The Swami's Ring Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1 - Mysterious Patient

  Chapter 2 - Tommy’s Accident

  Chapter 3 - Mean Accusation

  Chapter 4 - Suspect?

  Chapter 5 - Untimely Ruse

  Chapter 6 - Harpist’s Predicament

  Chapter 7 - The Sister’s Story

  Chapter 8 - Tangled Trail

  Chapter 9 - Cabin Captive

  Chapter 10 - Ned’s Rescue

  Chapter 11 - Cancellation!

  Chapter 12 - Escape Lane

  Chapter 13 - Technical Attack

  Chapter 14 - Flannery Foolery

  Chapter 15 - Surprise Return

  Chapter 16 - Hazy Report

  Chapter 17 - Moonlight Intruder

  Chapter 18 - Scorpion Scare

  Chapter 19 - Prisoners’ Retreat

  Chapter 20 - Intriguing Discovery

  WHEN an amnesia victim arrives at Rosemont Hospital in River Heights, Nurse Lisa Scotti contacts her friend, Nancy Drew. The young man was found injured, at the bottom of a cliff, with no identification and no memory of what happened to him. A thorough search of his knapsack, however, turns up an unusual ring, much too large for the mysterious stranger to wear.

  Learning that the ring is of Hindu origin, Nancy sets off on a trail of danger as she searches for the man’s forgotten identity. Before long, she is caught up in another assignment. A plea from a beautiful harpist has Nancy looking for the troublemakers who are determined to boycott the River Heights Summer Music Festival. Nancy’s discoveries reveal an important connection between the hospital patient, the harpist, and enemies from abroad.

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  Copyright © 1981 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in 2005

  by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES® is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. S.A.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-07762-7

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  1

  Mysterious Patient

  “Nancy, would you come over to Rosemont Hospital and help solve a mystery?”

  Mystery! That was all the girl detective needed to hear from her former schoolmate, Lisa Scotti, who was now a nurse.

  “Sounds exciting,” Nancy said eagerly. “Tell me about it.”

  “A young man was just brought into emergency with bad bruises. He has amnesia—can’t remember who he is, where he has been, where he was going, or what happened.”

  “Who found him?” Nancy asked.

  “Some people from out of state. They had stopped along a wooded highway near the airport to stretch their legs and discovered him at the bottom of a cliff. Apparently, he fell or was pushed off. I’m surprised he doesn’t have any broken bones.”

  “Me too,” Nancy said, adding quickly, “I’ll be right over. ‘Bye—”

  “Wait—don’t hang up,” Lisa interrupted. “Visiting hours don’t begin until eleven.”

  Nancy glanced at her wristwatch. It was only ten o‘clock.

  “In that case, why don’t I offer to do some volunteer work at Rosemont? Then I’ll be able to see Cliff almost anytime.”

  Lisa giggled. “How did you know that’s what all us nurses call him?”

  “I didn’t.” Nancy laughed.

  “Meet you on the fifth floor. Cliffs in Room 502.”

  As soon as Lisa clicked off, Nancy dialed the hospital phone number. Since she had attended an orientation program for Rosemont volunteers the previous summer, she was no stranger to the hospital. Surely she could start right away. At least, she hoped so.

  “Nancy dear,” Hannah called out when the girl dropped the receiver into its cradle, “would you rather have fish or fowl for dinner?”

  “I’ll take either so long as it’s garnished with savory clues!” Nancy teased.

  “Now be serious,” Mrs. Gruen replied, poking her head out of the kitchen.

  Over the years, a warm and wonderful cam eraderie had grown between the young woman and the Drews’ housekeeper. She had helped rear Nancy since the girl was three, when Mrs. Drew had passed away.

  “I am being serious.” Nancy smiled. Her blue eyes almost danced as sunlight captured her pretty face and reddish-blond hair.

  “Don’t tell me you’re off on a mystery of your own before you finish the case you and your dad are working on,” Hannah replied saucily. She was hoping the answer would be no. “What will your father say?”

  Carson Drew was a prominent attorney in River Heights who had recently become embroiled in problems of the town’s summer music festival. The evening before, he had told Nancy his fear that it might be forced to close because of a squabble among some performers. As he frequently did, Mr. Drew asked his gifted eighteen-year-old daughter for advice.

  “If you mean that Dad’s going to worry whether I’ll have time to work on two mysteries at the same time—” Nancy started to say.

  “That’s precisely what I mean.”

  Nancy did not agree, however. She knew how Hannah worried about her, but could not help teasing her once in a while.

  “When Dad comes home, tell him I’m in the hospital.”

  “What?” the woman gulped.

  “Not as a patient, though.”

  The housekeeper shook her head while Nancy pecked her cheek and said good-bye. Driving across town, she noticed the billboard announcement for the River Heights Music Festival, but kept her thoughts concentrated on Rosemont Hospital, where she shortly found herself.

  After parking the car, she hurried into the building to register as a volunteer, then went directly to an elevator and pressed the button. The door slid open a moment later, but as she stepped forward, a large, burly man with a heavy, black beard shoved her aside.

  “Hey—” she cried as the stranger hurried ahead and pushed an inside button, but the door closed before Nancy could enter. She glanced up at the bank of lights overhead. “He’s stopping at the fifth floor!” she murmured. “I hope I don’t bump into him again!”

  It seemed to take forever for the elevator to return, but at last the young detective was on her way upstairs. Lisa was waiting for her.

  “Some creep got off the elevator a minute ago,” the nurse said, “and practically knocked me down.”

  “That makes two of us,” Nancy replied as they walked toward Room 502.

  When they were within a few feet of Cliff’s room, they heard short, quick gasps and ran inside.

  “Oh, no! Stop!” Lisa shrieked when she saw the hands of the bearded stranger clutching at Cliffs neck.

  “Get away from him!” Nancy demanded. She and Lisa grabbed the man’s arms.

  Angrily, he wrenched himself away from the girls. “Where’s the ring you stole?” he growled at Cliff.

  “I’m going to call the police if you don‘t—” Lisa threatened.

  Now the man stiffened. He loosened his fingers from Cliffs neck, allowing the patient to slip back against the pillow. Cliff moaned softly and opened his eyes halfway, only to shut them again.

  “Who are you?” Nancy asked the intruder.

  He whirled on his heels and stormed out into the corridor.

  “Come back here!” Nancy insisted. She hurr
ied after him as fast as she could, but his long legs carried him swiftly away from her into the elevator which now descended.

  Instantly, Nancy dashed through the stair-well door. She raced down the steps, taking two at a time, and upon reaching the main floor, burst across the lobby to the entrance.

  “Oh!” she muttered in disappointment. The stranger had disappeared into a waiting tan-colored car with a blue racing stripe on the trunk. The vehicle sped down the street.

  Puffs of exhaust from the tail pipe succeeded in covering up the license plate so that Nancy could not decipher it. Disgusted, she returned to Cliffs room, where Lisa was giving him a small cup of water.

  “This is my friend, Nancy Drew,” the young nurse said, introducing the two.

  The patient, a rugged-faced man with light brown hair, nodded weakly. “I wish I could tell you my name,” he said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

  “Cliff will do for the time being,” Nancy replied. “You had a pretty rough experience just a few minutes ago. Do you know who that man was?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “Nancy is an amateur detective,” Lisa quickly inserted, “and she wants to help you.”

  Cliff smiled again. “Tell me about some of your cases.”

  The girl detective blushed modestly.

  “As a matter of fact,” Lisa put in, “Nancy has been out of the country for her two most recent mysteries. She found The Secret in the Old Lace in Belgium and went to Greece to decipher The Greek Symbol Mystery.”

  “You have an excellent memory,” Nancy remarked, suddenly realizing what she had said. “Oh, I’m sorry, Cliff.”

  “This old head’s not that sensitive.” The patient chuckled. “I’m sure my memory was at least as good as yours, Nancy—once upon a time.”

  Before she could say more, he closed his eyes sleepily and Lisa beckoned Nancy out into the corridor.

  “I’d like to tell Bess and George about all of this,” Nancy said.

  Bess Marvin and George Fayne were cousins and Nancy’s closest friends who often helped her solve mysteries.

  “The more brains we get thinking about Cliffs identity,” Lisa answered, “the quicker we’ll find out who he is.”

  “Exactly.”

  Nancy excused herself to telephone the Marvin home. To her delight, Bess answered.

  “Just a minute, Nancy. Let me put George on, too. She’s here.”

  “Great, because I need to talk to both of you.”

  “Uh-oh,” Bess said. “I have a feeling we’re in for another adventure—n-nothing dangerous, I hope.”

  Nancy laughed lightly while her friend called George to an extension phone. Then, as briefly as possible, the girl told them about Cliff.

  “I’d like you to meet him,” Nancy said. “Can you come over to the hospital?”

  “Sure,” Bess and George chorused eagerly.

  By the time they reached Rosemont Hospital, Cliff was awake again, and Nancy introduced her friends. Afterwards, George asked if any identification had been found on the patient.

  “Apparently not,” Nancy said.

  “The only thing he was carrying was a knapsack,” Lisa advised.

  She pulled the heavy canvas bag out of the closet.

  “Cliff, would you object if I went through it?” Nancy asked.

  “No, of course not.”

  While everyone watched, she removed several articles of clothing and an envelope with money in it. Then her fingers felt the lining of the bag. An unexpected thickness in the material suggested a hidden pocket.

  “Did you find something else?” Bess asked, breaking the silence.

  “Could be.”

  She opened the pocket and rolled the contents into her palm.

  “Don’t keep us in suspense,” George begged as Nancy took her hand out.

  When she opened it, everyone gasped at the girl’s discovery. It was a large, gold ring, extremely ornate and obviously meant for a very fat finger!

  “That would swim on Cliffs hand,” Lisa observed.

  Nancy glanced at the young man, whose eyes were riveted on the unusual ring. Was this the one he had been accused of stealing?

  2

  Tommy’s Accident

  “Cliff,” Nancy said, holding the ring out to him, “does this mean anything to you?”

  He blinked his eyes as if struggling to remember. “I—I, no, it doesn’t.”

  “I don’t think it should be left unguarded in this closet,” Nancy announced. “Can we put it in the hospital safe until I come back with my magnifying glass? I’d like to examine it further.”

  “Definitely,” Lisa replied, “if that’s all right with Cliff.”

  Lisa promised to take the ring downstairs as soon as she gave him his medication. Nancy, meanwhile, led Bess and George to the office of Dr. Randolph, the director of Rosemont Hospital. He was a tall, heavyset man in his late fifties.

  “It’s nice to see Carson Drew’s daughter on our volunteer staff,” he said, greeting Nancy.

  The lawyer was on the board of the hospital and a personal friend of Dr. Randolph.

  “I suppose you’ve heard about your amnesia patient,” Nancy said.

  “Of course. He’s the most exciting thing that’s happened around here all week!” the man replied. “Not that it’s so exciting for him, poor guy. We called Chief McGinnis to see if anyone on the police department’s list of missing persons fits his description.”

  “What did you find out?” George asked.

  “Absolutely nothing. The police wanted to know if Cliff had been physically assaulted,” Dr. Randolph went on. “But there was no evidence of that, according to Dr. Anderson.”

  “In other words,” Bess said, “there’s no reason for the police to get involved—”

  “Yet,” Nancy added in a serious tone.

  “Why, what do you mean?” Dr. Randolph replied.

  The girl told him about the bearded stranger, his accusation, and her discovery of the ring. “At the moment, it’s our only clue to Cliffs identity,” she said, “and I’d like to study it some more.”

  “Good idea, Nancy.”

  Promising to keep the man posted on all developments, she and her friends stepped out into the hallway.

  “When I signed on as a volunteer, I was asked to help distribute flowers, so I’ll do that now,” the young detective told Bess and George. “Maybe we ought to put our heads together later.”

  “Call us when you get home,” George said.

  Nancy immediately headed for the main lobby, where several colorful floral arrangements were displayed on a c6unter.

  “These are for the third floor, and this one’s for the sixth,” the clerk told Nancy.

  She fastened her eyes on the latter in surprise. The card was marked TOMMY JOHNSON. Was it her neighborhood friend? Curious, she went to Pediatrics on the sixth floor first. The boy’s mother was just emerging from his room.

  “Mrs. Johnson!” Nancy cried.

  Without questioning Nancy’s presence at Rosemont, the woman blurted out her story.

  “Tommy was riding his bicycle when a car cut in front of him. He and the bike toppled over. He hit his head on the curb and twisted his leg—broke it in two places.”

  Nancy winced at the thought. “Oh, how terrible! Has he been operated on yet?”

  “No, but he will be this afternoon.”

  “These are for Tommy,” Nancy said, indicating the small basket of flowers.

  She stepped into the room, where the shade was pulled low to keep out the bright sun. Tommy, a small bandage over one eyebrow, was sleeping quietly. He did not move until Nancy placed the flowers next to him. Then his eyes opened slowly.

  “Hi, Nancy,” the boy said. “Did you come to visit me?”

  “I sure did,” the girl replied cheerfully.

  She touched his cheek gently as an orderly appeared. “We must get him ready now,” the young man said, signaling the girl to leave.

  Mrs
. Johnson had remained outside the door, waiting to speak to her.

  “Did anyone see the car?” Nancy asked the woman.

  Tommy’s mother shook her head. “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure,” she said. “It happened on the corner of Hathaway Street and Elm Avenue.”

  Nancy squeezed Mrs. Johnson’s arm as she promised to help find the hit-and-run driver. At her first opportunity, she would make a trip to police headquarters.

  “Now I have two reasons to go,” Nancy said without explaining further.

  She said good-bye and headed for the fifth floor to speak with Lisa. To her surprise, the young woman had gone off duty.

  That’s strange, Nancy thought. I’m positive she was supposed to work until five o‘clock. I hope she took care of Cliffs ring for him.

  Instantly, the girl detective returned to the main floor and the admitting office, where she inquired about the valuable piece.

  “One moment,” the clerk said, and stepped into the inner office, shortly reappearing empty-handed. “I can find no notation about the deposit of a ring from Room 502, and it’s not in the safe.”

  “Are you positive?” Nancy inquired.

  “Quite,” the woman bristled.

  What had happened to Cliffs ring? Nancy wondered anxiously. And where was Lisa?

  As quickly as she could, Nancy checked out of the hospital and headed for Lisa’s home. It was near Hathaway Street, where Tommy’s accident had occurred. When Nancy reached the busy intersection at Elm Avenue, she noticed a tall, thin man with a briefcase enter a jewelry store. He was wearing a business suit and a white silk turban that offset his brown face and fine Indian features. But of even more interest was the man running after him. It was the bearded stranger who had attacked Cliff!

  I have to talk to him! Nancy said to herself.

  She swung her car into a space halfway down the street, pushed a coin into the meter, and ran toward the shop. She paused before entering.

  Lisa! she gulped when she saw the girl, who was talking with the businessman and the shopkeeper. Where was the other man? Had he seen Nancy coming and disappeared?