“What does he talk about?” Nancy asked. “Oh, once he told me about when he was a little boy in Canada,” said Katy. “He said his mother was French and his pa was a fur trapper— and he learned up there about furs. That’s how I came to buy some of his fur stock.”
“Forest Fur Company stock?” Nancy asked.
“Yes. I had a little money saved up,” said Katy. “Maybe I shouldn’t have spent it. But Mr. Boyd wants to help me make more money. He says I’ll get big dividends.”
“Have you had any yet?” Nancy asked.
“No, but Mr. Boyd promised some soon.”
“The man’s completely unscrupulous!” Eloise Drew cried out. “He swindles hard-working people like you!”
“Swindles?” Katy said. Tears began to stream down her face. “I’ve been robbed?”
“I think you’ll get your money back,” Nancy said soothingly. “Just try to tell me—”
Katy had already leaped to her feet. Sobbing, she flung open the door and rushed from the office.
Eloise Drew shook her head. “This is terrible. What do you propose to do next, Nancy?”
“See Sidney Boyd,” she said grimly. “And turn him over to the police!”
As she and her aunt returned to the lobby, they heard the clang of the elevator door and the click of high heels.
“Wait! Please wait!” Bunny Reynolds called as she ran across the lobby toward the two. The woman’s eyes were full of alarm. “Katy told me everything!” she wailed. “It’s dreadful!”
“I’ll try to help you—” Nancy began.
“And the earrings!” the actress interrupted. “What about the diamond earrings I bought from Sidney Boyd? I suppose they’re worthless too!”
CHAPTER VII
The TV Tip-off
THERE was no quieting Bunny Reynolds. The woman was so agitated that Nancy and her aunt went with her to her room on the fourth floor.
Miss Reynolds paced the floor dramatically. “To think how I trusted that villain!” she lamented, flourishing her handkerchief. “Oh, oh, oh! I shall punish that unworthy soul!” The woman sank into a chair. “Only yesterday I let him sell me those no-good earrings.”
“Are you sure the earrings are worthless?” Nancy asked.
“The stock’s worthless. The earrings must be.”
“Do you know where he got the earrings?” Nancy persisted.
“He said he inherited them from his mother and never intended to see another woman wear them until he met me. He said that only a woman of fire and artistic temperament should have them.”
“I’m no jewel expert,” said Nancy, “but I’d like to examine the earrings.”
“Of course.” Miss Reynolds went to her closet. From a shelf she took a rolled stocking, which she unwound to disclose a small velvet box.
Nancy took the case and opened it.
The case was empty!
Bunny Reynolds let out a shriek. “He stole them!” she cried. “That horrible man took my money and then stole the diamond earrings!”
“It looks that way,” Nancy said. “The diamonds must be real after all.”
The actress burst into tears again. “I can’t afford to lose all that money,” she sobbed.
“Neither can a lot of other people who have bought Forest Fur Company stock,” Nancy said grimly. “Miss Reynolds, what did the earrings look like?”
“Beautiful! Beautiful!” The actress sighed. “Tiny platinum arrows, tipped with diamonds.”
Nancy opened her handbag and took out Mrs. Packer’s diamond brooch. “Were they anything like this?” she asked.
“Why,” Bunny Reynolds exclaimed, “this matches the earrings exactly! How did you get it?”
“I’m afraid I have more bad news for you,” Nancy said. “The earrings probably are part of a set that was stolen a few days ago from Mrs. Clifton Packer in River Heights.”
“Sidney Boyd robbed her, too?”
“I believe an accomplice of his—Mrs. R. I. Channing—stole the earrings. Did Sidney Boyd ever mention her to you?”
“No,” the actress answered. “Well, I’m going to call the police this minute!” She smiled coyly. “I have a special friend on the force,” she said. “Police Sergeant Rolf.”
Nancy spoke softly to her aunt. “I’m going to do some more investigating and see if I can find Mr. Boyd,” she confided. “Will you stay here with Miss Reynolds?”
Eloise Drew nodded. Nancy crossed the room. As she flung open the door to the corridor, she collided with a crouching figure. Katy had been listening to the conversation.
Nancy smiled at the embarrassed girl. “Naturally you want to know what’s going on, Katy.”
“Yes, ma’am, I do,” the maid said nervously. “Will the police get that awful man, Miss Drew—now that he’s run away?”
“Run away!” Nancy exclaimed. “You mean Sidney Boyd has left the hotel?”
“His bed wasn’t slept in last night,” the maid said. “And all his things are gone. I didn’t go in there till a few minutes ago because he had a
Do Not Disturb
sign on his door.”
“Does the manager know this?” Nancy asked.
“I just told him,” Katy said. “Mr. Boyd checked out late last night. The night clerk forgot to report it to the day man.”
“I’ll bet he left right after he stole the earrings from Bunny Reynolds!” Nancy thought.
At Nancy’s request Katy took her to the swindler’s room. While the young detective investigated, a booming voice from the hallway announced the arrival of Sergeant Rolf. Nancy hurried to speak to him.
After hearing the actress’s story, the tall sergeant asked to see the brooch which matched the stolen earrings. Nancy gave him the pin and told him that Sidney Boyd had fled.
“The villain!” Miss Reynolds said bitterly.
The officer listened to the details of the case, then said, “I’d like to take the brooch to the police laboratory and have some photographs made. We can give the pictures to our men and alert them to be on the lookout in case Boyd tries to sell those earrings again.”
“You’re a remarkable detective!” Miss Reynolds cooed. “You’ll get my money back, won’t you, Sergeant? Right away?”
The man looked embarrassed. “Now, Miss Reynolds, it may take time,” he protested.
The actress rolled her green eyes at him. “Can’t you get some action by tonight?”
Sergeant Rolf fidgeted. “Well—er—the fact is that a lot of the men will be off duty tonight, Miss Reynolds. It’s the Policemen’s Ball.”
The actress grew tearful. “You’ll be dancing and having a good time while I—”
The sergeant took a deep breath. “Look, I’ve got no special lady friend,” he said. “Suppose you come along with me?”
Bunny Reynolds was all smiles. “Why, Sergeant! How delightful! I’d love to go!”
Nancy beckoned to her aunt. “I think this is our cue for an exit.” She chuckled. “If the sergeant will write a receipt for this brooch, we’ll be on our way.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The officer wrote the receipt and gave it to Nancy. Then he made a note of her aunt’s address and promised to return the brooch within a day or two.
“You certainly accomplished a lot, Nancy,” Eloise Drew said when they entered her apartment. “And now, please relax for the rest of your visit. I’ve planned a special dinner tonight.”
Later Miss Drew set the table with gleaming silver and tall lighted candles.
“I was so intrigued by your fur mystery that I ordered things for a trapper’s dinner,” she said.
When it was time to sit down to eat, Nancy was delighted. “How delicious everything looks!” she said. “Venison, wild rice, and my favorite currant jelly! Why, Aunt Eloise, this is a real north country feast!”
As they ate, their conversation returned to the mystery. “What was it you said about Dunstan Lake?” Aunt Eloise asked. “Is that the location of the Forest Fur Company?”
“So it says on the stock certificates,” her niece answered. “But not even the United States Post Office has ever heard of such a place.”
“Maybe it’s not a town at all,” Aunt Eloise suggested. “You know, Nancy, I recall that name from somewhere, but I can’t remember when or how. I hope you’ll let me help in your mysteries even though my memory’s failed me!” she added with a chuckle.
“I call on you whenever I can,” Nancy reminded her. “You’ve always been a help to me. Remember when you took my dog Togo to your summer home in the Adirondacks—”
“Togo!” Aunt Eloise interrupted. “I remember now. Someone came to the cottage while we were there. I believe he was a trapper. He was looking for a mink ranch and a Dunstan Lake. But there’s no lake by that name around there. I remember thinking it might be the name of the owner of the mink ranch.”
“That’s a wonderful clue!” Nancy exclaimed.
“Please don’t follow it tonight,” her aunt teased, “or we’ll be late for the theater.”
The next day Nancy and her aunt waited for word from the police. By evening they had received none, and Nancy finally declared that she could remain in New York only until noon the next day.
“Then I’ll have to take a plane home in case Dad needs my help in Montreal. If the brooch hasn’t arrived by that time, will you phone me as soon as it comes and then send it to me by registered mail?”
Aunt Eloise agreed, and the two spent the evening watching television. The late movie was an old film depicting a skating carnival. It began with a picture of the skating queen and individual close-ups of her ladies in waiting.
Suddenly Nancy cried out, “Aunt Eloise, look! That tall, dark-haired attendant!”
“She’s very attractive,” Miss Drew commented. “In fact, she’s more striking than the queen.”
“I know her!” Nancy cried.
“Friend of yours?”
“No, no. Aunt Eloise, she’s the woman I’m trying to find. That’s Mrs. R. I. Channing!”
CHAPTER VIII
Trapper’s Story
NANCY and Aunt Eloise waited eagerly for the motion picture to conclude. At the end the cast was named. Mrs. Channing was listed as Mitzi Adele.
“Her stage name,” her aunt guessed.
Nancy nodded. “Yes, or her maiden name. The film is seven or eight years old.”
“She may have given up professional skating when she married,” Eloise Drew suggested.
“Still, this helps,” Nancy said. “If Mrs. Channing was a skater, perhaps I can find some people in the profession who know where she comes from and something about her.”
After breakfast the next morning Nancy phoned the television studio and asked for information about the skater Mitzi Adele. The man on the other end of the wire advised Nancy to write to the Bramson Film Company, which had made the motion picture.
“Did you find out anything?” Aunt Eloise asked as Nancy put down the phone.
“Only the name of the film company. I hope they have that woman’s address!”
Eloise Drew prepared to leave for school. Nancy thanked her for the visit and kissed her good-by. After her aunt had gone, Nancy sent a telegram to the film company, asking that the reply be sent to her at River Heights.
As she was packing, the apartment buzzer rang. Police Sergeant Rolf was in the lobby and asked to see her.
“I’m here to return that diamond brooch, Miss Drew,” the officer told her a few minutes later. “If Sidney Boyd tries to sell the matching earrings, we’ll get him!” The sergeant thanked Nancy for her help and left.
The weather was clear that afternoon and Nancy’s flight was smooth. She took a taxi home from the River Heights Airport, and slipped quietly into the Drew home. Hannah was in the kitchen. Tiptoeing up behind the housekeeper, Nancy called loudly, “I’m home!”
“Oh!” gasped Hannah. “Nancy, you startled me!”
“Aunt Eloise sent her love,” said Nancy as she removed her hat and coat and started for the hall closet. When she returned, Mrs. Gruen was taking a pie from the oven.
“If Bess saw that cherry pie—” Nancy began.
“Bess and George have a surprise for you,” Hannah interrupted. “Bess left word for you to phone her. George is there. Then tell me about the trip.”
“I’ll tell you first,” Nancy said, laughing.
Ten minutes later she telephoned Bess, who reported that through a merchant who sold hunting equipment, she and George had met another investor in the Forest Fur Company.
“The old man’s a fur trapper from up north,” Bess went on. “He lives with his niece.”
“When can I speak with him?” Nancy asked.
Bess consulted George, who took up the extension phone. “We’ll drive him over tomorrow morning,” George said. “That is, if we can persuade him to ride in a car. John Horn is strictly a high boot and snowshoe man.”
Nancy laughed. “I’ll get out my buckskin leggings and my coonskin cap!”
“We’ll come early,” George promised.
Mail for Nancy had accumulated on the hall table. As soon as she finished the conversation, she began to read it. Her duplicate driver’s license had arrived. There was also a note from her father, who was eager to have her join him.
“Did you see this?” Hannah asked, pointing to a telegram half-hidden by an advertising circular.
The message was from the Bramson Film Company. It stated that they did not know Mitzi Adele’s address. However, a representative of the firm would call on Nancy shortly in regard to the woman skater.
“I wonder why,” Nancy remarked. “Now I can’t go to Montreal until I find out what the representative has to say!”
In the morning loud voices announced the arrival of Bess, George, and the fur trapper. Stocky and round-faced, the man strode up to the porch with the easy gait of a man of half his seventy years.
John Horn was dressed like Daniel Boone, Nancy thought, and his long white whiskers reminded her of Santa Claus. At her invitation, the three entered the Drew living room.
The woodsman declined to take a chair. He stood before the mantel, his legs wide apart and his hands deep in the pockets of his heavy jacket.
“Well, young woman, what do you want to ask me?” he demanded, his bright blue eyes boring into Nancy’s.
“Is it true that you bought Forest Fur Company stock from a Mrs. Channing?” she asked.