Chapter 11 The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk by Carolyn Keene
A Race with Time
Nancy and George were aghast at the accusation which had been made against them. As they began to talk excitedly, protesting their innocence, Aunt Helen wisely urged the men to accompany her upstairs where the matter could be discussed in some privacy. When the apartment door had closed, she said quietly:
“Now tell us what this is all about. I am sure the girls did not steal a diamond bracelet.”
“It is this way, Madam,” declared the clerk. “A woman came into the shop to look at the bracelet. After she had gone, these two girls stepped up and examined it also. They said they would like to have one like it.”
“You can’t arrest us for that!” broke in George angrily. “I’d like to have an automobile too, but I don’t intend to steal one.”
“You and your friend were left alone with the bracelet at least ten minutes.”
“Alone!” exclaimed Nancy, losing patience. “Why, there were dozens of other persons in the store.”
“But not at my counter,” stated the man confidently.
“How can you be sure if you weren’t there yourself?” Nancy asked, and her remark caused the two plainclothesmen to nod in agreement.
“These girls stole the bracelet!” the clerk accused, turning to the detectives. “Aren’t you going to take them to headquarters?”
“Let’s not be too hasty,” replied one of the men. “You gave us to understand you actually had seen them take the bracelet.”
“False arrest is a very serious matter,” Nancy interposed adroitly. “I know, because my father is a lawyer.”
“Oh, a lawyer, eh?” replied one of the policemen, gazing significantly at his companion. “And what is his name?”
“Carson Drew.”
Nancy scarcely hoped that her father would be known to these men, but she was elated to observe that the name meant something to the detectives.
“You’re Carson Drew’s daughter?” she was questioned.
“Yes, and I hardly think Dad would like it if I were arrested.”
“I don’t think he would either,” was the grim response. “I have a feeling there might be trouble to pay, Jim. I guess we’ve made a mistake.”
“That’s the way I figure,” responded his companion with a meaning look at the jewelry clerk. “There’s no real evidence against these girls.”
“But they must be guilty,” argued the man from the store. “If I don’t recover the bracelet I may have to pay for it out of my own salary.”
“I am sorry about that,” said Nancy. “Didn’t you put the bracelet back in the case?”
“I—I don’t remember. I meant to do it. Yes, I must have.”
“Wouldn’t it have been possible for someone to have removed the bracelet long after I had left the store?” Nancy asked significantly.
“Miss Drew, maybe you have an idea who made the snatch,” spoke up one of the detectives as the clerk remained silent. “Did you notice anyone in the store who looked or acted suspiciously?”
“Possibly I did,” returned Nancy, “but I have no real evidence. Without it I would be foolish to make an accusation.”
“There have been too many false accusations already,” declared Bess spiritedly, her eyes flashing.
After the detectives had left the apartment the three girls talked over their own theories regarding the theft. Bess and George were inclined to agree with Nancy that Mrs. Joslin might have had some connection with the robbery.
“She pretended not to know me, you remember,” said Nancy reflectively. “And we saw Mrs. Joslin and that strange man at a jewelry store once before. Now isn’t it possible that I frightened the woman away from the shop before she had an opportunity to take the bracelet?”
“Either she or that man may have returned later and stolen it!” cried Bess.
“But the Joslins are supposed to be persons of wealth and position,” protested George. “It would be dreadful of us to make trouble for them unless we were positive.”
“We can do nothing, of course,” replied Nancy as she prepared for bed. “Theory and fact are far removed. But at least it’s an interesting speculation.”
Early the next morning the girls left Snowball in Aunt Helen’s care and went to the steamship offices to make certain there had been no mix-up in assigning them new accommodations. As an afterthought Nancy asked if she might examine the passenger list.
“Looking for a friend?” George questioned her curiously.
“Not exactly. I thought I would see if Nestrelda Joslin’s cabin will be in our section of the ship.”
The girls examined the list carefully from A to Z. They were unable to find anyone by the name of Joslin.
“Perhaps Nestrelda isn’t going after all,” remarked George. “How nice that would be.”
“Her mother is here in New York so she must be sailing,” Nancy reminded her chums. “And Mrs. Joslin made such a fuss about everything.”
Thinking that they might have skipped the name, Bess went over the list a second time.
“Look, Nancy!” She pointed to the name of N. Darlington. “Here is someone with your initials, N. D.”
“It must be a man,” supplied George, and she added with a laugh, “I hope he doesn’t own a brass bound trunk.”
“Not much chance of that,” replied Bess. “The one which duplicated Nancy’s was put off at Crestmont.”
The girls did not tarry long at the steamship offices because they knew that Bess’s aunt had planned a farewell party in their honor.
Returning to the apartment, they found the rooms beautifully decorated with flowers and everything in readiness for the gala occasion! A table had been set with gleaming glass and polished silver; there were tiny steamboats for place cards, each bearing a verse of poetry composed by Mrs. Miller.
At one o’clock Ned arrived, bringing with him two college friends, Albert Clark and Howard Brady. Greatly to his annoyance, the latter young man exchanged place cards and so managed to sit next to Nancy at the table. Before the luncheon ended it was evident that he had developed a deep liking for her. Everyone save Ned had a wonderful time, and the hostess felt well repaid for the work to which she had gone in planning the party.
The hours sped by swiftly. Soon it was time for the young people to gather their luggage together and taxi to the wharf. Drawing near the waterfront, the cab was held up by heavy traffic.
As Nancy glanced out the window to see why they were being detained, her attention was drawn to a familiar figure in another cab directly opposite. It was traveling the other way, apparently having come from the dock.
The auto was occupied by a lone male passenger. As he turned his head toward her Nancy recognized the same red-haired young man whose car had struck her coupe in River Heights.
To the amazement of her friends, the girl rolled down the window and motioned for the other cab to stop. When it moved on slowly, she called to her own driver:
“Oh, please turn around! Follow that blue cab!”
“Nancy, have you lost your mind!” exclaimed Bess. “We’re trying to catch a boat!”
“We have plenty of time. I want to stop that fellow before he gets away. I owe him fifty dollars.”
The cab driver made an attempt to turn the car in the street, only to have a policeman shout:
“Hey, you, what do you think you’re doing? Keep going!”
“Oh, that taxi will get away,” Nancy moaned, looking back through the window.
“No, it won’t,” announced Howard Brady. “Nothing like that will happen.”
Telling the driver to stop, he seized Nancy by the hand and pulled her from the cab. Then, as the other young people stared, he signaled another taxi traveling in the opposite direction and bundled the Drew girl into it.
“A young man of action,” observed Bess dryly.
“Too much action,” replied Ned, his face darkening. “Like as not he’ll make Nancy miss her boat.”
The cab bearing the two pursuers sped after the blue taxi. Ten minutes later they both drew up in front of a hotel in the downtown section of the city.
“Your man went inside,” informed the cab driver as Howard Brady opened the car door for Nancy.
“Wait here for us,” the young man instructed.
Nancy did not know the name of the person she sought and the desk clerk only shook his head when she tried to describe the man. She had far better luck when she talked with the elevator boy.
“Sure, I took a red-haired fellow up not a minute ago,” he told her. “Twelfth floor. No, I don’t know his room number.”
Nancy studied her wrist watch. Time was passing swiftly and she must not risk missing her boat. Still, it would take only a few minutes longer to investigate the twelfth floor.
The elevator shot upward with the couple but there was no sign of any person in the halls. Nancy and her friend walked hurriedly up and down, searching for the red-haired man. They knew that he must have gone into one of the rooms but they had no way of learning which one.
“If only a maid would come along I might gain information from her!” Nancy said in despair. “How disappointing!”
“I guess we’ve lost him,” admitted Howard Brady. “We ought to get back now to the boat.”
Nancy nodded and turned toward the elevator again. As she passed room 1245 she paused suddenly, for she had heard the sound of voices from within.
“Listen!” she commanded, as her companion also halted.
They could hear a woman crying. A girl with a quiet voice was trying to sooth her.
“Don’t worry, Mother,” she murmured, “everything will be all right. I’ll be ready in a moment.”
“But suppose your father had come!”
“He didn’t, Mother, so why worry?” was the response. “Please don’t cry any more.”
Howard Brady started to move on, for the words meant nothing to him. He was startled when Nancy placed a detaining hand on his wrist.
“No, wait a moment,” she whispered. “I am certain I’ve heard those voices before! I must learn who is in that room!”