A Secret in Time (11 page)

Carson Drew arrived home an hour after Nancy. They waited with Hannah until it began to get dark, then put George's plan into action. After turning out all the lights, Nancy and her father left the house in his car, followed by Hannah in her station wagon. They parked on a side street several blocks away, then came back on foot, cutting through a neighbor's backyard and staying in the shadows. They reentered the house through the back door.

Officer Brody, waiting at the kitchen table, stood up abruptly when they entered, and his hand went to his revolver. When he saw them, he relaxed. “I'm glad you're back,” he said. “Now we can lock up and wait.”

Hannah went to the refrigerator and pulled out some sandwiches. “We can eat while we're waiting.”

Nancy helped Hannah bring the sandwiches and pitchers of juice to the darkened living room, where Sergeant Rudinsky sat, ready for action.

Rudinsky roamed the first floor while Nancy, her father, Hannah, and Officer Brody ate in the semidarkness. They were careful to keep the curtains
drawn and to speak in whispers so that they couldn't be detected from outside the house.

Soon it was almost pitch black in the living room. The darkness and quiet were so peaceful that Nancy was finding it harder and harder to keep her eyes open.

The house was so still that a slight rustling in the bushes had the effect of a firecracker going off. All around her, Nancy could hear the shifting of bodies and rapid breathing. Was this the moment they'd all been waiting for, or was it just a squirrel or a raccoon?

The squeaking of a living room window being opened answered Nancy's question. Nancy held her breath as the curtains parted, revealing a dark figure silhouetted against a triangle of night sky. First one leg came over the windowsill, then another.

Nancy's heart pounded as she saw that the thief was inside the house. The figure hesitated by the window before taking a few steps toward them.

Then everything happened at once. The window was slammed shut and the lights were turned on. Officer Brody drew his gun and yelled, “Freeze!”

It took a moment for Nancy's eyes to adjust to the sudden bright light. But when they did, she could only stare at the frightened figure standing in her living room. It was Russell Brown!

Russell Brown squinted at the bright light through his horn-rimmed glasses. When he caught Nancy's eye, he looked away.

“We caught him!” cried Officer Brody, whipping out a pair of handcuffs. As he snapped the cuffs on the unresisting Brown, Sergeant Rudinsky approached, gun drawn.

“You can put that down, Officer,” Brown said, so quietly that Nancy barely heard him. “I won't put up a fight.”

Nodding curtly, Sergeant Rudinsky replaced the gun in her holster. “You have the right to remain silent,” she began to recite. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

“I'm not going to remain silent,” Brown said, a little
more force in his voice now. “I'm innocent, no matter what you might think.”

Rudinsky droned on, ignoring him. “You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one—”

“Just listen to me,” Brown insisted. “You don't understand what happened.”

After reading Brown his rights the police officer fell silent.

Brown asked, “Now can I talk?”

“As long as you understand what I've just said,” answered Sergeant Rudinsky.

“Yes, yes, I've seen all the cop shows,” Brown said. “But let me explain. I admit I broke in tonight—”

“Hard to deny,” Nancy observed.

Brown looked at Nancy as he went on. “I was just trying to get the brooch back before the
real
thief stole it. It is mine, after all.”

“But why did you have to break in?” Nancy asked. “Why didn't you go to the police and ask for the brooch back?”

“It's very complicated,” Brown mumbled.

“Does it have anything to do with an insurance policy?” asked Nancy.

Brown looked shocked, then tried to cover his reaction. “I don't know what you're talking about,” he sputtered.

“I think you do,” Nancy said smoothly. “I saw the fifty-thousand-dollar insurance policy you took out on the brooch right before it was stolen.”

“You had no business nosing around my store,” he said, his face reddening.

“It was in plain view,” said Nancy. “You should have made more effort to hide it. I think I know the real reason you're here tonight. You wanted to make it look as if the brooch really
was
stolen so you could collect the insurance money. Then, maybe a few years down the line, when everyone had forgotten about it, you could sell the brooch and get another fifty thousand.”

For a moment Brown just glared at Nancy. Then his stare wavered and his shoulders slumped. “I
need
the money. My business is going under. I haven't sold anything in months.”

“That was you who broke in last night, too?” Nancy asked Brown.

“Yes,” he admitted. “I should have given up while I was ahead.”

“What about the orange van?” asked Nancy.

Brown's face showed no reaction. “What orange van?” he asked.

“The one that tried to run us off the bridge,” Nancy explained patiently. “A couple of hours before we came to your store.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Brown said indignantly. “I'm at my store every day from ten o'clock until six. I certainly can't afford to hire any help.”

“What about this knife?” Nancy asked, pulling it from her purse.

Behind Nancy, Hannah gasped. “Where did you get that?” the housekeeper asked.

“The second note was stuck to our house with this knife,” Nancy explained.

“I don't know anything about a knife or a note,” Brown insisted. “I'm just a common burglar, I guess.” He laughed without humor.

Nancy watched Brown's expression carefully. She knew he wasn't a trustworthy person, but she had the feeling he was telling the truth about the knife and the van. Now she was beginning to believe there was more than one person after the brooch. And it looked as if the second person was playing a lot dirtier than Brown was.

“Is there anything else you want to ask the suspect?” Officer Brody asked Nancy.

Nancy shook her head.

“Let's book him,” Sergeant Rudinsky said, taking Brown by the arm. She radioed the station on her walkie-talkie. “Rudinsky here. Request vehicle to pick us up at the Drew home. We have caught the intruder.”

“Roger, Rudinsky,” came the answer over the walkie-talkie. “Chief McGinnis asked us to tell you he'll be coming over himself.”

“Roger,” the sergeant said.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Brody opened it to the chief of police.

“Brown!” Chief McGinnis exclaimed as he entered the living room. “So it was you.”

Brown cast his eyes downward as Nancy filled the chief in on the night's incidents.

As the officers led Russell Brown away, Hannah sighed with relief. “Now I can finally feel safe in my own home,” she said.

Carson Drew smiled and put an arm around Nancy. “Good work,” he said. “You've caught the criminal, and we're all still in one piece.”

Nancy smiled uneasily. She didn't want her father and Hannah to worry any more than they already had, but she didn't want them to have a false sense of security, either. Briefly, she told them of her suspicion that someone besides Brown was after the brooch.

“Well,” Carson said when she had explained, “I guess the first thing we'd better do is get the police back in here.”

Nancy hurried outside to Chief McGinnis, who was getting into his car. She quickly explained her suspicions.

The police chief nodded. “Rudinsky, you stay here until we send backup,” he instructed the sergeant.

Nancy was relieved that at least her father and Hannah would feel safer now. But Nancy knew she wouldn't rest easily until she had managed to figure out exactly who the second suspect was.

• • •

Early the next morning, George and Bess picked up Nancy at her house. The three girls drove to the
Frosty Freeze plant so George could begin her day's work.

“Thanks again for the car,” Nancy said as George got out. “Mine should be out of the shop tomorrow.”

“No problem,” George said. “Just pick me up here at five.”

As Nancy and Bess drove home, Bess yawned. “That was quite a night you had. Even I'm tired from all the excitement.”

“I'm sorry I called you so late,” Nancy told her friend, “but you said you wanted to know what happened.”

“Oh, I did,” Bess assured her. “Don't apologize. I'm just glad they caught the crook.”

“I'm not so sure the case is closed,” Nancy said. She repeated for Bess her fear that there was a second thief.

“I don't know,” Bess said, shaking her head. “Russell Brown could be lying about the knife and the notes. Maybe he doesn't want to get in any more trouble than he's already in.”

Nancy shook her head. “I have a feeling about this,” she said. “I don't think he was lying.”

When Nancy and Bess arrived at the Drews' house, they found Officers Walker and Daniel pacing the living room.

“What's going on?” Nancy asked them.

“Not much,” Officer Walker replied. “Your housekeeper had to go out, but she left you a note on the kitchen table.”

“More notes,” Nancy said with a groan. “I hope this one's good news.” With Bess in tow, Nancy headed for the kitchen and found a sheet of paper on the table. “All right!” she exclaimed.

“What is it?” asked Bess.

Nancy waved the paper in the air. “George Wilson called us back. I guess he believed us after all.” Grabbing the receiver of the wall phone, she punched out the number Hannah had written on the note. “Hi, Jolie, it's Nancy Drew,” Nancy said into the receiver. “I'm returning your father's call.”

Jolie replied, “I have the information you requested, those names of drivers who had our trucks out the day before yesterday,” she told Nancy. “Would you like me to mail you the list?”

“That would take too long,” said Nancy. “Could you read the names over the phone?” She pulled a notebook and pencil out of her purse.

“Sure. They're in alphabetical order. Dennis Abrams, Jackie Bitterman, Lisa Cortes . . .”

Nancy jotted down the names as fast as she could while Jolie continued.

“Marco Roggero, Alastair Short, Lee Thompson . . .”

Thompson!
Nancy stopped writing. Thompson was the last name of the woman who'd owned the rose brooch. Was this just a coincidence? Nancy was itching to get off the phone, but she forced herself to write down the rest of the names in case any of the others were significant.

“Thanks very much,” said Nancy after Jolie had finished. “And please tell your father that we won't share this information with anyone but the police.”

“Thanks. And I'm really sorry it was one of our vans that came after you,” Jolie said. “Please call us if it
was
one of our drivers. I'm sure my father would want to know.”

“Sure,” Nancy agreed.

After she'd hung up, she raced upstairs to her bedroom with Bess close behind.

“So what did you find out?” Bess demanded, breathless from hurrying after Nancy.

Nancy started rummaging through a pile of papers on her desk. “I need the list from the expo,” she mumbled. “One of the drivers who works for Mr. Wilson is named Lee Thompson.”

Bess gave her a blank look.

“The brooch originally belonged to Agnes Thompson,” Nancy explained. “This could be the lead we've been waiting for.”

She located the two lists she'd borrowed from Mary Lou Jennings and handed one to Bess.

“Thompson, Thompson,” Bess murmured, running her finger down the page of names. Nancy did the same with the other list.

“I've got it!” Nancy exclaimed. “Here it is on the second page.”

Bess looked over Nancy's shoulder. “It
has
to be more than a coincidence,” she said. “Thompson's not
a very unusual name, but I'll bet there's a connection.”

“I know the man who's going to help us make that connection,” Nancy said, snapping her fingers. “And right now he's behind bars at the River Heights police station.”

“Russell Brown,” said Bess, reading Nancy's thoughts. “Let's go!”

The girls were almost out the door when the phone rang.

“Oh, rats, I forgot to turn the answering machine on,” Nancy said. “I'll be right back.” She ran into the kitchen.

Grabbing the receiver, Nancy said, “Hello?”

At first no one said anything, but Nancy could hear breathing on the other end of the line,

“Hello?” she repeated. “Is someone there?”

“Is this Nancy Drew?” asked a gruff, unfamiliar male voice.

Nancy didn't like the sound of the voice, but she remained calm. “Yes,” she responded.

“This is what you're going to do,” the man said. “You and your blond friend are going to bring the brooch to the intersection of Route Nine and Route Twenty-two in fifteen minutes.”

Nancy drew in a sharp breath. She'd been right about another thief being after the brooch. And she'd have bet anything that the man on the other end of the telephone line was Lee Thompson!

Stalling to give herself time to think, Nancy said, “And what if we don't?”

“That's easy,” the man said. “If you don't bring me the brooch, you'll never see your friend George alive again.”

Nancy clutched the receiver so hard her fingers turned white. If only I had made the connection about Lee Thompson earlier, Nancy thought, before he got hold of George. If she let Thompson know she was on to him now, he might injure George, or worse.