The Whispering Statue (6 page)
Read The Whispering Statue Online
Authors: Carolyn Keene
Tags: #Art Thieves, #Yacht Clubs, #Women Detectives, #Detective and Mystery Stories, #Girls & Women, #Adventures and Adventures, #Adventure and Adventurers, #Juvenile Fiction, #Mothers and Sons, #Mysteries & Detective Stories, #Fiction, #Art Objects - Reproduction, #Fraud, #Mystery Fiction, #Adventure Stories, #Art Objects, #Swindlers and Swindling, #Drew; Nancy (Fictitious Character), #Statues, #Mystery and Detective Stories
“I hope not,” the young detective replied. “But it’s my only chance to find out what’s happening to Mrs. Merriam’s rare book collection.”
As the girls strolled along, George said, “Will you excuse me for a little while? I have an errand to do. I’ll meet you two at the nice soda shop over on that corner.”
She went down a side street and Bess said, “I wonder what she’s coming up with now.”
Nancy and Bess went into the sweetshop to idle away the time. They purchased magazines, a newspaper, and salted peanuts. Then they sat down at the counter to order lunch.
George came in. She said nothing about her errand and Nancy and Bess were a bit curious, because George was not usually secretive. She ordered a soda and a sandwich. As soon as the girls had finished, they headed for the bus station where they had been told there was usually a taxi.
It was not until the three were seated in the taxi that George divulged where she had gone. She took a small package from her purse and put it into Nancy’s lap.
“This should help you keep your disguise,” she whispered.
Curious, Nancy opened the package. Inside was a stack of calling cards on which had been printed “Miss Debbie Lynbrook.”
“How clever!” Nancy said. “Indeed they will be a big help.” Her eyes twinkled. “Tomorrow morning I shall leave one on the table near Mr. Basswood’s office.”
When the girls reached the yacht club, Bess found a note in her mailbox saying she was to telephone her home at once. She went off to make the call but returned in a few minutes.
“Is everything all right?” George asked her.
Bess replied that she was not sure. “Mother said that Mrs. Gruen phoned and asked her to get this message to Nancy. Some man who refused to give his name called your house several times demanding to talk to you or be told where to find you. Hannah decided not to call you direct.”
“He wouldn’t give his name?” George asked.
“No, and this worried Hannah. She requested him to give her a number that Nancy could call but he refused.”
Bess said the man had been so persistent that Hannah finally had become angry and told him if he would not give his name he should never call again.
“Oh, Nancy, I’m worried too,” Bess added. “Your enemies are determined to find you.”
Nancy was silent for several seconds, then she smiled slightly. “Do you realize, girls, that this means they don’t know where I am, or that I’m Debbie Lynbrook?”
Hearing this, Bess and George relaxed, but advised Nancy to be on the alert for trouble.
“Especially while you’re at work,” George added.
That evening Nancy telephoned her father. He was amazed to hear about the discovery of the statue and said he would have an expert from New York City examine it.
“It will be interesting to find out whether or not your suspicions about it are correct,” the lawyer said.
Nancy then told her father of her job at Basswood’s Art and Bookshop. He laughed and wished her luck. But he warned her not to take any chances on the owner discovering she was Nancy Drew.
His daughter chuckled. “Debbie will do her best.”
The following morning Bess and George wished the young detective luck. They promised to drop into the shop later to see how she was getting along.
“Let’s have lunch in town,” Nancy suggested. “I have two hours off.”
During the morning Nancy made three very good sales and Mr. Basswood seemed pleased. His assistant, who never changed his expression, kept a sharp eye on her. She began to wonder whether perhaps it was Mr. Atkin and not Mr. Basswood who might be guilty of falsifying Mrs. Merriam’s account.
About eleven o’clock a young man came in, signed the register, and went straight to the book section. Nancy was waiting on a woman interested in paintings and for a few minutes no one was in the book department. While Nancy’s customer was trying to make up her mind about an old English landscape, the girl detective saw the young man slip a book into his pocket.
“He means to steal it!” she told herself. “And that’s a rare volume!”
Excusing herself to the woman, Nancy hurried to the entrance hall where Mr. Atkin was standing. She whispered her suspicions to him, but he told her he could do nothing.
“If you’re wrong, Mr. Basswood could be sued.” He turned away.
Nancy was not satisfied. She decided to do something else. She walked casually to the register to get the name of the young man and found it was Sam Payne. She wrote on the card:
I saw Mr. Sam Payne put an early edition of Browning’s poems into his pocket.
She looked around for Mr. Basswood but he was not in sight, so she went back to her customer.
“I know I’m taking a long time,” the woman said. “But after all, when one spends this much money, one should be absolutely sure.”
Just then the front door opened and to Nancy’s delight she saw a police officer come in. She hurried over to him and put the card into his hand. She whispered, “Mr. Atkin won’t do anything about it.”
The police officer walked toward Mr. Payne. Upon seeing him, the young man made a beeline for the front door. He opened it and hurried outside. The officer followed.
Mr. Payne did not get far. The policeman stopped him and said something which Nancy, who was standing in the doorway, did not hear. Mr. Atkin was also watching the scene.
The young man pulled the stolen volume from his pocket and handed it to the policeman. “I was only holding it until I made up my mind.”
Nancy doubted that this was true and wondered what was going through Mr. Atkin’s mind. He made no comment when the policeman handed the book to him.
The frozen expression on Mr. Atkin’s face remained as the officer said, “You can thank this young lady for retrieving that rare volume for you. Do you want to prefer a charge against this man?”
“Mr. Basswood will have to do that,” Atkin replied.
He made no further comment and marched back to the shelf to return the book to its place. The officer looked amazed but merely shrugged and shook his head. He gave Nancy a big smile as he went off with the suspect. She returned to her customer and sold a painting.
At lunch Nancy told Bess and George what had happened. The cousins exchanged glances and Bess said, “I was so worried about you I asked that policeman to drop in.”
“Good thing you did,” said Nancy.
During the afternoon she made several sales to summer visitors in Waterford. To her chagrin Mr. Basswood told her at four o‘clock that she was not to report for work the following morning. But she was relieved when he added that she should come at two o’clock.
In talking this over later with the girls, Nancy remarked, “I think something fishy will be going on at the shop tomorrow morning. Let’s get Dick and go down there this evening. Maybe we can spy on the place and learn something.”
Dick was delighted with the idea and drove the girls downtown in his small car. Nancy had decided to take him into her confidence, without revealing her identity, and said that certain things happening at the shop made her wonder if the business was being carried on honestly.
The good-looking young man grinned. “I’ve never tried solving a mystery, but it sounds like fun!”
He parked the car some distance from the shop and suggested they approach Basswood’s from the rear along a driveway.
As they neared the building, Bess whispered, “I see a light in the basement window.”
The young people tiptoed forward. They could hear men talking. As they drew closer, Nancy recognized the voices as those of Mr. Basswood and Mr. Atkin.
Reaching the lighted window, the four spies found it wide open. They could see the two men clearly. They were packing books in cartons. Dick hunkered down and stared intently at the scene below.
Mr. Atkin spoke up. “It’s a good thing you’re getting the rest of this Merriam collection out of here. I don’t trust that Lynbrook girl!”
The remark made Bess shiver. She was sure Nancy would be in danger if she went back to work at the shop!
Just then the young people heard a car. They did not want to be caught spying! The girls started to move away. But Dick, startled by the automobile, suddenly lost his balance and tumbled into the cellar of the art shop!
CHAPTER VIII
The Race
THE three girls were aghast when Dick fell through the open cellar window of Basswood’s shop.
“What’ll we do?” George asked.
“We’d better run!” Bess replied promptly. “Come on!”
Nancy had stretched out her arms to push the cousins away from the window in case the men looked up. In a moment, however, she inched forward and peered down. If Dick had been hurt, she would certainly go to help him!
“But if he’s all right,” she said to herself, “Bess and George and I had better get away from here as quickly as possible.”
Dick had landed on a pile of newspapers evidently used for packing books. When the two men heard the thud they turned quickly. Dick stood up and looked at them sheepishly. He gave no explanation of his sudden entrance.
“He’s all right,” Nancy thought. “I’m sure he can get out of this predicament himself.”
She told this to the other girls and the three scooted away.
“Where shall we wait for Dick?” George asked.
“I vote for the soda shop,” Bess said.
Nancy remarked that it was possible when Dick did not see them around, he would figure they had gone back to the yacht club. “Then we’d miss a ride home.”
“I guess you’re right,” Bess conceded. “But a soda sure would taste good right now.”
The girls went directly to the parking lot where Dick had left his car. They climbed in.
Ten minutes later he appeared. “Hi! I thought I’d find you here.”
As he swung himself into the driver’s seat, Nancy said, “Tell us what happened. How did you get away from Basswood and Atkin?”
The young man grinned. “Mostly by keeping still. They asked me what I was doing at the window, and I just shrugged. Then they tried to find out what I had overheard. Again I shrugged. ‘Nothing important,’ I told them.”
As Dick paused, George begged him to go on. “You haven’t told us yet how you got away from Mr. Basswood.”
“That older man finally said to me, ‘I guess you thought we were burglars.’ I just laughed and they took it for granted that he had hit upon the truth. The other man told me to go out the way I had come in. Then they slammed the window shut and locked it.”
The three girls laughed and Dick asked, “What kind of a detective would I make?”
“Excellent,” Nancy replied.
“Then maybe that’s what I’ll take up when I finish college,” the young man said.
As they neared the yacht club, Dick reminded his passengers that the boat races would be held the following day. “Debbie, I hope you can take the afternoon off.”
Nancy said she had to work until four o’clock but that she would come directly back to the yacht club. “Ned can pick me up at the shop.” She sighed. “I suppose we girls lost our chance to be in any of the races after smashing one of your boats.”
“I have a surprise for you,” Dick said.
“Top
Job has been repaired and is waiting for you sailors. You can make the last race. Bess and George, you can use it in earlier races. How about it?”
“Top
Job has been repaired and is waiting for you sailors. You can make the last race. Bess and George, you can use it in earlier races. How about it?”
Bess told Dick that she did not plan to enter any of the races, but that George and her friend Burt might take part.
“We’ll be there early to get in a little practice,” George remarked.
Nancy regretted that Ned would have no time to try out the sailboat, but she consoled herself with the thought, “Winning isn’t everything. We’ll have a lot of fun and the competition will be great.”
When the girls reached their bedroom, Nancy said she had thought of a little scheme. Perhaps she could trap Mr. Basswood!
“Goodness, what is it?” Bess asked.
Nancy said she would call Mrs. Merriam and get the titles of a couple of books on astrophysics which Mr. Basswood was to sell for her. “Then I want Ned to come down to the shop and ask Mr. Basswood if he has the two volumes. There might be a clue in his answer.”
She called Mrs. Merriam, who went to consult her list. She came back to the phone and said there were two volumes, System
of
the World by Sir Isaac Newton and
De Orbim Coelestium Revolutionibus
by Nicolaus Copernicus.
of
the World by Sir Isaac Newton and
De Orbim Coelestium Revolutionibus
by Nicolaus Copernicus.
“But I’m afraid they’ve been sold,” Mrs. Merriam said. “I was to get ten dollars each as my share.”
“Thank you,” said Nancy, and told the woman what she planned to do.
“I hope it works.” Mrs. Merriam sighed.
Nancy reported what had taken place in the cellar of the shop earlier in the evening, and added, “I’m sure your hunch about Mr. Basswood cheating you is correct”
“I think it’s wonderful what you’re doing,” Mrs. Merriam remarked. “Please keep me posted.”
“I will.”
The following morning Nancy received a phone call to report for work early. When she rang the shop’s doorbell, no one came to answer it. She glanced at her watch. It was five minutes to ten.
For a fleeting second Nancy wondered if no one was there. On a hunch she walked around to the back entrance and peered into the basement. It was dark. She returned to the front of the building and rang again. This time the door was opened by Mr. Atkin. He did not say good morning or make any comment.
Nancy greeted him cheerfully and added, “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it? A wonderful day for the yacht club races.” Mr. Atkin was still silent.
At that moment Mr. Basswood stepped from his office and remarked that Nancy was very prompt. She replied, “Saturday should be a big one in sales for the shop.”
“It usually is. Well, suppose you get to work. Find a dustcloth in the rear room and do some cleaning.”
Half an hour later the first customers came in. While Nancy was showing a woman some statuettes, she noticed the front door being opened. Ned Nickerson walked in. He glanced in her direction, but as planned, gave no sign of recognition. She in turn ignored him.
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