Read The Secret of the Wooden Lady Online

Authors: Carolyn Keene

Tags: #Women Detectives, #Detective and Mystery Stories, #Girls & Women, #Mystery & Detective, #Boats and Boating, #Juvenile Fiction, #Adventure and Adventurers, #Girl Detectives, #Mysteries & Detective Stories, #Fiction, #Ghost Stories, #Mystery Fiction, #Mystery Stories, #Mystery and Detective Storeis, #Boston Harbor (Mass.), #Drew; Nancy (Fictitious Character), #Ghosts, #Clipper Ships, #Figureheads of Ships, #Mystery and Detective Stories

The Secret of the Wooden Lady (14 page)

BOOK: The Secret of the Wooden Lady
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“How’d you know I was here?” he asked.
Nancy did not answer the question. “Come outside to our car,” she said. “We want to talk to you.”
The three girls led him to the car, which Nancy had parked in front of the studio. Quint twisted his hands nervously.
“I haven’t done nuthin’ wrong.”
“Oh, no,” said George sarcastically. “You only kidnapped Captain Easterly, and ...”
Quint’s utter astonishment seemed to prove his innocence.
“But you knew about it?” Nancy asked.
“Not a thing.”
“But you were a stowaway.”
“When I knew you was goin’ to leave Boston, I had to stay aboard,” the sailor said doggedly, “so’s I could keep my eye on the ship.”
He also admitted he had shut Nancy in the wardrobe, and taken some food, and locked Bess in the galley closet, and hacked at the captain’s quarters and the hold. But he had not been responsible for the fire nor the severe damage to Easterly’s cabin.
“Then the other stowaway was,” Nancy said. “Who was he?”
Quint hung his head and did not answer.
Nancy prodded him. “It was Fay or Lane.”
Grizzle Face winced. “It was Fay. Never heard of Lane.”
“You telephoned Fay in Boston,” Nancy said, “and told him where the
Bonny Scot
was.”
The sailor admitted it. He leaned against the car door. The man seemed suddenly old, tired, and beaten.
“What were you looking for on the
Bonny Scot?”
Nancy asked him.
“A ruby. There was supposed to be a priceless ruby hidden on board.”
The girls pretended to show surprise. “Did your friend Flip Fay know about the ruby?” Nancy asked.
Red Quint growled, “That double-crosser! Came snoopin’ around, tryin’ to buy me off. A fine friend he turned out to be, after I told him the secret of the old ship!”
“What did he do?” Nancy asked.
“Cheated me—that’s what,” the old man cried out. “I heard the
Bonny Scot
was tied up in Boston, so I went there to see if she was the ship I knew about. I used to sneak aboard to search for the ruby. About ten days ago Fay started hangin’ around the waterfront, and he got me talkin’.”
Quint went on to say that he had foolishly told Fay about the secret ladder on the old clipper and the hidden ruby. “That double-crosser tried to palm off a red stone on me last night. Told me it was the real ruby, and he’d found it. But when I got it in a good light, I knew it was a fake.”
“That’s why Flip Fay took my pendant!” Bess spoke up. “Just like you said, Nancy! Do you still have it?” she asked Red Quint.
As the man searched his pockets and handed over the stone from Bess’s pendant, Nancy asked him, “How did you find out about the ruby and the hidden ladder?”
“Somebody told me—somebody who knew. Years ago, I signed up on a freighter in the South Pacific. We laid up for repairs, one time, at some island. Near Java, ’twas. There was an old man I met there. He’d served on a pirate ship as a young fellow. He told me quite a story.”
“What?” Nancy asked.
“In Bombay one of the pirate crew found out a precious ruby had been bought and taken on board a clipper called the
Dream of Melissa.
“The pirates followed the ship, boarded her, and killed the captain and crew. Then they changed the clipper’s name to Bonny Scot. The pirates combed every inch of her, lookin’ for that ruby. But they never found it.”
“What happened to the old
Melissa?”
asked George.
Red Quint shrugged. “The pirate crew mutinied. Some was killed, and the fellow I met was badly cut up. He holed in at that island for the rest of his life.”
“It didn’t pay him to be a pirate,” Bess remarked.
Red Quint shook his head. “He was poor as a sand crab when I knew him. He said he never did get any of that pirate loot they talked about. All he found was a snuffbox. Before I left, he sold it to me.”
Nancy asked thoughtfully, “Have you ever heard of a figurehead like the lady carved on that snuffbox?”
“Sure have,” answered Red Quint. “Friend o’ mine told me.”
Quint’s remark made Nancy’s pulse pound. Her hunch had been right! Quint did know something about the figurehead.
“Where is the figurehead, Mr. Quint?”
“I’m not telling!”
“I had hoped you’d cooperate with us,” Nancy said kindly. “You’ll need friends. Captain Easterly is going to press a charge of kidnapping. You’ll have a hard time explaining how he happened to be at your boardinghouse.”
Quint gulped. He scratched his head as he thought this over. Deciding he would like to have Nancy on his side in the event of an FBI investigation, he said, “All right, Miss Drew. I can’t give you very good directions about where the figurehead is. I’ll have to show you.”
Nancy felt that he wanted to go along to find out why they were so eager to locate Melissa. There was nothing to do but take him. They all got into the car, and the sailor directed Nancy.
On the way, she asked him if he knew where Flip Fay was and if he had heard Fay was a wanted criminal known as The Crow. Quint did not know this. He thought Fay had skipped out.
They had left Provincetown when the girls noticed a car following them.
George peered out the back window. “It’s a State Police car. The trooper’s signaling for us to stop.”
Nancy pulled over to the side of the road. The other car stopped. A uniformed officer got out and put his head into the window of Nancy’s automobile. He looked Red Quint over, then he said:
“You’re under arrest. Come along with me!”
CHAPTER XIX
A Fiendish Plot
NANCY felt sheepish. She suddenly remembered having told the police to arrest Red Quint!
“A man answering this one’s description is wanted on a disorderly conduct complaint,” the trooper said. “The complaint was lodged by somebody named Nancy Drew.”
“I’m Nancy Drew,” the young detective said.
“You! Then what are you—? Say! All of you come along with me!”
The officer got into his car, taking Quint with him, and told Nancy to follow in her car. But as she trailed the trooper toward State Police headquarters, Nancy’s brain was in a whirl. She had wanted Quint arrested. Perhaps now, out of spite, he would never reveal the whereabouts of the wooden lady!
When they arrived at headquarters, Nancy told the officers about Fay, Lane, and the abduction of Captain Easterly.
“I don’t want to press my charge against Red Quint,” she concluded. “I’m sure he’s not a thief like the other two. But maybe he’d be better off in jail for his own protection. I don’t know what Flip Fay might do to him if he found out how much Quint has told us.”
The police captain seemed to think this was a fair proposition. Meanwhile, he said, they would check the sailor’s story and speed up the search for Flip “The Crow” Fay.
Suddenly Quint, who had been listening quietly, said, “Could I speak to Miss Drew in private?”
The officer agreed. Nancy and Quint went off to a corner.
“Miss Drew,” Grizzle Face whispered, “you’ve been square with me. I want to be square with you, so I’ll tell you where the figurehead is. You take the road to Truro, but turn off just before at the sign that says Wright’s Cove. About a mile the other side of a settlement, you’ll find a little white house with an old sea trawler rotting away in the front yard. That’s Mrs. Parker’s house. That’s the place.”
Nancy thanked him, and the three girls hurried out to their car.
“Do you think Quint told you the truth?” Bess asked, worried. “Maybe he’s just putting us off the scent so he can find the treasure himself when he gets out of jail.”
“I think he’s telling the truth,” Nancy said. It was a beautiful drive, but the girls scarcely noticed the trim cottages, the gardens, the blue sea and sky, as they sped on their way to the hiding place of the figurehead. Nancy finally turned down a sandy lane.
“There it is!” George cried. “White house, old fishing boat. There’s a sign—Mrs. Parker’s Guesthouse.”
The girls jumped out of the car and ran up the brick walk. At that moment a woman came around from the back yard, carrying a hoe.
Nancy told her what they were looking for. “Is the figurehead here?” she asked.
“Oh, that old thing.” Mrs. Parker smiled. “It’s out in the woodshed. A man named Burns brought it here with him.... No, it was Mr. Bleeker, I guess. He owed me twelve weeks’ board, and the poor man didn’t have a cent. He offered me the figurehead in place of the money. Said I could sell it, but I never bothered.”
How glad Nancy was that Mrs. Parker had not sold Melissa!
“Are you girls collecting antiques?” Mrs. Parker went on. “I have some Sandwich glass, if you’d like to look at that.”
“No, we’re just interested in the figurehead,” Nancy told her, smiling. “May we see it, please?”
“Certainly.” Mrs. Parker, still carrying the hoe, and quite unaware of her visitors’ excitement and impatience, led the girls through the garden to the woodshed.
She unhooked the door, and they stepped over the sill into semidarkness. “It’s behind these boxes,” the woman said, pushing them aside.
Nancy helped her, and presently in the dim light she saw the long-lost figure of Melissa. The wooden lady was indeed like the carved lady on the snuffbox. The three girls picked up Melissa and carried her into the yard.
“She’s beautiful,” Bess said. “She must have looked lovely on the ship.”
“Mr. Burns—or was it Bleeker?” Mrs. Parker explained, “told me the thing came off a pirate ship, but I don’t believe those old yarns. I’ve heard too many of ’em.”
The girls exchanged glances. Was her former boarder a descendant of a pirate? Had he removed the ruby from it? Hardly likely, or he would have been able to pay his rent.
“Would you sell the figurehead?” Nancy asked.
“Of course I’ll sell it. What would you give for it?”
A bargain was quickly made, since Mrs. Parker was glad to get rid of Melissa. The girls carried the wooden lady to the car, and with some manipulating managed to get it inside. Then Nancy drove back quickly to the guesthouse where the girls were staying.
Their hostess was amused to see that they had found an old figurehead. She had no objection to their taking Melissa upstairs.
“I can’t wait,” George kept saying. “Let’s cut her right open and look for the ruby!”
They had just closed their door when the telephone in the lower hall rang. A moment later the owner of the house knocked on the girls’ door.
“A message for you from Captain Easterly, Miss Drew,” she said, coming in. “You’re to follow him to the
Bonny Scot
at once. He’ll leave a rented rowboat on shore for you.”
Nancy was amazed. “Was that all?” she asked.
“He said he was moving back.” The woman hesitated as though she did not want to reveal the rest of the message. In a moment the reason was clear. She was about to lose three boarders! “The captain said you were to move back, too.”
“Then we’ll have to go,” Nancy said. “I’m sorry. We’ll pay the full day’s rent.”
Once more the girls packed, then drove to the beach with Melissa. The promised rowboat was there. A slip of paper with Nancy’s name printed on it lay on the floor. George offered to return the rented car. While she was gone, Nancy and Bess put Melissa and the luggage in the rowboat.
George soon returned, and they set out. Reaching the clipper, Nancy called to Captain Easterly. A moment later Mr. Ogden appeared.
“Hello, girls!” he said, smiling. “You got here ahead of the captain.”
In the dim light Nancy saw the long-lost figurehead
“What made you change your mind?” Nancy asked.
Mr. Ogden said he had decided after they left that his company had been unduly hasty. He had telephoned his office and convinced his superiors to let Easterly buy the clipper.
“I had quite a time locating the captain,” Mr. Ogden concluded, “but I did finally. Well, come aboard, girls. I see you picked up a figurehead.”
He let down the rope ladder. George and Bess climbed up the side, then tossed down a rope which Nancy tied around the figurehead. They hauled Melissa aboard, while Nancy went up the ladder.
Mr. Ogden helped George and Bess carry the luggage to their former cabin. Nancy remained on deck to wait for Captain Easterly. She did not want to leave the figurehead for one minute!
In a few moments Bess returned. Excitedly she whispered that George hoped Nancy would begin hunting for the ruby at once. Mr. Ogden was in the captain’s quarters, writing. George would keep track of him and warn the others if he came on deck.
“I think this is the place to start,” said Nancy, eager to see if the ruby were still there. She pointed to a small block of wood forming a part of one shoulder. “This doesn’t match the other shoulder,” she pointed out.
BOOK: The Secret of the Wooden Lady
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