The taller of the two men looked at Nancy. “Amateur detective, eh?” He scoffed. “Well, if there’s one thing in this world I have no use for it’s an amateur detective.”
Nancy was stung by the remark. Somehow she must prove to these men that she was not faking. She saw a woman in booth thirty-one who was busy grooming some Maltese cats. She dashed over and touched her arm.
“Pardon me, but could you tell us where the man went who had the cats in booth thirty?”
“I can’t tell you where he went,” the woman answered, “but I can tell you this: after you and the other young lady left here, he began to act strange. He mumbled to himself and then called out to passers-by:
“ ‘Want to buy a cat cheap?’ The price was so ridiculous, he sold them all in a couple of minutes. Then he rushed out of here as if a cyclone were chasing him.”
Nancy was so appreciative of the woman’s assistance she could have kissed her. But she merely said:
“I suspect that the cats the man was selling had been stolen from a home where I’m staying. I called the police and here are two detectives. They doubted my story, so I am very grateful to you for helping me out.”
The woman turned to the detectives. “Everything I’ve just said is true. Besides, I can easily believe that the man is a thief. He acted very odd right from the beginning—shifty-eyed and sort of scared—and wouldn’t let the judges look at his Persians. Even the cats didn’t seem to like him. He was having a hard time with them.”
The taller detective turned to Nancy. “I’m sorry I thought you were kidding us.” Then he quickly defended himself. “The police get so many phony calls I guess we’re kind of rough on people sometimes.”
He then asked for a full description of the suspect. The woman in booth thirty-one gave a clear picture of the man.
“Short and kind of stocky. He walked with quick steps. As I said he was shifty-eyed and acted nervous. He had dark hair and eyes. I guess that’s all I can tell you about him.”
The detective said she had been a great help and they would try to locate the man. The detectives said good-by to everyone and left. After Nancy had thanked the woman again, she and Bess hurried back to their own booth.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get a look at that man’s Persian cats,” Bess said. “He probably took the list of the purchasers so there’s no chance of tracing him or the cats.”
“I’m afraid not,” Nancy agreed. “Let’s just hope they found good homes.”
The girls were delighted that George had sold two cats and within a few minutes Nancy sold one. By now the crowd had dwindled and it was approaching closing time.
“Oh dear!” said Bess. “Do you suppose we’ll have to take Abatha back home? Miss Carter needs the money and will be disappointed that we didn’t sell all the Persians. Should we lower the price?”
“I don’t want to do that,” said Nancy.
She took the Persian from its cage and fondled the fluffy animal. Maybe her gesture would appeal to some prospective buyer!
Among the people who stopped at the booth was a little boy. His pockets were stuffed with boxes of popcorn and candy. In one hand he carried a curled-up paper whistle.
He walked close to the cat and gave a great blow on the whistle. Not only did it make a loud noise but the curled-up section flew out at the little animal and hit it in the face.
“Oh, you naughty boy!” Nancy cried as the cat leaped from her arms.
To her dismay, it scooted up a post and onto a crossbeam. She turned toward the cat and held up one hand.
“Don’t be frightened,” she said soothingly. “I won’t let him do it again. Please come down.”
The cat paid no attention, so Nancy climbed up on a chair and reached for it. But the cat scooted farther away and climbed high onto a rafter of the auditorium.
“Oh dear!” said Bess. “What are we going to do now?”
Nancy continued to cajole the Persian to climb down, but without success. Bess and George tried persuading the cat to come back, but they had no luck either.
“There’s only one thing left to do,” said Nancy. “I’m glad I wore pants.”
She caught the beam above, hoisted herself onto it, and walked along it to the rafter. Then she began climbing toward the cat.
“Oh, Nancy,” Bess wailed, “please come back!”
“Oh, Nancy,” wailed Bess, “that’s too dangerous! The cat isn’t worth it. Please come back.”
Nancy assured Bess she would be all right and continued to climb. Onlookers began to gather and offer all kinds of advice. Most of the men urged Nancy to go on but to be careful. The women begged her to come down.
Bess had turned her back on the scene. She was ashen. Her lips were moving and George assumed she was praying for Nancy’s safe return.
The cat watched Nancy from a high beam. As the girl finally reached the beam on which the animal stood, she straddled it and started to inch her way along.
“Come, pussy,” she coaxed. “Nobody’s going to hurt you.”
The cat waited a moment. Then, instead of coming toward Nancy, it went the other way.
“Oh, you meanie!” Nancy exclaimed.
The crowd below watched tensely. Finally one of the men called to her.
“Hang on! I’ll toss a net up and you can catch the animal that way.”
The man dashed off. He came back in a couple of minutes with a fish net, which he threw upward. It did not reach the beam. Once more he gave the net a mighty heave. Still it did not reach Nancy.
“I guess it’s no use,” she called down.
A very tall man among the onlookers offered to try his luck. He rolled the net into a ball and gave a mighty heave. Nancy reached down to grab the net and caught it.
But the weight of the net and her sudden shift in position caused Nancy to lose her balance!
CHAPTER XI
Bess Plays Cupid
As Nancy slipped from the high beam, people below gasped, others screamed.
“Oh no, no!” George cried.
Nancy herself had been terrified for a fraction of a second. In a desperate attempt to save herself, she clung tightly to the beam by one arm. Then, with great effort, she swung her right leg over the beam and gradually pulled herself to an upright position.
“Bravo! Bravo!” cried several of the men below her and began to clap.
“Yea! Yea!” shouted several relieved children.
All this time Nancy had managed to hold onto the net. Now she unrolled it, and with a well-placed aim, finally snared the Persian. Its protests at being made a prisoner almost caused Nancy to lose her balance again.
There were gasps of dismay from the watching crowd and a flash bulb went off. Nancy looked down. A photographer had snapped her picture!
“Oh dear!” she thought. “This whole adventure has been such a mess.”
The cat had quieted down and now Nancy inched her way backward, pulling the animal along. Slowly she shinned down the rafter to the crossbeam.
“Bess! George! Will you catch the cat?” Nancy requested.
“Yes. Let it go,” George replied.
Besides the girls’ outstretched arms there were several other willing hands. Nancy dropped the net containing the animal. The Persian was immediately put back into its cage, and Nancy came down the rest of the way safely. The watchers showered her with congratulations.
“Thanks a lot,” she said, blushing. All she wanted to do now was to get back to Berryville.
A voice from among the onlookers called out, “I’ll buy the cat! I like spunky animals. How much is it?”
Before Nancy could answer, George spoke up. “The price is higher now.”
People laughed and the man called out, “You mean the higher the cat, the higher the price?”
“Exactly,” George said. “How about our having an auction? We’ll start with the original price and go up from there.”
Nancy was amused and wondered if the scheme would work.
> “I’ll pay exactly the figure you named,” a woman said.
“And I’ll give you twenty-five dollars more,” a man called out.
“Anyone bid twenty-five more, twenty-five more?” said George, who began to enjoy her role as auctioneer.
As the bidding went on, Nancy and Bess became more and more astounded. The Persian cat finally sold for over three times what the original price had been!
When Nancy mentioned to Bess that she wondered if this had been the right thing to do, her chum said quickly, “I thought all along the price for a prize cat was too low. Besides, Miss Carter can certainly use the money.”
The girls said good-by to the lovely Persian which was now resting comfortably in the arms of a teen-age girl whose father had purchased it for her.
She smiled at the girls. “I just love my new pet.”
“I’m so glad you do,” Nancy said. “Be kind to Abatha.”
At that moment the young man who had taken her picture said, “I want it for our local paper. Quite a story. Please tell me your name and address.”
Nancy did not relish this publicity but did not see how she could avoid it. She identified herself.
“You’re from River Heights?” the photographer asked. “Are you related to the famous lawyer Carson Drew?”
Bess answered the question. “She certainly is and she does a lot of detective work in connection with her father’s cases.”
Nancy was embarrassed, but the photographer beamed. “This will make a cool story,” he said, putting away his notebook and starting off. “I can’t wait to get it in the paper.”
When the girls reached Miss Carter’s home, they found that Mrs. Bealing had returned from River Heights. At once she said to Nancy, “I hope you’re not too tired to drive me downtown. I must buy some food.”
Nancy said she would be glad to take the nurse as soon as she had a chance to freshen up and change her clothes. The three girls went upstairs to Miss Carter’s room. Hannah Gruen was talking to the actress,
Proudly Nancy opened her purse and took out a large wad of bills. “We sold every cat,” she announced.
“That’s marvelous!” Miss Carter exclaimed. “You girls are wonderful—why, Nancy, you’ve given me too much money!”
The three “salesmen” giggled. “No, I haven‘t,” Nancy said, and then told the story of George auctioning off the last cat. Both women laughed. “Good work,” said Hannah.
Bess spoke up. “It was all because Nancy climbed into the rafters to get the cat and twice she nearly fell off—”
“Oh my goodness!” Hannah Gruen cried out.
Nancy smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m still in one piece.”
Miss Carter shook her head. “I appreciate all this,” she said, “but, Nancy, you shouldn’t have taken the chance.” Then she chuckled. “You must be as lithe as a kitten yourself!”
While Bess and George told her about the strange man with the cats at the show, Nancy took a quick shower and changed her clothes. Then she and Mrs. Bealing set off for the shopping center of Berryville.
As they entered the parking lot, the nurse suddenly exclaimed, “Nancy, there’s the man who was looking for Miss Violette!”
“Where?”
Mrs. Bealing pointed him out. He had parked his red convertible and was now hurrying out to Main Street. Nancy dashed after the tall, handsome man and in a few moments caught up to him.
“Pardon me,” she said, walking beside him, “but are you Mr. Toby Simpson?”
He looked at her in amazement, then said with a smile, “Yes, I am.”
“You don’t know me,” Nancy said. “My name is Nancy Drew and I’m staying with the woman you call Miss Violette.”
The actor stopped walking and stared at Nancy. “But how did you know—?”
“I don’t blame you for being surprised,” Nancy said, then quickly explained that Miss Carter had found out he had come to the house asking for Miss Violette.
By this time Mrs. Bealing had caught up to them, and Nancy introduced her. The actor smiled. “You’re the woman who came to the door when I rang and said Miss Violette did not live there.”
“That’s right. I never heard Miss Carter’s stage name.”
Mr. Simpson said that back in the days when he had been in plays with her, she had insisted that no one call her by any name except Miss Violette. He had assumed that she had continued the custom.
An idea came to Nancy. She said to the actor, “If you’re not busy this evening, I think it would be fun if you came to dinner at the house. We could let it be a complete surprise to Miss Carter.”
The man’s eyes lighted up. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do,” he replied. “What time would you like me to get there?”
“Would seven o‘clock be all right?” It occurred to Nancy that even if they had a simple dinner not much time was being allowed for its preparation.
“Seven o‘clock will be fine. I’ll be there and thank you very much.”
“Then good-by for now,” said Nancy.
She and Mrs. Bealing hurried off to the market. “This is very exciting,” the nurse said. “Now all we need is to have the tapper show up and spoil the show. I can’t understand why the police haven’t rounded up somebody in this case. Well, what do you think we should have for dinner?”
“Steak is always safe,” Nancy replied. “And how about a lemon meringue pie? I’ll telephone Hannah and ask if she’ll make one right away.”
She dashed off to a street phone while Mrs. Bealing started to shop. It was nearly six o‘clock by the time they reached home.
Bess, intrigued by the thought of a romantic meeting between Miss Violette and Toby Simpson, found it hard not to give away the secret. She and George had set the table. Flowers and candles gave it a very festive air. Hannah Gruen was just putting the meringue on the pie. She had also made a tasty-looking tossed salad with tomatoes and cucumbers.
“We’ll start with melon,” Nancy announced. “Then will come the steak, French fries, and string beans. Everybody can help prepare them for cooking.”
Bess had gone upstairs and suggested that Miss Carter wear one of her most becoming dresses. “And I’ll comb your hair in a modern style,” she offered.
“What’s going on?” the actress asked, a suspicious look coming into her eyes.
Bess did not answer directly. She said, “Don’t you think we should celebrate selling all those cats and Nancy rescuing the last one?”
Miss Carter smiled. “I suppose we should.” She pointed out a filmy pale-blue dress and Bess helped her put it on.
“You look darling,” the girl said. Then she started working on the actress’s fluffy gray hair. Within a few minutes Miss Carter’s long hair was arranged in an attractive style.
As she looked in the mirror, the woman smiled. “I do look lovely, don’t I?” A faraway expression came over her face. “Like I used to be when I played in The Dancer and the Fool.”
Presently George came upstairs and together the two girls carried Miss Carter to the first floor. They had dimmed the lights in the dining room so she would not notice the extra place at the table. The girls sat down in the living room with her, while Mrs. Bealing and Hannah Gruen were putting the finishing touches on the meal.
At exactly seven o‘clock the front doorbell rang. Nancy went to answer, followed by Bess and George. They had already decided that the meeting between Miss Carter and Mr. Simpson should take place alone in the living room.
When Nancy opened the door, she put one finger to her lips and merely said, “Won’t you come in?”
Mr. Simpson, smiling, stepped into the hall. Nancy pointed out the doorway to the living room and motioned for him to go inside. The girls huddled together, waiting.
The next moment they heard a cry of delight from Miss Violette. “Toby! Toby! You’ve come back to me!”
“Yes, dear. It has been so many years. I lost complete track of you, but today I had a little luck, and thanks t
o your friend Nancy Drew, here I am.”
There was a long silence and the girls figured the couple were having a loving embrace. A few minutes later Miss Carter called the girls inside.
She formally introduced Mr. Simpson, then asked for a complete explanation of the whole affair. Nancy quickly told the story, then the three girls said they must go out to the kitchen to help.
On the way, Bess whispered excitedly, “I’m so happy I could just burst!”
“I feel pretty good about the whole thing myself,” George said.
When the girls entered the kitchen, Hannah and Mrs. Bealing wanted to know about the meeting between the actress and actor When thev heard it had been a happy one, both were pleased.
A little later, when everyone was seated at the table and grace had been said, Miss Carter told the others a little about her early life on the stage.
“Then finally I played opposite Toby and we began to date,” she explained.
The actor had not taken his eyes from the woman and now he said, “I played the part of the fool in the story for so long I guess I just lived the part in my everyday life. In any case I was a fool to think my work was more important than marrying my leading lady.”
Bess had been touched by the story and the meeting. Now she looked directly at the couple and said, “It’s not too late!”
Her remark was so unexpected that there was dead silence for several seconds. Bess, embarrassed, apologized profusely, but Toby smiled at her gratefully.
“You have said the very thing I wanted to,” he told her and looked lovingly at Miss Carter. “As soon as you are well again, what say we try it?”
Everyone waited anxiously for her answer. Taking Toby Simpson’s hand and kissing him on the cheek, she said, “I’ll try it if you think I can be of help to you.”
“Oh, you can!”
Now there was real rejoicing Everyone was so excited it was hard to settle down to the dinner in front of them.
But after a while the conversation got around to the reason Nancy and her friends had come to Miss Carter’s house. Toby Simpson wanted to hear the story in detail. When Nancy revealed the fact that she suspected a young man named Gus Woonton, Mr. Simpson frowned.