Read Carolyn Keene_Nancy Drew Mysteries 050 Online
Authors: The Double Jinx Mystery
Tags: #Women Detectives, #Detective and Mystery Stories, #Girls & Women, #Mystery & Detective, #Juvenile Fiction, #Adventure and Adventurers, #Mysteries & Detective Stories, #Fiction, #Mystery Fiction, #Women Sleuths, #Adventure Stories, #Drew; Nancy (Fictitious Character), #Mystery and Detective Stories, #Mystery & Detective Stories, #Nature, #Birds & Birdwatching, #Birds
Carolyn Keene_Nancy Drew Mysteries 050 (10 page)
BOOK: Carolyn Keene_Nancy Drew Mysteries 050
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After he had gone, Bess remarked, “I’ve seen enough. Let’s go!”
At that moment something flew through the air and landed on top of her head. Quickly she put up her hand.
“Ugh!” she cried out. “It’s some of that horrible glue!”
George went to help her cousin. Before she could reach her, a second glob of goo shot at lightning speed toward her. It landed with a squishy sound on the side of her face. It was red ink!
CHAPTER XIII
A Near Capture
FOR a few moments Bess and George were stunned. As they eyed the mess on each other’s faces and clothes, they could only stare perplexed. Why should anyone have attacked them in this mean fashion?
Gus had heard them cry out and now ran back to the girls.
George burst out, “Who did this? Whoever it was, I’d like to tell him off!”
“I don’t know,” Gus said. “Come with me and we’ll try to clean off this ink and glue.”
“I think,” said George, “that the person I saw outside Mr. Winnery’s office was listening to our conversation. And I’ll bet he’s responsible for this, because he doesn’t want High Rise’s project stopped.”
Bess agreed and asked Gus if he knew who the eavesdropper might have been.
“No, I don’t,” he replied. “What did he look like?”
George described him as a tall slender youth of about seventeen with a shock of blond hair. “He was wearing a red sweater and dark pants.”
Gus said there was no employee at the newspaper office who fitted that description. “I suppose he slipped in here.”
The young man stopped at a telephone and called a secretary named Claudia to come at once. When she saw the girls she gasped in amazement at their appearance, then asked them to follow her to the women’s lounge.
Removing the ink and the glue from the sweaters was an impossible task. “Anyway,” Claudia said, “you can at least wash your faces and hands.”
This proved to be a hard job. The girls found it necessary to use cream, then pumice soap to remove the spots. When the three came outside, Mr. Winnery was waiting for them.
“I just heard what happened to you,” he said to Bess and George. “It’s a shame. I’ll buy you girls new sweaters. Would you like to wait here while my secretary goes to a shop and gets them, or would you rather go home and pick them out later?”
Bess and George told Mr. Winnery this was not necessary. “You’re not responsible, so why should you buy new sweaters?” He was so insistent, though, that they finally consented.
“I’d rather go home now and get mine later,” George told him, then gave the newspaper owner a description of the suspicious youth.
Mr. Winnery frowned. “I think I know whom you’re referring to. He doesn’t work here, but came to the office on an errand.”
“Who is he?” George asked.
Mr. Winnery hesitated before replying. Finally he said, “I don’t want to get this person into trouble, but I’m sure the boy is Spike Hinchcliff. He’s the son of one of the councilmen. He tries to be a detective but always fouls things up and makes people mad.”
George asked, “Are you implying that his father made him come here to spy on Bess and me? But how would Mr. Hinchcliff have known about our plans?”
“I wouldn’t go that far in my guessing,” Mr. Winnery answered. “More likely Spike spotted you and decided to follow. I’m sure his father wouldn’t approve.”
Bess and George said good-by and went to their homes at once, but they planned to visit Nancy and report their adventure as soon as callers were allowed.
Fortunately her case of ornithosis was such a light one that two days later the cousins were able to tell her and Ned directly about their adventure at the newspaper office. Nancy was shocked at the brashness of the youth who had thrown the ink and the glue.
Ned was incensed. “That boy must be nuts!” he remarked. “It was such a senseless thing to do. And what did it accomplish?”
Nancy said that Spike’s behavior might boomerang and help turn the tide for her father’s side. “Spike is bound to tell his dad what he had overheard Bess and George talking about and how they were winning the newspaper owner to their side. Then when Mr. Hinchcliff finds out about the mean trick, he may feel sorry and accept our way of thinking about High Rise’s project.”
Ned and the other girls smiled and Ned remarked, “Nancy, you’re always an optimist, aren’t you? But I like your reasoning. How will we know what’s happening between Spike and his father?”
Nancy grinned. “I’ll give Dad that job.”
She called him at once and within half an hour the young detective had an answer. Mr. Drew said he had been in touch with various councilmen and had interesting news for his daughter.
“That ink- and glue-throwing fellow definitely was Spike Hinchcliff. I understand his father is very embarrassed by the episode and has reprimanded his son. Here’s even bigger news! Bess and George have won Mr. Winnery over to our side completely. When the council meets to vote on High Rise’s project, he’s going to propose your plan, Nancy. And he still wants a sketch of it.”
“That’s great!” she exclaimed. “I’ll send one right away.”
Bess and George were thrilled to learn that their trip to the newspaper office had brought positive results.
George grinned. “It was worth having ink thrown at me!”
“I’ll never forget that goo in my hair!” Bess declared. “But, Nancy, I’m happy we were able to help you and your dad on the case.”
After the cousins left, Ned asked Nancy if any word had come from the police about Slick Fingers.
“No. I guess he didn’t show up at the doctor’s office,” Nancy replied.
Ned said he must return to college for a couple of days to attend to some fraternity business. “But I’ll be back,” he added. “Maybe I’ll bring Burt and Dave with me.”
Nancy said this would thrill Bess and George and together the six of them should be able to solve the mystery in a short time. Ned thanked Hannah Gruen profusely for all her nursing care and for taking a chance on becoming ill herself.
“Oh, I wasn’t worried,” the housekeeper remarked, smiling. “It was a pleasure to wait on you, Ned. You’re a very good patient—no trouble at all.”
He gave her a rewarding hug and a kiss. Then Nancy walked with him to his car.
“Take it easy, Nancy,” Ned warned her. “When I return, I want you to be in tiptop condition.”
“I promise,” Nancy replied, smiling.
Ned opened the driver’s door. Glancing at the car seat, he asked, “What’s this?”
He picked up a small sheet of paper. On it, crudely drawn, was a small circle inscribed with a cross. He and Nancy stared at it, then Ned remarked, “Jinxed again!”
“It looks that way,” Nancy agreed. “Of course we’re not superstitious, so whoever is trying to jinx us is getting no place. Just the same, Ned, please be very careful while driving, and watch out for tricksters.”
Nancy took the paper. After Ned had said goodby and pulled out of the driveway, she stared at the sheet. It was evident from the unevenness of the picture that the bad luck sign had been drawn hurriedly.
As Nancy entered the house, the phone began ringing. Bess was calling.
“On the way home George and I decided we’d like to take you on a picnic tomorrow. We’ll go into a little woods where it’s cool and quiet. Okay with you?”
“Sounds wonderful,” Nancy answered. “I hope Dad and Hannah say it’s all right for me to go.”
To her delight both of them thought it would do her good. “But don’t let yourself get overtired,” Hannah Gruen ordered.
The following morning Bess and George picked Nancy up. They had prepared the lunch and drove a few miles to a pretty wooded area with a creek running through it.
“We’ll park here and walk a little way up the stream,” Bess said as her cousin halted the car.
They had barely started the hike when Nancy stopped short and stared up at a branch of a large old maple tree.
“Look at that bird!” she exclaimed, and noted the snakelike way it twisted its head. “There’s a wryneck straddling that branch. I wonder if it could be Petra.”
The cousins followed Nancy’s line of vision and agreed this might be Kammy’s pet.
“We must capture the bird and take him with us!” Nancy said.
Before the other girls could stop her, she started shinning up the tree. Reaching the branch on which the wryneck sat, she began to coax him toward her with a low whistle and whispered words.
“Petra! Petra! Come here! Kammy misses you!”
The bird swung its head forward. He did not move but showed no sign of fright.
“He must be Petra!” Nancy thought. “Come, come!” she said.
Nancy began crawling along the limb toward the bird. She had almost reached him when the girls heard a cracking sound.
“Nancy!” Bess screamed.
“Nancy!” Bess screamed.
“Jump! Quick!” George cried out as they watched the branch begin to split away under Nancy’s weight.
As the wryneck flew off and there was another loud cracking sound, Nancy raised herself up to grab the limb above her. She was not a moment too soon. The one on which she had been crawling crashed to the ground.
Bess had covered her eyes with her hands, fearing the worst, but sighed in relief as she now saw Nancy pulling herself hand over hand toward the trunk of the old maple. In less than a minute she had shinned to the ground.
“Thank goodness,” Bess exclaimed in relief. “Nancy, are you all right?”
“Yes, but I’m disappointed,” she replied.
“Disappointed about what?” Bess queried.
Nancy said she was sorry to have lost her chance to capture the wryneck. She was sure he was Kammy’s pet.
George suggested that Nancy relax a bit while they ate their lunch. “Maybe the bird will come back here and then Bess and I can try to capture him. You’re still too weak to climb trees and chase birds.”
The wryneck did not return, however, though the girls dawdled over the picnic for nearly an hour. Finally Bess said that perhaps Nancy had had enough excitement for one day and should return home.
“No, no,” the young detective said quickly. “Won’t you please drive to Harper University? I want to tell Kammy that we think we saw Petra. She can come here and try to catch him.”
When the girls arrived at her dormitory, they went upstairs. Kammy’s door was closed, so Nancy knocked.
“Come in,” said a weak voice.
Nancy opened the door and the three callers entered. Kammy lay on a cot and her eyes were reddened and swollen from crying.
Nancy walked over and hugged the Eurasian girl. “I’ve brought you some good news,” she said. “We believe we saw Petra in the woods. We’ll give you directions to the spot.”
“Oh, I hope you’re right,” said Kammy. “If he returns to me, I won’t be responsible for breaking a long family tradition of keeping a wryneck.”
Bess was a little surprised that Kammy did not seem happier that she might find Petra. Finally she burst out, “Kammy, we thought you’d be delighted to hear about Petra.”
“Oh I am, I am,” Kammy assured her. “But that is not my big worry now. Something awful has happened! I’m going to be arrested!”
CHAPTER XIV
Strange Hiding Places
“ARRESTED? For what?” Nancy asked Kammy, wondering if she had heard the girl right.
Sadly Kammy told Nancy, Bess, and George that a message had been sent to Professor Saunders accusing her of being a thief. “They say I stole and sold several specimens from the Harper University Museum!”
“Who sent the note?” Nancy inquired.
Kammy said it had not been signed. “But that doesn’t make any difference. The birds are missing. Oh, girls,” Kammy said, a little catch in her voice, “I didn’t take them.”
“Of course you didn’t,” George told her. “That was a wicked thing for someone to do.”
Kammy burst into tears, “I have not harmed anyone and I cannot see why the person would deliberately tell a lie about me.”
Nancy put an arm around her distressed friend. “Kammy,” she said, “here in America people are given a chance to prove their innocence before they’re arrested. Please don’t worry.”
Nancy stood up. She suggested that Bess and George tell Kammy about everything that had happened recently, while she went to speak to Professor Saunders.
“All right,” George agreed.
She engaged Kammy in conversation as Nancy quietly went out the door. She hurried to the professor’s office and fortunately found him in. He was correcting summer students’ term papers.
“Oh hello, Nancy Drew!” he greeted her. “I’m glad to see you. Anything new on the Thurston case?”
Nancy chuckled. “One big problem is now over. A friend of mine and I who were helping with the Thurston birds both caught ornithosis.”
BOOK: Carolyn Keene_Nancy Drew Mysteries 050
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