Nancy Clue Mysteries 3 - A Ghost in the Closet (17 page)

While the others listened attentively, Frank pieced together the case. "First, prized poodles are kidnapped, then the dognapper and an accomplice try to strong-arm their way inside our cottage, with architectural blueprints showing the location of a secret closet. That same day, Mother and Father are kidnapped by Russians, and Father's code specifically mentions that very same closet that may contain some kind of secret map."

"Something just doesn't make sense, though," Cherry admitted aloud. "Who would want that many poodles?"

Frank's next words were chilling: "One month after the successful launch of Sputnik I, the Russians launched an even bigger and better satellite, only this one had as its passenger a small dog!"

"Are you saying the Russians are stealing our top dogs for use in outer space?" Cherry gasped. "Poodles in space? What kind of people would do such a thing?" she cried in horror.

"The kind of people who would go to any length to get what they wanted," Frank said darkly.

"Could the thugs have been looking for the secret map in the secret closet?" Nancy wondered aloud.

"We'll see soon enough! " Frank cried. Within minutes, they had piled into their vehicles and were speeding toward the Hardly cottage at Lake Merrimen. Nancy shifted into third gear as she made the ascent up the main dirt road leading to the small house; by her side, Frank was mulling over the shocking events of the past hour. Jackie and Joe followed behind at an even clip, grimly rehashing every aspect of the queer case. They barely noticed the picturesque scenery, of the breathtaking lake, so intent were they on getting to the cottage and discovering the meaning of Fennel Hardly's cryptic list.

Frank shivered. This was their most perplexing case yet, and if they didn't solve it-and fast-they would lose the best parents two fellows ever had. "Step on it, Nancy," Frank directed. "Hang the traffic laws, goshdarnit! We've got a mystery to solve; probably the most important of our young careers!"

CHAPTER 25

A Lulu of a Revelation

"Stand back, Joe," Willy ordered as he picked up the crowbar and jammed the tool into the wall. Sweat glistened on Willy's thick corded neck as he pressed his broad powerful shoulder against the rod. He rocked back and forth until he had created a deep vertical groove. Willy pulled the heavy bar out of the wall, and with his feet firmly planted on the floor, found another soft spot in which to insert his tool. "Oomph," Willy grunted as he continued.

Joe's jaw dropped in admiration as sweat poured down the wedge of the man's back, causing his snug tee-shirt to cling to his broad torso. Willy stripped to the waist, and barely pausing to wipe his glistening forehead on the damp tee-shirt, he threw the shirt to Joe, catching him squarely in the face. "I'm almost there!" Willy cried.

He thrust his sturdy tool into the pliant wood over and over again. The panel groaned and creaked with each powerful probe, bringing it closer and closer to bursting wide open. "Just a little more," Willy cried. "This one ought to do it." Harder and harder he slammed the bar into the wall, each time coming closer to whatever lay beyond its barrier.

Joe was so excited he could hardly breathe! He clutched the shirt to his chest and watched with bated breath as the muscular man worked. How long could Willy keep it up? Finally there was a shudder and a heave, and the crowbar found its mark. The entire wall, molding, floorboards and all, seemed to explode and fell in splinters around Willy's boots.

"Look, Frank! A door! " Joe cried. Joe gasped as Willy flung open the warped wooden door only to reveal.. .an empty closet!

"There's no secret map in there!" Cherry cried in dismay.

"Not at first glance," Nancy warned. She rushed inside the small musty space and began running her hands over the wall paper looking for lumps or bumps that would indicate something had been hidden behind it.

"Uncle, do you recall any hiding places in here?" Frank asked.

"I'm sure there's nothing special about this closet," Uncle Nelly told them in a rueful tone. "Why on earth those men wanted inside it so badly I'll never know. It's small and cramped and smells like wash left too long on the line. Not only that, the wallpaper is far more hideous than I remember," he shuddered, noticing that the floral Victorian pattern clashed dreadfully with the pleasant rose-colored living room walls. Uncle Nelly vowed that when renovation of the cottage began anew, the closet under the stairs would be put back to its original use. "But not with that dreadful wall covering! " he pledged.

"I'm getting a chair so I can examine the ceiling," Nancy determined.

"Watch your step," Cherry warned. Why, Nancy might twist an ankle or break her collarbone!

"Watch your step? That's a line from Father's secret message!" Frank cried. He got to his knees and started to examine the worn wood floor. The warped boards creaked under the weight of the lad. Soon he found a small notch just big enough for the tip of his trusty Boy Scout penknife. A plank of wood pulled away, revealing a dark space.

"There is a hiding place in this closet," Joe breathed excitedly as he shone his flashlight into the hole. The beam of his light glinted off a rusty metal box tucked into one corner. The boys shared a look of triumph. Surely they had found their father's secret map!

"Hurry, Joe," Frank urged as his brother snatched up the old box and brought it into the light of the room.

"Any minute now, we'll have the map in our hands," Joe hooted triumphantly as he used his own handy Boy Scout penknife to break open the lock. "Ah-ha! " he cried as the lid popped open. Then, in a keenly disappointed tone, he added, "Oh, it's only old family snapshots."

"Old family snapshots?" Uncle Nelly cried in alarm. "Joseph, give them to me!"

"Perhaps there's one of Uncle Nelly in an unflattering hairstyle," Joe grinned to his brother. "Here's one of Grandmother Hardly standing in front of the lake wearing a funny bathing costume," he said. "But who's this pretty little curly-haired girl holding her hand?" he mused. "Why, she looks just like Father!"

"No, boys," Uncle Nelly pleaded. "Forget you ever saw that photograph!" When Joe saw the alarm on his uncle's face, he dropped the box, scattering the sepia snapshots all over the rug.

"Sorry, Uncle," he cried. Joe hadn't meant to upset his uncle; he had just been acting like his boyishly curious self.

Uncle Nelly knelt to gather the photographs, growing misty-eyed when he gazed fondly at the little girl in the picture. "I suppose it's foolish folly to try and keep the truth from you boys forever," he murmured. "And if, heaven forbid, we can't find your father, I'm sure he'd want you to know the whole truth."

The boys gasped. Their family had a secret?

Uncle Nelly looked mighty serious. "Boys," he said, "I've got something to tell you. And I only hope you're grown-up enough to understand." He looked fondly at the little girl in the photograph.

"Boys, this was your father, Fennel P. Hardly, as a child."

"What?" gasped Frank.

Uncle Nelly nodded. "Fennel P. Hardly, world-famous detective and husband to Mrs. Hardly for twenty-seven years is really my older sister, Fanny P. Hardly."

Frank and Joe were stunned into silence. Uncle Nelly continued.

"You see, boys, when Fanny and I were young, there was a lot of prejudice against girls. People thought they weren't as smart as boys, weren't logical or strong."

Frank gasped. "Prejudice against girls! Why, I've often wished I could be as strong and smart as a girl!" cried the lad.

"And I've often wished I was a girl," Joe admitted. The Hardly boys looked at each other in open-mouthed astonishment. "How could people be so stupid?" they chorused.

"Well, boys, people were pretty stupid back then. More than anything, Fanny wanted to be a detective, and she knew that there would never be a place in that world for a girl dick, so she decided to dress as a man, at least until she got established and made a name for her, er, himself.

"And pretty soon she discovered she liked pretending she was a man and since your mother didn't mind, well, the rest is history!"

"It's really true," Frank murmured in shock. "Father is a girl!" He bit his lip to hold back the tears, jumped up and raced to the closet.

"Francis-" Uncle Nelly started after his nephew. He stopped when he saw how truly upset the usually unflappable Frank was. The lad was pacing back and forth in the closet. Frank stopped and faced his uncle. "Uncle Nelly, how could Father keep this from us?" he cried, stomping his foot on the warped wooden floor.

"Frank, be careful," Uncle Nelly warned. "That floor dates back to the turn of the century." But his warning was to no avail, for just then, they heard the dreaded sound of old wood splintering as the floor under Frank's feet gave way.

"H-e-l-p-p-p-p!" Frank cried as he started to fall. Everyone rushed to the closet just in time to see the top of Frank's crewcut disappear into the darkness!

CHAPTER 26

A Daring Leap

"Jumping crickets!" Joe exclaimed as he knelt on the jagged closet floor and stuck his head in the hole left by his brother. "Can you hear me, Frank?" he cried out. His voice echoed in the tunnel that had swallowed his brother. He took out the emergency flashlight he always carried in his pants pocket and shone his light down the dark hole. "Frank! " he cried again, but there was no answer.

The minute Cherry heard Frank's plaintive plea, she had snapped into action. Cherry Aimless, Disaster Nurse, barked out orders right and left. "Jackie, go to the car and get my firstaid kit. Willy, tie that quilt to two poles for a makeshift stretcher and then go in the kitchen and boil water. Nancy, get me clean, fresh towels-and plenty of them! And Uncle Nelly," she added, handing him a fresh handkerchief from her pocket, "blow your nose! "

Uncle Nelly did as he was told.

Joe leaned perilously over the hole, almost slipping in himself. Uncle Nelly yanked the lad back by the collar of his freshly laundered sporty summer shirt; Joe gave a start, dropping his flashlight. He listened for it to hit bottom, and using his glow-in-the-dark radium wristwatch, timed its descent. "It took approximately point four-five seconds to hit bottom," he declared, doing a quick calculation in his head. "That's a drop of sixteen feet; surely Frank couldn't have been badly injured, seeing as how he's athletically inclined and all."

"We'll have pots of boiling water in no time," Willy came back from the kitchen to report. Joe grabbed a nearby rope and threw one end to Willy. "Grab ahold and I'll shimmy down," he instructed his uncle's strong chum. "But first, let me get my back-up flashlight from the trunk."

The moment Joe was gone, Nancy put down her stack of linens. "Do you have a firm grasp on the rope?" Nancy asked. Willy nodded.

"Good," Nancy said. Then before anyone could stop her, she tucked her hem into her belt, grabbed the rope with one hand and her pocketbook with the other, jumped into the hole and was gone!

CHAPTER 27

The Science Lesson

"Frank, are you down here?" Nancy called out. As she listened to her voice echo in the tunnel, she groped in her pocket book for her flashlight. It wasn't there! "Oh, I left it in my alligator clutch!" she moaned. The girl sleuth crept bravely forward through the pitchblack darkness, a little bruised and shaken and fearing her stockings were snagged, but more concerned about her chum Frank than about her own troubles. Where could he be?