Chapter 24 The Clue of the Tapping Heels by Carolyn Keene
The Trial
“What seems to be wrong here?” demanded the ship’s officer.
“I found this girl tied up in a cabin, sir,” the stewardess replied uneasily. “She accuses you of having helped to smuggle her aboard.”
“Preposterous!” snapped the man. “Of course she is a stowaway.”
“That’s not true!” cried Nancy indignantly. “I demand to be taken to the captain.”
“He has no time to talk with you,” Murray answered coldly. “It is too near the sailing hour. Now, if you’ll all leave the ship without making any more trouble I’ll permit you to go.”
“You’d like to get rid of us, I know,” Nancy insisted stubbornly, “but we’ll not leave until we’ve talked to the captain.”
Murray attempted to force the girls out of the cabin and up the hallway. During the commotion no one noticed that the stewardess had left the scene. Having decided she had better summon the captain, the attendant had hurried away. Soon she returned with the elderly man.
“Mr. Murray, what are you trying to do?” Captain Wallford asked sharply as he saw Nancy being pushed along.
“I’ve found a stowaway aboard, sir.”
Nancy immediately denied the charge, while Bess and George defended her. The captain recognized the cousins, and when the stewardess supported their story, telling how their chum had been found gagged and tied, he sided against the officer.
“I shall call the police,” he said curtly, “and we’ll sift this matter to the bottom.”
In a short time Detective Keely arrived in company with three officers of the law. Nancy was identified and completely exonerated while her accusations against Murray took on new weight.
“I’m satisfied that the man is guilty,” Captain Wallford acknowledged when he had heard the entire story. “I shall not try to protect him from arrest.”
Keely and the policemen asked permission to go over the passenger list, but they could find no one on board by the name of Bunce; nor did a search reveal anyone remotely resembling the man or his wife.
“The couple may come on the ship at the very last minute,” Nancy ventured hopefully.
At this suggestion Keely took up his post near the gangplank but the policemen kept out of sight, knowing that their uniforms would serve as a warning to the Bunces. Nancy, Bess and George likewise stationed themselves some distance away.
The minutes elapsed, and still there was no sign of the couple. Finally the deep-throated whistle announced that the boat was ready to sail. Sailors were making preparations to lift the gangplank.
“I’m afraid you folks will have to go ashore,” said Captain Wallford regretfully. “Evidently your man isn’t coming aboard.”
“Looks that way,” admitted Detective Keely.
As he turned to signal the policemen, an elderly couple came hurrying up the gangplank. The woman leaned heavily upon her husband’s arm while he used his cane for support. Despite their apparent infirmities they both walked with a surprisingly light step.
Nancy glanced sharply at the pair for there was something about them which was strangely familiar to her. She could not see the lady’s face, which was veiled. The man had white hair and thick glasses that made his eyes appear to bulge.
Suddenly Nancy stepped forward and spoke in a low tone to Detective Keely. The man nodded. A moment later he placed a detaining hand on the arm of the old man.
“A very clever disguise, Mr. Bunce,” he said pleasantly.
“My name is not Bunce,” the other replied in a quavering voice. “You have mistaken me for someone——”
He did not finish the sentence, for Keely reached up and jerked a white wig from the man’s head.
“You’re under arrest, Bunce,” he said shortly. “Come along without making any trouble.”
As the officers closed in, the man saw that he could not hope to escape. With a shrug he gave up.
“You win this round,” he acknowledged, “but I will have my innings when the case comes to court. You have no real evidence against me.”
After the couple had been taken away, Keely accompanied the girls to Mrs. Miller’s apartment. As he was about to take leave of them an important telephone call came in from Mr. St. Will. After expressing his delight that Nancy had been found, he said:
“I’ve trailed Omar Washington and his brother to a rooming house. If your detective will taxi over here at once he’ll be able to catch them both.”
Keely took down the address and started immediately for the place. An hour later Mr. St. Will came alone to the apartment to tell the girls that both men had been captured.
“How did you manage to trace them?” Nancy questioned.
“When you couldn’t be found, I decided to make a systematic canvass of all the rooming places, hoping to locate the one to which Bunce had taken you. Quite by luck I ran into this house where Omar and his brother were staying.”
The following day the girls were accompanied to River Heights by the actor. In due course of time Fred Bunce and the two colored men were brought there for trial. As had been expected, the trio engaged a clever but disreputable lawyer. However, Carson Drew had prepared his own case well, with Nancy as the star witness against the men.
In a packed courtroom she calmly testified against Bunce. Dramatically she revealed all details of the conversation she had overheard to the effect that Harlan Bailey was the lost son of Captain Staff.
“That’s a lie!” shouted Fred Bunce.
The judge rapped for order and warned the man against another outburst.
After Nancy had told her story, Carson Drew called Mrs. Bunce to the stand. He began with a few preliminary questions regarding her guardianship of Gus Woonton. Suddenly with no warning he asked:
“Why did you deny that Gussie was your own son? Was it because you were ashamed of him?”
Mrs. Bunce looked helplessly at her husband and began to cry. “Don’t ask me about Gussie,” she murmured brokenly.
The opposing lawyer was on his feet in an instant, shouting “Your Honor, I object——”
The judge overruled him and indicated that Carson Drew was to go on.
“You must answer my question, Mrs. Bunce,” the lawyer said in a gentle voice. “Isn’t it true that Gussie is your son?”
“Yes,” the woman admitted in a tone so low that it scarcely could be heard.
“Why did you claim that he was the child of the Woontons?”
“It was Fred’s idea, not mine. He was ashamed of Gussie because of his condition and didn’t like to have folks know about him. So when the Woontons died he thought we could tell people that they had left him in our care.”
“I see,” said Carson Drew. “And what has been done with the inheritance money your husband claimed in Gussie’s name?”
“Fred spent some of it, but most of it is in a bank in New York.”
“One more question, Mrs. Bunce. Where is your boy now?”
“I don’t know,” the woman answered miserably. “Fred took him away from the Riverside Home and boarded him at a private farm. But he ran off and now we can’t find him.”
Mr. Drew allowed Mrs. Bunce to leave the stand. He next called her husband, who denied everything his wife had said. The lawyer caused him to become so badly confused that there could be no doubt in the minds of the jurors as to which of them had spoken the truth.
The verdict was a foregone conclusion. No one was surprised when Fred Bunce was sentenced to a long term for his fraudulent activities.
The trial of Omar and Sam Washington came a few weeks later, and again Nancy gave pertinent testimony. Both men were found guilty; one of them for participating in a kidnaping, the other for robbery in connection with papers from Mr. Drew’s den, as well as other offenses. They were sent to keep company with the unfortunate Bunce.
Mr. Drew succeeded in tracing the hidden Woonton money. After a lengthy investigation it was proved that Mr. St. Will was the only living relative, and as such was entitled to the entire estate save the amount allowed Miss Carter to compensate her for Gussie’s care.
“I feel very grateful to you for having obtained this money,” the actor said, thanking Nancy’s father. “But I really have no need for it. I wish that it all could go to Miss Carter instead.”
“Perhaps we’ll find a way to help her,” suggested the lawyer.
“I have a plan now,” Mr. St. Will declared. “Through an agent I’ve arranged to buy ‘The Tapping Heels’ from her for a very good price, plus a royalty if the play is well received. If it is, she’ll be wealthy.”
“When will the show open?” Mr. Drew inquired.
“We’re not certain of the date, but we plan to have the initial performance in River Heights. After the actors are seasoned we’ll take them to New York.”
“I believe you’re wise to open the show here,” Nancy’s father declared. “The publicity will be tremendous.”
“Yes, I counted upon that,” replied the other with a wise smile.
A few days later Nancy and her chums motored to Berryville, fully expecting to find Miss Carter in the best of spirits. It was true the lady was delighted over her recent good fortune, but she was far from being in a happy frame of mind.
“I think I shall have to leave this dreadful house,” she told the girls. “I’ve come to the conclusion that it is haunted.”
“You’ve not heard any more of those tapping sounds, have you?” Nancy asked in surprise.
“I hear them nearly every day. I can’t bear it much longer. And today Mrs. Bealing gave me notice. She’s afraid to stay here.”
“When do you usually hear the sounds?” Nancy asked thoughtfully.
“More frequently after I’ve fed the cats than at any other time. Often, though, the noise keeps us awake at night.”
“I see,” Nancy commented. “You mentioned once that the tapping sounds seem to come from the basement.”
“Yes, but Mrs. Bealing and I have searched there many times and found nothing.”
The girls thought that the two women, who were naturally timid, might not have conducted a thorough inspection of the cellar. However, when they made a search of their own, it revealed little.
“This is certainly queer,” Nancy declared. “There must be an explanation for that tapping noise and I mean to discover it.”
“Just how are you going to do it?” George asked with a laugh.
“I know what I’ll do!” her chum announced firmly. “Tonight I’ll hide in the cellar and see for myself exactly what goes on there!”