Chapter 23 The Clue of the Velvet Mask by Carolyn Keene
A Threat Revealed
In River Heights the long absence of Nancy and Bess had begun to cause alarm.
Hannah Gruen knew something had gone wrong because Nancy had not returned to dress for her date with Ned. The frantic woman had telephoned the Marvin home several times but had always received the same answer. Bess had not telephoned.
At seven o’clock Ned arrived. Hearing that Nancy had not come home, he said:
“I was afraid of this. She becomes so completely wrapped up in a mystery. Now something’s happened.” He began pacing the floor.
“Mr. Drew won’t be home until late,” Hannah informed him. “I’ve tried to reach him by telephone but I can’t. I don’t know what to do about Nancy and Bess.”
Tearfully she disclosed that the two girls had been seen last at the Marvin home. At that time they had told George that they might drive out to a place called the Blue Iris Inn.
“But nobody seems to know where it is. The inn’s not listed in the phone book.”
“I never heard of the place until Nancy mentioned it,” Ned admitted. “And she didn’t say where it was.”
“Oh, Ned, can’t you think of something we can do?” the housekeeper pleaded.
“I’ll go out to the inn as soon as I find out where it is,” the young man promised. “Maybe George can give me a clue.”
Leaping into his car, he drove to the Fayne home. George was up and dressed, but in a near state of collapse from worry after talking with her mother and Mrs. Marvin about the girls’ disappearance.
“Oh, I was afraid this would happen!” George moaned. “I warned Bess and Nancy not to go, but they wouldn’t listen to me. Now the dreadful threat may be carried out.”
“Threat?” Ned demanded. “What threat, George?”
“I don’t dare tell you.”
“You must! Nancy and Bess may be in serious trouble. That’s the only way to help them.”
“If I tell you, we may all be harmed.”
Ned whistled. “Is it that bad?” he asked.
“Now listen, George, this may be a life-and-death matter.”
“That’s right,” her mother said. “Don’t let your fears mean more to you than Nancy and Bess’s safety.”
The words stunned George and suddenly brought a marked change in her attitude. The old fire came back into her eyes and the color returned to her cheeks.
“Of course I’ll help find Nancy and Bess,” she said with determination. “I don’t know what ailed me. Instead of helping Nancy, I’ve really been hindering her by not telling what I know.”
“Tell us quickly!” Mrs. Marvin urged.
“Well,” George began, “after those kidnapers drugged me I seemed to lose my nerve. That woman’s words just burned into my brain. She warned me that if I didn’t make Nancy drop the case great harm would come not only to her but to Mrs. Gruen and Mr. Drew and my family and Bess’s.”
“Oh, George, you should have reported this to the police,” Mrs. Fayne cried.
“I didn’t dare. But now I don’t care. We must find Nancy and Bess.”
“What else did the kidnapers say?” Ned asked. “It might be a clue to what happened to Nancy and Bess.”
“Well, at the end of the threats, the woman said, ‘We’ll put Nancy on ice in the flour cellar!’ I’ve wondered ever since what they meant by that.”
“A flour cellar?” Mrs. Marvin murmured. “What significance would that have?”
“I never heard of a flour mill around here,” Ned said thoughtfully. “George, maybe they meant f-l-o-w-e-r cellar.”
“That might have been it,” she agreed. “Do you suppose there’s one in the Blue Iris Inn? Wait! Nancy told me about a real-estate agent who has been wanting to buy that place for someone. I’ll ask him.”
Excitedly, and now apparently completely recovered, George flew to the telephone and called Mr. Harris. When she rejoined the group in the living room, her face was worried but determined.
“I’ve learned a lot,” she said. “Mr. Harris told me the inn once had a small greenhouse specializing in blue iris. The cellar of the inn was used for sorting bulbs and arranging cut flowers.”
“Nancy and Bess are probably prisoners in the cellar there!” Ned cried. “But where is it?”
“Mr. Harris gave me directions,” George replied. “And listen to this. He also told me that he had arranged today to buy the inn from Mr. Tombar for a client.”
“Tombar! Nancy suspected him all along,” Ned cried.
“Mr. Harris was supposed to have delivered the money to him at his office, but he had trouble raising it on such short notice, so he told Tombar to come back Monday.”
“Maybe Tombar went back to the inn!” Ned exclaimed. “If he did, we can catch him and find out about the girls!”
“I’m going too,” George announced with spirit. “No, don’t try to stop me, anyone! Nancy and Bess are in danger, and I want to help.”
The rescue party, Ned, Mr. Marvin, George, and her father, assembled quickly. As they were ready to drive off, Mrs. Gruen telephoned that she finally had reached Mr. Drew.
“He has notified the state police and is on his way to the inn himself right now,” she said. “Oh, get there as fast as you can!”
Reaching the Blue Iris Inn some time later, Ned’s party learned from the state troopers that Nancy’s parked car already had been found. They had broken into the boarded-up building and searched thoroughly. But they had found no trace of the missing girls or of their abductors.
“The question is, were the girls ever here?” Mr. Drew said. “There’s nothing to prove it.”
“Let me look,” George said, borrowing a flashlight from one of the policemen.
It was not until she came to the cellar of the inn that George found a clue. There was evidence that a scuffle had taken place. She pointed out that some of the footprints had been made by the type of shoes Nancy and Bess wore. They were also on the stairway.
“And look at this!” George exclaimed gleefully, picking up the button Nancy had dropped. “This was on the dress Nancy was wearing!”
“You’re sure?” a policeman asked.
“I’m positive.”
“Now we have something to work on,” the officer said excitedly. “No doubt the girls were taken away from here in the car or the truck. We’ll try to follow them.”
By inspecting the tire marks the police figured out that the truck and the car, both in arriving and leaving the inn, had taken a direction toward River Heights.
“That proves the kidnapers are the same gang Nancy has been trying to catch,” Ned declared.
“Not exactly,” a trooper spoke up. “And if they did go as far as where heavy traffic begins, it’ll be almost impossible to follow the tracks.”
Mr. Drew gloomily agreed. “The best thing to do is broadcast a general alarm for Mr. Tombar’s green car,” he declared. “You may be able to stop it somewhere.”
“We’ll do everything we can,” the officer promised. “But the girls may be in the truck and we have no description of that. And don’t forget, those bandits have a big start too. They may be a hundred miles from here by now.”
“On the other hand, they may be only a few miles away,” Ned cut in. “Nancy had a strong hunch that the Velvet Gang planned to pull a last big job tonight. If she’s right, they won’t leave town until they have the loot.”
“Her idea is a good one,” the officer conceded. “It won’t help us rescue her and Miss Marvin, though. By the time we get a report on the robbery, the gang will be on their way to another place.”
“And taking Nancy and Bess with them!” George cried.
“All the more reason why we must set up road blocks,” Mr. Drew urged. “We’ve delayed too long now.”
As he started for his car, the lawyer noticed that Ned had remained behind. He turned and waited for him to catch up.
“Hurry, Ned!” he called to him, as the young man stood looking up at the building. “We’ve got to make it snappy.”
The young man shook his head. “I’m staying here.”
“Staying?”
“Yes. I’ve decided to remain and guard this place, Mr. Drew. Maybe I’m crazy, but there’s an outside chance that the gang may come back here tonight.”
“But we’re trying to save the girls.”
“They may bring Nancy and Bess with them.”
“You’re going to stay alone?” Mr. Drew said dubiously. “How about one of the police—”
“I’ll be okay,” Ned insisted. “We can’t afford to tie down a police officer just on the slim chance that I’m right. Maybe no one but Tombar will show up.”
“But he may carry a pistol, Ned,” Mr. Drew pointed out. “It seems to me you’re taking an awful chance. Better come along with us.”
“I’ll watch my step. I’ve got two good fists,” the athlete said grimly, “and I’m used to tackling opponents on short notice.
“What’s more, if I ever meet that fellow who nailed me in the basement of the Dwight house, I want to pay him back!”