Chapter 3 The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene
The Bundle of Evidence
Nancy’s elation was short-lived.
No sooner had she slipped the bundle beneath her coat than she observed that the Blairs’ chauffeur was watching her from the front seat of the car. Had he seen her pick up the package? She could not tell definitely.
Before she could decide what to do, Mrs. Blair turned toward her.
“It was so good of you to bring the Dunbars,” she gushed. “You and your friend must stay for our party.”
Nancy was on the verge of offering an excuse, but it died in her throat.
“Colleen, carry in the babies,” Mrs. Blair ordered, and with an imperious gesture toward the chauffeur, said: “Rodney, gather up the packages we brought from the Home!”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
The chauffeur came toward the rear of the automobile where Nancy was standing. He was a tall, thin man, prematurely gray. His eyes were shielded by thick glasses.
“There was another,” he said distinctly. “A small one.”
His gaze wandered toward Nancy. Although he said nothing more, she felt sure that he knew she was holding something under the fold of her coat.
As casually as possible, she offered him the parcel.
“I picked it up on the running-board,” she explained. “Is this the one you are looking for?” she asked innocently.
“Don’t lose that bundle, Rodney!” Mrs. Blair cut in sharply. “I’m going to burn the things in it tonight! We’ll make a grand ceremony of it.”
“Not if I can help it,” Nancy thought grimly.
Now that she had lost the package, her only course was to remain for the party. As soon as she might have regained the precious baby clothes and the locket, she and Bess could hurry away.
Mrs. Blair escorted her guests into the house. The interior was furnished in flamboyant style, and it seemed to the girls that photographs of theatrical favorites were hung everywhere.
“We’ll get away as soon as we can,” Nancy promised her chum. “But first I must get that bundle.”
Rodney had placed all the packages on the table. The one Nancy wanted was within arm’s length of where she was, but she dared not take it when there were so many others in the room.
Realizing that for the time being she must wait, she turned her attention to the twins. The nursemaid permitted them to be handed about from person to person.
To Nancy’s horror, Johnny Blair tossed Jay high into the air, catching him as he came down.
“Oh, do be careful!” she pleaded. “If he should fall——”
“Say, I’ve been catching grown men in tumbling and acrobatic acts for years!”
“But Jay isn’t a trained athlete. He’s a tiny baby and a fall might cripple him for life.”
Mr. Blair laughed boisterously.
“I’m going to toughen this kid up a bit. Six months from now I’ll have him turning cartwheels.”
Nancy bit her lip and said no more. But she was more than ever determined that the Blairs should never destroy the bundle of evidence. As long as the original baby clothes and the locket remained, there was some hope that the real mother of the twins might be found.
Bess Marvin presently managed to capture the frightened Jay, and held him quietly in her arms. Janet was passed from one person to another, even Mitzi being allowed to carry her about.
Several times Nancy tried to protest, but the guests paid no heed to her warnings. As their conversation grew louder, heightened no doubt by the drinks which Johnny Blair mixed and brought from the sideboard, she arose impatiently.
Brushing past the center table, she deliberately knocked the package of baby garments to the floor. She had hoped that the wrapping would break, which it did. The contents spilled over the floor.
Murmuring an apology for what she termed “a stupid act,” Nancy bent down to pick up the things. There were two little handmade white dresses, trimmed with dainty lace and embroidery. Only a loving mother’s hand could have fashioned such exquisite garments.
Of far greater interest to Nancy was a curious object which had rolled across the rug. It was a heart-shaped locket. One half of it was missing.
As Nancy stared at the trinket a strange thought flashed through her mind. Could there be any connection between the broken locket and the way the telegram to her father had been signed?
Mrs. Blair was annoyed at the “accident.” She beckoned to Colleen.
“Do take those packages upstairs at once. I don’t want them cluttering up the living room.”
For the second time Nancy saw the baby garments and the locket literally snatched from her grasp. But she had glimpsed them! Furthermore, she did not intend to leave the house without the bundle.
The party was growing more and more noisy, and additional guests were arriving. Everyone made a great fuss over the twins—fondling and playing with them, and in the estimation of Bess and Nancy, handling them very roughly.
Johnny Blair and Phil Dunbar took turns entertaining with tap dancing to the accompaniment of a blaring radio. Without being asked to do so, Kitty sang several popular songs. Even little Mitzi was called upon to perform.
“She’s just like a doll that you wind up to do things mechanically,” Bess whispered to her chum. “If the twins grow up to follow in her footsteps, it certainly will be sad.”
“Pretty swell kid, eh?” Phil said. “The movies will be picking her up any day now.”
“Our twins will make a great sensation when we introduce them on the stage,” Kitty declared. “But we must change their stupid, old-fashioned names to something modern.”
This was the cue for the guests to suggest what they considered suitable ones and long, heated arguments ensued, as the air grew thick with cigarette smoke, and drinks were passed freely. Nancy and Bess, joining in none of the festivities, were very glad to find themselves ignored. Had it not been for the twins they would have left at once. Yet they lingered, hoping that they might accomplish the mission which had brought them to Jolly Folly.
Jay and Janet were very well-behaved babies, but they did not enjoy being handled by so many strangers. First little Jay began to whimper; then Janet let out a loud wail.
Mrs. Blair was quite helpless in the face of such a situation.
“Oh, someone take them away,” she said pettishly. “I can’t stand to hear babies cry. What has become of Colleen? Why is she never here when I want her?”
Nancy quickly arose and picked up Janet, wiping away the tears with a handkerchief. Bess went over to Jay and took him in her arms.
“We’ll carry them upstairs and put them to bed,” Nancy offered.
Mrs. Blair was so busy telling one of the guests about her latest show that she paid scant attention to the girls from River Heights.
No one offered to tell Nancy where she might find the nursery. Accordingly, she and her chum climbed the stairs and opened several doors in search of the room. Finally they discovered it at the end of the hall.
The nursery had been prepared especially for the arrival of the twins. Two small cribs stood by a wall. After quieting the babies, the girls tucked them into their beds.
Not until then did Nancy notice that the careless maid had dropped a number of packages on the floor in the corner of the room. With a cry of delight, she caught up the torn one which contained the baby garments and the locket.
“Let’s take the bundle and get away as quickly as we can,” Bess advised.
Nancy was examining the baby clothes for marks of identification, but could find none. They reminded her very much of dresses which she, as a child, had put on one of her dolls.
“We can’t go downstairs with this bundle, Bess. If we do, the Blairs will ask questions. Kitty is determined to burn these things.”
“We mustn’t let her do that.”
“No. I have an idea! If we could only find a telephone upstairs!”
“I saw one in the hall.”
“Then we can do it! I hope Hannah will cooperate with us in our plan.”
“What are you talking about?” Bess questioned in bewilderment. “Your mind moves too fast for me to follow.”
Nancy chuckled softly.
“This is my idea. I’ll exchange these baby clothes for some doll dresses I have packed in the attic at home. Mrs. Blair may burn them for all I care!”
“We have no way to get the things here, Nancy. If we go back for them, Mrs. Blair may destroy the evidence while we’re gone.”
“That’s where Hannah comes in. I’ll ask her to come out in a taxi and bring the little dresses with her.”
“She’ll think we’re out of our minds!”
“Probably, but that’s of no consequence. If she’ll just do as we direct! Let’s try it, anyway, Bess.”
Quickly, Nancy put in her call. There was a brief wait which seemed endless before the familiar voice of the housekeeper was heard at the other end of the line. As clearly as possible Nancy explained what she wanted her to do.
“Now don’t ask questions, Hannah,” she said hurriedly. “I’ll explain everything later. Just get me the white doll clothes in the attic. Oh, yes, and the gold locket I wore as a child! Don’t forget the locket, because it’s very important.”
“And you want me to come out to Jolly Folly in a taxi?” the housekeeper demanded incredulously. “I’m right in the midst of my baking.”
“Let it go. You must come, Hannah! Please do as I tell you!”
So eager was Nancy to convince the housekeeper of the importance of the trip, that she failed to notice Bess, who was making frantic motions. Not until she hung up the receiver did she realize that anything was amiss.
Kitty Blair had come quietly up a back stairway and was standing scarcely a dozen yards away at the door of the nursery!