The Moonstone Castle Mystery (10 page)

“One of them calls himself Mr. Seaman.”

“So you suspect some great hoax was perpetrated fourteen years ago,” Ned commented. “I’d say this is a big order for us boys to deliver over a weekend, but we’ll do our best.”

Though Ned and Nancy waited for some time, with the glasses trained on the castle, no one appeared either on the tower or the grounds. Ned grinned. “I guess that strange fellow lives there,” he said. “Not too bad a place if you don’t have to pay rent.”

“He’s probably the person who warned George and me away from the castle when we swam over to it,” Nancy said.

“In that case, you girls shouldn’t go there alone again.”

Nancy and Ned walked to the motel, discussing the tower signaler and wondering to whom he was sending a message. “It may or may not have anything to do with the case I’m trying to solve,” Nancy remarked.

“If it has,” said Ned, “the receiver might be Mr. Seaman or that other man.”

Nancy nodded and led the way into the motel lobby where they found Bess and George talking excitedly with Dave Evans and Burt Eddleton. She introduced Ned to Mrs. Thompson, who in turn showed him the room where the three boys would sleep.

Forty minutes later the young people, in attractive suits and dresses, met in the lobby and discussed where to have dinner. Mrs. Thompson suggested a popular dining spot. “They have dancing and the music is really excellent.”

“That’s the place for me,” said Dave, taking a few dance steps.

Nancy and her friends decided to try the spot and set off in Ned’s car.

“No leads on your convertible?” he asked Nancy, who sat in front beside him.

“Not one! We hike and taxi. But getting to the castle hasn’t been on our schedule. Let’s go right after church tomorrow.”

“I’m at your service,” said Ned.

The restaurant building proved to be a large, modern concrete structure with geometric designs painted on it in flamboyant colors. The interior decor was ultrafashionable and a band was already playing a lively tune.

“It looks like a sophisticated place in New York City!” Ned remarked in surprise.

Bess tossed her head. “What makes you think Moonstone Valley isn’t up to date?”

The three boys were puzzled and Dave asked, “Moonstone Valley?”

“Oh, somebody changed its name,” Bess explained. “It’s now called Deep River Valley, but I think Moonstone is a lot more romantic.”

After the three couples were seated at a table, Bess continued, “Speaking of moonstones, did you know Nancy received a beautiful one as a gift?” Bess looked directly at Ned Nickerson.

“No, she didn’t tell me,” he answered. There was nothing in the way he said it to indicate that he was the donor.

“It’s very mysterious,” Bess went on. “There wasn’t any card with the gift—just a warning note.”

“A warning?” Ned repeated. “What kind?”

Bess declared that she would not tell him another word until he confessed he had played the joke. Ned denied this vigorously. “Honestly, I didn’t send the moonstone,” he declared. “But I’d certainly like to know who did. Tell me about this warning.”

The whole story was told and the boys agreed it was mysterious. None of them thought it was funny; rather, something to be taken quite seriously.

“I suppose you figure there’s some connection between your moonstone and Moonstone Valley,” Burt said.

“If there is, it eludes me completely,” Nancy answered. “But if the sender had a joke in mind or a warning, why didn’t he send a cheap stone? This is one of the most beautiful moonstones I’ve ever seen. I’ll show it to you.” She took it from her evening purse.

“Wow! What a gift!” Burt exclaimed.

As a waiter came to their table, the three couples turned their attention to dinner and dancing. They spent several hours at the attractive restaurant, then left.

“It’s too early to go directly home,” said Ned. “How about renting a speedboat if we can and taking a cruise on the river?”

Bess looked up at the sky. “What a beautiful moon!” she exclaimed. “It would be absolutely heavenly on the water. Let’s do it!”

Nancy directed Ned to a dock where she thought boats could be rented at night. They found one that gave twenty-four-hour service. Ned parked and went inside to make inquiries. Presently he returned and said they would take a sleek motorboat named the Water Witch.

“Which
water?” Dave punned, whereupon Burt pretended to throw him into the river.

The six young people climbed in and Ned took the wheel.

“If you want to see Mr. Wheeler’s wrecked boat, it’s across the river and down a short distance,” said Nancy.

Ned followed her directions and had just turned downstream when they all became aware of a speedboat coming toward them. IN It was headed directly for their boat.

At once Ned turned his craft. The approaching boat still came at them, as if drawn by a magnet. Ned sounded his horn. The other pilot paid no attention.

“Is that fellow loco?” Burt asked worriedly.

Ned dodged this way and that to get out of the path of the oncoming craft.

“It’s going to hit us!” Bess screamed.

Just before the strange boat reached them, its pilot dived into the water. Ned swerved in a desperate attempt to avoid both the speedboat and the swimmer. His effort was successful.

“Good work!” said George.

Everyone looked to see what had become of the pilot who had jumped overboard.

“I see him!” Nancy cried out. “He’s swimming toward the shore.”

“I guess he’s safe,” said Ned. “Now we’d better chase that speedboat and try to stop it before it does any damage!”

The race was on. Ned gave his own craft full power and little by little inched up on the pilot-less boat.

“I’ll jump across,” Burt offered, and made a flying leap. He took the wheel, which he found responded well. “There’s nothing the matter with this steering mechanism. That fellow intended to hit us for sure!” He invited George to hop in beside him and asked, “Now where do we go?”

“I suppose we should take the boat back with us to the dock and explain what happened,” said Nancy.

“But I’d like to see that castle first,” said Ned. “Is that the building over there?”

“Yes.”

The two speedboats headed for the rickety dock, which evidently had been used by the former tenants of the castle.

Suddenly Nancy exclaimed, “I saw a light moving in the castle!”

“I did too,” Ned agreed.

“That man with whiskers must be there!” Bess suggested.

George gave a great sigh. “There’s one way to find out. Why don’t we tie up here and you boys can investigate?”

She was just about to get out of the stranger’s speedboat when the group heard a shrill whistle. They turned. Coming at a fast clip was a police launch. A large searchlight pinpointed the Water Witch and the other craft.

The young people in both boats stayed in their seats. In a few seconds the launch pulled up alongside and stopped.

The chief officer leaned over the railing and said, “So you’re the ones who stole the boat!”

Nancy and her friends were dumfounded. She protested firmly that they had not stolen the boat and told exactly what had happened.

“Sorry, miss, but that sounds as if you’re just trying to shift the blame onto somebody else.”

“It’s the truth!” Nancy insisted, and the others backed up her story.

“Well, you can tell them down at headquarters,” the officer said. To Burt and George he added, “Get out and come aboard the launch.”

Angry but obedient, the pair climbed into the police launch. Another officer jumped aboard the stolen speedboat and sat down behind the wheel.

“All set?” the chief officer asked him.

“Yes, sir.”

The commander of the launch now turned to Ned and ordered, “You all come along with us, too!”

G
EORGE and Burt continued to argue with the river police but to no avail. Finally George said, “The boat our friends are in is being rented by the hour. Please, can’t we return it before going to headquarters?”

The chief officer consented.

“Thank you,” said George. She hoped that by contacting the man from whom they had rented the boat, the group of young people would be exonerated.

Her hopes were in vain. Although the man did identify them as the group who had rented one of his boats, he said he had no idea where they were going. For all he knew they might have rented his boat to steal the other one. Ned paid him for the use of the
Water Witch
,
then he, Nancy, Bess, and Dave climbed aboard the officers’ launch.

It proceeded to the police dock. Here the six friends were ushered into a building which was a branch of the main police headquarters. All of them were questioned. Finally Nancy said, “I’m the Nancy Drew whose car was stolen.”

“Yes, we know,” the officer in charge said. “It hasn’t been found yet.”

“Now that you know who we are, and that we’re not boat thieves, may we please go?”

“Not yet. You haven’t proved that you didn’t take the boat we found two of you in.”

“We have no proof,” Nancy replied. “But also you have no proof we stole the boat.”

The officer looked searchingly at her. “You sound like a lawyer.”

“Probably I’ve learned that from my father. He’s Carson Drew of River Heights—an attorney.”

Suddenly the officer’s face broke into a wide grin. “Carson Drew? Everybody knows him. So you’re his daughter? Why didn’t you tell the river police that in the first place?”

Nancy did not answer. She merely smiled, and the officer said with a wink, “Case dismissed.”

When the young people reached the sidewalk outside, Dave came alongside Nancy and rubbed his arm against hers. “Boy, am I glad to be a friend of such a famous person!”

Everyone laughed and the gay mood of the group was restored. When they sobered again, George said, “That fellow who tried to ram us must have stolen the boat just for that reason.”

“I wonder who he is,” Bess mused.

The following morning Nancy and her friends went to church, then drove in Ned’s car to the castle. As they went down the tree-shaded lane, Nancy and George were delighted to discover that the drawbridge was still down. Even the stones they had heaped on it were in place.

“Just the same, I’m going to leave my car on this side,” said Ned.

Burt chuckled. “Now we won’t have to use those swim trunks we brought.”

“And I was planning on being a gallant knight and letting the drawbridge down for miladies to cross!” said Dave.

Nancy and George grinned and showed how they had anchored the bridge so it could not be raised from inside the castle.

“Clever,” said Ned.

The visitors hurried across and walked into the cobblestoned courtyard which was filled with tufts of grass and weeds that even grew through cracks in the porticoes. Nancy and Ned decided to start their search at the tower end of the castle. They found that on the first floor, directly below the tower, was a mammoth baronial hall. There was nothing in it but a collection of many years of dust and cobwebs.

“This must have been gorgeous,” said George, as she and Burt joined the others in the great room.

In order not to miss finding anyone who might be hiding out in the castle, the young people separated into three pairs, each taking a section. They walked through room after room, some of which opened off adjoining suites and others only off the porticoes. Finally the six friends met back in the great hall.

“Did you find anything?” each excitedly asked the other. But none of them had.

George added, “No cot, stove, food, or clothing to indicate anyone is living here.”

The searchers had noticed three stairways leading to the floor above—a wide one from the baronial hall, and two narrow ones in other sections. Each couple took one of them to the second floor. Here they found a series of rooms, some with doors, many with them missing.