigail Rorick.

“It’s beautiful!” Nancy exclaimed

At the bottom of the chest lay a velvet jewel case. Uncle John asked Nancy to open it. Within, pinned to the satin lining of the case, were two exquisite miniatures painted on ivory. They were framed with jewels.

“How gorgeous! They’re portraits of Louis Phillipe and his queen!” she exclaimed.

Everyone continued to stare at the array of beauty for several minutes. Then finally George said, “Wait until you hear the rest of what happened while you were away.”

When she finished, Uncle John and his housekeeper were open-mouthed with amazement.

“Treasures! Gifts! The phantom in jail! A secret passageway uncovered!” Mr. Rorick exclaimed. He added, “I can never thank you girls enough. What can I do to show my appreciation?”

Nancy laughed. “Don’t forget that you took us in when we were homeless. That was a very big favor.”

Uncle John declared that the solving of the two mysteries was cause for a celebration. “We’ll have it right here. I’ll engage caterers to serve the food. Among the guests will be people from the university and officials of the town of Emerson.”

“And Mrs. Palmer,” put in Nancy. “I promised to tell her the outcome of the mystery.”

“Certainly,” said Uncle John. “Then together you girls and I will present the chest of gold coins to the town officials and the wedding gown and other pieces to the university museum.” Suddenly he grinned. “But not these precious miniatures. These I will keep and give to the first of you three girls to be married!”

Nancy, Bess, and George blushed and Nancy quickly changed the subject by saying she wondered what her next mystery would be. It was not long before she became involved in
The Mystery of the 99 Steps.

“Perhaps the museum would like the piece of ribbon we found in the Indian cave,” Nancy suggested.

A strange look came over the old man’s face. “You—you found that place!” he exclaimed. “Why, I could have told you all about it and the ribbon, too. I used to play there as a boy. Why didn’t you tell me?” he added.

“I thought I did,” said Nancy, and was sure she had. “But,” she added politely, “I’m afraid I forgot. I’m sorry.”

The old man chuckled. “Think nothing of it, my dear,” he said. “All of us forget things now and then—even,” he added, patting her hand, “the best of young lady detectives!”