(#26) The Clue of the Leaning Chimney (10 page)

Mr. Soong stared at Nancy in hurt bewilderment. She decided to avoid offending him further. But she wanted to explore the possible link between Eng Moy and the swindler David Carr.

“Perhaps if I learn where this jewel box came from, it will help us find the Engs,” she said.

Mr. Soong’s face lit up. “A splendid idea!”

Nancy wandered about among the wedding guests until she found the bride’s mother. Then she asked discreetly if she knew where the attractive old jewel box had come from.

“Why, Mrs. Dareff gave my daughter the box,” the hostess said kindly. “It came from that lovely antique shop in Westville.”

Nancy knew the store and its proprietor. She made a beeline for the telephone, Ned close by.

“A swell way to enjoy a reception!” he grumbled in mock disapproval as Nancy dialed.

“As soon as I finish this call,” she promised, “we’ll go have some more refreshments.”

“You’re on!” He grinned. “And furthermore, we’re going from the reception direct to the country club. There’s a dance tonight, and some of us have fixed up a little party.”

“Fine,” Nancy beamed. “Hello? ... Mrs. Lorimer? ... This is Nancy Drew of River Heights.”

She told the owner of the shop where she was, then asked about the jewel case.

“Isn’t it lovely?” the woman effused. “Now let me see—Oh, yes, I purchased that piece several weeks ago from Mr. David Carr.”

“Was he a man of medium height with rather piercing eyes? Is he from San Francisco?” Nancy asked.

“Why, yes. You know him?”

“I’ve heard of him. He’s a thief, Mrs. Lorimer. If he should show up again, will you please tell the police right away?”

At that instant Bess Marvin rushed up to Nancy. “Come on! Quick!”

Nancy said good-by to Mrs. Lorimer and hung up.

“The bride’s going to throw her bouquet,” Bess said excitedly. “Don’t
you
want to catch it?” she asked, glancing sidewise at Ned.

Nancy blushed and rushed away to where eager hands hoped to catch the symbolic “next to be married” bouquet. But she stayed in the background. The maid of honor caught the white roses.

While waiting for the bride to change to traveling clothes and come downstairs, Nancy noticed some guests she had not seen before. There were Dick Milton and his wife Connie. Joining the couple, she learned they had just arrived. Dick had not been able to get away from his shop, and Connie had had no one with whom to leave the baby.

“Sue’s outside in her carriage,” Connie explained, after being introduced.

“It’s a shame you missed the wedding,” Nancy declared. “Please let me know when you want to go out. I’ll be glad to baby-sit for you.”

“That’s awfully sweet of you, Nancy. I hate to take you up on it right away, but are you free on the nineteenth?” Connie asked.

“Yes. I’ll come over.”

“I’d love to go to a luncheon party that day,” Connie explained. “Dick’s going out of town to see about some different kind of clay.”

“Not China clay,” Dick spoke up quietly. “You haven’t had any luck, Nancy?”

She told him of her recent search and how both of Miles Monroe’s clues to the China clay pit had led to the mysterious enclosure in the woods.

“The first chance I have I’ll go out there.”

“I hope you’ll find the clay,” Dick replied. “The sooner I repay Mr. Soong the better, and there’s not much chance of my doing it unless something big comes my way.”

“The bride’s ready to leave!” an excited girl called out, and paper rose petals were tossed at the bride and groom as they hurried down the stairs and through the hall to the front porch. Then a car door banged, and the couple were off on their honeymoon.

Ned found Nancy, and after saying good-by to their host and hostess, they left for the country club with a group of friends.

Later, when the dance was over, Ned helped Nancy into the car and slid in behind the wheel to drive home.

“Let’s take the Three Bridges Road,” she said.

“Do you expect to find Manning-Carr at Hunter’s Bridge?” he asked teasingly.

“Well, things seem to happen there,” Nancy replied. “He may use it as a meeting place.”

Ned swung the convertible onto Three Bridges Road and drove swiftly toward River Heights. When the car approached the twisting turns, Ned pressed on the brake and coasted. As they slowly rounded the final curve in the series of turns, Nancy stared intently at the underbrush a short distance back from the road. At the spot where she had previously seen a man’s footprints, she now saw only the black shadows of the night.

Nancy turned her attention to the opposite side of the road, while the car continued slowly toward Hunter’s Bridge.

Suddenly, behind some bushes at the edge of the creek where it curved under the bridge, Nancy saw the small white glow of a flashlight.

“Look!” She pointed excitedly, then took her own flashlight from the front compartment of the car. “Stop!” she told Ned. “Let’s investigate!”

They got out and crept down the embankment toward the light Nancy had seen. The couple stepped carefully, avoiding twigs and stones that might make a sound and betray their presence.

As they neared the shrubs, the light went out. Nancy and Ned hardly dared to breathe, but they saw no one.

Finally Nancy beamed her flashlight ahead. The next moment she had kicked off her shoes and was wading into the water.

“What—I” Ned exclaimed.

Nancy was soon on the other side of the narrow, shallow stream. She swooped up something from the ground and played her flashlight beam on it.

“What is it?” Ned called.

She held up the object, a green jade elephant about three inches long and two inches high.

“How’d that get here?” Ned asked.

“Someone just dropped it,” Nancy replied, “and I don’t believe he meant to.”

“I’ll come over and help you find him,” Ned offered. “Is the elephant any good?”

As Nancy was about to say she thought it was Mr. Soong’s valuable jade piece, there came the roar of a motor.

“My car!” Nancy cried out, and ran back across the stream.

Slipping into her shoes, she dashed after Ned, who was already halfway up the embankment. Two feet from the top of the slope they knew the worst.

Nancy’s convertible was speeding away into the night!

CHAPTER XIII

A Bold Plan

NANCY and Ned stood aghast as the car’s tail-light finally disappeared.

“Well, if I’m not a nitwit!” Ned said. “If I had locked the car this wouldn’t have happened. We’d better run to a telephone and notify the police,” he added. “A state trooper can overtake your car.”

Nancy smiled wanly. “I’m afraid we’ll be too late, Ned,” she replied. “The nearest phone is about two miles from here.”

The youth frowned. “I guess our best chance is to thumb a ride,” he said at last. “Maybe a driver will give us a lift to town in time to do some good.”

But Nancy knew there was small chance of anyone driving through the lonely stretch of woods at that hour. She and Ned started hiking toward River Heights, Nancy clutching the jade elephant.

Ned looked very forlorn and incongruous in his formal clothes, with a white carnation on his lapel. Nancy’s high-heeled shoes were uncomfortable on the rough road, and her stockings were still wet from her dash through the creek.

After trudging two miles, the couple came to a gas station, where Nancy telephoned the State Police. The officer said he would notify all patrol cars to be on the lookout. Then he promised to send a trooper to take Nancy and Ned to their homes.

Nancy said nothing about the jade elephant, wishing to present it to Mr. Soong or Dick herself.

“Nancy,” Ned said as they reached her house, “I’m due to go back to college early tomorrow morning, but I think I’ll stick around here and help hunt for your car.”

“No, you go on back to Emerson,” she insisted. “I have an idea the person who took my car will abandon it somewhere. It’ll turn up.”

But next morning Nancy learned that the police had not found the convertible. When she went into the dining room, her father was finishing his breakfast.

“Dad, I’m worried,” she announced. “So far the police haven’t found a single trace of my car. I guess it’s gone for good!”

Togo frisked into the room and barked cheerfully at his mistress. Mr. Drew looked thoughtfully at his daughter as she absently scratched the terrier’s ears.

“Any idea who took the car?” he asked at last.

“I’m almost certain Manning-Carr or someone he was going to meet is the thief,” she answered.

The lawyer took a sip of coffee. “You’re probably right,” he agreed. “And I don’t like the situation. I’ve done some more checking on Carr.”

“Tell me about him,” Nancy said, pushing her concern about the stolen car out of her mind.

“I learned from the authorities in Washington,” Mr. Drew went on, “that he’s wanted for smuggling and a dozen other offenses. Seems he’s of mixed blood.”

“Part Chinese?” Nancy interrupted.

“His mother was Chinese. He’s American on his father’s side. In appearance, Carr is supposed to resemble his father.”

“Oh!” Nancy said excitedly. “Now I’m beginning to put two and two together.”

“And that’s not all the story,” said her father. “Carr has a brother who’s also reported to be a criminal. But he’s too cunning for anything definite to be known about him. He may be in the Orient or he may be in the United States; the authorities aren’t sure which.”

“Does he look like Carr?” Nancy asked quickly.

“No,” the lawyer replied, “he looks like a Chinese.”

Nancy mulled over this information. She was sure now the brother was working with Carr. That would account for the second set of footprints which had baffled her. It also would account for the person who had cashed the money orders made out to Mr. Soong.

“Carr’s brother may be hiding in the enclosure in the woods,” she said to herself after her father had left the house. “Even Carr may be there!”

Nancy determined that as soon as she returned the jade elephant, she would investigate the enclosure. She would ask if Bess or George could use the family automobile and drive her there. This time she was going to find out why the fence had been built!

Hannah Gruen insisted upon knowing what Nancy was planning. She thought it might be dangerous and felt it was her duty to warn Nancy.

“You may be trespassing on property that doesn’t concern the mystery,” she pointed out. “Innocent people may live there, and they would have a perfect right to guard their property from intrusion.”

Nancy hugged the faithful housekeeper. “If something happens to me, I know you’ll come to the rescue!”

As Nancy walked to the telephone, Mrs. Gruen smiled. She knew that the young detective was determined to solve the mystery, but that she would not do anything foolhardy.

Neither Mr. Soong nor his servant Ching answered the telephone, so Nancy dialed Dick Milton’s shop.

“Hold everything, Dick!” she said. “I’ve found the stolen jade elephant.”

“No fooling!”

She asked him if he wanted to return the article to Mr. Soong personally.

“You found the elephant. Please take it to Mr. Soong.”

Nancy agreed and carefully concealed the piece in a drawer of the dressing table in her bedroom. She would take the jade piece to Mr. Soong later.

Humming cheerfully at the prospect of finding the key to the mystery of the enclosure in the woods, Nancy set out for Bess Marvin’s house. Her plump friend and George were putting golf balls on the lawn. Nancy described the events of the night before and the girls listened with astonishment.

“So I’m looking for a driver to take me to the mystery enclosure,” she said in conclusion.

“Again?” Bess gasped. “I don’t like that place.”

“Oh, don’t be a ninny,” George retorted.

“All right,” Bess agreed reluctantly. “I’ll ask Mother if we can take the car.”

After a few minutes she reappeared and said she could have it late that afternoon. It was four o’clock when they started off. This time they tied a ladder to the top of the car.

Bess headed for Three Bridges Road. A short time later they parked the car and the three girls started off through the woods, carrying the ladder.

When they finally saw the familiar four-walled wooden enclosure in the clearing before them, they paused to rest. The mysterious compound was strangely silent.

Bess looked apprehensive. “Oh, Nancy, I don’t like it!” she whispered. “Let’s go back!”

“Don’t be a silly!” George scolded her cousin.

Bess subsided uncomfortably, with nervous glances at the surrounding area. Nancy and George picked up the ladder and the three walked on. Passing the knoll near the leaning chimney, Nancy decided to take a look from there.

“Bess, maybe you were right!” Nancy exclaimed. “Maybe someone
did
reach a hand out of the chimney! There’s a new symbol up there now!”

The cousins rushed to Nancy’s side and stared in amazement. Nancy, puzzled, told them that the original iron ornament was missing when she and Ned had looked at the chimney.

“This new one,” she said, taking a pencil and pad from her clutch bag, “is like the other one, only it has more crosspieces.”

“Looks like an Oriental ornament of some sort,” George remarked.

Nancy said nothing. She asked the others to help her prop the ladder against the fence, then nimbly climbed it.

The scene inside the enclosure was exactly the same as when she had viewed it with Ned. There was little to be seen because of trees and bushes.

Climbing down, Nancy suggested they move the ladder to a part of the fence over which she had not looked before. The girls carried it to the end of the enclosure opposite the leaning chimney.

Once more Nancy surveyed the grounds.

“See anything?” Bess demanded.

Nancy glanced down and shook her head.

“Maybe people just come here once in a while,” George ventured.

“They go in and out all right,” Nancy said, and added excitedly, “Girls, I see the entrance gate!”

“Where?” George asked.

“Not far from here. It’s very cleverly constructed so it doesn’t show from the outside.”