Chapter 1 The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene
An Adoption
A graceful young girl, her golden hair flying in the breeze, raced up the back steps of the Drew home and burst into the kitchen.
She shut the door with a bang which caused Hannah Gruen, the middle-aged housekeeper, to drop a pan.
“My goodness, Nancy!” she exclaimed. “You’re enough to scare a body out of a year’s growth!”
“Sorry,” the girl laughed. “I didn’t mean to come in like a cyclone, but it’s Saturday; and on Saturday I always feel especially well.”
“Saturday and Sunday and all the rest of the days,” Hannah retorted. “But I wish your father had some of your spirit today. I declare, I believe he is working too hard.”
Nancy’s face grew thoughtful.
“Dad didn’t look very cheerful at breakfast this morning,” she reflected.
“And I made hot cakes especially for him,” the kind-hearted housekeeper continued in a slightly aggrieved tone. “Did you notice anything wrong?”
“Wrong? Well, since you mention it, I did. He seemed preoccupied.”
“Oh, I mean about the hot cakes. Did they taste all right to you?”
Nancy laughed.
“They were delicious. Don’t worry about your cooking, for you’re the best cook in River Heights. I’m sure Dad won’t be able to resist that creamed chicken you’re preparing for luncheon.”
Hannah beamed as she went over to the stove to stir the savory mixture which was bubbling in a gleaming pan.
“I’m ready to put the things on the table now,” she announced as Nancy went into the adjoining room. “You might call your father.”
Carson Drew appeared to be reading a newspaper in the living room, but on closer inspection Nancy observed him merely to be staring at it. He did not hear her approaching, and it was not until she spoke that he looked up.
“Why, hello, Nancy. How is my little girl today?”
“You asked me that question this morning at breakfast.”
“So I did,” the lawyer smiled. “I—I seem to be rather absent-minded today.”
Nancy cast a troubled glance at her father’s drawn face. Something was wrong; of that she was certain. She did not wish to annoy him with questions just yet, so announced luncheon instead. Together they entered the dining room.
“I’m half starved!” she declared as Hannah brought in the steaming dishes. Then, turning to her father, she inquired, “Did you have a hard morning at court?”
“Not more so than usual.”
Nancy made several attempts at casual conversation, but met with no success. Her father seemed completely absorbed in his own thoughts, and for the most part did not follow the trend of what she was saying. He toyed with his food, eating even less than he had at breakfast.
“Dad, you’re worrying about something,” she said abruptly when the kitchen door had closed. “If it’s about finances I wish you’d tell me.”
Carson Drew raised his eyes from his plate, and smiled.
“I’m not worrying about money matters, Nancy.”
“Well, if it isn’t finances, it must be a law case!”
“I see you have me on the witness stand, Nancy, so I may as well confess I am worried over that very thing, and a most peculiar case at that.”
The girl’s blue eyes shone with interest.
“Tell me about it. You recall you promised me once that I might be your partner!”
“In all matters of mystery,” Mr. Drew answered. “This isn’t exactly that type of case, although it does have a mysterious angle to it.”
“Mysterious angles are my specialty.”
“I fear there’s nothing you can do to help me this time, Nancy. It’s an adoption case. I wish now I had turned it down. But when Mr. and Mrs. Blair first called at my office they appeared to be good people.”
“Didn’t I see them there Tuesday?”
“Perhaps you did. Kitty Blair is a fairly well-known singer and her husband does specialty dances. I’ve met a great many actors and actresses in my time, all of them mighty fine people—but these Blairs, well, I can’t make them out.”
“I must say I didn’t like their looks myself.”
“They strike me as being unstable, with a flair for the limelight and publicity. I don’t like to think of their being the parents of such fine babies as Jay and Janet.”
“You’re talking in riddles!” Nancy exclaimed. “Do you mean the Blairs are adopting children?”
“Yes, twins from the Foundling Home at Selkirk. They go by the names of Jay and Janet.”
“What’s the mysterious angle?” asked Nancy.
“The babies were found under rather strange circumstances. I can’t recall the details now. However, I do know that some fine clothing and a strange sort of locket were found with the babies.”
“Evidence that their parents must have had money,” Nancy said musingly.
“It would seem so. The twins are of unusual intelligence, too, the matron of the Home tells me.”
“Don’t you think that if she has the babies’ welfare at heart, she should refuse to allow the Blairs to adopt them?”
“She has been hoodwinked by their gushing manner and their money,” Mr. Drew informed her. “Unfortunately, she has given her consent and signed the papers.”
“Isn’t there anything you can do to prevent the adoption?”
Mr. Drew shook his head regretfully.
“I fear not. I have tried to discourage the Blairs but they seem determined. I must confess I have nothing in particular against them. They simply strike me as frivolous people.”
“They may change their minds before the papers are signed,” Nancy said hopefully.
“It isn’t likely. They are coming here this afternoon to arrange the final details before taking the children from the Home. Perhaps I am worrying unnecessarily, but I wish I didn’t have to go through with the thing.”
“You aren’t exactly responsible,” Nancy declared, “yet I know how you feel. I wish something could be done.”
“Now, don’t worry your pretty head about this affair, Nancy. I shouldn’t have told you, because I know you are inclined to involve yourself in other people’s troubles.”
“I guess there’s nothing I can do this time,” Nancy confessed. “But if you don’t mind, I should like to meet the prospective parents when they come here today.”
“Speak to them if you like, though I fear you’ll find them very shallow.”
At that moment the doorbell rang. Presently Hannah appeared, saying that Mr. and Mrs. Blair were in the living room.
“They’re quarreling about something,” the housekeeper added in a whisper to Nancy. “Nice folks, I must say!”
The Blairs were talking so loudly that their voices carried to the dining room. It was impossible not to hear what they were saying.
“I’ll never agree to call the babies Jay and Janet!” the woman proclaimed. “Never! I want nothing to remind me of their past. Do you hear, Johnny?”
“I’m not deaf,” was the sarcastic retort. “Pipe down! We’ll settle about names later—and other things as well.”
The argument was cut short as Carson Drew entered the living room.
“Mrs. Blair, this is my daughter, Nancy.”
“Kitty Blair, if you don’t mind,” the actress corrected, her voice changing to a soft purr. “You must have heard of me, Miss Drew. I had the leading rôle in the Century Follies.”
“Oh, yes,” Nancy murmured, and turned to acknowledge Mr. Blair’s greeting.
“Pleased to meet you,” he grinned.
Mr. Drew excused himself, and went into his study for the adoption papers which the Blairs had come to sign.
Alone with the two visitors, Nancy studied them closely without appearing to do so. Her worst fears were confirmed.
Kitty Blair was over-rouged and over-dressed. Her bearing was proud and haughty, her gestures dramatic. Her voice had a hard, metallic ring, except when she tried to be particularly agreeable. It was clear to Nancy that the actress considered herself very important.
In appearance, Johnny Blair was very ordinary. His face was almost expressionless. He was several inches shorter than his wife and seemed dominated by her.
“My father tells me that you are adopting little Jay and Janet,” Nancy commented as an aid to conversation. “They are adorable babies. It seems a shame their parents have never claimed them.”
“Humph!” Kitty Blair’s green eyes flashed. “When a mother abandons her children, she should lose all right to them!”
“Perhaps she didn’t actually abandon them,” Nancy countered. “She may have been in some sort of an accident which brought about the separation and now cannot locate them. Or, she may have been parted from them by some very, very strange trick of fate.”
“Then that was her misfortune,” the actress responded tartly.
“Isn’t it true that the twins were found under rather unusual circumstances?” Nancy probed.
“I didn’t trouble to find out,” the actress replied indifferently. “The matron showed me a bundle of clothes and a broken locket which she said had been picked up near the place where the children were first seen. I’ll dispose of everything as soon as the package is turned over to me.”
“Oh, you mustn’t do that!” Nancy cried involuntarily. “If you do, the only existing clue to the babies’ parentage will be lost.”
“And that will suit me fine! I’ll not have any parents turning up in a few years to claim the youngsters.”
“Your adoption papers would give you the prior claim, I believe,” Nancy told her. “But if the real parents should be located, it would be cruel never to let them see the children.”
“The twins must be reared as our own flesh and blood,” Mrs. Blair insisted. “After we sign the adoption papers, no one else has any rights at all in the case.”
“But the babies surely have the privilege of knowing their own mother and father,” Nancy protested.
“They’ll be better off if they never find out a thing about ’em,” Johnny Blair broke in. “We’ll raise ’em as stage kids should be raised. By the time they’re ten or twelve, they’ll be dragging in good money. Twins should be a sensation behind footlights.”
Mr. Drew returned to the living room with the papers which were ready for the Blairs’ signatures. Reluctantly, he indicated where they were to sign their names.
“Your real name is Sellenstein, I believe,” he said politely.
“We don’t use it any more,” Johnny Blair informed the lawyer.
“Nevertheless, it will be best to sign the papers that way.”
Kitty scowled, but did as she was requested. Johnny wrote his name with a grand flourish.
“Now the twins are really ours!” the actress announced with satisfaction. “We can do just as we please with them and no one has any legal right to interfere.”
“You must remember that you are accepting a grave responsibility,” the attorney said quietly.
The actress pretended not to hear him.
“Come, Johnny,” she commanded. “We’ll drive straight to the Home now and get the twins. I guess the Dunbars will be surprised when they come to our party tonight!”
“The Dunbars,” Mr. Drew echoed.
“Theatrical friends of ours,” Mr. Blair explained. “They have a kid of their own they’re raising for the stage, and they like to keep rubbing it in that we have no children. Guess our twins will make them quiet down for a while!”
Mr. Drew accompanied the Blairs to the door. When he returned to the living room, he found Nancy slumped down in an upholstered chair.
“Oh, Dad, it’s awful!” she said. “I don’t wonder you feel almost ill.”
“I’m afraid they mean to exploit the babies,” Mr. Drew remarked slowly.
“I’m certain of it! I stood there wishing and hoping that something would prevent the Blairs from signing those papers.”
“So did I. But it’s over now.”
Nancy nodded despondently.
“Mrs. Blair means to destroy all evidence regarding the parentage of the children, too. We must prevent that.”
“There’s nothing we can do.”
The lawyer sat down wearily on the divan. The day had been extremely trying for him. Nancy knew that he was distressed, and decided to say no more concerning the adoption for the time being.
However, a firm resolve was shaping itself in her mind. She was determined that the Blairs should not destroy the bundle of baby clothing and the broken locket!
“I must act quickly, or it will be too late,” she thought. “I don’t dare to drop a hint to Father, for he’ll caution me against interfering.”
While Nancy was standing by the window thinking, she heard the doorbell ring again. Wondering if the Blairs had returned, Mr. Drew went to answer it. He returned with a telegram in his hand.
Nancy took slight notice of the envelope, for her father often received such messages at his home regarding matters of business routine. However, at a sharp exclamation from him she glanced up.
“What is it, Father? Not bad news, I hope.”
Without answering, Mr. Drew offered her the telegram. It read:
DO NOT LET THE BLAIRS ADOPT MY BABIES
The message was signed “Broken Heart.”