(#20) The Clue in the Jewel Box (10 page)

The girl shook her head, waiting expectantly.

“The figurine represents one of the most courageous of the court servants. My footman helped me escape during the Revolution. When I fled, I took this little object with me.”

“Is it your jewel box, Mrs. Alexandra?”

“Yes. Is it not clever? I shall now reveal to you how it opens.”

The woman reached for the small statue, but before she could show Nancy its secret, footsteps were heard on the staircase.

“Quick, Madame!” exclaimed Anna.

With amazing speed she snatched the Footman from Mrs. Alexandra and locked it in the chest, along with the other art treasures, then quickly hid the key under the rug.

“It is only Michael,” Mrs. Alexandra said, recognizing her grandson’s step.

“Nevertheless it is well that the treasures be kept out of sight,” Anna insisted soberly.

Michael did not enter, but went on to his own room. Nancy, not wanting to meet him, thanked Mrs. Alexandra and said good-by. But she determined to come again soon to find out if the Footman were the jewel box mentioned in the nightingale’s song.

As she was walking away from the house, Michael hurried after her. With flashing eyes, he confronted her.

“I heard you talking to my grandmother,” he stormed. “What’s the idea of coming here? First you left me stranded on Star Island—”

“That was none of my doing,” Nancy replied coldly. “I will say, though, that you deserved it.”

“And then you deliberately got rid of my dog! One of the neighbors told me!”

“Your dog attacked the letter carrier. Rudy’s been sent away for ten days’ observation.”

“If Rudy bit anyone, you probably made him do it!”

“How ridiculous!”

“I’ve caught on to the fact that you’re trying to turn everyone against me,” Michael went on, “especially Grandmother.”

“That isn’t true.”

The unpleasant man edged closer to Nancy. “If you come here again, you’ll get more than you bargained for!”

Before Nancy could voice an objection to his threat, he reentered the house, slamming the door behind him.

“I’ll come here as frequently as I wish!” Nancy thought angrily. “At least as long as Mrs. Alexandra wants me! He is the one who should be kept from the house. He isn’t bringing his grandmother any happiness, and I’m afraid she already has given him more money than she can afford.”

For the first time in her life Nancy regretted having solved a mystery. By finding Prince Michael and restoring him to his grandmother, Nancy feared she had only added to the unhappiness of the gracious former queen.

In returning home, she chose the familiar way, which led past Mr. Faber’s shop. While still some distance from it, she noticed a man walking toward her with short, quick steps. He resembled David Dorrance. Though the man glanced at her, he passed with no sign of recognition.

“That must be Dorrance’s double—the pickpocket!” Nancy thought excitedly.

She decided to follow him. The man did not pause until he reached the revolving doors of the Monroe office building.

Nancy quickened her pace. Suddenly the suspect halted. Half turning, but keeping his face slightly averted, he waved a white handkerchief.

“Wrong again!” Nancy thought in disgust, coming to a stop.

She recovered quickly from the unpleasant surprise and called Mr. Dorrance’s name. Instead of replying, the man went inside.

Disappointed, Nancy retraced her way down the street. She had gone only fifty feet when she saw Mr. Faber running in her direction.

“I’ve been robbed! The thief went this way!”

CHAPTER XIII

Wanted—A Clue

THE antique dealer paused as he recognized Nancy. He was so excited it was difficult to understand what he was saying. She gathered, however, that a few minutes earlier a valuable gold-and-enamel penknife had disappeared from his show counter.

Mr. Faber cried, “Never can I replace it!”

“How was it taken?” Nancy asked quickly.

“Several customers were in my shop. A fellow asked to see the penknife. He took so long to decide I waited on the others.”

Suddenly Mr. Faber pointed to a man who was coming out of a store across the street. “There he is now!”

The suspect resembled David Dorrance. This time Nancy had no doubt but that he was the long-sought pickpocket. Dorrance was some distance away in the Monroe Building.

“Mr. Faber, you must telephone the police!” Nancy advised. “I’ll trail the thief!”

She tried to cross the street, but the traffic was heavy. Nancy found herself stranded in a center safety zone. The man identified by Faber was still in sight, but before she could reach him, he leaped into a taxi.

“Wait!” Nancy shouted to the driver.

He did not hear her, but the passenger turned his head. Upon seeing Nancy, he took a handkerchief from his pocket and waved it! Then the taxi sped on.

Nancy was completely bewildered. “Dorrance could not have spent more than a few seconds in the office building,” she said to herself. “Why would he duck in and out so quickly? It doesn’t make sense.”

Many thoughts raced through her mind as she recrossed the street to Mr. Faber’s shop. She was convinced that Dorrance had not gone from one place to the other.

“They were two different men!” she said. “But they both waved handkerchiefs and they look alike and wear the same kind of clothes.”

Had the thief learned the method of identification that Dorrance used when seeing Nancy?

“That first man didn’t give me the signal right away,” she reflected. “So the second one must have been Dorrance.”

A police car rushed up to Mr. Faber’s shop. The elderly man was so upset he was glad to have Nancy tell the story. She started it by asking the two officers to go with her at once to the Monroe Building.

“We may not be too late to nab the thief, if a hunch of mine is correct,” she said.

They searched the building but without success. Discouraged, the three returned to the antique shop, where Faber described the stolen penknife.

“It was set with pearls,” he concluded.

“We’ll do what we can to locate it,” one of the policemen promised. “That pickpocket is slippery. We’ve had that apartment house on Water Street watched constantly, but no one resembling the thief has turned up yet.”

The following morning Nancy attended a final rehearsal of the fashion show. Early in the afternoon she arrived at the Woman’s Club for the first performance. Katherine, pale and nervous, came in a few minutes later, accompanied by Helen Archer.

“Did you bring the hair ornament?” Nancy asked.

“Safe and sound.” Helen laughed, producing the ruby-and-diamond piece.

With care Nancy put on the blue-flowered gown. The skirt with its short train swung gracefully to the floor.

“How do I look?” Nancy asked.

“Like the prettiest picture in a fashion book!” Helen complimented her.

Soon the dressing room was crowded with excited, chattering models. Everyone praised Nancy’s costume. A few minutes before the show was scheduled to start, Bess and George came backstage.

“Nearly everyone of importance in River Heights is here,” George told Nancy. “Even the Mayor!”

“Mrs. Alexandra came too with Anna,” Bess added.

“She made the effort for Katherine’s sake,” Nancy said.

“Mrs. Alexandra like you very much too, Nancy,” Katherine put in.

The orchestra had begun to play, and the models were told to take their places. One after another they stepped out from the wings.

“Now!” Katherine whispered, her voice tense.

The moment had arrived for her model to walk out upon the stage! Nancy made an effective entrance, carrying herself well. Each model had been greeted with a polite ripple of applause. Now the handclapping was loud and spontaneous.

Gracefully Nancy approached the carpeted steps which would carry her to the level of the audience. She saw Mrs. Alexandra’s beaming face, and below her in the front row, Mr. Ellington, the artist. He nodded approvingly.

“He likes the gown!” she thought joyously.

Keeping perfect time to the music, Nancy moved down the first two steps. As she reached the third, there was a sudden sideways movement of the board beneath the carpet. Nancy tried to keep her balance. Instead she plunged headlong toward the floor!

As Nancy pitched forward, Mr. Ellington jumped up. Nancy fell directly into the young man’s outstretched arms.

“Oh!” she cried, embarrassed.

There had been an audible gasp from the audience, and the music had ceased abruptly. Many feared the model had been injured.

“Are you hurt?” Mr. Ellington asked as he helped Nancy regain her balance.

Nancy shook her head, trying to recover her poise. She felt sick at heart, not so much for herself as for Katherine. Any chance of the young designer winning a prize was gone, she felt sure.

“Don’t let this disturb you,” Mr. Ellington whispered kindly. “It wasn’t your fault!”

Thus encouraged, Nancy smiled bravely. The orchestra began to play again. She glided down the center aisle and back. During the intermission carpenters repaired the faulty step.

“Oh Katherine, I knew I would ruin your chances!” Nancy cried when she met the designer. “Why did I have to stumble?”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Helen interjected.

Nancy fell directly into the young man’s arms

“No, indeed,” echoed Katherine. “Tomorrow you make a grand entrance!”

Although everyone declared that the accident had been unavoidable, the three girls did not feel very cheerful. They brightened, however, when Mr. Ellington sought out Katherine to tell her that he considered her design the most original one entered in the show.

“If I were one of the judges, I’d vote to give you first prize,” he declared warmly.

Katherine blushed and became flustered. He talked for a long while. It was obvious to Nancy that his interest was more than a professional one.

“What a grand couple they would make!” she remarked to Helen.

“Mr. Ellington is very charming,” Helen agreed. “Isn’t it a pity Michael couldn’t—”

“Sh!” Nancy warned suddenly.

Mrs. Alexandra was approaching, followed by Anna. “You were charming, Nancy,” the former queen said. “Will you have luncheon with me at one o’clock tomorrow? As you say in America, we have some unfinished business.”

“Thank you, but I’m afraid I can’t. I am due here before three for the afternoon showing.”

“I shall see that you are not late.”

Nancy was still hesitant about accepting the invitation. Her last meeting with Michael had been unpleasant, and she feared he might create a scene should he find her a guest in his home.

“Michael will not be there,” Anna whispered.

“I’ll be delighted to come, Mrs. Alexandra,” Nancy accepted at once.

After the former queen and Anna had gone, Michael again became the topic of conversation. Katherine, who had rejoined the girls, admitted that the young man had called her several times.

“He annoy me with attentions I do not like! He send me flowers ! He ask me for dates! Always I say No, but it does no good.”

“I’d give anything if I never had traced him for Mrs. Alexandra,” Nancy said soberly.

When she appeared at the woman’s home the next day, the topic of Michael was studiously avoided. A delicious luncheon was served during which biscuits were passed in a quaint wooden basket with a royal crown on the handle.

At the close of the meal Mrs. Alexandra asked Anna to bring the Footman jewel box to her. Tenderly the former queen held the quaint porcelain and enamel figure.

“I shall now open it for you,” she said to Nancy. “Can you guess how it is done?”

“By a secret spring?”

“Yes. First I press the little fellow here.”

Mrs. Alexandra touched the Footman’s left hand. To Nancy’s amazement, the black coat of the figure loosened, enabling the woman to remove it. She pressed another spring and a panel slid open. Inside were a ruby ring, an unset emerald, a necklace of matched pearls, and two diamond bracelets.

“All that remain of my jewels,” Mrs. Alexandra said. “Piece by piece I sold the others.”

“These are exquisite,” Nancy replied. “Did the box ever contain anything except jewelry?”

“No, it has always been used for that purpose. You are disappointed, perhaps?”

“I’m not disappointed, Mrs. Alexandra. I’ll admit, though, that the little nightingale’s words led me to believe this box might contain something else of importance.

“Katherine has told me the people of your country have many secrets,” Nancy went on. “One of them is a process for making noncrackable enamel. I admit I wondered if the Footman might be hiding the lost formula.”

Mrs. Alexandra tried to suppress a smile. “My dear,” she said kindly, “I wonder if the song of the nightingale has not been misinterpreted. The words are so indistinct.”

“Perhaps, but we know the song was added long after the Easter egg was made,” Nancy remarked.

“Until Mr. Faber told you differently, I assumed that the nightingale was exactly as it had been created for me.”

“You have no idea when the addition was made?”