Chapter 22 The Clue of the Tapping Heels by Carolyn Keene
The Seaman’s Secret
“One of those men is Omar, the Egyptian!” George gasped, turning to stare at the trio. “He looks just like any other colored man when he isn’t dressed in his robes.”
“Omar is a colored man, I’m sure of that now,” Nancy said grimly. “He’s only pretending to be an Egyptian. I suspect that the one with the freckles is a relative of his—perhaps a brother.”
“Why do you suppose they are meeting Fred Bunce?” Bess murmured. “Are they all working together in some scheme?”
“That’s what we must try to learn,” Nancy declared.
“It’s nearly time to leave,” Mr. St. Will warned, waiting for the girls. “You have just ten minutes.”
“Stay over until tomorrow,” Mrs. Miller invited instantly. “Capturing Fred Bunce is important.”
“Yes, it is,” Nancy agreed.
A glance at Bess and George assured her that they too would miss the train willingly if by doing so they might accomplish their purpose.
“Let me assist you with this,” Mr. St. Will offered quickly. “It doesn’t matter if I don’t get back to Berryville for a day or two.”
By this time Bunce and his two companions had started to walk away.
“If we all try to follow them they’ll see us and become suspicious,” Nancy said anxiously. “We’ll have to split up.”
“Suppose you and I take up the chase,” the actor proposed excitedly. “Mrs. Miller and your friends might wait here and look after the luggage.”
“While you’re gone, we’ll telephone to Detective Keely and tell him to be ready for action,” Bess added. “Hurry, Nancy, or you’ll lose sight of those men.”
Mr. St. Will and Nancy moved away quickly, catching a glimpse of Fred Bunce and the two colored men as they started for the ramp which led down to the taxi-cab stands. However, the trio did not pause there but crossed the street.
The Drew girl and her companion followed at some distance. After ten minutes the men came to a small park where they sat down on a bench near a clump of bushes.
Approaching as close as they dared, and taking care to keep themselves screened from view by the shrubs, the two who were following finally got directly behind the three. They could hear Fred Bunce talking.
“The plan sounds dangerous to me,” he said. “The police are on my trail now and I’ve got to be careful if I don’t want to land in the jug.”
“There’s no risk to this,” the man known as Omar replied scoffingly. “I tell you I have the dope straight. Captain Staff is an easy mark. We can ring him down for several thousand at least.”
“How did you get your information?”
“This fellow Penello—he’s a stupid lout—often came to my Temple for advice. My brother Sam here got him for me. The sailor told me he had a grudge against Captain Staff, and from a word dropped here and a word there I gathered that he had something to do with the disappearance of the old man’s son.”
“That was years ago?” Bunce asked with interest.
“Naturally. If I have it straight, Captain Staff’s wife died and the son was placed in a boarding house. The boy vanished.”
“And you say Penello knew all about it?”
“I’m not saying he made off with the kid, but he knows what became of him. Captain Staff would pay well to find his son again. It’s a cinch to collect that money.”
“You’re sure Penello knows what became of the boy?”
“He claims the son is alive and well and that he can produce him at any time. But he’ll never do it unless Captain Staff pays him and pays heavily.”
“What sort of a cut will Penello expect?”
“I can handle him,” Omar said with an unpleasant laugh. “I know a few more facts about him—things the police would like to hear—and if he makes trouble, a threat or two will bring him around.”
“This sounds pretty good to me,” Bunce declared after a moment’s thought. “Count me in on the deal.”
Nancy and Mr. St. Will had heard every word of the conversation. The actor whispered that he would steal away and telephone Detective Keely.
“Even if you reach him, perhaps you better bring the police,” Nancy urged. “I’ll stay here and keep watch.”
Noiselessly the actor stole away, darting across the street toward a telephone. Nancy once more turned her attention toward the three men.
“There’s one thing I must know before we go into this,” she heard Fred Bunce say. “Who is Captain Staff’s son?”
“A young college student by the name of Harlan Bailey.”
Nancy was stunned by this bit of information. Almost expecting to hear the name of Gussie Woonton, she could hardly believe her ears. Harlan Bailey! Ned’s friend. Now that she thought of it, the young man did bear a slight resemblance to Captain Staff, but until this moment it had never occurred to Nancy that he was anyone’s long-lost son.
So excited was the girl over the news that she became less cautious. Without realizing that she could be detected, she moved slightly so that the bushes no longer gave her complete protection.
Unfortunately for her, a dog came running through the park just then. It darted straight toward the three men. In alarm they whirled about. So unexpected was their move that Nancy had no chance to drop down out of sight. Fred Bunce, looking straight toward the bushes, caught a glimpse of her blue dress.
“What’s this?” he demanded harshly.
He tore the shrubs apart, exposing the Drew girl to the view of his companions.
“So it’s you!” he exclaimed harshly. “Spying again!”
He caught Nancy’s arm and jerked her roughly from her hiding place. Omar leered unpleasantly, giving her a cruel pinch.
“How long have you been there?” Bunce asked sharply.
“Why, just a little while,” Nancy replied.
“She probably heard everything we said,” Omar stated gruffly. “We’ll have to get rid of her or she’ll squeal everything to the police.”
Nancy’s eyes roved toward the store across the street. It could be seen through the trees. If only Mr. St. Will would return!
At this hour the park was dark and fairly well deserted. No one was in sight so it would be useless for her to scream. Her only hope was to try to keep the men talking until the actor should come with the police.
“Yes, I did hear everything,” Nancy said boldly. “I have enough evidence to put you all behind bars!”
“But you’ll never be able to do it!” Fred Bunce cried furiously.
Glancing toward an automobile at the edge of the park, he started to pull Nancy. She fought, kicked and screamed, but Omar clapped his hand roughly over the girl’s mouth. His brother caught her by the feet. Together he and Fred Bunce carried her to the car.
Omar had taken a handkerchief from his pocket and now stuffed it into Nancy’s mouth. Sam tied her hands with stout twine. Then she was thrown down into the bottom of the automobile.
“There, I guess that will hold you!” Fred Bunce said with a laugh.
He started the motor while the two colored men sprang in beside him. The car rolled away from the park.
Scarcely had the automobile disappeared around a corner when Mr. St. Will came running across the street with two policemen. He had telephoned Detective Keely, then gone farther down the block to bring the officers. Reaching the clump of bushes, he looked about in vain for Nancy.
“She was here a minute ago,” he said anxiously. “Those men have disappeared too.”
“There’s been a struggle,” observed one of the policemen, flashing his light about the ground. “See, it looks as if someone had been dragged across the grass.”
“Nancy has been kidnaped!” Mr. St. Will exclaimed in alarm. “But I was gone only a few minutes. Those scoundrels can’t have a very big start!”
The policemen were able to tell that Nancy had been dragged to the curb. As they were looking about, a tall man in a gray suit came rushing up.
“Officer!” he said excitedly. “My car has been stolen. I went into the drug store to get a pint of ice cream. When I came back my machine was gone!”
“Where did you park your auto?” the policeman asked.
“Right here where we’re standing.”
“It was stolen, all right,” replied the officer. “And by the same gang that kidnaped the girl.”
“What was your license number?” the other policeman questioned tersely.
“36009.”
“Call Headquarters, Bill, and tell the cruisers to be on the lookout for a car with that license number,” one of the policemen advised his companion. “I’ll commandeer another auto and take up the chase.”
As he glanced up and down the street for a car Detective Keely sped up in a taxi. The policeman and Horace St. Will sprang in, briefly telling him what had occurred.
“It’s hard to guess in which direction they went,” the detective stated grimly. “All we can do is to take a chance on following them.”
He told the driver to head toward certain docks. As it happened, the car bearing Nancy was speeding in the opposite direction. Lying helpless in the bottom of the automobile, and unable to make an outcry, the girl could hear her captors discussing her fate.
“Carson Drew will pay plenty to get her back,” Omar advised his companions.
“Yes, but he’ll comb the city searching for her,” Bunce replied uneasily. “That guy isn’t like an ordinary dick. I’m afraid to get in a mix-up with him.”
“Didn’t you say you were sailing for South America? Take her with you. I’ll stay here and handle the ransom deal.”
“Maybe it could be done,” Bunce said slowly. “But it will be dangerous getting her aboard. Of course, Chief Officer Murray will cooperate with us.”
“Sure, he’s helped you out plenty of other times,” Omar replied confidently. “The girl can be taken aboard in a trunk if necessary.”
“I’m not worried about that part. It’s getting her off the boat when it docks that’s the hitch.”
“You’ll have no trouble with Murray helping you. He’ll know how to fool the authorities.”
“I’ll chance it,” Bunce decided at last. “We’ll drive around to my rooming house where I’ll telephone Murray. If he says it’s O.K. we’ll take her aboard.”
Presently the car stopped before a red brick house. Bunce went inside, returning fifteen minutes later with his wife. They deposited hand luggage in the back seat.
“Everything is fixed up,” he told the colored men. “Murray will be watching for us.”
The automobile soon halted at the wharf. Nancy was allowed to sit up and the gag was removed from her mouth. She lost all desire to scream for help when Fred Bunce made a few threatening remarks.
“One squeak out of you and it will be your last!” he warned. “Now walk up that gangplank between Mrs. Bunce and me.”
Nancy dared not disobey for the couple crowded close against her, holding fast to her elbows. No one was in sight as the trio approached the gangplank of the ocean-going liner. Suddenly a dark figure emerged at the railing. For an instant Nancy’s heart leaped high with hope. But she might have known that the man would prove to be Chief Officer Murray!
“Good evening, Mr. Bunce,” the man said pleasantly, glancing sharply at the girl. “I hope you, your wife and your daughter will have a very pleasant cruise. I’ll show you personally to your usual cabin.”
He led the trio down a dimly lighted corridor to the very end, where he opened the door of Suite 15.
“You will find this one to your liking, I believe,” he said in the same casual tone. “The adjoining cabins are unoccupied.”
“Thank you, Murray,” Bunce replied with a wink. “We’ll get along fine.”
He closed the door and locked it. Then he took the gag from his pocket and stuffed it into Nancy’s mouth so that she could not cry for aid.
“Oughtn’t we to tie her up too?” asked Mrs. Bunce anxiously.
“Just her hands,” answered Mr. Bunce carelessly. “With the door locked she can’t get away. We won’t dare truss her up too well or she won’t be able to walk when we take her off the boat.”
He bound the cord about Nancy’s wrists. Then he and his wife went away, carefully locking the door behind them.