Chapter 10 The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk by Carolyn Keene
Accusations
Nancy was very quiet during the ride to the express office. Even as she unlocked the brass bound trunk a great fear beset her that she might have had her journey to New York for no purpose.
George, Bess, and Aunt Helen crowded near, anxiously waiting. They peered over Nancy’s shoulder as she raised the lid and burrowed down into the first layer of clothing.
“Not here,” the girl reported with a sinking heart.
“Look in the lower part,” urged Bess. “Effie may have put it down there.”
Nancy raised the tray. There, on top of a neat pile of clothing lay several cruise circulars which had been left on the Drew desk. As she shook them, out fell the missing passport, together with other valuable papers which would be required abroad.
“Thank goodness!” laughed Nancy in delight. “I sail on the Patrician after all!”
Quickly she placed the papers in her purse and threw the worthless cruise folders into a nearby wastebasket.
“I actually feel weak all over,” she declared, re-locking the trunk.
As everyone rejoiced that the passport had been found, Aunt Helen declared it called for a special celebration. She proposed that the young people be her guests that evening at a gala theatre and dinner party, a suggestion which the girls accepted quickly.
While Bess, her aunt, and George were a few doors away purchasing tickets, Nancy went to a telegraph office. Realizing that Hannah Gruen would not have an easy moment until she should learn that the passport had been found, she dispatched a message telling the good news.
Not until she had written out her telegram did Nancy pay any heed to the other persons in the office. As she turned to leave, a tall, thin man who looked strangely familiar, crossed the room ahead of her. A clerk called to him and he paused in the doorway.
“I am not sure of this word, sir. Is it Imperio?”
“That’s right,” answered the man impatiently. “And the name is Lopes.” He went out the door and was lost in the crowd.
“I’ve seen that person before,” Nancy told herself. “But where?”
Then suddenly she knew. He was the same man she had observed several days before in the company of Mrs. Joslin. Impulsively, without a good reason for her action, Nancy wrote down the two words she had heard the man mention. In reporting the conversation to Bess and George, she was subjected to considerable teasing.
“Oh, Nancy, you’re always looking for clues,” the latter laughed. “But I can’t see what good these particular ones will ever do you.”
“Neither can I,” she admitted. “Still, one never knows what may develop. Often a scrap of information which appears valueless has been the means of bringing about the solution of a mystery.”
“In this case, what mystery?” asked Bess skeptically.
“So far all I have is a hunch,” Nancy admitted, smiling. “However, I can’t help but feel that Mrs. Joslin is trying to hide something.”
“Even if she does have a deep, dark secret, how are we ever to learn it?” demanded George in her usual, practical way. “Another twenty-four hours will see us aboard the Patrician.”
“You haven’t forgotten daughter Nestrelda, have you?” Nancy asked significantly. “She’ll be traveling with us.”
“On the same boat, you mean,” corrected Bess with an injured sniff.
“Anyway, we may be able to learn something from her,” Nancy went on thoughtfully. “That is, if Mama Joslin hasn’t warned her to have nothing to do with us.”
The girls knew that Nestrelda might try to make their voyage an unpleasant one. For this evening, though, they dismissed all thought of what might lie ahead, and gave themselves up entirely to enjoyment. With Mrs. Miller and Ned they went early to the theatre. Although tickets had been purchased ahead of time, they were compelled to take two groups of seats, for the entire house had been sold out.
“This is one of the most popular shows in New York,” Aunt Helen told the girls. “It’s said one must be prepared for surprises.”
A moment before the main lights went out, Bess, seated directly in front of Nancy on the aisle, called her chum’s attention to two persons who were occupying a box.
“There are Mrs. Trenton and Henry Washburn,” she whispered.
“But where is Doris?” returned Nancy, turning her head to gaze at the couple.
“I was wondering that myself.”
At that moment the overhead lights went out so the girls had no further conversation. From the very first the audience was treated to a series of novelties. There were several amusing episodes, interrupted by shouts from the gallery; candy vendors created intentional disturbances in the aisles; theatre patrons, who in fact really were part of the show, arose to argue violently with the ushers. By one means or another the audience was kept in a constant state of uproar.
Suddenly all the lights went out. Almost at Bess’s elbow someone gave an unearthly shriek. The girl screamed in fright, as did several others near by.
Directly behind, Nancy and Ned enjoyed their friend’s discomfiture, thinking it was all in fun. When the lights went on they were astonished to see that Bess’s aisle seat was empty. The girl had disappeared.
“Where did she go?” Nancy whispered to George.
“I’m sure I don’t know,” the other answered. “She just screamed. Until the lights went on I thought she was sitting beside me.”
As time went on and Bess did not return, Nancy became increasingly uneasy. Finally, unable to satisfy herself that all was well, she quietly left her seat and went to search for her chum.
Finding no trace of the girl in the lobby, she entered the powder room. It was deserted save for a colored maid, who insisted that no one had been there during the past fifteen minutes.
“I can’t understand what became of Bess,” Nancy thought nervously. “She wouldn’t just get up and leave the theatre without a word of explanation. Something is wrong.”
After wandering about the lobby again, she finally decided to return to her friends. As she entered the back part of the theatre, a ripple of handclapping came from the audience.
Glancing toward the stage, Nancy stopped short and stared. Bess, looking very lovely in her white evening dress and silver slippers, was being presented with a five-dollar bill, her prize award for permitting herself to be “kidnaped.”
“The joke is on me,” Nancy told herself ruefully. “I might have guessed.”
She tried to slip back to her seat, but Bess managed to reach the aisle ahead of her.
“That was one time you were fooled, Nancy,” she chuckled, proudly displaying her award money. “Were you much worried?”
“I was beginning to be,” Nancy admitted truthfully.
“Didn’t you see the usher hand me a card when we took these aisle seats?”
Nancy shook her head.
“It explained what would happen and requested me to cooperate. I did, and now I am five dollars richer.”
“They should have given you ten dollars for that scream,” Ned chuckled appreciatively. “It was a honey!”
The show went on for some time, but after Bess’s “kidnaping” the young people had lost their capacity for surprise. Following the entertainment, they all enjoyed a supper at a nearby hotel.
“Time we should be starting home,” Aunt Helen declared at length. “Your parents won’t thank me for keeping you out so late.”
“Oh, this is an occasion,” laughed Bess. “There never will be another night like it. We’re relaxing after Nancy frightened us by losing her passport.”
“Tomorrow at this time I’ll be aboard the Patrician,” the Drew girl said softly. “I’ve always dreamed of sailing away to South America and now it is a reality. Still, I’ll feel better when I’m actually on the ship and the gangplank has been lifted!”
A taxi dropped Ned at his hotel, then went on to Mrs. Miller’s apartment house. As the girls paid the driver, they noticed another car standing near by but thought little about it. However, upon entering the building, two men stepped forward, blocking the way. A third, whom Nancy immediately recognized as the jewelry store clerk, hovered in the background.
“Those are the girls,” he said tersely. “They are the ones who took the bracelet.”
“Why, what is the meaning of this?” asked Bess’s aunt.
The two men, still blocking the entrance to the elevator, opened their coats and displayed badges.
“You are plainclothesmen!” the woman gasped.
“These two girls are under arrest.” One of the detectives took Nancy by the arm while his companion held George in a firm grasp.
“What have we done?” cried Nancy indignantly. “You have no right to arrest us.”
“Either you or your friend stole a diamond bracelet from our store!” accused the jewelry clerk, stepping forward to face her. “I’m not positive which girl it was. That’s for the police to learn.”