Chapter 22 The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene
An Accusation
In a flash Nancy had crossed the room and flung apart the velvet curtains. A cringing man stood revealed.
Carson Drew sprang to his feet with a low exclamation of anger. He recognized Abe Jacobs, an unscrupulous lawyer who long had made a living by questionable means. The two men were enemies.
“Are you sure you haven’t a few dictaphones concealed around the room also, Mrs. Blair?” the River Heights attorney inquired sarcastically. “Really, this is going a bit too far!”
“I have a right to employ a detective if I choose!” the actress said with a toss of her head.
“Are you aware of this man’s reputation?” Mr. Drew demanded.
“Certainly I am. He always wins his cases.”
Carson Drew smiled grimly, for he recalled a great many that Abe Jacobs had not won—cases in which the two men had engaged in a bitter fight over moral as well as legal rights.
“I have reason to question your daughter,” Mrs. Blair went on heatedly. “She thought she was pulling the wool over my eyes, but I knew what was going on all the time!”
“What are you talking about?” Nancy asked impatiently.
“I’m talking about the way you go around trying to find the mother of the twins! Colleen told me everything.”
Nancy did not attempt to refute the charge. Mrs. Blair continued angrily:
“You’re trying to ruin my career, that’s what you are up to! If you find their mother I’ll have no end of bad luck.”
“How ridiculous! As if that could bring you bad luck!” Nancy scoffed.
“I’ve gone by signs all my life, haven’t I, Johnny? If the mother or father of those babies comes back to claim them, my new show will be a failure!”
Nancy and her father were completely disgusted at such superstitious beliefs, but they realized it would be useless for them to try to reason with the Blairs. Mr. Drew turned his attention once more to the smirking Abe Jacobs.
“I don’t know how much you have heard behind those curtains,” he said curtly, “but I’m giving you fair warning. Print a word of what was said here tonight and you’ll have me to reckon with!”
“Perhaps you’ll be easier to handle this time,” the lawyer leered. “No doubt your daughter’s reputation is of vital concern to you, Mr. Drew!”
Carson Drew restrained himself with an effort. His face flushed angrily but his voice was composed.
“You’ve had your warning, Jacobs. Print one accusation against my daughter and I’ll sue you for slander!”
Picking up his hat and cane, Mr. Drew conducted Nancy from the house. As they were stepping into the car a woman came running across the lawn toward them. It was Ruth Brown.
“I couldn’t help hearing part of what that dreadful woman said!” she exclaimed in distress. “I want you to know I don’t believe a word of it.”
“Thank you,” Nancy said gratefully. “I’m not much concerned with her silly accusations. I’m more interested in finding the mother of the twins—even if it should ruin the Blairs’ show!”
“Oh, I wish you could! The Blairs aren’t fit to have children. Even a mother without a penny of money could rear them better than they do. Love is what they need.”
“And perhaps they shall have it,” Nancy told her. “I think I have a real clue at last!”
“I’m so glad! Even if it means giving up the babies myself—and that will be hard—I hope you locate the true parents.”
Miss Brown hurried back into the house, fearful lest she be seen. During the ride home Nancy and her father had little to say to each other. They realized they were faced with an awkward situation. Abe Jacobs had gained Mrs. Blair’s confidence, and the unscrupulous man would overlook no opportunity to embarrass Mr. Drew. He could strike best by involving Nancy in some kind of trouble.
“Don’t you worry about this affair,” the attorney said kindly, reaching over to squeeze her hand. “I know how to handle men of the Jacobs stamp.”
“I’m sorry to have involved you, Father. I didn’t realize anything like this could happen when I set out to solve the parentage of Jay and Janet.”
“Don’t give it a thought,” Mr. Drew said carelessly. “You just go right ahead and find the babies’ mother and father if you can.”
“You’re a peach, Father! I knew you’d stand by me.”
Nancy went cheerfully to bed a little later. After she had retired, Carson Drew sat thoughtfully at his desk. Abe Jacobs had him in a bad spot.
“It will be a bitter fight,” he reflected. “And that man will stoop to anything. But I’ll spend a fortune before I’ll see him hurt Nancy’s reputation!” His eyes looked worried.
Mr. Drew was up early the next morning. When Nancy came down to breakfast, she saw that he had bought three papers, which were spread out before him.
“Did they dare print the story?” she demanded apprehensively.
“I don’t want you to read the papers, Nancy. It will only upset you.”
She took them before her father could prevent her.
“No. I insist upon knowing the worst. Oh! This is Jacobs’s work.”
“The articles are very cleverly worded. While he doesn’t actually say you took the locket, he causes the reader to infer it.”
“This is dreadful!” Nancy cried.
“Ridiculous! Nearly everyone here knows Abe Jacobs is a crook. Then, too, your side of the story shall appear in the evening paper. I’ll write it myself.”
Nancy brightened somewhat. Then she grew depressed again as she skimmed over the defaming stories.
“Furthermore, I am instituting slander suits at once against the Blairs, Abe Jacobs, and the newspapers that printed the stories. If the papers retract I may drop the suits later.”
“It surely means a great deal to have a lawyer in the family at a time like this,” Nancy remarked. “I guess I’ll trust my future to you and run off to Crown Point today. I can’t bear the thought of answering a lot of foolish questions.”
“An excellent idea,” her father said approvingly. “The reporters will be after you like flies.”
Even as he spoke, the doorbell rang. Hannah entered the breakfast room to report that a newspaperman wanted to talk to Nancy.
“I’ll not speak to him,” the girl said.
“Slip out the back way, Nancy,” her father advised. “I’ll handle this gentleman.”
While Mr. Drew conducted the reporter to his study, his daughter quietly stole to the garage. A minute later she was speeding swiftly down the street.
“I may as well go to Crown Point!” she decided. “If I stay in River Heights I’ll have no peace at all.”
She heard her name called and slammed on the brakes. It was too late now to pretend she had not recognized the man, for Edwin McNeery came running over to the car.
“I just saw the story about Kitty Blair’s stolen locket in the morning paper!” he shouted.
Nancy bit her lip in annoyance. The man was worse than a town crier!
“I believe you are more upset over it than I am, Mr. McNeery,” she said, forcing a smile.
“It’s going to cost me money.”
“I wish you would explain yourself. How does it involve you?”
“Plenty. You are mighty popular around this part of the country.”
“I have a number of friends.”
“Your father is influential, too. Now, I’ve been in the show business a good many years, and I’ve learned that you can’t depend on the public for much of anything. Take this story about the diamond locket, for instance. Folks may be contrary enough to turn against the Blairs instead of you!”
“I really don’t see what you are getting at,” Nancy said in annoyance.
“Just this.” McNeery pounded his fist against the car door for emphasis. “If the public turns against the Blairs, my show will be ruined.”
“I’m sorry if that happens, of course. But Mrs. Blair should have considered that fact before she made such ridiculous accusations.”
McNeery regarded her shrewdly.
“You can help me a lot if you will.”
“How?”
“Induce your father not to sue the Blairs.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then give up the locket! I won’t have my show ruined!”