Chapter 15 The Sign of the Twisted Candles by Carolyn Keene
Candles’ Secrets
“What’s the matter?” Mr. Drew asked, turning so he too could look out the window.
“I saw Frank Jemitt looking in!” Nancy exclaimed.
She and her father rushed outdoors to accost the man, but could not find him. Mr. Drew was worried that Jemitt had overheard the conversation between Nancy and himself and might use it to his own advantage.
“How?” Nancy asked.
“By conniving with the relatives and threatening Carol.”
To avoid similar incidents in the future, Mr. Drew requested that all the windows in the house be closed and locked, and the air-conditioning system turned on.
“I don’t think,” said Nancy, “we should worry Carol with all this.” Her father agreed.
Their guest slept well. As soon as she came downstairs, Carol insisted upon being given some household chores. “I’m so used to work I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”
Mr. Drew smiled at her. “I suggest that you help Mrs. Gruen and in between jobs do a lot of reading. By the way, Carol, you want to go back to school, don’t you?”
“Oh yes.”
“I think,” the lawyer went on, “that we should look for a good boarding school for you. Of course the orphanage and your new foster parents will have to decide which one.”
Carol was silent for several seconds. Then she said, “I suppose so. But I’ll hate leaving the nice new friends I’ve made.” She looked wistfully at Nancy, who smiled encouragingly.
“You can visit us.”
The telephone rang. Nancy answered it. “Oh hi, Ned!”
He asked if she would be free for lunch. “I’d like to take you out and maybe you could show me that mysterious old inn. How’s the case progressing?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when I see you,” she replied.
“See you at twelve.”
Nancy explained to Carol that Ned was a student at Emerson College and they had been dating for some time. “Maybe I’ll ask Bess and George to come over and keep you company.”
Carol shook her head. “Nancy, I’d just like to be quiet, and—and bake a surprise for your dinner tonight.”
“That would be great,” Nancy said. “May I guess what it’ll be?”
The other girl smiled. “I’ll tell you the name but you’ll never guess what it is. Ever hear of Butterfly Pie?”
“No.” Nancy laughed. “Sounds alive. I’ll look forward to it.”
Ned arrived promptly and drove Nancy to a country restaurant. Tables surrounded a pool.
“How about a swim first?” he suggested. “We can rent some gear.”
She agreed and they spent half an hour in the water. While they ate, Nancy brought Ned up to date on the mystery.
“Let’s go to the inn and do some searching,” he proposed.
“All right. Any place except the tower room. It has been sealed by the sheriff’s office. The watchman has keys to the house.”
When they arrived at the mansion the guard greeted Nancy. She introduced Ned and said they would like to go in and look around.
“I’ll let you in, but I sure had a bad time with those two other guys and that couple when I told ’em No.”
“Who were they?” Nancy asked.
“I don’t know.” His description of them fitted Jacob Sidney, Peter Boonton, and the Jemitts. “They all wanted to look in the tower room.”
“Is the other guard still at the tenant house?” Nancy asked.
“Why no. Didn’t you hear that your father dismissed him?”
Nancy was astounded. She had a strong hunch this was not true. As soon as the front door was opened, she dashed to the telephone to call Mr. Drew. To her dismay she found that the cord had been cut in half!
“Ned, come here!” she called.
He gazed at the severed cord critically. “Vandalism all right. Whom do you suspect?”
Nancy said she was sure Jemitt was responsible. “When the guard was around the corner, Jemitt let himself into the house. To avoid arrest if detected, he made it impossible for anyone to phone.”
“What about the other guard?” Ned asked. “Do you think Jemitt faked a note to get rid of him?”
“Yes.”
Ned suggested that they report the damage to the telephone company at once. “Let’s drive to the nearest phone right now.”
“You go,” Nancy said. “I’d like to look around here.”
Left alone, Nancy went from room to room. Nothing on the first floor seemed to have been disturbed. She figured that probably the Jemitts had already removed any visible expensive objects. She hurried to the second floor and peered into one room after another. When Nancy reached the room she had occupied, the young sleuth stopped short.
On the bed lay a man bound and gagged! His eyes were closed. Apparently he was asleep, because he did not move.
Nancy tiptoed over. He was Jacob Sidney! Quickly she pulled off the gag. The motion aroused the man, who seemed to be dazed. But finally his eyes fastened on the young detective.
“You!” he said in a hoarse whisper. “How did I get here?”
“I don’t know. I just found you. What happened?”
“Untie me and I’ll tell you.”
Nancy did not trust Jacob Sidney. Why was he in this house that he was not supposed to enter? She would wait until Ned’s return.
“First tell me how you got in here,” Nancy said.
Grudgingly he admitted trying the door when the guard’s back was turned. “I found it unlocked and slipped in. I thought I’d better come here and—and protect my inheritance,” he added lamely. “Suddenly somebody hit me from the back and that’s all I remember.”
There was the sound of approaching footsteps. Ned walked in and Nancy signaled him not to act too startled.
Jacob Sidney, apparently mistaking Ned for a plainclothes police detective, said, “I had a right to be here, Officer. I’ve inherited part of this property.”
As Ned leaned over and untied the man’s bonds, Nancy said, “This is Mr. Jacob Sidney.”
“Well, Mr. Sidney,” Ned remarked, “I advise you to leave at once and not come back.”
“I will, I will,” the crestfallen intruder said.
He got up stiffly, went down the stairs, and out the front door. Not until he was outside did Nancy and Ned burst into laughter.
Ned remarked, “I guess that snoopy beneficiary won’t be back in a hurry.”
“Not with you around, Officer,” said Nancy.
“I got your father,” Ned reported. “He certainly didn’t dismiss the guard, and is sending the man back. A repairman from the phone company will be here to replace the cord. Probably the person who cut the cord is responsible for the dismissal of the watchman and the knockout blow to Jacob Sidney.”
“Let’s see what other damage he may have caused,” Nancy suggested.
They opened closet doors and Nancy even investigated the camouflaged back stairway, but found nothing suspicious. She showed Ned the hidden ornate music box before they began a hunt for other treasures.
“I’m to look for the sign of a twisted candle?” Ned asked.
“Uh-huh,” she answered.
Every panel in the ceilings, walls, and floorboards was carefully examined. The couple became separated and there was not a sound for nearly half an hour.
Then Ned cried out, “Nancy! Come here! I think I’ve found something!”
She ran to his side in the rear hall. “Look! The grass cloth on this wall is a little different from the rest and a twisted candle has been carefully worked into the design. Do you think it means anything?”
Nancy ran her fingers over the rough fabric. “It’s lumpy underneath!” she said excitedly. “Ned, we should investigate!”
For a moment Nancy wondered if they should tear off the wall covering. “It’s old and faded, anyway,” she told Ned.
He agreed. “We’ll use my penknife and be as careful as possible,” he said.
Inch by inch he felt the lumpy area and cut around it. Then he peeled off the grass cloth.
“A safe!” Nancy exclaimed.
“Right,” said Ned. “And how are we going to find out the combination to it?” He grinned. “One thing I haven’t learned is how to be a safe-cracker.”
Nancy laughed, then reached up and tried the recessed knob. To her amazement it turned!
“Oh, Ned, the safe isn’t locked!”
In a moment the door was open. The couple peered inside.
“Swords!” said Ned.
He lifted one out. It was encrusted with jewels and evidently very old and valuable. Five others were examined, each one ornate.
“Well, your Asa Sidney was a collector,” Ned remarked, “and I must say he had good taste. What are you going to do with these?”
Nancy did not know. “I suppose they shouldn’t be moved, but I’m afraid to leave them. They may be stolen.”
“Perhaps we can put back the grass cloth so the cuts won’t be noticeable,” Ned suggested.
The swords were replaced and the safe shut. Putting back the frail grass cloth was a tedious job. Nancy had noticed a jar of paste in the room Carol had occupied. She went to get it, then worked with Ned for some time. Finally Nancy felt that the repair would suffice until the authorities came to appraise the estate.
“Where do we look next?” Ned asked. “This is a lot more exciting than my job was as camp counselor.”
“Please don’t tell anyone what you found,” Nancy cautioned.
“Why, Miss Drew,” Ned said, “do you think you should address an ‘officer’ that way?”
The two burst into laughter, recalling Jacob Sidney’s mistaken impression. Then they became serious.
“I think we’ve done enough for one visit,” Nancy said. “But before we leave I want to go upstairs and see if the lock is intact on the door to the tower room.”
She went up the steps, followed by Ned.
“This sure is a spooky old house,” he remarked. “I wouldn’t want to live in it.”
“But great for a mystery,” Nancy said. “Well, nobody has managed to remove this seal, but I’m sure it has been tampered with. I must—”
At that moment a frightful howl echoed through the old inn. Then came a reverberating crash!