(#39) The Clue of the Dancing Puppet (14 page)

The two men shrugged, and Detective Foster answered, “Even the mystery of the stolen jewelry is far from solved.” He smiled. “The police certainly want to thank you girls for all your help. If you find out anything more, let us know!”

The three young sleuths laughed and promised to do this. Then they drove back toward the Van Pelt estate. Bess had seen a morning newspaper lying on a table in Longman’s apartment and had helped herself to it. Now she began to read.

In the meantime, George and Nancy continued to discuss the mystery of the dancing puppet. “Do you think,” George asked, “that there may be other members of a gang stealing jewelry and using the puppet as a hiding place until it’s safe to sell the pieces?”

“That’s a possibility, George,” Nancy agreed. “If so—I’m wondering if we’ll be bothered any more out at the mansion.”

“How could we, with the puppet in the hands of the police?” George countered.

“There could be more puppets,” Nancy replied. “We already know of two others.”

George’s reply was interrupted by Bess. “Listen to this!” she cried out, reading from an inside page of the newspaper. “‘Unknown Amateur Steals Show.’ And underneath it says, ‘Nancy Drew Makes Big Hit in First Performance.’”

“Oh, no!” Nancy exclaimed, blushing. “Why, that makes it look as if I were better than Tammi, and that’s ridiculous.”

“You
were
better than Tammi,” Bess said staunchly.

“Just as good, anyway,” conceded George. She suddenly laughed loudly. “If Tammi Whitlock sees this, she’ll be back on stage tonight even if she sounds like a frog!”

Nancy was silent during the balance of the ride. She did not care for Tammi, yet she did not wish to make an enemy of her. Vividly Nancy recalled Chuck Grant’s saying that his sister was a firebrand when she became angry. Nancy thought, “Why, there’s no telling what Tammi may do!”

Upon reaching the estate, she parked the car, then the three girls went into the kitchen. Mr. Spencer stood inside, a copy of the same newspaper in his hand. He wore a broad smile. “I suppose you know what the paper said about your performance, Nancy.”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “I’m glad my performance was good, but I hope that Tammi gets back here in a hurry.”

Mr. Spencer looked directly at Nancy. “Listen to me,” he said. “Even if Tammi returns, you are going to continue in the leading role. I’ve had enough of her temperamental fits—and there are certain scenes in the play which she refuses to do according to my direction. Fortunately, you are co-operative.”

Nancy was nonplused. But finally she said, “Mr. Spencer, don’t think I’m not appreciative of this honor, but I couldn’t continue to have an important part in any play. I help my father, you know, and I shouldn’t try to hold down two jobs.”

“I realize that,” the actor said. “I’ll talk to your father. I’m sure he’ll see things my way.”

Mr. Spencer was making it very difficult for Nancy. She loved to act, but far more than this, she loved working on mystery cases, either with her father or on her own.

The actor went on, “Nancy, you can’t let me down! Our new play goes on in a week, and you know what a sad state it’s in right now. Please learn the lines. I think you have a good influence on the cast, and they’ll probably work better with you than they did with Tammi.”

Bess and George knew that Nancy was in a tight spot. Bess had a sudden inspiration. “Mr. Spencer,” she said, “I think I may have the answer to your problem. Why don’t you substitute a puppet show for a couple of weeks until the next play can be whipped into shape?”

“Puppet show?” Mr. Spencer echoed. “You must be teasing—your mind’s been on the mystery of the dancing puppet too long.”

“Oh, no, I’m not fooling,” said Bess. “There’s a long article in the paper about a marvelous European puppeteer who is touring this country and putting on magnificent shows. Maybe you could get him to help you out.”

Mr. Spencer had not seen the item. After Bess pointed it out and he had read the article, Mr. Spencer scratched his head.

“Bess,” he said, “you may have a point.” Suddenly he became very enthusiastic about the idea. “I think it would be good to give the cast a rest. Maybe I’ve been pushing them too hard and they’ve gone stale. I’ll make some phone calls right away and try to locate this fellow.”

After he had left the kitchen, Nancy hugged Bess. “You’re a lifesaver, dear,” she said. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that Mr. Spencer will be able to engage that puppeteer!”

When Hamilton Spencer returned from the telephone, there was a broad smile on his face. “I’ve reserved the services of the puppeteer!” he announced. “The Footlighters can vote on this tonight.”

“Swell!” said George.

With this matter settled, Nancy now told Mr. Spencer about finding the dancing puppet.

“And her back was filled with necklaces!” George announced.

The actor listened spellbound as the girls related the entire story. But he was as puzzled as they to know why Longman, and probably his pal Terrill, had made the puppet dance on the Van Pelt lawn. “What are we going to do now?” he asked. “Forget the whole thing and assume that the mystery is ended, even though it hasn’t been entirely solved?”

Bess spoke up immediately. “Mr. Spencer, if you want us to leave, I’m sure Nancy—”

“Oh, no!” the man answered quickly. “I didn’t mean to imply that I wanted you to go away. Please don’t do that!”

Mr. Spencer became so embarrassed that Nancy felt sorry for him. She smiled sweetly. “I’d like to stay,” she said. “It bothers me to leave a mystery unsolved. I’d like to do a little more investigating around this place to see if I can pick up another clue. Who knows, maybe the witch and the Pierrot have stolen valuables hidden in them!”

“Before we do another speck of sleuthing,” Bess spoke up, “we’re going to have lunch. I’m starved.”

George began to laugh. “It would be good for you to go without it. How else can you lose those twenty pounds you’ve been talking about?”

Bess made a face at her cousin, then marched straight for the refrigerator. The first thing she pulled out of it was a large jar of mayonnaise.

“Uh-uh,” said George, grabbing the jar from her cousin. “Your rations will be one piece of lettuce, one tomato, and one thin slice of roast beef.”

“I
have
lost five pounds,” Bess contended. “Let’s not go overboard on this!” Then she sighed. “Oh, I suppose you’re right.” Mr. Spencer had left the kitchen, so Bess added, “I still want to get a better part in the play than just the maid. She only has a few lines.”

As soon as the girls had eaten and washed the dishes, Bess and George asked Nancy what she had in mind.

“Another trip to the attic,” said Nancy. “I want to look at Pierrot again. He may be more valuable than we think.”

George grinned. “You mean the clown may be full of diamonds? I always thought everything about a clown was make-believe. It’s more likely he’d be wearing costume jewelry!”

The other girls laughed, and the three started for the attic in a merry but excited mood. Were they going to find something else connected with the mystery?

Once more, Bess stood guard at the top of the stairs. George followed Nancy to the secret door and watched as her friend opened it. A cry of amazement burst from her lips.

Pierrot was gone!

As the girls stood staring in dismay at the empty closet, they heard an evil-sounding, hollow laugh!

CHAPTER XIX

A Puppeteer’s Secret

“WH-WHAT’S that?” Bess screamed in fright.

Nancy and George stood frozen to the spot. The hollow laugh was not repeated.

Nancy, sure the laugh had come from behind the back of the secret closet, began to look around for another opening. But though she scrutinized the wooden wall for several minutes, the young detective could not locate any hidden springs or latches. The closet walls seemed perfectly solid.

“I wonder what’s on the other side of this,” Nancy said, frowning.

She stepped from the closet and looked questioningly at her chums. Bess had come to the side of George, whose grim look and stance indicated she was poised to greet the mysterious laugher, should he appear.

“Maybe,” Nancy said, “there’s a roof behind this closet, and someone’s standing there.”

She ran to one of the small attic windows. After some difficulty she managed to open it and look outside. There was no roof beyond the closet, but Nancy saw that the closet itself formed the top of an extension of the main house.

“See anybody?” George asked.

“No.”

As Nancy returned to her friends, Bess said in a tremulous whisper, “I’m beginning to think this place is haunted!”

Nancy laughed. “I’ll think so too, until the mystery is solved and I know just who has been doing queer things around here. Personally, I believe Terrill and Longman are guilty.”

“But they’re both in jail!” Bess reminded her. “So they couldn’t have given the hollow laugh.”

Nancy had to admit her friend was right, but said, “They could have confederates.”

The girls waited for several more minutes. There was no further disturbance and Nancy suggested that they start looking through the books stored in the attic. “We may find a clue tucked in one of them to help us solve the mystery.”

Since there were three large boxes of them, the girls divided the work. For the next half hour there was silence in the attic as book after book was carefully examined, page by page. No papers, no letters, and no reading matter which was of any help to them came to light.

“This is a week’s work,” Bess said finally, giving a great sigh. “Let’s take a rest and come back to the job later.”

“Yes, let’s,” George agreed.

At that moment Nancy was deep in a small volume she had come across. It was the diary of a Ralph Van Pelt, written nearly fifty years before.

“I think I may have found something!” she told her friends excitedly. “Listen!”

She explained that Ralph Van Pelt had been an inventor, who had come to the United States from Holland. He had never married but had lived with a brother on the estate, which was then a farm. Every year, as Christmas gifts, he carved toys for his grandnieces and grandnephews.

“And guess what!” Nancy went on. “The children loved puppets, so their uncle used to make sets of them and put on little shows.”

Bess and George, intrigued by the story, had come forward and seated themselves on the trunk to listen. Nancy now began to read the diary word for word. They learned from the well-written account that Ralph Van Pelt had become so interested in making puppets that he decided to try contriving life-size ones with mechanical devices inside to make them move. One section of the diary read:

“‘Today I had my first show out of doors. Relatives and friends were here for a Fourth of July picnic. Two of my marionettes performed very well. One danced and the other, a witch, frightened the children out of their wits!’ ”

“The puppets we found!” George exclaimed.

“What a clever man he must have been!” Bess commented. “I wonder how many puppets he made in all?”

Nancy read on. Presently she came to a passage which said that the grandnieces and grandnephews had nearly ruined one of the puppets playing with it. “‘So I decided to hide the marionettes,’ ” Van Pelt had written. “‘I built a secret closet in the attic and placed my four puppets inside for safety.’ ”

“Four!” George repeated. “Then one is still missing!”

“Probably Terrill and Longman have it some place,” said Bess.

Nancy did not agree. “I’m positive that the reason they were displaying the dancing puppet here was to scare people away from this mansion. Those men, or pals of theirs, could then have more freedom to search this place for the fourth puppet. But why did they want it so badly? Well, let me read some more.”

There were several pages in the diary which had no bearing on the present mystery. Then suddenly Nancy came across an exciting item. It read:

“‘I took one of my puppets from the secret closet today. Inside the puppet I deposited a valuable secret. It would not help anyone today, but I assume the puppet will not be found for some years to come. When it is, the secret will make the finder wealthy. I hereby decree that whoever does find the puppet shall become the true owner of its secret.’ ”

Nancy paused, and the three girls looked at one another in complete amazement. What was the secret? And where was the puppet? Had it been stolen, or was it still in its hiding place?

“I certainly hope we can find that puppet!” George muttered.

Nancy said pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place now. “I believe someone found this diary and read it not too long ago,” she said. “I’m sure he was still hunting for the fourth puppet up to the time of the dancer’s last appearance.”

“Then it could still be here!” George exclaimed.

Nancy nodded. “On the other hand, it may have been found years ago by someone who already has made use of the secret.” Nancy’s eyes roamed the attic, trying to imagine a hiding place for it.

Suddenly Bess spoke up. “Don’t you think we’d better give up our attic sleuthing for now? Someone in this house may get suspicious and come up here. After all, Cally old boy hasn’t been eliminated as a suspect in this case.”

Before Nancy had a chance to reply, she heard Mr. Spencer calling her from the first floor. She hurried downstairs, followed by Bess and George.

“I’d like you to go over some of the lines in the show,” he told Nancy. “You did very well last night, and I want everything to run just as smoothly this evening. We’ll have an early supper and go over to the theater for a rehearsal.”

As they were finishing dessert, Mr. Spencer was called to the telephone. Nancy waited and waited for him to finish. Since the conversation went on and on, she decided to go over to the theater herself and practice some of her lines.

“Bess, will you please tell Mr. Spencer where I am?” she asked, as she opened the kitchen door to leave.

“Will do,” Bess promised. “See you later. Good luck!”