The Ringmaster's Secret (10 page)
Read The Ringmaster's Secret Online
Authors: Carolyn G. Keene
As Nancy gave her instructions, Dan Webster sat gazing at the floor. He shook his head several times but did not speak. Finally he looked up.
“Nancy, dear,” he said, “I want to help you as much as I can. But this is a big order. I’m afraid I’d fail. You’d better count me out and get somebody else.”
Nancy laughed softly. “Oh, it isn’t that bad, Dan,” she told him. “I’ll tell you what. Suppose I stand outside the window and watch Kroon’s actions. You pretend to know nothing about what’s going on, but try to follow the lines of conversation I suggested.”
At last, Dan Webster said he would attempt it, and the time was set for eleven thirty. Nancy thanked him and hurried off to change her clothes. When Erika saw her starting out again, she asked Nancy where she was going.
“To do some sleuthing. But don’t be worried. I’m not going to leave the circus grounds.”
Nancy hurried from the tent. Using a circuitous route to avoid as many people as possible, she went to Mr. Kroon’s trailer. She could hear voices inside distinctly.
No one was in sight. Nancy cautiously crept to the side window and stood on a box. Through the window she could see the interior and remain out of the line of vision of those within.
Dan Webster was there, talking with Lolita’s foster parents. Evidently the early part of the previously planned conversation had already taken place, because Kroon was just saying, “The new girl’s all right, but I’ll let you know tomorrow about her staying with us after this week. There are certain things about her I don’t like.”
“What are they?” Dan asked quickly.
“Nothing that you could do anything about, Webster,” the ringmaster replied. “They’re personal reasons.”
Dan rose, but before leaving he said, “By the way, Mr. Kroon, I’ve heard rumors about things disappearing from the circus.”
Kroon gave a slight twitch, and Nancy saw his eyes travel involuntarily to a bureau in the trailer.
To Dan he said, “I haven’t heard anything about it. You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
“Probably not,” Dan Webster gave a slightly forced laugh. “I guess rumors fly around thick and fast in the circus.”
He left the trailer and started for his own quarters. Dan had failed to carry out the last part of Nancy’s instructions, but it did not matter. She had found out what she wanted to know.
The bureau was probably the hiding place!
Nancy continued to eavesdrop outside the trailer, but neither Mr. nor Mrs. Kroon mentioned the bracelet or Dan’s visit.
Presently Mrs. Kroon went to Lolita’s trailer, apparently to watch her foster daughter’s movements.
A few minutes later the window shades on both trailers were drawn and soon afterward the lights were turned off. Nancy returned to her tent, convinced that her bracelet was in the bureau in Kroon’s trailer. She hoped that the ringmaster would not remove it before she had a chance to carry out the next part of her plan.
Early the following morning she went to find Lolita. She was forced to wait for several minutes while the aerialist and her foster parents finished breakfast in Mr. and Mrs. Kroon’s trailer. Finally the ringmaster left, and Lolita started back to her own quarters.
Nancy signaled her to walk to a more secluded spot where they might talk. Quickly she divulged her suspicions about the bracelet. Lolita was aghast to learn that her foster father might be a thief. Nancy said she was sorry but felt that it was necessary for Lolita to know all the facts.
“I want you to search that bureau,” Nancy told her.
Lolita looked frightened. “But how can I?” she said. “Mother’s always in one trailer or the other.”
“I’ll arrange for her to leave,” said Nancy. “I’ll have Erika ask her to come to our tent and help with some sewing.”
Lolita finally consented. An hour later, when Mrs. Kroon was safely out of the way, the aerialist went into her father’s trailer. Nancy posted herself at the window. Some distance away was Dan Webster, acting as a lookout.
Lolita pulled out drawer after drawer, lifting various articles and feeling beneath pieces of clothing. The bracelet was not in any of the drawers. Just as Lolita opened the lowest drawer, Nancy heard a low whistle. Looking up, she saw Dan Webster warning her of danger.
Reinhold Kroon was almost at the trailer!
Through the window Nancy hissed at Lolita. The girl was so engrossed in her search that she did not hear her friend. The next moment, Kroon stepped inside.
CHAPTER XIII
Blackout
WHEN Lolita heard someone step into the trailer, she slammed the bureau drawer shut. But her movement and the telltale clothes hanging from the drawer gave her away.
“Answer me! What are you doing?” her foster father yelled.
He took hold of the girl’s arm and yanked her around violently. “You tell me what you were doing or I’ll—” The ringmaster did not finish because of an unexpected interruption.
Fearful that Lolita might give away their secret, Nancy acted quickly. She had once learned a few ventriloquistic tricks. Using one of them now, she threw her voice to sound as if it were inside the trailer and gave an unearthly scream. Then, dashing around to the door of the trailer, she ran inside.
“I heard a scream,” she said. “Is something the matter?”
Kroon glared at Nancy and released his hold on Lolita. The pretty aerialist sagged weakly onto a couch.
“Oh, Nancy!” she wailed helplessly.
Kroon’s eyes narrowed and he walked toward Nancy menacingly. “Why, you little double-crosser!” he shouted.
Nancy stood her ground. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Dan Webster in the doorway. Should she need any protection, it was nearby.
“Nancy, eh?” the ringmaster yelled. “You’re Nancy Drew, that self-styled detective, and you sneaked in here to spy on the circus!”
Nancy said nothing. This seemed to infuriate the man. Towering above her, he waved a finger in her face.
“I knew you’d joined the circus and I let you stay because you were a good rider,” he raved. “But I’ve had spies trailing you. Don’t think you’ve put anything over on me, you little sneak!”
“Nancy has done nothing wrong,” Lolita said stanchly. “She’s performed beautifully in this circus.”
“Is that so?” Kroon said harshly. “I suppose you were snooping through this bureau because Nancy Drew told you to. What were you looking for?”
“Why, you little double-crosser!” the ringmaster shouted.
Lolita turned pleadingly to Nancy. She did not know how to answer.
Nancy decided to speak. “What’s so terrible about your daughter’s looking through your bureau? Goodness, whenever I want a big hanky I go to my father’s chest of drawers.”
Kroon was not fooled by Nancy’s play acting. At the top of his lungs, he shouted, “You get out of this circus and stay out!”
“What about the Vascons’ act?” Lolita cried.
The ringmaster said that Rosa would perform that afternoon or the whole troupe could leave the circus. In no case was Nancy Drew to appear. She was to leave the grounds at once.
In the doorway Dan Webster could remain silent no longer. Stepping inside, he pleaded for Nancy to remain. Kroon would not listen.
Seeing that it was useless to argue with him, Nancy looked straight at Kroon and said, “I’ll go but not until you give me back my bracelet!”
Kroon gave a slight start but instantly recovered his poise. “What are you talking about?” he bellowed.
“I’m talking about a gold bracelet with horse charms. It was stolen from my house and I have good reason to believe that you have it.”
Kroon’s eyes blazed. He said that he ought to have Nancy arrested for defamation of character. It was only because of her youth that he would not prosecute.
“Now get out of here, all of you!” he yelled, shoving them through the doorway. He followed the others outside, then slammed and locked the door.
“Lolita,” he said, “go to your quarters. And if you ever dare to communicate with Nancy Drew again, I’ll punish you in a way you won’t forget.”
The ringmaster strode away. Lolita, ill from fright, hurried off to her own trailer. Nancy felt it best not to follow.
She walked off with Dan Webster, who asked her if she were willing to take a chance and remain with the circus. Surprised, the young sleuth remarked that this would hardly be safe.
“I’d hate to see the Vascons fired,” Dan said. “But I’m afraid that’s what will happen. I dropped into the doctor’s this morning. He said Rosa would not be able to stunt ride for at least a couple of weeks.
“If you could just finish out the week, I’m sure we can find another substitute rider by that time,” Dan pleaded.
Nancy said she was willing if she could possibly get away with the subterfuge. It would give her a chance to learn more about what was going on in the circus. On the spur of the moment she thought of a plan.
“Suppose I room with someone else in the circus,” she said. “Rosa can move back to Erika’s tent. Since Mr. Kroon probably will be watching, Rosa might dress and ride in the parade. Then, when it’s time for her act, I’ll substitute for her.”
Dan Webster smiled. “We’ll do it! I’ll arrange for you to stay in the hospital tent. Kroon would never think of looking for you there.” He winked. “Besides, the doc and his nurse are good friends of mine.”
Nancy now told the horse trainer that she was afraid Kroon might return to his trailer and take the bracelet away. She did not want this to happen and she asked if Dan Webster could possibly help her again.
“You did very well the last time you became a sleuth,” she encouraged him.
The horse trainer laughed and said that he did not believe he could get away with it a second time. Kroon would be sure to know something was up. Dan suggested that one of his midget friends act as lookout.
“Little Will can be trusted implicitly,” he said.
Nancy knew the pleasant man and consented to the plan. Then she told Dan that she was going to telephone her friends Bess and George in River Heights and ask them to drive to Danford.
“Kroon may discover our plan,” she said. “In that case, I’ll need transportation home. Besides, the girls can relieve Little Will in watching Mr. Kroon’s trailer.”
A few minutes later Nancy telephoned George, who promised that she and Bess would start immediately for Danford.
“I’ll be hiding in the hospital tent, George. Come there.”
The cousins arrived shortly before the afternoon performance. Bess was aghast to hear what had been happening and tried her best to coax Nancy to go home with her and George at once. But the girl detective contended that it was important to stay.
Just before parade time, Dan Webster came to tell Nancy that Little Will had watched the trailer constantly. Mrs. Kroon had entered it directly after luncheon and had not come out since.
“How would it be if I relieve your midget friend now?” George proposed.
Nancy thought this was a good idea. George went off, and Bess remained with Nancy. She would act as a messenger, carrying the riding costume back and forth.
Presently the gong sounded for the parade to begin. Rosa, seated on the beautiful horse, took her position, and Nancy watched from a nearby place of concealment. As the girl detective had predicted, Kroon was on hand to meet her. He smiled in satisfaction.
Apparently convinced that his orders were being carried out, the ringmaster did not stay in the tent after he introduced the Vascon troupe. Nancy felt a little nervous but she did her part well.
When the act was over, Nancy quickly ran to the hospital tent. She removed her costume and Bess hurried with it to Rosa. She returned in a few minutes and reported that her cousin was still on duty. Little Will had gone to eat his supper, then would take George’s place until he had to perform again.
Three supper trays were brought in, and Nancy and Bess began to eat.
“Nancy, why don’t you turn this case over to the police?” Bess suggested.
Nancy said she hated to do so without more evidence.
“But you can’t keep up this watching and performing. You’ll need sleep,” Bess argued. “And George and I can’t help you much longer. We’ll have to start home in a little while.”
“Oh, please stay overnight,” Nancy begged. “By tomorrow I’m sure we’ll find out about the bracelet. Won’t you call home and tell your mother and George’s that you’ll be here?”
Bess finally agreed and made the call. George arrived in a few minutes to eat her supper. She had left Little Will on guard. Kroon had not entered the trailer and Mrs. Kroon had not left it.
The evening performance closed without arousing the ringmaster’s suspicions that Nancy had been pinch-hitting for Rosa. Relieved, Nancy had just reached the hospital tent when George rushed in.
“Nancy! News!” she cried.
Breathlessly, she told Nancy that Kroon had sneaked up to the trailer from the rear shortly after the evening performance had begun. Mrs. Kroon had handed him a small package through the window. The ringmaster had then given it to the son of one of the aerialists and told him to mail it.
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