(#39) The Clue of the Dancing Puppet
Read (#39) The Clue of the Dancing Puppet Online
Authors: Carolyn Keene
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I - The Mysterious Dancer
CHAPTER III - An Enlightening Scene
CHAPTER V - Moonlight Sleuthing
CHAPTER VII - An Actress’s Threat
CHAPTER VIII - The Alarming Rehearsal
CHAPTER XI - The Incriminating Mark
CHAPTER XIII - A Surprising Command
CHAPTER XIV - Nancy’s New Role
CHAPTER XVIII - The Hollow Laugh
CHAPTER XIX - A Puppeteer’s Secret
CHAPTER XX - An Amazing Revelation
THE CLUE OF THE DANCING PUPPET
WHEN the eerie performances of a life-size puppet begin to haunt the old Van Pelt estate, where an amateur acting group —the Footlighters—have their theater, Nancy Drew is called upon to unravel the baffling mystery.
From the moment the pretty detective and her friends Bess and George arrive at the mansion, the dancing puppet puzzle is further complicated by Tammi Whitlock, the Footlighters’ temperamental leading lady, and Emmet Calhoun a Shakespearean actor.
Nancy’s search of the mansion’s dark, musty attic for clues to the weird mystery starts a frightening chain reaction. A phone call from a stranger with a witchlike, cackling voice warns her to “Get out !” Next, an encounter with two jewel theft suspects adds another perplexing angle to the puzzle.
Finally, when Nancy sees the life-size puppet flitting across the moonlit lawn and chases it, she learns that someone with a sinister motive is determined to keep her from solving the case. Is it one of the Footlighters? Or is it an outsider?
Unknowingly, Nancy places herself in even greater danger when she is persuaded to perform in the Footlighters’ current show. As the young detective unravels the threads of this tangled mystery, Carolyn Keene fans will follow Nancy from clue to clue in spine-tingling excitement.
The puppet’s left hand lowered menacingly
Copyright
©
1990, 1962 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., a member of The Putnam &
Grosset Group, New York. Published simultaneously in Canada. S.A.
NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES® is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster,
Inc. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.
eISBN : 978-1-101-07740-5
2008 Printing
CHAPTER I
The Mysterious Dancer
“I WONDER why Dad sent for me,” Nancy said to Mr. Drew’s pleasant secretary, as she waited in the outer room of his law offices.
Miss Johnson smiled. “I would guess it’s some kind of a mystery your father wants you to solve. He’ll soon be finished with the client he has in there. Tell me, how are Bess and George?”
Nancy, titian blond and attractive, chuckled. “At the moment Bess is—well, stage-struck. She has been reducing in order to get a part in one of the Footlighters’ plays.”
“Oh, the amateur group,” said Miss Johnson.
“Yes. Bess belongs to it and has been trying to interest George and me,” Nancy replied. “But I thought it might tie me down too much if a mystery came along for me to work on. And George has been busy playing in a series of tennis tournaments.”
George Fayne, a bright-eyed, athletic girl, and pretty Bess Marvin were cousins. They often found themselves involved in mysteries with Nancy Drew, who was their closest friend.
At this moment Miss Johnson’s desk phone buzzed. She picked it up. “Yes, Mr. Drew.” The secretary turned to Nancy. “Your father wants you to come in and meet his client. He’s an actor,” she added.
“An actor!” Nancy echoed, intrigued. She arose and entered her father’s office.
Mr. Drew kissed his daughter, then he said, “Nancy, I’d like to present Mr. Hamilton Spencer.”
Nancy shook hands with the tall, slender man. She guessed from his graying hair that he was about sixty years of age. His voice was deep and resonant, and he had a winning smile.
“Mr. Spencer is a professional actor, Nancy,” Mr. Drew went on. “He and his wife have been engaged by the Footlighters to coach their plays. I met Mr. and Mrs. Spencer when I was asked to draw up their contract.”
Nancy listened attentively, but she was sure this information was not the reason her father had asked her to come downtown.
To Mr. Spencer, she said, “My friend Bess Marvin tells me the old Van Pelt estate, which was given to the Footlighters, is ideal for your performances.”
“Yes, it is,” Mr. Spencer replied. “The first floor of the house is given over to offices and dressing rooms. Mrs. Spencer and I and a friend live on the second floor. The large hay barn is our theater.”
As he paused, looking at Mr. Drew, the lawyer smiled. “Please tell Nancy your story. Since she’s an amateur detective, I think this mystery would intrigue her.”
Mr. Spencer reddened a bit, and Nancy sensed he was embarrassed to think that a girl of eighteen might solve a mystery which was baffling a man of his years and experience.
“For several months after we moved to the Footlighters’ new home,” he began, “everything was peaceful. Then recently a strange occurrence has been repeated several times. I must confess it has my wife and me jittery. At night a life-size puppet in ballet costume has been seen dancing in various places—on the lawn, on the deserted stage, even on the flat roof of a shed.”
“It sounds fantastic,” Nancy remarked. “Are you sure this isn’t a real person?”
“Indeed I am,” Mr. Spencer answered. “I’ve been an actor for enough years to differentiate between live actors and artificial ones. I don’t know how she is operated, but this dancer is a puppet all right—of the marionette type. What I want to know is, where does she come from and
why?”
“Have you ever followed the puppet?” Nancy asked Mr. Spencer.
“Oh, yes, twice. But before I could get near her, she disappeared. That ghostly dancer is getting me down. I can’t sleep. Something has to be done!”
Mr. Drew interrupted the actor, who was showing signs of becoming unnerved by his own recital. “Nancy, the Spencers feel that there must be something behind this strange performance—perhaps even some sinister plot against the Footlighters.”
Mr. Spencer nodded vigorously. “Common sense tells me there
must
be. Nancy, would you be willing to come out to the estate and stay with us awhile? From what your father has told me, you might be able to bring about an end to this strange drama.”
Nancy turned to her father. “You know I’d love to go,” she said. “Is it all right with you, Dad?”
Mr. Drew smiled. “I’ll give my consent on one condition—that Bess and George go with you. George Fayne, a girl, is Bess Marvin’s cousin,” he explained to Mr. Spencer.
“My wife Margo and I would be very happy to have all three girls as our guests,” Mr. Spencer said quickly. He rose to leave. “Nancy, will you ask your friends and phone me their answer this evening? And please don’t disappoint me.”
As the actor put his hand on the doorknob, he said, “This whole thing must be kept very confidential.” He snapped the fingers of his free hand. “I have it! Nancy and George must join the Footlighters. Then no one will question their reason for being around the estate.”
Mr. Spencer had barely left when Miss Johnson announced that another client was waiting.
“I’ll see him in a minute,” Mr. Drew told her. Then he turned to Nancy. “Just one word of advice, young lady. Be careful! You know, you’re the only detective I have!”
Nancy laughed, kissed her father, and said, “See you at supper?”
“Yes. And I’ll be starved. Tell Hannah to prepare one of her super-duper dinners.” Hannah Gruen was the pleasant, faithful housekeeper who had managed the Drew household and helped to rear Nancy since she was three. At that time Mrs. Drew had passed away from a sudden illness.
As soon as Nancy reached home she phoned Bess and George, inviting them to supper and suggesting they come early, as she had something important to tell them. When they accepted, Nancy and Mrs. Gruen discussed the menu.