The Nancy Drew Sleuth Book Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER I - THE BURGLAR’S NOTE

  CHAPTER II - THE STRANGE THUMBPRINT

  CHAPTER III - GET THE FUGITIVE

  CHAPTER IV - THE HIDDEN INHERITANCE

  CHAPTER V - CHANGING SHOE PRINTS

  CHAPTER VI - AIRPORT CHASE

  CHAPTER VII - THE QUEEN’S CAMEO

  CHAPTER VIII - THE MYSTERIOUS FORTUNE-TELLER

  CHAPTER IX - THE DISAPPEARING FENCE

  CHAPTER X - THE HAUNTED HOUSE

  “Of course we can solve mysteries as well as grown-up detectives.” This was Nancy Drew’s answer to a question from a group gathered in her living room in River Heights. “How would you like to form a detective club and have meetings at my house? Later we can solve some mysteries. What do you say?”

  Cheers and applause greeted this remark. Nancy suggests that you readers work along with the club and learn how to become amateur detectives.

  "One! Two! Three! Go!”

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  First published in 1979 by Grosset & Dunlap. Copyright © 1979, 2007 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in 2007 by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. NANCY DREW is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. S.A.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the original edition as follows:

  Library of Congress Control Number: 78058209

  eISBN : 978-1-101-50128-3

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  CHAPTER I

  THE BURGLAR’S NOTE

  Handwriting, clues

  “WHO brought a mystery today?” Nancy Drew asked the six girls in her Detective Club. This was the first meeting of the newly formed group, and the subject was to be handwriting.

  “I have a good mystery,” Cathy Chase, Nancy’s blond, blue-eyed friend who loved to wear light blue sweaters, replied. “My mother always leaves house money in a coffee can in a kitchen cupboard. It’s used by everyone in the family, and little notes are left about how much is taken out by whom. This morning Mother discovered that all the money was gone, and so were our notes.”

  “I’ll bet someone in the Chase family is playing a joke,” Sue Fletcher called out. She was a brunette with short, curly hair and black eyes.

  “No,” Cathy replied. “The burglars left three new notes. They were written in strange handwritings.”

  The club members looked at one another, then at Nancy Drew. The young strawberry blond detective smiled. “The notes could have been left by one, two, or three burglars.” She asked Cathy, “Did you bring the messages?”

  “Yes.” Cathy took three slips of paper from her handbag. She handed them to Nancy, who held them up for the other girls to see. Each note was in a different script. The first one said: Thank you. The next one said: I need this money more than you do. The third was in an exaggerated, artificial scrawl, slanting downward at the end of the line and read: Ha! Ha! I dare you to find me!

  Nancy stared at the notes thoughtfully. “Cathy, are you suspicious of anyone?”

  “No.”

  “Do you think one person could have written all three notes?” Sue asked.

  Nancy studied the messages closely. “There are people who can imitate other handwritings so well that even the experts cannot be sure, but it’s rare. Let’s see if we can find similarities in the shape of the letters, their slant, pressure, spacing, and size.”

  “What difference does letter size make?” Karen Carpenter wanted to know. She was full of fun.

  “Letter size makes a lot of difference,” Nancy answered. “A person who enjoys activity and achievement tends to have a large handwriting. He or she takes on a large task with excitement, where others often feel intimidated. It is someone who is always on the go, who’s enthusiastic and interested in large issues, usually bored by details, and often restless and impatient.”

  “Ha! Ha! I dare you to find me!” the note read.

  “Like you,” Cathy said to Karen.

  “That’s true,” Karen reflected. “I do make my letters rather large. What about people who write small letters?”

  “People who write small are usually thorough and think things through. They’re able to face life without getting upset and are often observant. Sometimes they like to be aloof from others, but actually they are often more interested in other people than those with large handwriting.” Nancy paused.

  “I have an uncle who squeezes so much onto a page, you can hardly read it,” Karen said.

  Nancy nodded. “It suggests that he’s stingy.”

  “That he is,” said Karen.

  The girls scrutinized the messages for a few minutes, then came to the conclusion that they were most likely written by different people.

  “Can you tell a man’s writing from a woman’s?” asked Peg Goodale, who had brown hair and large brown eyes.

  “Not always,” Nancy replied. “But you can make an educated guess whether or not the script looks masculine or feminine. I think that these notes look like they were written by men. They were written with heavy pressure and the crosses of certain letters like t and f are very long—two indicators of a masculine hand. What does everyone think?”

  The girls agreed with Nancy. Nancy took the first message and laid it on the table for everyone to see. “Let’s start with this one and find out what it tells us about the writer. The letters are spaced pretty far apart and are slanted to the right.”

  “What does that mean?” Karen asked.

  “A forward slant indicates more heart than head control, an outgoing person who enjoys being with others. The wide spacing shows that he likes plenty of room, is spontaneous, and is probably a generous person.”

  “He doesn’t sound like a wily old burglar,” remarked Honey Rushmore, the secretary. She had honey-colored hair, rosy cheeks, and gray eyes.

  “No, he doesn’t,” Nancy agreed. “Especially since his writing is also clear and legible, which means he doesn’t try to hide anything. His pressure
is light, which makes him a gentle and sensitive person.”

  “Shall we rule him out as a suspect?” Sue asked.

  “Yes,” Nancy replied. “Let’s check the next one.” The girls scanned the second note closely.

  “This man is more controlled by intellect than emotion,” Nancy said, “because he makes his letters straight. He’s also more reserved and self-reliant. His pressure is medium, which suggests that he is healthy, and fond of people and things. You see, heavy pressure indicates intensity, while a mixture of light, medium, and heavy often shows a physical or mental disturbance.”

  “His spaces are narrow but even,” Sue pointed out.

  “The evenness means he’s in control of every situation,” said Nancy. “And look at the e at the end of more. It has an extended, ascending final stroke. That makes him a warm person. Also, his o is open, meaning he’s honest. When o’s and a’s are closed and knotted, the writer is highly secretive and reserved, often insincere. But not this writer.”

  “Well, I’d say that eliminates number two from our list of suspects,” Sue declared. “What about the last note?”

  The message, Ha! Ha! I dare you to find me! was examined by each girl. The words, sprawled downward in a slightly zigzagging angle, fascinated them.

  “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 lett
ers:CAPITALS:

  printed—simplicity, artistic

  old-fashioned caps—respect for tradition

  high first stroke on M—strong wish for approval

  wide-base caps—gullible

  narrow-base caps—cautious

  ornate caps—vain

  open-top D or O—frank, generous, often talkative,

  gossipy

  resourceful, severe

  strong ego, plain tastes

  inflated loop—demands attention, warmth

  small loop simple—cautious, modest

  Clue: If the I is bigger than other words—conceit. If the tall loop is simple—pride in work, loyalty.

  SMALL LETTERS:

  creative mind

  mathematical

  devoted to others, warmhearted

  given to silence, cautious

  tall stem—possessing great dignity, trustworthy

  open b—easily fooled

  all letters with unnecessary first strokes—

  conventional

  the wider the loop, the more receptive to flattery

  return stroke extending left—immature

  refined tastes

  sharp perceptive mind, quick thinker and talker

  any small letter that is printed—creative ability,

  versatile, independent

  THE LETTER T:

  well-balanced, controlled, disciplined

  right-flying t—lively, quick-tempered

  indecisive

  t-bar high to left—weak, head in clouds

  star-crossed—obstinate

  looped t-bar—less sensitive and confident

  tenacious

  domineering

  initiative t—imaginative, quickly adjusts

  low t-bar—kindly, guilty, depressed

  t-bar eliminated—careless, lacking in initiative

  Clue: The way the t-bar is balanced on the vertical stroke indicates a person’s willpower, spirit, and drive. The t-bar is an indicator of how well someone reaches their goals.