Chapter 11 The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene
A Tip from a Waitress
“Mary Mason again!” exclaimed Nancy. “That settles it! I’m going to River Heights at once and talk to Mrs. Ernest Stonewell, the woman for whom she used to work.”
Nancy decided to tell Helen her plan, so the two girls went out to the patio where she was reading. Nancy revealed her latest findings and told of her proposed trip. “Want to come?” she asked Helen.
“No, thanks.” Helen chuckled. “You work better alone. What a clue this is! Maybe you’ll come back with the mystery solved!”
“Don’t count on that.” Nancy smiled. “Where is everybody?”
“John’s at the burned cottage with the explosives expert. Mrs. Willoughby and Maud are upstairs.”
Nancy leaned toward Emily and said in a low voice, “I hope you won’t mind my asking, but—but does Maud Potter have anything to do with your not reporting the diamond theft?”
Emily sighed. “Well, yes. You’ve probably sensed, Nancy, that she seems to have some influence over Aunt Hazel.”
Helen’s eyes grew wide. “You mean Maud’s sort of—blackmailing her?”
The bride-to-be looked unhappy. “I’m really not sure.”
“And,” Nancy conjectured, “you’re afraid Maud has some knowledge of the diamonds that may involve your aunt if the theft is publicized?”
“That’s the feeling I have.”
Before the girls could discuss the matter further, Maud herself came onto the patio. She sank into a chair. “Having a conference?” she asked sweetly.
“Yes,” Emily replied promptly. “Nancy’s going on a sleuthing trip to River Heights.”
“Oh?” Maud’s eyelids flickered. “You have what they call a ‘hot clue’?” she asked Nancy.
“I hope so,” replied the young sleuth calmly.
“Well, give my regards to your dad if you see him,” Maud said airily.
Nancy rose. “I’d better get started. I’ll pick up more clothes for you and me, Helen.” She laughed. “Then we can return yours, Em.”
Suddenly the group became aware that Jean Holmes, dressed in street clothes, stood in the doorway. She smiled timidly and said:
“Miss Drew, I heard you say that you’re going to River Heights. I need a few things I left in the room I shared in town with a girl friend.” She turned to Emily, and asked permission to accompany Nancy and get them.
“All right,” Emily said. “I trust you’ll return in time to serve supper?”
“Oh, yes, Miss Willoughby. I’ll take the afternoon bus back.”
Nancy told Emily she herself probably would be back by evening.
“We’ll be on pins and needles until then,” Helen said.
Just before Nancy and Jean reached the convertible, Emily caught up to them. Drawing Nancy aside, she whispered, “I’ve been thinking—will you tell your father about my diamonds and the other incidents? Perhaps he can give you helpful advice. But please ask him to say nothing to the police, unless there’s no other way out.”
Nancy was delighted. She would feel much better if she could discuss this aspect of the case with her father.
In a few minutes she and Jean were headed for River Heights. Although Nancy had lost her handbag with wallet and driver’s license in the fire, Mr. Drew had obtained special permission for her to drive until her new license was mailed. Fortunately, he had had a key to her car in his key case, and had left it with her.
“This is a lovely convertible,” Jean spoke up.
Nancy smiled as the car rode smoothly past farm land and woods. “Where did you work before coming to Lilac Inn, Jean?” she asked.
“Many different places,” the girl replied. “Florida in the winter, sometimes, and in the summer, I come north.”
Later, as they neared River Heights, the waitress said abruptly:
“Miss Drew, I had another reason for asking to ride with you. I wanted to tell you someone at the inn is trying to make trouble for you!”
“What do you mean?” Nancy asked, as they reached the outskirts of River Heights.
Jean hesitated at first, then said she didn’t want to be accused of spying. “I think,” she said finally, “Mrs. Potter is up to something funny!”
“Why?”
Jean revealed that twice she had seen Maud going into Nancy’s room—yesterday, at the cottage, and then at the inn that morning.
“Really?” Nancy tried to appear nonchalant. “At what times?”
Jean was vague. She said that she had arrived at the inn shortly before lunch the previous day. “I was unpacking in my room,” Jean went on. “I looked out the window and saw Mrs. Potter enter your cottage.
“This morning,” she continued, “I was at the second-floor linen closet when I heard footsteps. I looked down the hall in time to see Mrs. Potter lock your door.”
Nancy’s mind raced. Was Maud directly implicated in the strange happenings at the inn? For what purpose had she entered the girls’ rooms? It struck Nancy as odd, however, that Jean would inform on the woman who had helped her obtain a job. To the waitress she merely said, “Thank you for telling me.”
“You and Miss Corning were lucky that you weren’t hurt in the cottage fire,” Jean remarked.
“Yes, very lucky,” Nancy replied. Evidently Emily had said nothing to the servants about a bomb being the real cause of the blaze.
Nancy asked Jean if she had ever met a girl named Mary Mason from Dockville. “Mary used to work at the inn.”
Jean wrinkled her brow. “No, although the name is familiar. Perhaps I once met a Miss Mason at one of the places I’ve worked.”
They were now entering the business section of River Heights. Jean asked Nancy to let her off in the center of town. “I’m going to the optician’s first. Then I’ll go to my girl friend’s.”
Nancy stopped near Burk’s Department Store. Jean thanked her profusely and got out. The young sleuth drove to a nearby tearoom for a quick snack. Then she continued on to Meadowbrook Lane, in an attractive residential section, where Mrs. Stonewell lived. Nancy soon spotted the number and stopped in front of an imposing Tudor-style home.
She hurried up to the front entrance and rang the doorbell. A maid answered. Nancy gave her name and asked to see Mrs. Stonewell. The caller was requested to take a seat in the living room.
A few minutes later Mrs. Stonewell, attractively dressed in a tailored sports suit, stepped into the room. With a gracious smile, she asked, “Is there something I can do for you, Miss Drew?”
“Yes, Mrs. Stonewell. I’m trying to trace a girl named Mary Mason,” Nancy explained. “I understand she worked for you.”
The woman’s smile vanished. “Let’s say I hired her. But I didn’t get much work from Mary Mason. I discharged her after a month.” She glanced at Nancy curiously. “You don’t want to hire her?”
“Oh, no,” Nancy replied. “She has some information I need. Do you know Mary’s home address?”
“No. She lived in while working for me,” said Mrs. Stonewell. “I do remember she occasionally visited a brother in Dockville. Whether or not she is living there, I can’t say. Nor do I know the street address.”
“One more question,” Nancy said. “Did you ever miss anything while Mary was working for you?”
“Not that I know of.”
Nancy thanked Mrs. Stonewell and departed. She decided that when she returned to Lilac Inn later that day she would go by way of Dockville. Her next stop was at Helen’s house. Nancy reassured Mrs. Corning, who had read about the fire, of Helen’s well-being.
“Nancy,” Mrs. Corning said, “the newspaper didn’t state how the fire started. I suppose the usual carelessness—someone tossing away a lighted match.”
Nancy, inwardly relieved, replied that this was always a possibility. She did not mention the time bomb.
With additional clothes for Helen in her car, Nancy drove home. She found that Mr. Drew was out for the afternoon in connection with his case.
When Hannah heard Nancy’s account of the fire, she exclaimed, “Even on a pleasure trip, Nancy, danger follows you!” She looked at the girl knowingly. “And what about this twin of yours? Has she followed you to Lilac Inn?”
“Hannah, you’re becoming a detective,” Nancy accused fondly. “Seriously,” she added, “you guessed it. She even managed to fool a friend of Emily’s fiancé who’s staying out there. But she vanished again.”
Hannah sighed. “I’ll certainly be glad when she’s caught.”
“I hope to do that soon,” Nancy stated. “After I pack some clothes, I’m going sleuthing in Dockville.” She explained about tracing Mary Mason.
“That’s a terrible place,” Hannah cried worriedly. “Oh, dear, I’d better go with you.”
“Don’t worry,” said Nancy. “I’ll be safe in the daylight. When Dad gets back, please tell him where I’ve gone.”
Nancy quickly packed a suitcase. She also took along her spare set of skin-diving gear. Then, before leaving, she wrote her father a note telling the details of the jewelry theft.
When she reached Dockville later, Nancy glanced about in dismay. She was confronted with row upon row of dingy tenements. In which one did the suspect’s brother live?
Nancy stopped her convertible and inquired of a stout woman where she could find a family by the name of Mason. The woman shook her head, evidently not understanding English.
“I’ll try another block,” Nancy decided, and turned into a winding narrow street which led along the river front.
She decided to inquire again and pulled up to the curb. She was about to alight when she glanced in the rear-view mirror. Directly behind her was a red panel truck. It looked exactly like the stolen vehicle which had forced her off the road. No one was in it, but the motor was running. Nancy turned her head to get a better look at the truck.
At the same moment she saw a large rock hurtling through the air toward her open window!