Authors: Carolyn Keene

The Nancy Drew Sleuth Book (2 page)

BOOK: The Nancy Drew Sleuth Book

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“This script doesn’t appeal to me,” Karen decided.

Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “He’s writing with a backward slant. That indicates he’s inhibited and more interested in things than people. He doesn’t make friends easily and could be suspicious and cold. His exaggerated, artificial style suggests dishonesty. Also, the fact that the letters vary in size and pressure is uneven makes me think that he’s unstable.”

“I notice that many letters are pointed,” Karen said. “Does that have any significance?”

“Yes. In combination with the backward slant, it could mean the man is cruel.”

“What if he’s left-handed?” Cathy asked. “Does the rule about the backward slant still stand?”

“No. Left-handed people often can’t control their writing from slanting backward.”

“I doubt this fellow is left-handed,” Karen said. “Just look at this note. I think he’s every bit as mean as his script looks.”

“I see something else,” Sue spoke up. “The I is much taller than his other caps.”

“He’s vain,” Nancy said. “That could explain—” She was thoughtful for a moment, until Sue urged, “Explain what?”

“Why he bothered with these notes. He could have taken the money without leaving any clues. But if he’s conceited and vain, he might just do a thing like this, thinking he’s smart.”

Karen laughed. “He certainly appears to be a totally despicable character. Cathy, do you know anyone who fits this description?”

Cathy shook her head. “Maybe my mother does. I’ll call her.” She went to the phone and reported their findings about the handwriting. “Do you know anyone who matches this description?” she asked.

“Man or woman?” Mrs. Chase inquired.

“Probably a man.”

There was a long pause, then Mrs. Chase said, “No, not really. Why don’t you all come over here and look around? Perhaps the thief left other clues.”

Cathy covered the receiver with her hand and repeated her mother’s suggestion to the other girls.

“Great idea!” Nancy called out. “Let’s go!”

When the club members arrived at the Chase house, they began to search the backyard. Behind a hedge, Nancy and Karen saw something suspicious. Karen picked it up.

“It’s a little notebook!” she said. “It looks clean and new!”

“That means it hasn’t been here long,” Nancy said as the others crowded around. “What’s inside?”

Karen opened the notebook.

“Various names and numbers—” Nancy began.

“The handwriting matches the third note!” Karen interrupted excitedly. “Not quite so exaggerated, but I’m sure it’s the same!”

“It does!” chorused the others.

“This notebook doesn’t make much sense,” Nancy said. “The only notation on the first page is
Brothers, after three P.M.”

She flipped the page. “Here are two names,
Tomlinson and Ernest.”

“How about the next page?” Sue urged.

“Nothing but
eighty.”

“Wasn’t eighty dollars the amount left in the coffee can, Mother?” Cathy asked.

“That’s right. I wonder if this is what the note refers to.”

Nancy flipped through the rest of the notebook. “Nothing else,” she said. Then she turned to Mrs. Chase. “Who could have seen you put money into the coffee can besides the members of your family?”

“No one,” Cathy’s mother replied. “Unless—unless somebody was looking in through the window.”

“Who came to the door yesterday?” Nancy asked.

“Let’s see. The man who cuts the grass. The trash-man, who took some things from the cellar. And a deliveryman from the ice-cream store.”

“What are they like?” Nancy wanted to know.

“Well, the ice-cream fellow never speaks and never smiles,” Mrs. Chase replied. “Once I had to scold him for kicking our dog, who wasn’t bothering him.”

The members of the detective club looked at one another. Not talkative, not friendly, cruel—just like the suspect!

“Mrs. Chase,” said Nancy, “do you have a signature sample or any of the deliveryman’s writing?”

“I think so.” Cathy’s mother opened a drawer in one of the kitchen cabinets containing bills. One was a receipt for an ice-cream cake, marked
Delivered P.M.

“That’s the same handwriting!” Cathy exclaimed. “He’s the thief! But how did he get into the house unnoticed?”

Nancy went to the back door. “Here’s your answer. He unlocked the bolt when he delivered the ice cream. After the family was asleep, he returned, let himself in, took the money, and put the bolt back into place before leaving.”

Cathy asked, “Now what do we do?”

“I’ll call the police,” her mother replied, “and turn your findings over to them.”

She did so and was told that many people had reported a clever thief, but Nancy’s deductions were the first real clues. An officer would be sent to the house at once.

When Detective Hafner heard their story, he said this was the only time the burglar had left notes.

“The thief slipped the bolt when he delivered the ice cream, ”Nancy explained.

“That was his undoing,” Hafner declared.

Karen asked, “But where did he get the other two notes?”

The detective looked at Nancy. “What’s your guess?”

“That he used some kind of excuse, or perhaps money, to get two people to write them. Detective Hafner, may I see the notebook again?”

He handed it over, and Nancy studied the strange entry. Suddenly her eyes lit up. “P.M. must be his initials! In the notation ‘Brothers, after three P.M.’ I thought he referred to the afternoon. But now I’m inclined to believe that P.M. had to make a delivery to someone named Brothers, after three!”

“Of course!” Detective Hafner said admiringly. “That’s why the receipt for the cake was signed P.M. Now all we have to do is contact the ice-cream store and find out who P.M. is. Ladies, thanks a lot for your great work!”

The following day he phoned Nancy to say that the deliveryman had been questioned and confessed to many burglaries, including the one in Cathy Chase’s home. His name was Paul Milkin.

Nancy called the members of the Detective Club to tell them the news. She also reminded them of their next meeting. “Tuesday, same place, same time,” she said. “And be sure to bring a mystery!”

When Mrs. Chase heard the news, she laughed and said, “If you ladies keep this up, we won’t even need a police department in this town!”

Here are some additional clues to a person’s character that can be drawn from the formation of individual letters:

CAPITALS: