Susan burst into tears. “Yes. The twins!”
Nancy’s heart leaped. “Susan, am I right? Are you the mother of those adorable twins?”
“Y-yes, I am. And I won’t leave here without them!”
Cecily stared at her cousin in utter amazement. “But why do the Driscolls have them, and claim the children as theirs?”
“It’s complicated, but I’ll tell you as quickly as I can,” said Susan. “When I was married, my husband and I moved out to the Middle West. A little over a year ago, when Kathy and Kevin were two years old, my husband and I took them on a camping trip. One night, when the children were asleep in the tent, and my husband and I were sitting a little distance away near the road, a crazy driver came careening along, lost control of the car, and ran right into Steve and me.”
“How horrible!” Nancy murmured.
Susan went on to say from then on, the whole thing had been a nightmare. “I guess the driver was afraid the accident would be traced to him. Someone found us and took us to a hospital. Unfortunately, we had no identification on us.”
Susan choked up. “My darling husband died. I was unconscious a long time and did not regain my memory or health for nearly a year. Then I asked for my children. No one knew anything about them. The only explanation I could think of was that either the hit-and-run driver—or someone else who came along later—stole all our things and took the children. I reported this to the police, but they could find no trace of the twins.”
“You must have been frantic!” Cecily cried out.
“I was. But one day I saw a picture in a newspaper of two acrobatic brothers. With them were twins who looked like Kathy and Kevin. I decided to investigate on my own and went to the town mentioned in the newspaper. I found out where the acrobats, whose name was Driscoll, lived, but when I went there I found the Driscolls and the wife of one of them had left with the twins. The only clue the landlady could give me was that they had mentioned a place called Pudding Stone Lodge!”
Susan said the woman had remembered that the twins’ small trunk had borne the name of the lodge on the lid. “I was sure it was the same trunk I’d had as a child,” Susan added. “I had given it to Kathy and Kevin. Pudding Stone Lodge was my childhood home.”
Nancy and Cecily listened with bated breath as Susan continued her story. She had immediately started to Misty Lake. If she discovered her children at Pudding Stone Lodge, she intended to go to the local police for help.
“And did you see your twins?” Cecily asked.
Susan nodded sadly. “When I reached the lodge, no one answered my ring. The door was open and I was so eager I walked in. As I stood in the hall I heard loud arguments coming from the living room. It all concerned the cutting of illegal records. Suddenly I caught sight of Kathy and Kevin at the top of the stairs. I started up, but Vince Driscoll discovered me. Evidently he was afraid I would go to the police about what I had heard, and he and his brother Karl tied me up and kept me gagged most of the time. Once I was able to scream, but it didn’t help. Another time when my hands were free, I tossed back a stone someone pitched through the window.”
“But Eddie at the soda shop says you ordered a record,” Nancy said. “When and why did you do that?”
Susan explained that when she had first arrived in Misty Lake she had gone into the soda shop to inquire if anyone was living at the lodge. Eddie had been playing Niko’s record and she had ordered one to give him a little business.
“Everything is becoming clearer now,” Nancy remarked. “But I wonder how the Driscolls got hold of your children. They certainly don’t act as if they did it for love!”
“That should be cleared up when the police arrest the Driscolls,” Cecily suggested.
Nancy started. “We’d better go rescue the children!” she urged. “I was so interested in Susan’s story that I forgot Karl and Raskin are coming back for her.”
Hoping to avoid the men, the three girls hurried up the passageway from the beach house to the cellar of the lodge. Fortunately, the chest was still pushed aside, and they opened the door easily. The girls made their way through the cellar and up the stairway to the kitchen. Hearing voices in the front hall they tiptoed through the darkness and Susan pushed open the swinging door that led to the hall. Mrs. Driscoll was there with the twins. All three were dressed, ready to leave the house.
Susan rushed forward impulsively and cried out, “They’re my babies. You can’t take them away!’.
At that very moment Karl Driscoll opened the front door. He darted forward and grabbed Susan in an iron grip!”
Nancy and Cecily, who had waited in the kitchen, were about to rush forward and help the girl, when the back door opened. The next thing they knew, powerful arms engulfed them.
“You snoopin’ busybodies!” Raskin’s voice snarled in Nancy’s ear. “This is the last time you’re goin’ to get in our way!”
The young sleuth struggled hard, but she was no match for the muscular man. Cecily had already been overpowered by a heavy six-foot stranger.
“We’ll tie’em good this time so they’ll stay put,” Raskin ordered. “Get busy, Jake!”
Apparently prepared for such emergencies, the two men pulled heavy cords from their pockets and tightly bound the girls.
Karl Driscoll dragged in Susan, who was also tied up, and the three girls were forced roughly down the cellar stairs, through the passage, and into the beach house. Raskin locked the cellar door from the inside and pocketed the key. Jake swung open the exit to the beach. As the heavy door closed behind the men and was locked from the outside, Karl rasped, “You girls will never see daylight again!”
CHAPTER XX
A Rewarding Hunch
WHEN Raskin, Karl, and Jake dragged the girls away, Mrs. Driscoll grabbed the twins by the hand and pulled them out the front door. As they stepped onto the porch, Bess and George ran up. The woman attempted to brush by them, but George caught hold of Kathy. Kevin pulled loose and ran to Bess.
At that moment Ned and Burt dashed up the steps. “Where are Nancy and Cecily?” Ned asked.
Bess and George turned questioningly to Mrs. Driscoll. The woman’s lips tightened firmly and she glared at the young people.
“The bad men took the pretty ladies to the cellar!” Kevin sobbed.
“The door is in the kitchen,” George called as Ned and Burt raced into the house. They dashed down to the cellar and ran along the passageway. It took only a minute for them to break down the door at the end.
“Ned! Burt!” Nancy and Cecily exclaimed when the boys burst into the beach house.
“Oh, Ned,” Nancy cried, “I’ve never been so glad to see you!” Quickly she introduced the boys to Susan and told them the high points of her story.
As soon as the ropes had been removed from the girls, Susan ran to the door. “I must get my babies!” she declared.
By the time the five young people reached the front hall, they found Dave, Chief Stovall, and two policemen there. With them, handcuffed together, were Karl Driscoll, Neal Raskin, and the man called Jake. Bess had the twins by the hand while George firmly held Mrs. Driscoll’s arm.
“We found these men trying to escape in a boat,” Chief Stovall told Nancy, “but they refuse to talk. Perhaps you can help us.”
Susan ran up to the children and put her arms around them. Before she could speak, the little girl said, “Are you Mommy?”
“Yes, darling,” Susan said gently. “Come into the living room with me and I’ll tell you all about it.”
The little boy and girl smiled happily. “I’m glad,” Kathy said shyly. “You’re nice!”
Bess and George were amazed by this revelation and overjoyed at the happy reunion. When Susan and the twins had left, Nancy told Chief Stovall the conversation she and Cecily had overheard in the beach house. “I’m sure you’ll find a load of counterfeit records in the truck outside.”
“Good for you, Miss Drew!” the chief said. “You’re an excellent detective
and I apologize for not taking your reports more seriously. Now tell me about these children.”
Nancy repeated Susan’s story. “I don’t know how the Driscolls got the children,” she admitted, “but I suspect it was done illegally.”
“Well, Driscoll, would you like to tell us or shall we book you on a kidnapping charge?” the chief said sternly.
Mrs. Driscoll spoke up. “Tell him, Karl. We didn’t know the twins had a mother living. It was all a terrible mistake.” She sank into a chair and hid her face in her hands.
All the fight seemed to have gone out of Karl Driscoll. He explained that he and his wife had discovered the children at the edge of a campsite one morning over a year before. There was no one else around and they decided the twins had been abandoned.
“We had been talking about using some children in the acrobatic act my brother Vince and I had,” he went on. “So we decided to train these youngsters, just sort of informally adopted them. The act didn’t work out very well though, and a few months ago we decided to see if we could find the children’s family and maybe collect a reward.
“The name Pudding Stone Lodge was burned into the top of a little trunk we found with the kids. I made some inquiries and learned of such a place on Misty Lake, so we came here. It was empty, but it looked like a good place for another project of ours, so I rented it. We were getting along okay until these busybody girls moved into that cottage.”
“But what happened to the Talbots’ car and all their luggage?” Nancy asked.
“We had to have money to take care of the kids,” Karl replied sullenly. “We sold the car and the rest of the stuff.”
“Driscoll,” the chief said sternly, “you could not possibly have believed that those children were abandoned with the car and the luggage there. There’s plenty you’ll have to clear up for us. You come along now and join your pals in jail.” The policeman led the four prisoners away.
“I want to thank you young ladies for helping rid Misty Lake of these disreputable characters,” the chief said, “and solving the mystery of the phantom launch. Please say good night to Mrs. Talbot for me and tell her I’m delighted she has found her children.”
A few minutes later Susan came into the room, a happy smile on her face. “The twins are in bed,” she announced. “They have really taken all this excitement very well.”
“Do sit down, Susan,” Nancy urged, “and clear up a few more puzzles for us. Did you try to sig. nal from the bull’s-eye window?”
“Oh, did you see me? My hands were tied and I was gagged, but I managed to get hold of a small mirror and move it in the sunlight. But Mrs. Driscoll caught me and took the glass away.”
Susan continued, “They untied me and removed the gag when they brought me food, but one of them always stayed to guard me. One evening Vince was called away and I was left alone for a few minutes. He had taken the lamp, but I still had my handbag and got a flashlight from it. I signaled from the window, then with my nail file managed to push the key out of the lock, and pull it under the door with my fork. I escaped and ran into the woods but they caught me again.”
“That’s the night I saw you and called to you,” Nancy put in. “But we know now you were too frightened to trust anybody.”
Susan nodded, shivering a little. Then she brightened and turned to Cecily. “But I haven’t forgotten that you have the other half of my locket and we’re cousins! My father told me the story of the Delaroy brothers, our great-great-grandfathers, and how Simon’s share of the family fortune was found in the beach house after the war. But Dad never knew what had happened to William.”
Enthusiastic, Susan suggested that all the girls stay at the lodge and search for Cecily’s treasure. They agreed.
Ned stood up. “I think we fellows had better go. If you girls are going to stay here, perhaps we can sleep at the cottage.”
“Of course,” said Cecily, and Nancy added, “Come back early in the morning. We’ll all have breakfast together and then hunt for the treasure!”
Bess and George went with the boys and soon returned with overnight things for the four girls. It seemed they had just fallen asleep when they were awakened by a pounding on the front door. It was morning! They scrambled into their clothes and ran downstairs. There were Ned, Burt, and Dave—and Niko was with them!
“I wanted to find out what was going on here so I drove down after my performance last night,” he explained. The girls welcomed him eagerly.
“We’ll have breakfast ready in a jiffy!” Bess promised.
“I’m interested in Karl Driscoll’s phantom launch,” Ned remarked. “While you girls are rustling up the food, we fellows will go down to the beach house and take a look at his equipment.”
When the boys returned a half hour later, an appetizing meal of melon, bacon and eggs, toast and milk was ready.
“Did you find out exactly how Karl made the phantom launch appear?” Nancy asked.
“Yes. It is an ingenious arrangement of wires, sound projector, and a film clip. The picture was projected through the hole in the door onto the mist which gave it that eerie appearance. No wonder he had everyone around here scared silly!”
“All but Nancy!” Bess reminded him proudly.
“None of you really believed it was real,” Nancy insisted. Then she said, “I vote we look right now for Cecily’s treasure. It must be hidden around here some place!”
“Where shall we start?” George asked briskly.
Nancy replied that she had been mulling over the location of the cupboard mentioned in Simon’s note. She had come to the conclusion that the present dining room could have been the old kitchen because it had the largest fireplace.
“When Simon wrote that he had hidden the treasure in the kitchen cupboard, it sounded too easy. The cupboard must have been camouflaged in some way. So I think we should investigate that niche where the vase stands.”
“Lead on, Detective Drew!” Ned urged. “What shall we tear down first?”
Nancy smiled and turned to Susan. “Would you mind if we take out the paneling below the shelf?”
“Go ahead!” Susan replied. “I can’t wait to see if the treasure is there!”
The boys got tools from the cellar and carefully removed the wood panels from the wall beneath the niche. Rough plaster was revealed.
Nancy knelt and examined it. “I’m sure there’s more wood under this plaster!” she said. “Let’s take it off.”
Under her direction, Ned and Niko chipped off the plaster. “There’s a door here!” Niko called excitedly.
The young people gathered around breathlessly while Niko pried open the door. The space beyond was filled with packages.
“There’s your family treasure, Cecily!” Niko said, straightening up and putting an arm around his fiancée.
“Oh, I can’t believe it!” she exclaimed.
Ned and Burt dragged the bundles out and helped Cecily open them. There was one box filled with gold coins, a package of old securities, and piece after piece of beautiful silver.
“I wonder if the securities are worth anything now,” Cecily remarked when she had spread everything out on the dining table.
Ned whistled. “Even if they’re not, you have a fortune there in gold!”
Susan threw her arms around Cecily and said, “Oh, I’m so glad you have your part of the family treasure!”
“Now Niko and I can get married!” Cecily beamed. “And it’s all due to you, Nancy! You trapped the record pirates and found the fortune!”
“And helped me get back Kathy and Kevin,” Susan said.
“I had a lot of assistance from Bess and George and the boys,” Nancy said modestly.
“I have an idea,” Niko spoke up. ‘“Cecily, why don’t you and Susan combine your family resources? You can use some of your money to develop your property as a summer resort. You can build a dance pavilion out on the old picnic grounds and the Flying Dutchmen will provide the music!”
“That’s
wonderful, Niko!” Susan agreed. “And we’ll restore the garden and install the iron flamingo in its old location!”
While the others were planning excitedly, Nancy was wondering wistfully when another mystery would come her way. She was to find out soon, upon discovering The Message in the Hollow Oak.
Cecily, meanwhile, had slipped from the room. She returned with the locket and whispered to Susan. When the girl smiled and nodded, Cecily raised her hand for silence.
“Listen, everybody,” she said. “Susan and I want Nancy to have a memento of this adventure. We’re going to have the locket repaired and hope she will wear it and think of the cousins she has united through her detective work!”
“Hear! Hear!” Bess, George, and the boys cheered and applauded.
Nancy smiled, though her eyes were filled with happy tears. “Thank you both. I’ll never, never forget you or the clue of the broken locket!”
Carolyn Keene, The Clue of the Broken Locket
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends