The Sign of the Twisted Candles Page 10

  It was late by the time the couple reached Nancy’s house. Mr. Drew was already there and declared he was “hungry as a bear,” but wanted full details on his daughter’s afternoon activities.

  “First we’re going to eat,” Hannah Gruen declared, “or the roast beef will be ruined. And no harrowing tales until the dinner is over. We want our guests to enjoy their dinner.”

  Mr. Drew shrugged and smiled, but obeyed the instructions. Nancy said, “Carol, I can’t wait to see your Butterfly Pie.” When it was served, everyone gave gasps of delight and Nancy exclaimed, “Why, Carol, it’s a work of art!”

  Into each portion of the lemon chiffon pie Carol had stuck two large wafers which she had fashioned into the shape of butterfly wings. Carol had decorated them in various patterns with vegetable colorings.

  “Nancy’s right,” said Mr. Drew, “and the pie tastes even better than it looks.” Carol blushed and smiled appreciatively.

  After dinner the Drews and their friends gathered in the living room, and the full story was told with special emphasis on the finding of the antique swords and the arrest of Krill. In order not to alarm Carol, Nancy’s encounter with Krill was dealt with lightly.

  But Carol was serious. “It’s marvelous what you’re all doing for me, but you mustn’t take such risks. Please.”

  Presently Ned stood up and said he must leave. “I have to get up early tomorrow and drive to Emerson. Football practice starts early this year.”

  After he had left, Nancy asked her father at what time the next day she might visit the Sidney mansion. The lawyer replied, “I’ll be leaving at seven in the morning to open the house for the men who will be appraising it. Why don’t you and Carol have a leisurely breakfast and then drive out? When we’ve finished our inventory, you can do some more treasure hunting.”

  Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, that would be great, Dad! I’ll ask Carol. She’s out in the kitchen helping Hannah.”

  When Carol heard the request, her lower lip began to tremble. “Oh, do I have to go?” she said, tears coming to her eyes. “I—I—Nancy, that place haunts me. At first, I didn’t seem to mind so much. But now it’s so pleasant here, and the inn is so full of horrible memories. When Mr. Sidney went, every bit of happiness left that old house.”

  Nancy put an arm about the girl. “I’m sure I’d feel the same way, Carol, and Dad will certainly understand.”

  She returned to her father, who agreed to Carol’s request.

  Nancy said to him, “What do you think of my asking Bess and George? After all, they are beneficiaries.”

  Her father smiled. “Do you think the feud has calmed down enough?”

  “I’m willing to take the chance,” Nancy replied.

  She went to the telephone and asked Bess. “Oh!” her friend exclaimed, evidently shocked by the proposal.

  Nancy went on, “After all the known possessions of Mr. Asa Sidney are listed, and the valuable ones removed to the bank, Dad said I might hunt for further hidden treasures. It would be fun to have you there and, after all, it was Mr. Sidney’s request that you and George help hunt. You might find something yourself! What do you say?”

  “You’ve persuaded me,” said Bess, “but I’ll have to ask my parents.”

  Bess was gone from the telephone so long Nancy concluded the answer would be No, or there would be some counterpròposal. She was relieved when the answer was, “It’s okay. And my parents said to tell you they’re glad we’ve made up.”

  “I’ll stop for you at nine-thirty,” Nancy said. “Dad is driving out earlier.”

  Then she called George. Mr. and Mrs. Fayne had to be consulted but willingly gave their permission. George said, “I hope we find a million dollars!”

  On the way to the mansion the next day, Nancy brought the cousins up to date on what had happened since she had last seen them.

  “Nancy, how ghastly!” Bess exclaimed.

  George scowled. “I hope I’m around if that man Jemitt shows up. I’d like to help capture him.”

  When the girls arrived at the inn, Mr. Drew was busy with two men. They were Mr. Harris, a representative of the government, and Mr. Thompson, an appraiser. As soon as they had made an inventory of the furnishings, Mr. Drew asked Nancy to show them the swords, the music box, and the diamond bracelet. Then just before the three men left with these treasures, Mr. Drew gave Nancy the key to the tower room.

  By this time it was one o’clock. Bess announced she was hungry. When and where were they going to eat?

  “Right here,” Nancy replied. “Carol packed a lunch for us. I’ll get it out of the car.”

  While they were enjoying roast beef sandwiches, Nancy told her friends that the Fernwood Orphanage was planning to find new foster parents for Carol.

  “She’s darling,” said Bess. “I wouldn’t mind having her live with us.”

  As the last of the lunch was finished, George said, “Where do we start our search?”

  “Let’s go to the tower first,” Nancy suggested.

  They mounted the stairs, and Nancy unlocked the door. The tower room seemed stuffy, so she opened the big front window, then locked the entrance door.

  Bess, gazing around, said, “What is it about this room that seems so different from the night we were here?”

  “The twisted candles,” Nancy replied. “They’re not lighted.”

  George agreed. “Some of them are standing in such odd places. I wonder if that’s significant of anything.”

  The three girls began picking them up one by one. Nancy chose two handsome, stately twisted candles in silver holders which stood on one end of the brick fireplace.

  “I believe these pieces,” she said, “are covering something valuable.”

  Nancy placed a rush-bottomed chair before the yawning opening of the fireplace, and stepped up. Carefully she moved the heavy candles away, then ran her fingers over the shelf.

  Was she imagining it or had a brick moved? At once Nancy set to work prying out the loose brick. It was a tedious job but presently she lifted out the brick. Beneath lay a tightly rolled brown suede bag bound with a leather thong.

  “Girls, look!” she exclaimed.

  She quickly stepped off the chair and laid the bag on it.

  “What can it be?” Bess asked.

  “I don’t know, but it’s heavy,” Nancy answered as she untied the fastening and spread out the long, narrow bag.

  Revealed were tiny pockets containing a collection of old coins!

  “Oh!” George cried. “They’re probably worth a mint!”

  “Here’s a secret compartment!” Nancy cried out

  For safekeeping Nancy replaced the bag, the brick, and the candles. Then she went to examine the opposite end of the shelf. It contained a similar bag but this one held jewelry.

  “I can’t believe it!” Bess exclaimed. “Nancy, you’ve earned part of this treasure.”

  The young detective waved aside the suggestion and said, “I’m hoping to find a secret that’s more valuable than old coins or jewelry.”

  Nancy walked slowly toward the massive, carved desk-table next to the front window. On it was the biggest twisted candle of all. The towering object stood next to a well-worn old leather Bible that Nancy reverently moved to one side. Within the exposed, dust-free area she detected hairline cracks that marked an oblong about a foot wide and fourteen inches in length.

  “Here’s a secret compartment!” she cried out, and her friends rushed to her side.

  Nancy’s fingers searched for a spring which might release the lid. At length they found a slight indentation on the underside of the kneehole.

  She pushed it and the top of the secret compartment flew open, revealing a recess about six inches deep. Nancy peered inside at an orderly pile of letters. The top envelope said, For Carol Wipple. To be opened ... Nancy tried to remain calm about her startling discovery.

  “I think I’d better not disturb these,” she told her friends, firmly shutting the lid and push
ing the Bible back over it. She wanted to discuss the discovery with her father before revealing what she had seen.

  Before the girls could continue the search, there was a loud pounding on the door.

  “Who is it?” Nancy asked.

  “The guard. Miss Drew, there’s a phone call for you. The woman on the other end of the line is frantic.”

  Nancy unlocked the door and the girls hurried out. She relocked it, and dashed down the stairs.

  Hannah Gruen was calling. “Oh, Nancy, my news is terriblel” she exclaimed. “Carol has been kidnapped!”

  CHAPTER XVIII

  Valuable Clue

  “KIDNAPPED!” Nancy fairly shrieked. “Oh no! When? How?”

  “I don’t know.” Hannah Gruen’s voice was shaky. “Please come right home. I phoned your father’s office, but Miss Hanson said he’s in court and can’t be disturbed.”

  “I’ll come as fast as I can get there,” Nancy promised.

  When she relayed the message to Bess and George, they were horrified and dashed out to the car with her. All the way to the Drew home Bess kept murmuring, “Poor Carol,” and George said, “I’m sure those awful Jemitts did it and will hold her for ransom.”

  Nancy remained silent. Conflicting ideas raced through her mind. She tried to convince herself that Carol had left of her own accord and would either telephone or return soon.

  When Nancy reached the house, this bright thought was dashed. Hannah Gruen was pacing the floor.

  “I went to the store for a short time and left Carol here,” the housekeeper explained. “She promised to keep the doors and windows locked and to let no one in. Oh, what shall we do?”

  George suggested notifying the police, but Nancy said, “Let’s wait until my father comes. He should be home soon. Hannah, why are you so sure Carol was kidnapped?”

  “Because the laundryman came here right after I got home. When I told him what I suspected, he said he’d seen a car pull out of our driveway with a young girl in it just as he arrived.”

  “Who was with her?”

  “A couple. From the man’s description, I suppose it was the Jemitts. Where do you think they took her?”

  “I wish I knew,” Nancy replied, terribly worried herself.

  She decided to take George’s advice and call Police Chief McGinnis. He was alarmed at the turn of events.

  “So far no police have found any trace of the Jemitts,” he said. “It’s possible they’re in hiding somewhere. In any case, if there’s no word by tomorrow, I’ll notify the FBI. In the meantime there may be a ransom note. Nancy, I think I should warn you about getting into the same predicament yourself. After all, the Jemitts no doubt consider you their most formidable enemy.”

  “One thing puzzles me,” Nancy said. “The Jemitts were remembered in the will. Why are they acting like this?”

  “Probably to coerce your friend into signing a paper promising them a large portion of her inheritance for taking care of her. They may even get her signature on a letter begging the Fernwood Orphanage to let the Jemitts remain as her foster parents.”

  “She’ll never do it,” Nancy told the chief.

  “Under a threat she may.”

  Nancy was not convinced, but Hannah, Bess, and George were. The cousins felt that their parents should know what had happened and telephoned them. The Faynes and Marvins promised to help all they could and then came to pick up their daughters.

  Mr. Drew arrived soon afterward and was as disturbed as the others by the kidnapping. He notified the orphanage of Carol’s disappearance and of their suspicions. None of them ate much dinner, each lost in thought.

  Finally Nancy said, “Dad, what are visiting hours at the jails?”

  “They’re not all the same, dear. Why?”

  “I’d like to talk to Krill. Maybe I can get him to reveal where the Jemitts are hiding.”

  “Not a bad idea,” the lawyer said. “If nothing breaks by tomorrow morning, I’ll go with you to Maywood.”

  Although no telephone messages or callers came during the night, Hannah and the Drews slept poorly and they were up early. Mr. Drew telephoned the jail and found that in his case an exception would be made to the rule of afternoon visitors only. He and his daughter could come at ten.

  As Nancy was about to go for her car, the telephone rang and she rushed to answer it. An unfamiliar voice, speaking with a foreign accent, said, “Is this Nancy Drew?”

  “Yes.”

  “I call to warn you not try find Carol Wipple or both of you be harmed.” The stranger hung up.

  Hannah had been standing close enough to hear the message. She turned to Mr. Drew. “Please don’t let Nancy out of your sight. Someone has just threatened her!”

  “I shan’t,” he said.

  The Drews rode quickly to the Maywood jail and were taken to Krill’s cell.

  The prisoner was defiant. “I said I ain’t talk-in’,” he greeted them.

  “To the police perhaps, but how about just to us?” Mr. Drew suggested.

  “Huh! And have you blab it to them? No, sir.” Krill turned his back on the callers.

  Nancy was convinced this man could not be wheedled into giving information about the Jemitts. She used another method.

  “Mr. Krill, there’s been a kidnapping and you’re involved,” she said.

  The prisoner did an about-face and yelled, “I am not! I told Frank I wouldn’t have any part of it!” Suddenly he stared at Nancy “Who was kidnapped? You were supposed to be the one!”

  Mr. Drew spoke up. “Things will go a lot easier with you, Krill, if you tell everything you know.”

  The prisoner walked up and down nervously. “I needed money. Frank Jemitt said he knew an easy way to get it and that would square him with me. I’d done him a big favor. In return he’d pay me well to get Nancy Drew off the case and try to find some papers hidden in the tower room by the man who died.

  “He told me where the ladder was. When you drove in, Miss Drew, I thought up the scheme to fool and drug you. But I couldn’t take you along with me because your boy friend was around. I knew Jemitt would be mad because he told me to bring you to—”

  “Yes?” Nancy said.

  Krill walked back and forth several times before replying. At last he said, “I may as well tell you. The Jemitts own a little cottage along a branch of the Muskoka River. I don’t know exactly where it is, but they said it was sort of in a woods at the end of a road called something like ‘student.’ They call the cottage Restview, I think.”

  Just then a guard came to say, “Time’s up, Mr. Drew.”

  Nancy was thrilled by what they had learned. “Dad, can you go there with me right away?” she asked as soon as they were outside.

  “I wouldn’t miss the chance.” He smiled.

  Looking for a road with a name like “student” that ran to a branch of the Muskoka proved to be frustrating. After two hours of fruitless searching Nancy and her father stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant. They discussed where to go next.

  Presently they became aware of a woman at the next table who seemed to be interested in their conversation. Finally she leaned over and said, “Perhaps I can be of some help. Do you think the road you’re looking for could be Steuben? There is such a road about a mile from here. It leads directly to the water.”

  “Oh, thank you,” said Nancy. “We’ll try it.”

  To the Drews’ delight, Steuben Road led directly to Restview Cottage. There were no other houses around. No car was in sight and the place appeared to be deserted.

  “I guess the Jemitts aren’t using this,” Mr. Drew remarked.

  “But they may have left Carol here,” Nancy said. “We must find out.”

  She and her father stepped from their car and knocked on the door. There was no answer and not a sound inside or outside the cottage.

  “Carol may be tied and gagged,” Nancy said. “We must make sure she isn’t in there.”

  “I agree.” Mr. Drew was g
rim.

  They walked around the building and began looking in the windows. No one was in sight. Suddenly Nancy grabbed her father’s arm and pointed into the living room.

  “See those boxes along the wall? They’re just like the ones Frank Jemitt was taking out of the tenant house at Asa Sidney’s. And they’re marked like the cartons I saw in the warehouse yard. I’m sure they contain stolen property!”

  “You’re probably right,” the lawyer agreed. “We have no right to break in, of course. I guess we’d better—”

  He stopped speaking as they heard a car coming. Nancy and her father braced themselves. Were they going to come face to face with the Jemitts and perhaps Carol?

  In a few seconds they saw the approaching sedan was not that of the Jemitts, but a police car. The driver was a state trooper, who said he was on a routine checkup of all roads in the vicinity.

  “You’re just the man we need,” Mr. Drew told him and showed his business card. “This is my daughter Nancy.”

  “I’ve heard of you both,” the trooper said. “My name’s Hatch. What can I do for you?”

  “Tell him, Nancy.”

  After hearing the story, Trooper Hatch said, “We mustn’t lose any time. I’ll force a window and we’ll go in.”

  The three climbed into the living room. First they looked for Carol and called her name several times. She was not there. Nancy was disappointed. Now the search would have to be continued. But where?

  “Let’s examine these boxes,” Mr. Drew suggested.

  Nancy and the two men began to untie them. She had chosen a heavy cardboard box with many perforations in the top. Nancy knelt on one knee, pulled off the lid, then shrieked in terror!

  CHAPTER XIX

  A Risky Climb

  THE box contained a large copper-colored snake! Disturbed, it reared and the head darted toward Nancy, fangs out.

  In horror she fell backward and scrambled out of the way. The snake wriggled to the floor. By this time Mr. Drew and the trooper had picked up iron fireplace tools and quickly killed the reptile.