Nancy's Mysterious Letter (14 page)

Nancy asked Ned to call other airlines and this time he had good news. He located a new reservation for Nixon and Miss Drew.

“I think,” he said, “that Miss Drew couldn’t get her passport changed in a hurry, so she’s using the one with her maiden name on it.”

Nancy sighed. “Even though I may be too late to prevent a wedding, I can alert the New York police where to nab Edgar Nixon.”

As Nancy and Ned got ready to leave, tears came to Mrs. Roderick’s eyes. “You people are very kind and I do hope you can do something for poor Miss Drew. I’m afraid she has lost her head and has no relative or anybody in this country to help her.”

“She has friends,” said Nancy, “but I imagine she’s too proud to ask their advice.”

Ned suggested that they stop at Emerson police headquarters, to see if there was any news of the elusive couple and to ask the chief to notify the New York police.

They were told that there were no leads and the officers were glad that Nancy had one to suggest. Word would be sent to New York immediately.

As Nancy and Ned left police headquarters, she glanced at her watch. “Oh, I didn’t realize how much time has passed. Bess and George and I will be dreadfully late getting home. Ned, would you mind calling Hannah and telling her that I won’t be there in time for supper after all?”

“Glad to.”

When they reached the fraternity house, George and Bess were waiting with their dates in the hallway. The girls’ luggage was piled up.

“We began to think you had gone home without us,” George teased.

The couple grinned and Ned said, “Wait until you hear what we’ve found out.” The story was quickly told about the quotations.

Burt burst out laughing. “Say, how about sitting in for me, Nancy, in my Shakespeare class? You might pull an A for me.”

It did not take long to load the car. After thanking the boys for a wonderful weekend, the girls jumped in. With a last wave, Nancy drove off.

The journey was uneventful. The girls did not even stop to eat.

“It’s so late,” said Nancy as they neared the outskirts of River Heights, “how about you girls spending the night with me?”

They agreed, since they did not want Nancy to make the last part of the trip alone. As soon as they reached the Drew home, the cousins phoned their parents.

Both Mr. Drew and Mrs. Gruen had welcomed the girls eagerly. Hannah had prepared some tasty chicken and lettuce sandwiches, a large bowl of fresh cut-up fruit, and a chocolate cake.

As the girls ate, they related the latest items in the mystery. “Amazing!” said Mr. Drew.

Finally Nancy changed the subject. “How’s Ira Nixon?”

Her father answered. “I went over there as soon as I got home and heard about the theft. I urged Ira to inform the police, but he still steadfastly refused to do so. He seemed to be calmer, however, so I did not think it was necessary for me to stay or to ask a neighbor to come in.”

The three girls began to suppress yawns and Mrs. Gruen suggested that they get to bed as soon as possible. They all slept soundly, but Nancy awoke early with a persisting thought in her mind. She proposed it to Bess and George.

“Girls, if we can get permission, what would you say to going to New York? Nancy Smith Drew will need moral support when the police arrest Edgar Nixon.”

George’s face broke into a broad grin. “I can’t think of anything I’d like better than to see the police nab that cruel man.”

Bess said, “If you tell Nancy Smith Drew about her inheritance, maybe she won’t feel so bad about having a husband in jail.”

The girls came downstairs early and asked Mr. Drew what he thought of the idea.

“It’s a good one,” he said, smiling. “You may as well see this mystery to its conclusion and you can stay in New York overnight with Nancy’s Aunt Eloise.”

Nancy, Bess, and George had visited Mr. Drew’s sister several times. They adored the school-teacher and she was always delighted to have them visit her.

“She hasn’t left for school yet,” said Nancy. “Suppose I call her right away.”

Nancy had a long talk with her aunt, who was amazed to hear about the case and pleased that the girls were coming.

“I’d love to see you,” she said.

As soon as Nancy had eaten breakfast, she phoned the River Heights airport and made a reservation for the three girls on a flight to New York that afternoon. Bess and George went home to get their clothes and Nancy picked them up later. She planned to leave her car at the airport parking lot.

After the girls had purchased their tickets and obtained seat reservations, they sat down to chat. Nancy said, “I’d like to find out how Ira Nixon is and tell him where we’re going.”

She went off to a phone booth. To her delight she found that Ira Nixon was feeling better and decided not to disturb him with any worry about his brother.

As she left the booth, a young woman walked up to her. “You’re Nancy Drew, aren’t you? I’ve seen your picture in the paper lots of times.”

Nancy acknowledged that she was.

“I’ve just come from the powder room,” said the young woman. “A friend of yours is in there. She saw you come into the airport. She is terribly ill and asked me if I’d go and find you and bring you back there.”

Nancy looked at her watch. Only twenty minutes to plane time!

“All right,” she said.

The two hurried to the powder room. Nancy could see no one inside.

“Over here,” her companion said, and led Nancy around a corner.

The next instant the strange woman opened her purse and whipped a handkerchief from a plastic bag. She grabbed Nancy around the neck and held the handkerchief tight over the girl’s nose and mouth. It had a peculiar sickish odor.

Nancy struggled to free herself, but within seconds she blacked out.

“I WONDER what could be keeping Nancy?” said Bess nervously when her friend did not reappear. “Our plane leaves in ten minutes.”

“We’d better hunt for her,” George suggested. “Maybe she’s waiting for us at the gate.”

Nancy was not at the gate, nor was she in any of the telephone booths.

“She has the tickets, so I’m sure she wouldn’t go without us,” Bess remarked. “Let’s look in the powder room.”

The cousins hurried to it. At first they did not see Nancy, but when Bess peered into the nursery, she gasped. Her friend was lying under a crib, covered with a blanket!

“What’s the matter with her? Bess asked, frightened.

“I think she’s been drugged,” George said grimly.

The girls uncovered Nancy and shook her. She did not respond. Quickly they rolled the crib aside and put Nancy on a couch. Bess rushed to get a towel, held it under the cold water, and put it on Nancy’s forehead. George chafed her wrists and gently slapped her cheeks. Finally Nancy opened her eyes.

“What happened to you?” Bess asked.

Nancy blinked and took several deep breaths, but did not answer.

“Maybe we’d better call a doctor and forget the trip,” said Bess.

Her statement seemed to rouse Nancy to consciousness. “No, no,” she said weakly. “Help me up and I’ll be all right.”

The girls did not question her further. They knew, without being told, that once more Edgar Nixon had tried to intervene in Nancy’s plans and keep her from following him. They were more convinced of this than ever when they found her handbag intact.

Supporting Nancy, the two girls managed to walk her to the plane and onto it. By the time she reached her seat, the dazed girl declared she felt better, and whispered to her friends what had happened.

“We guessed as much,” George replied. “Now just take it easy until we reach New York.”

Nancy dozed during most of the trip, but by the time they set down at the airport, she declared she was all right.

“This is really proving to be a dangerous mission,” the young sleuth said. “Are you both sure you want to carry on?”

“Of course we do,” said George. “But I have a suggestion for you.”

George felt that it might be wise for Nancy to try disguising herself.

Bess suggested, “You have on a reversible coat. You can turn it inside out, and tie a scarf over your hair and wear sunglasses.”

“All right. I’ll do it,” Nancy replied.

As soon as the three girls got into a taxi to transfer them from LaGuardia Airport to Kennedy Airport, Nancy took off her coat, turned it inside out, and put it back on. The paisley pattern scarf which she had been carrying in a pocket was tied around her head, so only her face showed. Just before stepping from the cab in front of the airline building, she put on her sunglasses.

George said, “I never finished telling you my idea. Nancy, pretend you’ve never met Bess and me. You run ahead and do your sleuthing. We’ll follow at a discreet distance.”

Nancy said she would go to the ticket counter, while the other girls watched the passport desk for Edgar Nixon and Nancy Smith Drew.

“Okay, and if one of us finds out something, we’ll raise our handbag in the air as a signal.”

By this time Nancy was feeling her normal self and went at once to the airline counter. “Have Mr. Nixon and Miss Drew checked in yet?” she asked.

The clerk consulted his list. “No.”

Nancy took a seat nearby where she could watch the arriving travelers. Several who were making the flight to London came to the counter but none was either Edgar Nixon or Nancy Smith Drew.

She was beginning to feel discouraged, when a couple hurried toward the long bench where she was seated. The man told the young woman to sit down and he hurried off to the counter.

“He certainly looks like Edgar Nixon,” Nancy thought excitedly.

As she continued to stare at him, she caught a glimpse of a cuff link. It was red with a black star in the center. Instantly Nancy recalled what Mr. Whittier, the River Heights jeweler, had told her—that the man who had purchased a lovely pin for Nancy Drew had bought red cuff links like these for himself!

“I’m sure he’s Edgar Nixon!” Nancy decided, and nonchalantly raised her handbag into the air to alert Bess and George.

She now turned her eyes toward the young woman. Was she the English heiress? Was she married?

Nancy’s heart began to beat faster as the woman started to take off her gloves. She wore no wedding ring!

Taking a chance that she had spotted the person for whom she had been searching, Nancy moved over and sat down beside her.

“Pardon me, but aren’t you Miss Nancy Smith Drew?” she asked.

The young woman jumped in surprise. “Yes, I am. Do I know you?” she asked.

“No, but first of all let me tell you that my name is also Nancy Drew. I must talk to you quickly. Did you ever receive a letter from England telling you that you have inherited a small fortune?”

“Why, no!” the amazed young woman exclaimed. “How did you know about this?”

“Because the letter came to me by mistake and I have been trying for weeks to find you.”

“Do you have the letter with you?”

Nancy shook her head. “It was stolen. Miss Drew, it’s a long story, but before I tell you everything, I must know this. Is the man with you Edgar Nixon?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not married to him?”

“No, not yet. He wanted to marry me right away and take me to England for a honeymoon, but I told him we would have to wait until we get to London. Even though I have no near relatives, I thought it would seem more like home to marry there.”

Nancy took hold of one of Miss Drew’s hands and looked straight into her eyes. “I’m dreadfully sorry to have to tell you this. You must not marry Edgar Nixon. He’s wanted by the police for robbery and using the mails to defraud victims in a phony Lonely Hearts Club.”

The actress gasped “I don’t believe it!”

Nancy glanced up toward Bess and George. Both were holding up their handbags and looking toward the counter. Two men had approached Edgar Nixon.

“Look over there, Miss Drew,” Nancy said. “Those are plainclothesmen arresting Edgar Nixon.”

All the color drained from the actress’s face, but she got up when Nancy did and walked with her to the counter.

They were just in time to hear one of the policemen say, “You’re under arrest!”

As Edgar Nixon loudly protested, Nancy stepped forward.

“I’m Nancy Drew from River Heights,” she introduced herself. Bess and George came up and confirmed the statement. Nancy went on, “I also accuse this man. He tried to harm me so that I could not frustrate his plans.”

The other plainclothesman said that he had arranged for the use of an office in the airport so that they might talk in private. The two policemen marched Edgar Nixon toward it and the others followed. Miss Nancy Smith Drew, trembling, clung to Nancy.

“I know this is dreadful for you,” the young detective told her, “but as soon as the shock is over, you will be grateful that you were saved from a very unhappy marriage.”

During the conference that followed, all of Edgar Nixon’s unsavory schemes were brought out. He admitted having had two men to help him and a girl who had become a friend through his Lonely Hearts Club.

“Why did you steal the letters from your brother’s mailbag?” Nancy asked him.

A sneer came over the prisoner’s face. He gave a little laugh as he answered. “Tell your father his Mrs. Quigley is a gabby client. She joined my Lonely Hearts Club. The old gal sent me letters five pages long and told me all her business. So I knew exactly when the money was being mailed to Mr. Drew, and—well, I figured I needed it more than she did.

“I was hiding and waiting for a chance to take the letter from Ira, when you stopped in your car and told him you’d give him cocoa at your house. That was my chance.”

Edgar said that getting the Nancy Smith Drew letter was pure accident, but he had instantly planned to benefit by it. One of his club members had sent him an Emerson newspaper. In it was an item that the actress was coaching a play at the college. When he read Mr. Bates-Jones’s letter, Edgar had hurried to Emerson to make her acquaintance and a couple of days later asked her to marry him.