Chapter 19 The Mystery of the 99 Steps by Carolyn Keene
Nancy’s Strategy
It was bedtime when Nancy, Bess, and George burst in upon the Bardots. Twice en route Nancy had tried unsuccessfully to get her father on the telephone.
The couple could see from the girls’ excited faces that something unusual had happened. Nancy quickly poured out the whole story, feeling that the time was past when she had to keep her father’s case a secret.
Monsieur and Madame Bardot were shocked. “You think this Arab you saw in that laboratory is really Louis Aubert?” Madame Bardot asked.
Nancy nodded. “Something should be done as soon as possible. I don’t want to call the police until I talk to my father and ask his advice.”
She telephoned Mr. Drew, but found he was not in. The switchboard clerk at the hotel, however, did have a message for Nancy.
“Your father said to tell you if you should call that he tried to reach you at Monsieur Bardot’s but received no answer. Mr. Drew is an overnight guest of Monsieur Leblanc.”
“Thank you,” said Nancy.
After she put down the receiver, the young sleuth sat staring into space. She was perplexed by this turn of events. Nancy had so hoped to alert her father that Monsieur Leblanc was being hoodwinked by an alchemist’s trick! Had Mr. Drew also learned this? Or had he come upon another lead in the mystery of the frightened financier?
“I’d better try contacting Dad at once,” she told herself.
She called Leblanc’s number. A servant answered and said that both men had gone out and would not be back until very late.
“Will you please ask Mr. Drew to call his daughter at the Bardots’ number,” Nancy said.
“Yes, mademoiselle.”
When Nancy reported this latest bit of news to her friends, the others looked puzzled. She herself was fearful that her father might be in danger—perhaps from attack by Louis Aubert! Resolutely she shook off her worry. Surely Carson Drew would not easily be caught off guard!
The three girls, after a late, light supper, tumbled wearily into bed. In the morning Mr. Drew telephoned Nancy. She thought that his voice did not have its usual cheerful ring to it.
“I’m leaving here at once,” he told his daughter glumly. “I will come directly to see you.”
A sudden idea flashed into Nancy’s mind. “Why don’t you bring Monsieur Leblanc along? I have some exciting things to tell you which I am sure will interest him too.”
Nancy did not dare say any more for fear some servant might be an accomplice of Aubert’s and be listening in on the conversation.
“I’ll ask Leblanc. Hold the wire.” The lawyer was gone for a minute, then returned to say that his host would be happy to see Nancy again. “He’ll postpone going to his office until this afternoon.”
When the two men arrived, Nancy greeted Monsieur Leblanc graciously. Then, excusing herself, she took her father aside. “Dad, tell me your story first.”
The lawyer said he had tried diplomatically to impress Leblanc with rumors he had heard of the financier’s transactions. “I told him that reports of his selling so many securities was having a bad effect on the market and that his employees were panicking at the prospect of his factory closing down.”
Mr. Drew said Monsieur Leblanc had been polite and listened attentively, but had been totally uncommunicative.
“I can understand why!” Nancy then gave a vivid account of the girls’ experiences of the previous day.
When she finished, Mr. Drew said he could hardly believe what he had just heard. “This Arab alchemist must be captured and his racket exposed, of course. The question is what would be the best way to do it without tipping him off? I certainly don’t want Monsieur Leblanc to be harmed.”
Nancy suggested that they tell the financier the whole story from beginning to end. “Then I think he should keep his date with the Arab this afternoon and turn the money over to him as planned.
“In the meantime, Bess, George, you, and I could go with a couple of police officers and hide near the 99 steps. Then, at the proper moment, we can pounce on Louis Aubert, or whoever this faker is.”
Mr. Drew smiled affectionately at his daughter and put an arm around her. “I like your idea very much, Nancy. I promised you a lovely gift from Paris. Now I think I ought to give you half my fee!”
Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “Only half?” she teased.
She and Mr. Drew returned to the others and Nancy whispered to Madame Bardot, “Would it be possible for you to find errands for the servants outside the house so that nobody will overhear our plans?”
“Yes, indeed. I’ll send them to town.”
As soon as the servants had left, Mr. Drew said, “Monsieur Leblanc, my daughter has an amazing story to tell you. It vitally affects your financial holdings and perhaps even your life.”
The man’s eyebrows raised. “This sounds ominous. Miss Drew is such a charming young lady I cannot think of her as having anything so sinister to tell me.”
Bess burst out, “Nancy’s wonderful and she’s one of the best detectives in the world!”
Monsieur Leblanc clapped a hand to his head. “A detective!” he exclaimed. “Do you mean to say you have discovered why I am selling my securities?”
Nancy smiled sympathetically. “I believe I have.”
Then, as Monsieur Leblanc listened in amazement, she related the story of Claude and Louis Aubert. She told about the many ways they had tried to keep the Drews from helping Monsieur Leblanc, and finally how she and George had seen the financier come into the secret laboratory at the foot of the 99 steps.
“You saw me!” he cried out. “But where were you girls?”
When Nancy told him they had hidden behind the bins, he knew she was not inventing the story. Leblanc sat silent for fully a minute, his head buried in his hands.
Finally he spoke up. “To think I, of all persons, have been duped! Well, it is only fair I give you my story. In the first place, if this chemist is actually someone named Louis Aubert, I do not know it. To me, the man is Abdul Ramos. I never saw him in any other clothes than Arabian.”
Monsieur Leblanc said that Abdul had come to his office one day a couple of months before and showed him several very fine letters from Frenchmen, as well as from Arabs, attesting to his marvelous experiments.
Nancy at once thought of Claude Aubert. He could very well have forged the letters!
The financier continued, “Abdul wanted financial backing for a great laboratory he planned to build. Because of the letters, and some experiments he later showed me, I was convinced he knew how to turn certain things into gold. Yesterday when I saw the solid gold emerge from the heated charcoal—” Monsieur Leblanc’s voice trailed off and he shook his head gloomily. “How could I have been so foolish!”
After a pause the financier admitted what Nancy had already overheard—he had intended to sell all his holdings and put the money into precious stones. “Since gold is the standard for all currency in international trade, I really feared the economy of the world would be disastrously harmed when Abdul’s ability to transform substances into gold became known.”
Mr. Drew remarked, “That explains the large quantity of uncut diamonds you bought recently.”
The Frenchman looked surprised but did not comment.
Nancy spoke up. “Also, you figured that diamonds would replace gold as the world standard.”
“Precisely. I realize now that my self-interest is unforgivable. It was neither patriotic nor humanitarian. Instead I’ve been unforgivably greedy. Thank you for showing me up. This has been a great lesson to me and I shall certainly make amends for it.”
George asked, “Monsieur Leblanc, what about the number 9?”
He explained that Abdul Ramos knew a great deal about astrology and the magic of numbers. “He convinced me that on the 9th, 18th, and 27th days of each month new secrets were revealed to him and he threatened to announce his discoveries to the world.”
George next inquired if he had left money on the 99th step at Versailles where M9 had been chalked.
Monsieur Leblanc nodded. “I did not see Abdul that day, but left the money there at exactly the time he had told me—directly after lunch.”
When Leblanc was told of George’s experience, the Frenchman was shocked. “All I can say is I am very sorry. I was foolish to let that man control me and cause so much worry.” He shook his head sadly.
Bess, too, had a question for him. “Is Abdul married?”
The financier shook his head. “I have never heard him speak about a wife.”
Nancy had been mulling over Leblanc’s remark that he had allowed himself to be controlled by Louis Aubert and would like to make amends. She described her plan for exposing the fake alchemist.
“I will be glad to cooperate in any way,” said the Frenchman, and Mr. Drew nodded approval. Soon afterward, Monsieur Leblanc left for his office.
Late that day three cars converged on the chateau ruin in the woods near Chambord. One vehicle carried Mr. Drew and the three girls, another two police officers, Beaumont and Careau. In the third was Monsieur Leblanc. The first two cars were well concealed among the trees and the passengers proceeded cautiously on foot through the woods.
At the small clearing near the ruin, they paused until they were certain no one was around. Then they darted to the 99 steps. Again the lanterns were lighted. The group tiptoed down.
Nancy peered through the barred opening of the door. Everything inside the laboratory looked the same as the day before, even to the glowing fire in the open furnace. The grating lay over it and she wondered if Abdul planned to show Leblanc another experiment.
Softly Nancy opened the door and one by one the watchers went inside and hid themselves behind the bins. Ten minutes went by, then Monsieur Leblanc strode in. He tinkled the bell and in a few seconds the Arab came through the rear door.
“Ah, I see you are on time, monsieur,” he said smugly, with a little bow.
The financier reached into a pocket and brought out a roll of bills. He did not hand them over at once, however, saying, “Do you agree to a waiting period in return for this?”
“Have I not always kept my word?” Abdul said haughtily.
Leblanc laid the bills on a bench and immediately the Arab snatched up the money and tucked it into a pocket.
“How much more time do you wish before I reveal my great work to the world?” he asked.
“At least a week,” Monsieur Leblanc replied. “I have several big transactions I must complete first.”
“A week?” Abdul repeated, and began to walk around the room.
Presently he paused at the door which led to the 99 steps. The hidden group could see him reach toward it and heard something click. Nancy wondered if he had used a secret latch to lock the door and why. Were they all in danger?
Suddenly apprehensive, she watched the Arab intently as he returned to the furnace. He gazed at the fire, then with a brisk movement picked up a small sack from a bench. He hastened to the rear door, opened it, and whirled about. His eyes held a menacing gleam.
“Leblanc,” he cried out, “you have double-crossed me! I know you have spies hiding in this room because I followed you to the Bardots! But I shall not be caught. Everyone of you shall perish!”
Without warning, the Arab threw the sack onto the furnace grate, then backed out, slammed the door and bolted it from the other side!