Chapter 19 The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene
A New Clue
Edwin McNeery and the Blairs meanwhile continued their argument in the library.
“We must come to some agreement,” the producer insisted. “Either you attend rehearsals after this, or the show doesn’t go on. Which shall it be?”
“I can’t see any sense in making such a fuss over nothing,” Kitty said petulantly, “but if it will satisfy you, then we’ll attend all your old rehearsals!”
Aloofly, Kitty and Johnny stood aside to permit the man to leave. They closed the library door after him, shutting themselves in for a private conference.
“They’re the limit!” McNeery laughed ruefully to Nancy. “If all my actors and actresses were like them, I’d commit suicide!”
Nancy could not help smiling to herself.
“My wife was a real actress,” McNeery continued in a confidential tone. “You may have heard of her—Sylvia McNeery.”
Nancy listened attentively.
“She had a fine career ahead of her,” the producer went on reminiscently. “But Sylvia was peculiar. She preferred a home life to a career on the stage. We argued about it a lot and finally she left me.”
“That’s too bad,” Nancy returned sympathetically.
Secretly she was of the opinion that Sylvia McNeery had done the sensible thing by leaving the producer. However, his voice seemed less harsh when he spoke of his wife, and Nancy surmised that he had taken the blow of her leaving much to heart.
“I’d give a good deal if I could locate her,” McNeery declared. “I guess I didn’t think much about her until she was gone.”
Impulsively he opened his wallet and removed a small snapshot which he handed to Nancy.
“That’s a picture of my wife,” he said proudly.
Nancy stared down at the sweet, intelligent face of a beautiful woman.
“She’s very lovely.”
“Yes, she was good looking all right. And she could act, too! Her name would be in electric lights today if she hadn’t been carried away by a lot of silly notions!”
The producer returned the photograph to his wallet, and hastily said good-bye. Nancy watched him jump into his car and drive away.
Hearing the door slam, Mr. and Mrs. Blair emerged from the library.
“I’m glad that pest is gone!” Kitty exclaimed. “He drives me wild with his stupid demands.”
“Let’s go upstairs and have a look at the twins,” Johnny proposed. “I just thought of a new acrobatic stunt I must teach Jay!”
Nancy knew that another scene would soon take place. Reluctantly she followed the Blairs upstairs to the nursery.
Kitty took one look at the bruised faces of the babies and wheeled wrathfully upon Colleen.
“What have you been doing to them?”
“Not a thing,” the servant maintained, beginning to sob. “They fell out of their cribs.”
“I’ll bet you dropped them!”
“I didn’t, I tell you! I get blamed for everything!”
At this point Nancy intervened. She quietly explained what had happened, then introduced Ruth Brown to them.
“This is the nurse I was telling you about, Mrs. Blair. I brought her with me today.”
“She seems to know a lot about babies,” the actress observed, quieting down somewhat. “If she can keep them from crying, and not be dropping them all the time, I can expect no more.”
“I can do far more than that, I know,” Miss Brown said with a smile.
“Stay here tonight,” the actress directed. “If you get along well with the babies, we’ll talk about the position tomorrow.”
“I’ve taken the best care of the kids that anyone could,” Colleen whined. “I’ve fetched and carried for them and scarcely left them an instant. It wasn’t my fault that they had to fall out of bed!”
“You’ve been careless from the day I hired you! You drop bottles—that is bad enough, and allow the infants to fall from their cribs. You spend all your time holding hands in the garden with that boy friend of yours!”
Colleen hung her head, meanwhile regarding Nancy balefully from the corner of her eye. She felt that the River Heights girl was the cause of the severe reprimand she was receiving.
“At least, I’ve fixed her!” she thought vindictively. “If I lose my job she’ll pay for it!”
Mrs. Blair continued her tirade, working herself into a frenzy of rage. Nancy began to feel sorry for Colleen, and succeeded in soothing the actress by attracting her attention to Miss Brown.
“It was good of you to come out this afternoon,” Mrs. Blair said in a calmer voice. “Have you had much experience caring for babies?”
“Why, yes,” Ruth Brown responded. “I spent several months at the Home in addition to my regular training.”
“The Home?” Mrs. Blair inquired, her penciled eyebrows raised quizzically.
Nancy shot a warning glance at the nurse. It would never do to let Mrs. Blair know that the nurse had come from the Selkirk Home, for the actress did not want to be reminded of the twins’ past.
Ruth Brown was quick to comprehend.
“A home for babies some distance from here.”
“Oh, I see. It happens that my own twins come from a Foundling Home, though I intend that they shall never know of it. If you become their nurse, I hope you’ll grow fond of them.”
Miss Brown turned her face toward the children.
“I am sure that I shall grow more and more fond of them.”
It was getting late, and Nancy announced that she must hasten home. Mrs. Blair thanked her dramatically and profusely for her kindness in coming to the house. Before leaving, Nancy managed to have a word alone with Ruth Brown.
“I feel sure you will get the position now.”
“If I don’t do something to offend Mrs. Blair in the meantime! She has such a harsh tongue. However, I’ll put up with it. Anything to be near the babies.”
As the girl was leaving, Miss Brown could not keep from issuing a word of warning.
“I believe Colleen means to make trouble for you, Miss Drew. I couldn’t help but notice how she glared at you while Mrs. Blair was scolding her.”
Nancy laughed lightly.
“Oh, she can’t harm me, for I have no position to lose. You are the one to be on guard. Colleen is jealous because you are taking her place.”
Nancy dismissed the nursemaid from her mind as she sprang into her car and drove rapidly toward River Heights. She did not dream that in the side pocket of the automobile she was carrying a valuable diamond locket which was to involve her in serious trouble before very long.
Nancy and her father were at breakfast the next morning when Hannah came in to say that Rodney Brown was at the door.
“Ask him to come in,” Mr. Drew directed.
“I did, but he refused. He said he had a message for Miss Nancy.”
The girl arose.
“It’s probably about the babies, Father. I’ll see what he wants.”
Rodney was waiting on the veranda, hat in hand. He smiled as Nancy greeted him cordially.
“Won’t you come in?”
“I can’t stop. I’m supposed to be on duty now at Jolly Folly. The Blairs sleep late, though, so I thought I’d have time to bring you a bit of news.”
“The twins aren’t worse, are they?”
“No, Ruth said they were much better this morning.”
“I’m glad to hear that. What is it you have to tell me?”
“Colleen has been discharged!”
“Really!”
“After you left late yesterday she had another fuss with Mrs. Blair. They told her to pack up and leave!”
“I see,” said Nancy thoughtfully. “And is your sister to have full charge of the twins?”
“Yes, Mrs. Blair was happy to have her stay. If Ruth and I could only take the children with us we’d like to find a new place to work.”
“Of course that’s impossible—at least for the time being.”
“I suppose so,” Rodney sighed. “Everything about the babies is in such an upheaval. You know, it was sort of queer—Ruth finding them, and all.”
“Yes, it was,” Nancy agreed.
The chauffeur was turning to leave when he thought of something else he wanted to say.
“Colleen was talking a good bit in the kitchen this morning. She was blaming you for her being discharged.”
“I expected that.”
“Well, I just thought I’d tell you. When she dislikes anyone she sometimes stoops to some mighty underhanded tricks.”
“I’ll probably never see her again,” Nancy said, smiling. “Thank you for warning me, though.”
The girl returned to the breakfast table. She reported the conversation to her father, omitting the warning Rodney had given her.
“You know, talking with him reminded me of something I nearly forgot!” she declared enthusiastically a few moments later. “Yesterday Miss Brown told me that a man named Enos Crinkle has in his possession the old boat in which the twins were found!”
“That’s interesting. But just how will it aid you in learning the identity of the babies?”
“I have a hunch that the craft may yield up some clue.”
“It’s probably rotted away by this time.”
“The boat or the clue?” Nancy laughed.
“Both.”
“The clue I’m looking for can’t deteriorate. It may seem like a wild chase on my part, but just the same I’m going to trace down this man Crinkle!”
Carson Drew had learned of the amazing manner in which his daughter had reunited the Brown twins. He accordingly intimated that Nancy should feel satisfied with such a splendid piece of detective work.
“I’ll not rest until I’ve located the parents of Jay and Janet!” Nancy announced with determination. “Bringing Ruth and Rodney together was just a side issue of the main case.”
“I admire your pluck in sticking to it all,” her father said proudly. “I hope you wade through it, too. But if a skiff is your only remaining clue, I’m afraid you will be doomed to disappointment.”
“Wait and see!” Nancy laughed confidently.
She hurried away to telephone her chums, Bess and George, and asked if they wanted to go with her to find the old boat. They were eager for the adventure, and proposed that they bring a picnic lunch with them. Nancy hurried to the kitchen to ask Hannah to pack a box of food for her.
“Now you’ll be gone again all day, and my nice cakes never will be eaten!” the housekeeper complained.
“Put them in the lunch basket—every single one!” Nancy pleaded. “Bess, George and I can easily eat a dozen.”
Hannah brightened and went cheerfully about the task of preparing the lunch. Nancy went up to her room to dress for the outing.
“I’ll locate Enos Crinkle if he lives along the river,” she told herself determinedly. “And what’s more, if I find that old boat, I’ll make it give up its clue!”