The Crooked Banister (10 page)

Shortly before ten o’clock the foursome set off in Nancy’s car. They called for Mrs. Carrier, then drove directly to Rawley’s house.

As they pulled into the parking area near the moat, Bess exclaimed, “Nancy, the bridge is in place again! I hope it stays there.”

An idea for the group’s safety occurred to Nancy and she said, “I think we had better carry those saplings to the other side of the bridge in case it should suddenly disappear again.”

“A sound idea,” her father agreed. “It’s evident a mischief-maker other than Rawley is involved in some of the things going on here. If Rawley is off in the Caribbean on his fast cruiser, he couldn’t possibly have made this bridge vanish and reappear.”

“Or have left the mysterious note at the motel,” his daughter added.

“Maybe it’s that man we saw running away from here the other night,” George suggested.

Nancy nodded. “And who can he be? Rawley’s ruled out—that’s definite.”

Mr. Drew and the girls retrieved the saplings from their hiding place and transported them across the bridge. On the other side they were met by the guard, who asked why they were carrying the young trees. Mrs. Carrier explained.

“I see,” the guard said. “The bridge was in place when I arrived this morning.” He introduced himself as Les Morton. “If you folks are going to be here a while, I’d like to take off a little time. Okay if I’m back in an hour?”

“That will be all right,” Mrs. Carrier answered. She looked at the saplings. “Do you suppose they’ll be safe here? I’d hate to have anyone take them and leave us stranded.”

“I’ll show you where to hide them,” the guard said. “Around back there’s a pile of brush. How about putting the saplings under it?”

He helped carry the young trees to the spot, then left. The others went into the house.

“Where shall we start?” Bess asked.

Mr. Drew walked up the crooked staircase to look around. Nancy said she was going to concentrate on the banister and glanced at the snapshot the carpenter had given her. Then, holding up the sawed-off piece of banister and newel, she found that it would have reached about two feet inside the mysterious wall. Next she went into the living room and studied the bookcase which reached from the ceiling to the floor.

“Got a clue?” George queried.

“I think so,” Nancy replied. “This bookcase is rounded. Perhaps it swivels. By taking down the original wall and putting up the new one, there was room for this piece to revolve.”

George gave the bookcase a yank but it did not budge. “There must be a hidden spring,” she said.

Nancy was already examining the wall on either side but could find no button, lever, or secret panel.

As she stood looking thoughtfully into space, George remarked, “I guess we’re stymied.”

Bess, who had been scanning the many volumes in the twelve-foot-wide bookcase, commented, “Rawley must have been a great reader.”

“He was,” his sister agreed. “But he leaned toward bizarre subjects.”

Suddenly Bess gave a little squeal. “Here’s a book that might be a clue to something!”

Taking it out, she held up the volume which told about the anatomy of the human body. The cover displayed a skeleton.

“But he isn’t wearing a bracelet,” George commented.

Nancy went to the spot from which Bess had taken the book. She removed several volumes near it and looked intently at the board in back of the shelf.

“I think I see something!” she said excitedly.

“What is it?” asked Mrs. Carrier.

Nancy was pushing a secret panel aside. Beyond she could faintly see balance weights. Gingerly she touched one of them.

Mrs. Carrier and the girls jumped back and waited to see what was on the other side. To their utter astonishment there were no bookshelves. Instead, on the rounded wall hung more than a dozen gold-framed portraits.

“All the faces have been blacked out!” Bess exclaimed, staring at the oil paintings.

Mrs. Carrier gave a cry of dismay. At the same time the girls noticed that there were nameplates on the paintings. Some portraits were of men, others of women, but all were named Banister.

“How weird!” Bess murmured, shrinking back from the damaged portraits. “Why would anybody want to do such a thing?”

“I can answer that,” Mrs. Carrier replied. “My brother Rawley hated those relatives. But how mean of him to destroy their lovely faces! The Banisters were very handsome and intelligent-looking.”

Meanwhile Mr. Drew had been examining the new wall from top to bottom. He went back to the second floor to make an experiment. He had found a slight crack between the wall and the ceiling above and now shoved a twenty-five-cent piece through it. He listened intently to detect a thud but just at this moment the exclamations from the living room drowned out any other sound.

Mr. Drew rushed down the crooked staircase and dashed into the living room. He stopped short and gazed in astonishment at the sight before him.

“What a find!” he exclaimed. “But why would anyone mar the paintings in that way?”

Again Mrs. Carrier spoke of her brother’s hatred for those members of the family.

Mr. Drew looked at the portraits closely. “Nancy, do you think there might be a clue under the blotted-out faces?”

George, curious, tried to see what lay beyond the bookcase. “Nancy, lend me your flashlight.”

She beamed the light into the fractional opening on either side but could detect nothing. Just then Bess noticed that the bookcase was starting to revolve again.

“Look out!” she shouted at her cousin.

George just avoided being squeezed but could not pull Nancy’s flashlight away in time. It went on around with the bookcase and they heard it fall to the floor. She apologized for its loss.

“Maybe it was a good thing,” Mr. Drew remarked. “At least we know there’s a floor in the area beyond.”

Nancy glanced up at her father and grinned. “Meaning that when we get in there, we’ll have something to stand on.” He smiled and nodded.

The bookcase had revolved to its usual position and stopped. When Mr. Drew said he wanted to examine the portraits, Nancy reached in through the sliding panel and touched the weight. The bookcase did not move. She pulled the counterbalance. Still nothing happened.

“Oh dear!” she exclaimed. “I must have broken the mechanism!”

George stood surveying the shelves. “Maybe,” she said, “if I take out a lot of the books, I could lie down on the shelf and ride around to the other side. Then I can tell you what’s there.”

Her hopes were dashed, however, because although they all pulled and tugged, they could not budge the bookcase.

Bess sighed. “Maybe we ruined everything!”

MRS. CARRIER, still angry over the blotted-out faces of her relatives, said bitterly, “I think such destruction is unforgivable. This is Rawley’s home to be sure, but there are certain things that go beyond all reason.”

She went on, “If my brother Rawley isn’t found soon, I declare I’m going to have this whole bookcase torn down. Then we can get at those pictures. I hope that whatever paint was used to cover the faces can be removed easily.”

Nancy put an arm around the irate woman. “I’m sure the pictures can be restored,” she said. “Art shops do wonderful things these days.”

Thinking it might calm Mrs. Carrier to get away from the bookcase, she said, “My dad didn’t have much time to see the house on his first visit. Wouldn’t you like to show him around? I’ll go with you.”

The three toured both floors, while Bess and George continued to work on the bookcase. Mr. Drew studied the unusual designs in the carved woodwork. By the time they returned to the first floor, Mrs. Carrier seemed to be her usual self.

She even laughed and said cheerily, “Mr. Drew, tell me, have you ever heard of such a crazy place?”

The lawyer smiled. “I can’t say I have. I imagine, though, that your brother had a lot of fun building this house. It’s amazing to me why he never invited any relatives here. Surely they would have been highly entertained.”

Mrs. Carrier said she could not understand this either. “As far as we know now, his only companion was a robot.”

“I would prefer a human servant at any time!” Mr. Drew remarked.

Just then Bess called—excitedly, “Everybody come here at once! Quick!”

The three hurried to the living room. Bess and George were poring over a volume they had found in the bookcase. Nancy asked what the title was and George replied, “It’s called
Archaeological Finds in Jewelry.
Take a look at this page.”

The open book revealed the picture of a gold bracelet made of intertwined serpents. Each one had a ruby eye, and the jewel piece was encrusted with turquoise. Nancy noticed that the page had been marked in ink with a large asterisk.

Bess cried out, “This must be the skeleton’s bracelet! Here it says the ancient bracelet was found on the bony arm of an unknown Aztec woman’s skeleton!”

George began to read the text aloud:

“ ‘Mystery shrouds the identity of the woman who wore the bracelet. During a dig in a lonely area far away from cities, the skeleton was found intact. It is thought that the woman died from the venom of a poisonous snake. Whether the bracelet was hers or was put on after her death is not known.’ ”

“Listen to this!” Bess burst out as George paused. “It says here that the skeleton and the bracelet disappeared mysteriously from the dig. The thief probably sold them, but there is no record as to where they went.”

The girls looked at one another. Each was thinking the same thing. Had Rawley Banister purchased the skeleton and bracelet from the thief? In deference to Mrs. Carrier, they did not express the thought aloud.

“You won’t mind if I go outdoors for a little while?” she asked. “This place is making me nervous. Some fresh air will do me good.”

Mr. Drew asked if she would like to go home, but Mrs. Carrier insisted that he and the girls go on with their investigation.

“I’ll feel better in a little while,” she assured them.

As soon as she had gone outside, the others discussed the anonymous note Nancy had received and its relation to the story in the book.

“One thing is sure,” said George. “Somebody who knows about the bracelet hasn’t found it yet. He wants Nancy to do this for him.”

“You could be right,” Mr. Drew replied. “Then, after Nancy finds the bracelet, he’ll try to steal it.”

Bess asked, “Do you think the writer of the note knows the bracelet is here? Has he been trying to locate it, but failed?”

The others shrugged, and George said, “Anything’s possible.”

Nancy reminded her friends that unless they started a search for the bracelet, none of them would ever find it.

“I think the location of this book in the shelves may be a clue. Where was it?” she asked.

Bess pointed to a space between other volumes. Nancy quickly took out the books near that spot, then examined the rear wooden panel. There was no sign of another opening or any hidden contrivance.

“I suggest,” said Mr. Drew, “that we take every book out of the case. We might be able to discover some way to make the piece revolve again.”

The books were removed an armful at a time and put in consecutive piles so they could be correctly restored to their original positions. The eyes of the three girls and Mr. Drew swept over the entire surface of the backing from ceiling to floor.

Finally Nancy remarked, “I guess the sliding secret panel is the only way to make this thing revolve.”

Again she put her hand into the opening and felt all around the weights. Her fingers touched a small lever. The instant she moved it, the sliding panel slammed shut onto her wrist.

“Ouch!” she cried out and tried with her other hand to pull the panel back. It would not give an inch.

The next second the bookcase began to revolve. Nancy tried frantically to release her injured hand.

“Help!” she cried.

Mr. Drew jumped forward. Calling to Bess and George to help him, he held onto the bookcase. With their combined strength, they managed to keep it from revolving farther.

Nancy’s hand was numb by this time. Desperately she tried to find some mechanism so she could free herself.

“It’s no use!” Nancy thought. But the determined girl grit her teeth and said aloud, “Somebody hand me a heavy book.”

Bess picked one up. Nancy took it in her left hand and swung the volume with all her might against the sliding panel. The wood shivered but did not give way. She gave it another hard whack. This time there was a splintering sound and a piece of the panel fell down behind the partition. Quickly Nancy pulled out her hand.