CHAPTER XIX
Lost Loot
“I’LL see what I can do about the retirement home foreclosure at once!” Mr. Drew promised Nancy. “Suppose you go over to Thurstons and see how they’re making out. I’ll call you there.”
Nancy turned to Mrs. Sutton and told her she hoped to have good news in a short time.
“Try not to worry,” she begged her.
Nancy, Bess, and George said good-by and set off for the farm. Upon arriving they rang the front doorbell. Receiving no response, the three were worried that Mrs. Thurston might be alone and ill, so they walked in.
“Listen!” Bess said. “I hear Mrs. Thurston mumbling something.”
Nancy called out hello but there was no answer. The girls walked into the living room. At one end sat Mrs. Thurston in her wheelchair.
She was alongside a table on which stood a cup and saucer. The woman was gazing into it intently. Although the mumbling was louder and clearer now, the girls could not discern what she was saying.
“Tea leaves,” Bess ventured.
Nancy had paused, uncertain what to do. She did not want to frighten Mrs. Thurston, who seemed to be in a trance. To her surprise the woman swung her wheelchair around and looked straight at the visitors.
“I knew you were coming,” she said, smiling. “The tea leaves told me so.”
George opened her mouth to make a retort, but was warned against speaking by a stem look from Nancy.
“Hello,” the young detective said. “How are you feeling?”
Mrs. Thurston gave her usual answer, “Not very well.” Then she added, “Your visit has been the first nice thing that has happened here today.”
The girls said thank you and then waited for Mrs. Thurston to proceed.
“A little while ago Rausch was in here talking to me. Suddenly he looked out the open window over there and without saying a word stepped right through it. You know that brings bad luck. One should never step out of a window.”
The remark struck Bess as funny. Giggling, she said, “Especially if it’s a second-floor window.”
Nancy and George laughed too, but Mrs. Thurston saw nothing amusing about it. “The window Rausch left from has only a short drop. Oh, Oscar and I have had so many unfortunate things happen. Now I know there are going to be more!”
Nancy went to the woman’s side and patted her shoulder. “Please try to think of pleasant things,” the young detective said “I’m sure that many of these premonitions of yours have never come true.”
Mrs. Thurston had to admit this was correct but kept pointing out the recent bad luck they had had.
Nancy was curious to know why Rausch should have left the room so hurriedly and in such an eccentric way. She decided to find him. Nancy excused herself and hurried toward the cages at the rear of the house. Rausch was putting fresh water into a long trough for a flock of gaily colored parrots, white cockatoos, and green parakeets with dark-gray heads.
“Hi!” she called out. “Did something happen?”
The farmer’s assistant looked up. “I’ll say it did. I got here just in time to keep these birds from being poisoned.”
“Poisoned!” Nancy exclaimed. “By whom?”
Rausch said he did not know but thought the culprit was probably Slick Fingers.
“While I was talking to Mrs. Thurston,” he said, “I looked out the window. A man was sneaking along beside this cage. He had a watering can with a long spout and was pouring some dark-colored liquid into this trough.”
Nancy was horrified. “How awful!” she cried out. “Are you sure you emptied out the poison before any of the birds took a drink?”
Rausch was positive because he had acted immediately. “I went in, grabbed up the trough, and ran outside with it,” he explained. “I dumped the water far away. Then I took off after that fiend, but I didn’t catch him. He disappeared toward the road.”
Nancy remarked that Slick Fingers probably had a car parked there. “I’ll look around,” she said.
She took a magnifying glass from her skirt pocket and began to hunt for footprints or other clues to the intruder. In a few minutes she saw a white envelope lying partially under a bush. She picked it up and found that the envelope was sealed. There was no identifying mark of any kind on it.
“Considering how important every potential piece of evidence is in this case, I guess it would be all right for me to open it,” the young detective rationalized.
Nancy slit open the envelope. Peering inside, she was amazed to see a large quantity of one hundred and five hundred dollar bills. There was also a smaller envelope. Nancy removed it.
“Oh!” she murmured.
On the front side was the now-familiar sign of the circle with the cross in the center!
Nancy wondered if Merv Marvel had had a hand in this. And was Slick Fingers working with him?
Nancy now opened the smaller envelope and stared unbelievingly. Inside lay several rings set with gorgeous gems.
“Stolen?” she wondered. “I must report my find to the police at once.”
Nancy hurried back to the house. Rausch was not in sight so she could not tell him about the amazing discovery. She burst in upon Bess, George, and Mrs. Thurston and showed them what she had found. Next Nancy dashed to the telephone and called Chief Pepper.
The officer was thunderstruck by her report and started to praise the young detective. With a quick thank-you she went on, “Don’t you think that the person who dropped the envelope will return to hunt for it?”
“No doubt about it. I’ll send some men out there to capture him.”
Chief Pepper requested Nancy to go at once to the spot where she had found the envelope and lay the large one, empty, back in place.
“Are you planning to stay at the farm?” he asked.
“At least until my father phones, but—” After a pause she went on, “If it’s all right, we’d like to see you catch Slick Fingers or anyone else who comes for the envelope.”
“After you put it back, please stay in the house,” the chief said firmly. “If anyone comes to call, keep him there. If we nab the suspect we’ll blow a whistle, then you can come out.”
Nancy ran to place the envelope near the bush, then dashed back to the house. When she relayed Chief Pepper’s instructions to Bess, George, and Mrs. Thurston, she was surprised that the woman reacted so calmly to the tense situation.
Bess motioned for Nancy to come out to the kitchen. When the two girls reached it, she said excitedly, “I think George and I have talked Mrs. Thurston out of her superstitions and beliefs in omens and jinxes.”
Nancy smiled. “If you’ve done that, you’re both wonders. I guess our visits have had a good effect on her, after all.”
She returned to the living room and the longer she talked with Mrs. Thurston, the more she became convinced that indeed Bess and George had accomplished a miracle. Mrs. Thurston joked and laughed and seemed genuinely excited over the thought of a thief being caught on their property, and she showed no anxiety about his presence.
A short while later Oscar returned from an interview with Mr. Drew. He said Nancy’s father had gathered important information from papers Mr. Thurston had forgotten about. They would greatly help his case against the High Rise company. When he finished telling the others, the bird owner suddenly turned to his wife.
She smiled at him and said, “Oscar, these girls have been a blessing in disguise to us. See how I’ve changed? I’m not worried any more!”
Oscar looked sober for a moment, then he beamed, crossed the room and kissed his wife fervently. “Thank goodness,” he said.
The girls discreetly left the room and went to the kitchen to prepare some food. Later, while the group was eating, Mr. Drew called.
“Good news! I was able to get a postponement on that retirement home foreclosure.”
“Great!” said Nancy. She now told him about the envelope she had found with the symbol on it and of Rausch’s suspicion that Slick Fin
gers had tried to poison the parrots and other birds in the same cage.
“I certainly hope the thief returns and the police catch him,” the lawyer said. “And now I have some interesting news for you, Nancy. Ned phoned me to say that he, Burt, and Dave had already uncovered several questionable practices that are being carried on by the High Rise Construction Company. They have been talking to employees. The boys are going to stay a while longer and see what else they can learn.”
Before Nancy could comment, she heard a shrill police whistle. “Dad, I must go! Chief Pepper’s men are here! They must have captured the thief!”
She hurriedly said good-by and rejoined Bess and George. The three girls, followed by Oscar, dashed off to the area where Nancy had found the telltale envelope.
When they reached it, the suspect was surrounded by four officers. He was indeed Slick Fingers, who was proclaiming loudly that he knew nothing about the envelope—that he was merely hiking through the woods.
When the girls ran up to him, Nancy pulled out the evidence which she had kept in a pocket. One of the officers identified the jewelry as a recent theft from a local store.
“I didn’t steal it!” Slick Fingers shouted, but when he saw the money he became emotional and exclaimed, “That’s mine! Give it back!”
The police stared at him. “I guess that’s enough of a confession,” one of them said. “Come along!”
The parolee did not move. Instead he looked directly at Nancy. Then, acting like a wild man, he screamed and yelled at her.
“You’re responsible for all my bad luck. You ought to be locked up! You’re nothing but a troublemaker! I hate you!”
An officer grabbed the man firmly by an arm. “That’s all. Come with me.”
“May I ask him a question?” Nancy requested the policeman.
“Go ahead. He’s been advised of his constitutional rights.”
“How did you know about the symbol of the circle with the cross in it?” she asked the prisoner. “And what’s your connection with Merv Marvel?”
Slick Fingers showed agitation and looked at the ground, but he did not answer. Finally he was taken away by the officers.
It was dusk when Oscar and the girls returned to the house. Mrs. Thurston had lighted the lamps and was anxiously waiting for them. She was overjoyed to hear of the capture. Nancy went to the phone and called her father. He too expressed delight at the outcome.
Nancy said, “If we could only find Merv Marvel, we could probably close the case.”
Her father agreed. Nancy said she had a hunch the dancer might pay a visit to the farm. “Mr. Wright may even send him here to carry on Slick Fingers’ work.”
After she had finished talking with her father, Nancy mentioned this to Oscar. He begged the girls to stay there in case Merv Marvel should show up. As they went outside with him to feed the birds, Kammy returned and was told of Slick Fingers’ capture.
“I am glad,” she said. “Did he confess to stealing the wryneck from the museum?” Nancy told her that the man had not.
After the chores were finished, they all went back into the house. Bess and George thought perhaps the girls should leave, but again Oscar prevailed upon them to stay longer. Marking time made Nancy fidgety. Finally to calm her nervousness, she went outside to walk around.
As she neared the bird enclosures, she saw a tall, slim man sneaking along close to the rear of one cage.
Impulsively she dashed after him. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.
He whirled, surprised.
“Who are you?” Nancy asked firmly.
He gave an odd smile. “My name is Merv Marvel,” he said softly.
The next moment he swooped her up in his arms and held a hand over her mouth so she could not scream. Taking great leaps, he carried the helpless girl away from the Thurston farm!
CHAPTER XX
A Spook Unspooked
NANCY struggled with all the strength she could muster to free herself from Merv Marvel’s arms. But the tall, handsome dancer had muscles as strong as steel and held her tightly. His long, powerful leaps and running steps soon carried the two of them far away from the Thurston farmhouse.
Finally he set Nancy down in a field, but maintained a viselike grip on one arm. “You little vixen!” he exclaimed. “You may as well stop fighting because you’re not going to leave me. I’ll teach you to be my dancing partner.”
The strange remark frightened Nancy. She had hoped Merv Marvel would tire of the game he seemed to be playing and release her. Now she decided he was a bit unbalanced and could not be reasoned with.
Nancy stood still and murmured, “All right, I’ll behave. Now let’s go back.”
“Oh no,” Merv said. “We’re going to dance.”
An idea came to Nancy. Maybe he was staying with a group who used the circle-and-cross symbol, and she could go there with him and solve this mystery!
“Okay,” she said. “It will be fun to dance. Will you take me to your headquarters?”
Merv Marvel stared at her. “What headquarters?”
With one foot Nancy sketched out a circle and put a full-sized cross in the middle of it.
Merv was startled. “You—you know about our headquarters?” He did not wait for a reply but said, “Yes, we will go there.” He took her hand and together they began to waltz as he whistled softly.
“Now we’ll leap!” he said.
Still holding her hand tightly, he waited for an upbeat in the tune, then the pair made a flying swing through the air.
“You’re great!” Merv told her. “We’ll ask the Grand Master to arrange a program for us.”
Nancy’s heart skipped a beat. Had she deliberately put herself into a situation from which it might be impossible to retreat? She quickly changed the subject.
“Do you play spook for the people at headquarters ?” she asked.
“No, of course not,” he replied. Then, as the full meaning of her question struck him, he asked, “How did you know I sometimes play spook?”
Nancy described how he had frightened Mrs. Thurston and tried to frighten the Tabler grandchildren into believing a lot of foolish superstitions.
“You know too much,” the dancer said.
“Who hired you to play spook?” Nancy prodded him.
Merv was not taken off guard. “You already know who it was and I’m not going to work for him any more. Mr. Wright isn’t honest and he gets other people to do his dirty work for him.”
Nancy was thrilled at the progress of her inquiries. “Yes, he hired both you and Slick Fingers.”
Merv admitted this but denied having done anything except play spook. He accused Slick Fingers, however, of stealing a wryneck from the Harper University Museum and trying to scare Nancy with it.
“Later Slick took some valuable birds from there too. He also inoculated one of Mr. Thurston’s birds with a virus and, of course, the others caught it,” Merv said.
Nancy remarked, “And he used chloroform to knock out Mr. Thurston and Ned Nickerson.”
Once again Merv said yes, but he denied any knowledge of the theft of the live wryneck Petra.
“I know something else, though,” Merv said. “Mr. Wright asked Mr. Hinchcliff’s son to annoy your friends if he had a chance, and he pushed a supermarket cart into you, but it was the boy’s own idea to throw ink and glue at the other girls while they were at the newspaper office. Well, here we go. Leap!”
Nancy performed as requested. Now she could see dim lights in an old barn a short distance ahead. Merv took her directly there. Suddenly all the illumination went out and total silence followed.
Merv stopped moving but still held Nancy’s hand tightly. A few moments later they heard weird music on high-pitched, plaintive mid-Eastern instruments. It was accompanied by chanting. The lights were switched on again.
Nancy and Merv looked inside the barn. The walls were decorated with Oriental and African masks. The circle-and-cross symbol had been painted
everywhere. Strange-looking people were doing an exotic, slow dance with convulsive twists and snakelike turns.
“It’s the devil dance!” Merv told Nancy. “We’ll go in.”
He shoved her toward a guard at the door. The man was tall, muscular-looking, and wore a European sixteenth-century suit of armor, but instead of a helmet, his head was covered with a turban from which protruded a long willowy gray feather.
He grabbed Nancy’s wrist and hissed into her ear, “We’re going to make a witch of you!”
The musicians stopped playing abruptly. Merv said to her, “The Grand Master is ready for new members!” He led Nancy forward.
Sometime after Nancy had been kidnapped, Ned, Burt, and Dave arrived at the Thurston farmhouse. The boys found everyone there frantic over Nancy’s disappearance. A quick search of the grounds had been made, then the police had been called.
Chief Pepper came in a short while with three officers. By now it was dark. The police focused a powerful searchlight on an area where a man’s foot had stomped down hard. The police found the matching print some distance away, then another.
Bess and George conferred. Had the leaping male ballet dancer been there?
On inspiration George hurried inside the house and telephoned the theater where the ballet performances were being held.
She asked, “Would it be possible for me to speak to Boris Borovsky?”
When he came to the phone, George explained what had occurred and the suspicion that Merv Marvel might have taken Nancy away.
“If so, can you give us any clue to where?”
Boris was able to offer one fact. Merv Marvel was very much interested in witchcraft.
“He might be a member of some demoniac group. I wish I could be of more help, and I hope you find Nancy Drew. She’s a wonderful girl and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.”
George thanked Boris for his suggestion and then returned to the others. She related what she had learned. The police did not know of any meeting place for a witchcraft group but would start a search.
All this while Ned had been conducting his own examination of the grounds. He pointed out that there were no tire tracks except those made by Oscar’s station wagon.