Nancy Clue Mysteries 3 - A Ghost in the Closet (20 page)

"Good question, Joe," Nancy mused. "I'll have to look through my wardrobe and see what I've got."

"I'm a whiz with a needle and thread," Uncle Nelly offered, eager to contribute.

"I'm a pretty good seamstress myself," Velma volunteered. She gave Midge a kiss. "You go play with Willy, and I'll see you later," she directed.

Satisfied that the teams would function like a well-oiled watch, Frank and Joe raced upstairs to don their lake gear. "It seems I've gained a little weight from all that rich French food," Frank admitted to his brother as he wriggled into the wet suit that would protect him from the cold during their pre-dawn plunge into the lake, "not to mention all the wienies I had today." Why, the suit was so snug he couldn't even wear his usual modest bathing costume underneath.

"Golly, my suit's so tight it shows every bulge," Joe cried, finding himself in the same spot. "Well, it's dark and nobody will be able to tell we've nothing on underneath," he consoled himself.

"Good thing," Frank whistled, "as this fits me like a second skin!"

They threw gaily printed cotton beach jackets over their outfits before going downstairs to have a quick cup of coffee with the others. Before leaving for their short walk to their speedy craft, the Sea Princess, Frank pressed a small transmitter into Nancy's hand. "When you get to the sanitarium, hit this switch and you'll appear as a blip on our radar screen," he told her. "That way, we can always find you. Whatever you do, don't let it out of your reach."

"I'll hide it in my muff," Nancy promised, integrating the device into the glamorous outfit she would wear for her entrance at the River Depths Sanitarium. "No one will ever know it's there."

"The minute we find an entrance to the caverns, we'll activate our transmitter," Frank promised Willy. "That way, you'll know we're on the right track."

Willy gave each lad a manful handshake while Uncle Nelly wiped away hot tears. "Frank-Joe-be careful," Uncle Nelly begged. "If anything should happen to you boys-" he gasped sharply, then continued in a shaky voice, "-.your father would be devastated."

Frank hugged his uncle to him.

"You know he loves you with all his heart," Uncle Nelly whispered in his ear. Frank gulped. Uncle Nelly knew how hard these adjustments could be!

"Sew as you've never sewn before, Uncle," Frank answered in a husky voice. "Nancy, don't take any unnecessary risks," Frank then cautioned his chum, realizing that his warning would go unheeded. Nancy would do whatever she had to do to crack the case, and Frank knew it.

"Bet you a shiny new penny we get there first," Nancy grinned. Frank could tell she was as taut with excitement as he was.

"You're on," Frank grinned back. Then a look of somber determination settled on his handsome features. "Let's go, Joe!" he told his brother.

The boys left in high spirits, certain that they were close to cracking the case. Why, with the Hardly boys and Nancy Clue on the job, what could possibly go wrong?

CHAPTER 30

A Lucky Break!

The quick shrill of the telephone startled Willy, who had been concentrating on the latest issue of Physique Magazine. He snatched up the receiver. "Hardly Command Center," he said in a crisp tone, "Willy speaking." His action awoke Joe's cat, Creampuff, from her nap atop the Radar-O-Scope. She strolled across the Command Center table and hopped in Willy's nap. Willy patted Creampuff on her little head. "State your name and business," Willy said briskly.

"Willy, it's Jackie. I'm at-"

"Jackie! How are you? Any news to report?" Willy asked excitedly. He took his ear from the receiver and called over to Midge, who was chain-smoking and browsing through old copies of Midwestern Spy.

"It's Jackie," he said. "She's calling with news."

"Tell her `hi,' " Midge said.

"Willy-" Jackie's faint voice came through the receiver.

"I'm back," Willy said. "Midge says `hi.' What did you find out?" he quizzed her excitedly. "Did you get that man to talk? Did he tell you exactly where Fennel and Mrs. Hardly are hidden?" Just then, Creampuff jumped onto the table and, with a swish of her long, furry tail, knocked over Willy's cup of hot cocoa.

"Hold on, Jackie. We have a problem!" Willy cried as he threw the phone down, snatched up the cat and quickly sopped up the hot liquid with his handkerchief before it could damage any of the sensitive spy equipment.

"Willy, can you hear me?" Jackie cried out in an urgent tone. "Willy, I need help. I've been-"

"I'm sorry, your time is up," a burly cop with thin red hair and a pasty face announced, yanking the phone from Jackie's hand.

"Wait! This is important!" Jackie cried. "I didn't get through."

"Your time's up," the man repeated. He grabbed Jackie by the collar and propelled her past a row of cells. The prisoners jeered at the girl, calling out names that made even a streetwise officer like Detective Jackie Jones cringe.

"You know the chief won't be at all happy to find the likes of you in his town. Why don't you tell me where you swiped that badge and gun?" the officer demanded gruffly as he shoved Jackie into a cell.

"But I am a detective," Jackie insisted angrily. "Call the San Francisco Castro Street Police Station-" But the sound of the heavy metal gate clanking shut was the only reply. Jackie pounded her fists against the gate until they were bruised, but the only response she got were threats from the other prisoners.

"Quiet!" they yelled.

"I can't believe they took away my badge and gun and arrested me," Jackie fumed as she sat down on the hard cot and buried her head in her hands. She wished now she had insisted Cherry come with her. "But what if they had arrested her, too?" she wondered. As bad as this place was, it would be far worse for someone of Cherry's delicate nature.

"At least we would have had some time alone," Jackie dreamily thought, imagining herself locked in a cell with Cherry and a bed.

Jackie shook her head in disgust. "Here I am a prisoner in a small Midwestern town and all I can think about is unbuttoning the top of a certain nurse's snug-fitting uniform," she scolded herself. "Still, she did look great last night in that sexy number." Jackie closed her eyes and imagined she was running her hands up Cherry's creamy thighs. She knew she should be planning her next move, but she couldn't take her mind off her dream nurse.

"There are worse ways to pass the time," she told herself as she stretched out on the cot and tried to relax.

"Lights out," a guard called. A moment later, Jackie was left in the dark with her thoughts. The dashing detective soon drifted off to sleep, tossing and turning as she dreamt of Cherry. Jackie moaned imagining Cherry in her arms, their lips just about to meet when suddenly Nancy burst into the cell with a rack of fashionable frocks. "Do you like it?" Nancy cried as she twirled around to show off her outfit. "There's one for you in cherry red!"

Jackie awoke with a start. "What a nightmare," she groaned to herself. "What if Cherry chooses Nancy?" she then thought in horror. She tried to slow the wild beating of her heart. "What can Nancy give her besides a life of luxury?" she thought angrily. Bitterness and fear coursed through her body as she remembered the look of delight on Cherry's face when Nancy presented her with her very own poodle skirt. "I'll never be able to afford a wardrobe like that on my salary," Jackie groaned.

The now-despondent detective shut her eyes and tried to ignore the horrible thoughts churning in her brain. But it was no use, for every time she was on the verge of falling back asleep she would picture Nancy and Cherry dressed in matching frocks. Jackie gave up on the notion of sleep and went to the small barred window for a breath of fresh air. She was surprised to hear a man's voice right outside. Someone was outside the jail, speaking to the prisoner in the next cell. When she heard the man mention secret caves, she pricked up her ears. She was in the cell right next to the thug she had been planning to interrogate!

"I planted the fingerprints and the sticks of dynamite at the Hardly house, all right," the man said.

"False clues?" Jackie gasped inwardly.

"Once that thing blows and the explosives are found at the Hardlys', it'll be curtains for Fennel P. and his nosy sons!" the prisoner cackled gleefully.

Jackie had to stop herself from crying out, "What explosion?"

"Don't worry. The show's set for three p.m. Wednesday. Why, when Judge Meeks' plan is complete, the Hardly name won't be worth a nickel!"

CHAPTER 31

A Watery Grave?

The Sea Princess purred to a halt. Frank lowered the anchor, slipped his oxygen tank over his broad shoulders and strapped his oilskin bag around his waist. The waterproof pouch contained a firstaid kit, an underwater camera, a transmitter so Willy could track them on the Radar-0Scope, assorted necessary tools, a thermos of hot cocoa, four ham and cheese sandwiches wrapped in wax paper and a tin of healthful prune cookies thoughtfully prepared by Willy. Frank knew the cookies would provide the kind of quick energy a boy needed on an adventure such as this.

"Are you ready, Joe?" Frank queried his brother. Joe nodded and tugged on his underwater suit. He was growing tense with suppressed eagerness. Soon it would be light, and the boys would be unable to move about as freely as they wished. By mid-morning, the lake would be jammed with water sports enthusiasts who would surely stare with curiosity at two well-known sleuths wearing snug rubber suits.

"Bon voyage," Joe joked as he put on his tank and mask and dropped backward off the boat. Eager to begin exploring, Frank was right behind him, his underwater lantern firmly in hand. The boys, top-notch swimmers both, descended to the bottom, their well-developed muscles rippling under the black rubber of their outfits. Soon they were at the inky-black bottom of the deep lake. Joe touched down, stirring up the silt floor. He stepped gingerly, knowing that the only creatures that could survive in this icy, dark habitat were earthworms, blood worms and small clams.

Joe and Frank used their lantern to examine the shoreline wall. For almost two hours, the boys searched, but to no avail. When they resurfaced, Joe didn't have to check his waterproof radium-dial wristwatch to know dawn was approaching.

The boys climbed into the boat for a quick energy-providing prune cookie. While they munched, Frank got out their nautical map and marked the territory they had covered.

"There's not much area left to explore," Joe pointed out with a little sigh. His spirits were beginning to flag.

"Nonsense, Joe," said the ever-optimistic Frank. "We've nearly a quarter of the lake shore left." He opened the Hardly Boys Ship Set and took out two underwater emergency whistles. "I say we split up. That way, we'll cover more ground before the sun is full in the sky. The first one to find something interesting gives a blow."

The boys moored the Sea Princess near some thick cattails and lowered themselves into the water. Joe went off to explore new territory while Frank stayed near the boat. Once in the water, Frank spotted a queer red blinking light from beneath the cattails. He trained his underwater binoculars on the light and gasped at what he saw. A round octopus-like creature with many tentacles and strange glowing eyes was darting around the vegetation! The creature was unlike anything Frank had ever seen in Illinois waters, and it sent a chill of terror down the lad's spine.

"Jeepers!" Frank gasped when it started to move toward him at top speed. "Lucky thing I was a varsity swimmer all through Saint Sebastian School for Boys," Frank thought as he retreated, his muscular arms chopping through the water. The lad soon realized that even Superman couldn't outdistance this foe. The creature forced him toward the center of the lake, then stopped and trained its red glowing eyes on its prey. Frank grabbed for the whistle around his neck but found to his horror that it had fallen off its chain. The creature closed in on the lad and grasped him around the torso with its tentacles.

"I'm going to drown!" the boy thought frantically, dropping his lantern. The creature pulled him deep into the dark lake. Frank tried his darndest but found his efforts feeble compared to the strength of the mighty monster. Why, this creature was stronger than any fellow he had ever wrestled to the ground!