Carolyn Keene_Nancy Drew Mysteries 050 (5 page)

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Authors: The Double Jinx Mystery

Tags: #Women Detectives, #Detective and Mystery Stories, #Girls & Women, #Mystery & Detective, #Juvenile Fiction, #Adventure and Adventurers, #Mysteries & Detective Stories, #Fiction, #Mystery Fiction, #Women Sleuths, #Adventure Stories, #Drew; Nancy (Fictitious Character), #Mystery and Detective Stories, #Mystery & Detective Stories, #Nature, #Birds & Birdwatching, #Birds

BOOK: Carolyn Keene_Nancy Drew Mysteries 050
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Ned arrived a few hours later. The following morning he and Nancy set off to interview one of the councilmen, Mr. Hinchcliff.
Ned had telephoned the councilman’s office and been told he had just left for the proposed new development near the Thurston farm. Nancy and Ned arrived there first and she was able to point out to him where the bird and animal display was.
“This whole area is so large,” Ned remarked, “I should think they could put up all the high apartment houses they want to without destroying Mr. Thurston’s buildings.”
“I agree,” Nancy said.
They saw a car coming across a field and walked toward it. The driver stepped out.
“Are you Mr. Hinchcliff?” Ned asked him.
“Yes. You’re—? And this is—?”
“My friend Miss Drew and I’m Ned Nickerson.”
Hinchcliff began to smile. “You’re so young I presume you’re not looking for an expensive apartment?”
“We’re not thinking about apartments now,” Nancy quickly put in. “We’d like to get your opinion about the type of apartment houses Mr. Wright plans to build.”
“Oh, I like the very high ones,” Mr. Hinchcliff replied, “and the more the better. People will be able to take their choice of north, east, south, or west exposures. Which would you favor?”
Nancy and Ned ignored the question.
“Will there be any recreational facilities?” Ned inquired.
“Oh yes,” the councilman replied. “If you go to the High Rise Construction Company’s office, someone can show you the interesting drawings of the plans. By the way, since you’re not in a hurry for an apartment, you ought to wait for one of these. When do you plan to marry?”
CHAPTER VI
A New Worry
 
 
 
AT Mr. Hinchcliff’s startling remark Nancy blushed deeply and Ned looked at the ground. They hastened to assure the councilman that they did not plan a wedding and were not looking for an apartment.
“Then why did you question me?” Mr. Hinchcliff asked, annoyed.
Nancy decided to be frank with the man. She said, “I’m tremendously interested in Mr. Thurston’s zoo and aviary.” Then, hoping to get a reaction from her listener and possibly learn some new facts, she added, “I’m glad the birds and animals aren’t going to be taken away from here. It would be—”
Mr. Hinchcliff interrupted her. “But they are. No one would want an expensive apartment with a lot of smelly old bird and animal cages in their back yard!”
Nancy quickly assured the man that the development could be planned so that the tenants of the high-rise buildings would not be disturbed by the creatures on the farm.
“Do you think you know better than the architects?” Mr. Hinchcliff asked sarcastically.
Ned spoke up. “I think that was an uncalled-for remark.”
Nancy went on, “This could be a very beautiful site with a cluster of high-rise apartment houses facing a man-made lake. There could also be a swimming pool, a park, and playground. On the other side of the lake would be Mr. Thurston’s farm.”
“And it would be educational too,” Ned added. Suddenly Mr. Hinchcliff exclaimed, “Say, did that crazy holdout Thurston make you call me?”
“No,” Nancy answered quickly. “But I’d certainly hate to see his place destroyed. He has some fascinating birds. The children of Harper love to visit the zoo and aviary. Mr. Thurston spends a lot of time with them, explaining what the birds and animals are and in what parts of the world they live.”
Mr. Hinchcliff started to walk toward his car. “All your pleading won’t do any good. I’ve made up my mind to vote in favor of having the Thurston property condemned!”
Nancy and Ned concluded there was no use trying to convince the man. It was clear that he was sticking to his opinion and could not be persuaded to keep the farm as a lovely recreational park for the future tenant
Nancy changed the subject. “Mr. Hinchcliff, yesterday when I was out here there was an explosion. Was the High Rise Construction Company testing the ground for rocks, perhaps?”
The councilman looked puzzled. “Explosion? What kind of explosion?”
“A land mine.”
“Show me where it was,” the man commanded. Nancy led the way to the spot. Mr. Hinchcliff and Ned gazed in amazement at the hole in the earth.
With a frown the councilman said, “I’ll find out from Mr. Wright about this.”
He walked off with a worried look on his face. After stepping into his car, he put it in gear and roared away.
Ned grinned. “Friendly soul. Say, Nancy, you may have set up a little war in the council!”
Nancy laughed. “I hope it accomplishes some good,” she said. “At least it may make the men suspicious of the High Rise people.”
Ned asked what else she had seen at the time of the explosion. She told him about Slick Fingers O’Mayley. When she got to the part about looking through the pictures at police headquarters, he grinned and said, “You’re really something, Nancy!”
“I made a drawing of a thin version of the stout parolee. Chief Pepper is sure he’s the man we want, but so far none of us can figure out any motive for his planting a land mine here.”
Nancy added there was no proof of any connection between Slick Fingers and men in the High Rise company.
Ned suggested that he and Nancy have lunch in Harper, then visit the Thurstons. She agreed and they drove into town. About two o’clock they set off for the zoo and aviary.
Nancy rang the front doorbell of the Thurston farmhouse. In a few moments a voice inside said, “Who’s there?”
“It’s Nancy Drew and a friend.”
“Then come in.”
Ned opened the door, and the couple crossed the hall. They found Mrs. Thurston in her wheelchair in the living room. Nancy introduced Ned, then asked how the woman was feeling.
“I’m very nervous,” Mrs. Thurston replied. “Very upset, very upset indeed.”
“May I ask why?” Nancy questioned.
Mrs. Thurston threw her arms up dramatically. “More bad luck has fallen on us! We’ve been double jinxed!”
“More trouble?” Nancy exclaimed, incredulous. “Can you tell us what happened?”
The woman began to twist a handkerchief nervously in her hands. “Poor Oscar! Oh, why do these things happen to us?”
Nancy and Ned waited patiently for her to explain. Finally she said, “Nearly all the birds in one of the cages are ill. Oscar and Rausch are busy treating them with antibiotics but a few have already died.”
“What’s the matter with them?” Ned asked.
“Is Petra all right?” Nancy queried. She turned to Ned and said, “That’s the name of Kammy’s wryneck.”
Mrs. Thurston ground her teeth. “That girl! She’s been getting free board here in return for helping Oscar. Now she walks off and takes Petra with her!”
Nancy felt that she must come to Kammy’s defense. “I suppose she was afraid Petra would become ill too. She not only loves that bird, Mrs. Thurston, but she considers it as her link to her native land. She declares it brings her good, not bad, luck.”
Ned spoke up. “If Kammy isn’t here, then your husband is short-handed for helpers.”
“Yes, he is. Of course Rausch works hard, but he mostly takes care of the animals while Oscar watches all the birds.”
Nancy and Ned looked at each other, then she said, “Let’s go pitch in.”
They excused themselves and went out the kitchen door. Mr. Thurston was just coming to the house. Nancy introduced Ned.
“We came to help you,” she said.
“That’s very kind,” he said. “All the sick birds are in the last cage. Don’t go in there. They probably have ornithosis and humans can catch it. I’ll continue with my treatment.
“If you want to help, open the door of that shed over there and bring back pails of bird food. All the different bags are marked. Breeds of birds eat certain food that others don’t. You’ll see the feeding troughs. When you get through with that work, fill the large watering cans and pour the water into the various containers inside the cages.”
Nancy said to Oscar, “It’s too bad Kammy left you. Where did she go?”
Oscar explained that she had taken a room at the university until the birds were well again. The man heaved a great sigh.
“I believe Kammy is on the level, but my wife is suspicious of her. She thinks that Kammy and Petra together have jinxed us. Of course I don’t put any stock in such nonsense, but I can’t talk Martha out of her beliefs.”
He went off to attend to his sick birds. Nancy and Ned hurried to get the feed, then they unlocked and entered one cage after another. Ned remarked again and again how beautiful the birds were and tried to learn the names of some of the more exotic species from signs attached to the doors.
Presently the couple finished their work but Oscar was still busy.
“Oscar didn’t say anything about our cleaning the cages but I think they need it,” Ned remarked. “Let’s do what we can.” Nancy agreed with the young man’s suggestion.
He got a long-handled scraper and Nancy took an extra stiff broom. They worked for nearly half an hour. The sun was going down and they decided to quit.
“This is a tough job,” Ned remarked as they started for the main house. “Much harder than selling insurance.”
Nancy laughed. “And more strenuous than solving mysteries.”
Oscar joined them and the three entered the kitchen together. Suddenly they became aware of moaning sounds coming from the living room. As they rushed forward, Oscar cried out, “Martha must be in trouble!”
CHAPTER VII
Leaping Specter
 
 
 
OSCAR rushed toward the living room, with Nancy and Ned following. Martha Thurston was slumped forward in her wheelchair, moaning and sobbing. She rocked back and forth and wrung her hands.
“Martha dear!” her husband exclaimed. “What is the matter?”
She did not reply. Oscar put an arm around his wife and pleaded with her to tell him what had happened. She just kept on moaning and sobbing.
Nancy spoke up. “Perhaps if Ned and I go outside, she will talk to you.”
Suddenly Mrs. Thurston seemed to come out of a trancelike state. She stared at the others in the room, then began to cry hysterically.
“It was awful! Awful!”
“Please tell us about it,” Oscar said gently.
“Is the specter gone?” his wife asked.
The others stared at her, wondering if she had really come out of the trance. Suddenly she sat up very straight. Martha Thurston looked all around, blinked her eyes, and shook her head.
“It’s gone!” she answered her own question. “I’m all right now, but Oscar, the—”
“Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?” her husband asked softly.
“No, no,” his wife insisted. She opened her left hand. “Here’s proof. The flying specter dropped this into my lap. The symbol is a jinx!”
Mrs. Thurston held up a plain piece of paper, now quite crumpled, on which a crudely drawn circle was inscribed with one straight line running from north to south and another from east to west.
“Do you know what this is?” she asked. Nancy spoke up. “No. It looks like a cross in a circle. Does it have a special meaning?”
“Indeed it does,” Martha Thurston said. “It’s a sign of bad luck. It means imprisonment, detention, an emergency trip to the hospital, or something equally as bad. Oh, Oscar, what are we going to do?”
Her husband asked, “You say this was dropped into your lap? How? By whom?”
Mrs. Thurston explained that she had been dozing in her chair because the fading light of the late afternoon had made her feel drowsy.
“I was suddenly awakened by a very bright light that shone right in front of me. It was so dazzling that I had to squint my eyes. Without warning a specter leaped from the hall all the way across this room.”
“What did it look like?” Nancy asked. “It seemed to be the figure of a thin, tall man but his face, if he had one, was covered with white veils and he had on a long, flowing white robe. Suddenly the figure leaped back toward the hall. On the way he dropped this piece of paper in my lap.”
“Where did the specter go?” Ned asked.
“When he reached the hall,” Mrs. Thurston replied, “the light disappeared and so did he. I don’t know whether he was a ghost or not.”
The woman closed her eyes as if to blot out the sight. “Maybe he went out the door but I didn’t hear it open or close. Perhaps he vanished through the wall!”
Oscar patted his wife’s shoulder. “Try to forget the whole thing, my dear. It’s time for your medication.” He winked at Nancy and Ned.
At once Nancy asked if she might prepare some tea and toast for Mrs. Thurston and the man nodded. “And, Oscar, when you’re ready,” Nancy went on, “I’ll be glad to fix your supper.”
Mr. Thurston turned to his wife. “Do you hear that?” he asked. “Wouldn’t you like Nancy and Ned to stay and have supper with us?”
His wife’s whole attitude changed. She smiled and said, “I’m sorry I acted so badly. Your staying would be delightful, but it’s too bad to put you to so much trouble.”
Nancy chuckled. “I don’t mind. And thank you for the invitation. I’ll call home and say we’re having supper here.”
Nancy was glad to have the excuse to stay for another reason. She wanted to hunt around for clues to the specter. While she and Ned were in the kitchen, they discussed the strange incident.
“I hate to say this,” Ned remarked, “but Mrs. Thurston could have made that circle with the lines herself and then had a dream about the specter.”
Nancy considered the possibility, but said she was inclined to think the incident had really happened. “The front door was unlocked and anyone could easily come in,” she added. “Knowing that Mrs. Thurston was alone in the house, the specter took advantage of a good chance to pull his spooky trick.”
Ned remarked that he thought Oscar was the most patient man he had ever met. Nancy nodded and told him Bess’s theory that part of Mrs. Thurston’s poor health was due to fear, induced by her superstitions.

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