The Invisible Intruder Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER I - The Haunted Canoe

  CHAPTER II - Strange Whispering

  CHAPTER III - The Floating Ghost

  CHAPTER IV - The Octopus

  CHAPTER V - The Suspicious Flight

  CHAPTER VI - A Curious Prophecy

  CHAPTER VII - The Mysterious Box

  CHAPTER VIII - Rare. Medium. Well Done.

  CHAPTER IX - Motel Apparition

  CHAPTER X - The Trap

  CHAPTER XI - Spooky Mistake

  CHAPTER XII - Code Identification

  CHAPTER XIII - The Vanishing Horse

  CHAPTER XIV - The Shell Clue

  CHAPTER XV - Outwitted

  CHAPTER XVI - Aim! Fire!

  CHAPTER XVII - Phantom Prisoners

  CHAPTER XVIII - Warning to Nancy

  CHAPTER XIX - The Weird Room

  CHAPTER XX - The Invisible Intruder

  THE INVISIBLE INTRUDER

  “Nancy Drew, forget the ghost hunt!” a male voice rasps on the telephone.

  Despite the mysterious warning, the pretty teen-age detective and a group of friends start out on a ghost-hunting expedition to investigate five places reputed to be haunted. Danger strikes at once when Nancy tries to overtake the canoe that paddles itself on Lake Sevanee. Thrills and chills mount as the ghost hunters pursue a phantom horse and ghost rider racing across the field that surrounds the Red Barn Guesthouse. During these happenings and other weird events Nancy finds herself pitted against a dangerous adversary, clever enough to operate invisibly.

  In a dramatic climax Nancy outwits her enemy in an eerie mansion and traps him in the fantastic Room of Skulls. This unusually intriguing story will delight all Carolyn Keene fans.

  “You are in my power and must help me!” the medium whispered

  Copyright © 1997, 1969 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

  Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., a member of The Putnam &

  Grosset Group, New York. Published simultaneously in Canada. S.A.

  NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES® is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster,

  Inc. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-07747-4

  2008 Printing

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  CHAPTER I

  The Haunted Canoe

  “THIS is about the most exciting invitation I’ve ever had!” Nancy exclaimed.

  Attractive, titian-haired Nancy waved a sheet of paper toward her lawyer father, handsome Carson Drew, who was seated in a chaise longue beside a high rose hedge in their back yard.

  He smiled. “It must be very special,” he said. “Those lovely blue eyes of yours are fairly dancing.”

  Nancy explained that the letter was from Helen Corning Archer, a close friend, who had been married a short time. Her husband Jim had read several articles about haunted houses and had recently heard rumors about ghost haunts some distance from River Heights.

  “They thought it would be fun to organize a summer vacation group to prove or disprove the stories. They have invited Bess, George, and me to join the ghost hunters.”

  “Who else will be going?” asked Mr. Drew. “It seems to me that in a search like that there might be safety in numbers.”

  Nancy smiled. “Well, Ned has been asked.”

  It was Mr. Drew’s turn to grin. Ned Nickerson was a special friend of Nancy’s, and her father realized how pleased his daughter was to have Ned included.

  “And how about Burt and Dave?”

  “Yes, they’ve been invited also.”

  Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans were special dates of Nancy’s closest girl friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne.

  Nancy went on to say that seven couples were included. “Is it okay with you, Dad?” she asked.

  “Wait until I read the letter,” he teased. “Hm! Helen says none of them know how to solve a mystery and they want you to take charge. Well, under the circumstances I don’t see how you can refuse.”

  “Oh, thank you, Dad.”

  Nancy rushed to the telephone and called Helen. “Your invitation is really cool,” she said. “I’d love to go and I’m sure the others would too. I’ll phone them and find out. Helen, could we all meet here at my house this evening so you can tell us our itinerary?”

  Helen said that she and Jim would be glad to come and discuss the ghost hunt with Nancy and her friends. She explained that it was not necessary for the rest of the group to join them because they already knew the plans.

  Before their arrival Nancy went upstairs to make a list of the clothes she would take.

  “I wonder what Hannah would say about this expedition,” Nancy thought, smiling to herself.

  Hannah Gruen was the kindly housekeeper who had lived with the Drews ever since the death of Nancy’s mother fifteen years ago. Mrs. Gruen at the moment was out of town visiting relatives.

  Presently the telephone rang and Nancy answered it. A man’s voice said, “Nancy Drew? ... I am warning you—beware of the dead! Forget the ghost hunt!”

  “Who is this?” Nancy asked, but the caller had hung up.

  Nancy put down the phone and stared into space. So someone wanted to frighten her into staying home! “But who?” she wondered. “And why, and how did the caller know about our trip?” Then, recalling she had told her father the plans in the yard, she realized that there could have been an eavesdropper behind the rose hedge.

  “Well, he’s not scaring me out of the ghost hunt,” Nancy said to herself. “This just makes it doubly interesting. And maybe doubly dangerous!” she thought. “I’ll have to watch my step.”

  About eight o’clock the Archers arrived. Helen was very pretty, and her tall, good-looking husband was full of fun. Within a few minutes Bess and Dave drove up.

  Bess, slightly plump, blond, and pink-cheeked, was a good sport but inclined to be a bit timid. “Hi, everybody!” she said. “This trip sounds scary. Catching villains and turning them over to the police is one thing, but hunting for ghosts—that’s something else again.”

  Helen looked surprised. “Do you want to back out? There’s still time.”

  Dave answered for her. He was a blond, rangy boy with green eyes. He gave a hearty chuckle and said, “You know perfectly well Bess isn’t going to back out. She wouldn’t miss helping to solve a mystery for anything. And as a matter of fact, I wouldn’t either. But if Bess won’t go, that means I can’t.”

  Bess made a face at him. “You people are all so serious. Can’t I have a little fun pretending to be scared?”

  Before anyone could answer, George and Burt walked in. George was Bess’s cousin but very unlike her. She enjoyed her boy’s name, wore her hair short, and liked simple clothes. She was always ready to help Nancy solve a mystery. Burt particularly admired George’s adventuresome spirit.

  He was a good athlete, and shorter and huskier than Dave and Ned. All three were on the football team at Emerson College.

  “Forget the ghost hunt!” a gruff voice warned

  The last one to arrive was Ned Nickerson. “Greetings,” he said. “I’m sorry I’m late.” Turning to the Archers, he added, “Say, thanks for including me in the ghost hunt.”

  Nancy felt that this tall, good-looking boy was just about everything a girl could wish for. He was wonderful company, lots of fun, yet serious and practical whenever the young detective enlisted his aid on a case.

  Because the summer evening was warm, Nancy served lemonade. Then she said, “Now that you’re here, there’s something you ought to know.” She told about the warning telephone call.

  Ned gave a low whistle. “Sounds as if we’
re walking into trouble.”

  “I knew it!” Bess exclaimed. “I just knew it!”

  Burt grinned. “Anybody want to chicken out?”

  There was a chorus of noes, which Bess joined a little late. Then Helen and Jim began to tell about the proposed ghost hunt.

  “Our first stop,” Helen explained, “will be at Pine Grove Camp on Lake Sevanee. It’s a delightful small resort. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the boating and swimming.”

  “And where or who is the ghost?” Ned asked.

  Jim answered, “It’s not really an apparition. There’s a haunted canoe on the lake.”

  “Haunted canoe!” George exclaimed. “How could a canoe be haunted?”

  “You won’t believe this,” he replied, “but the canoe propels itself.”

  Burt shook his head. “Sounds impossible to me. Something must make it go.”

  “Spooks,” Helen replied. “Now I’ll tell you about the next place where there’s a mystery for us to solve. It’s at a medium’s prophecy hut. People say that during seances it always thunders.”

  “You mean that there’s a thunderstorm?” Bess asked.

  Helen and Jim shrugged. “No,” Helen answered. “The people inside hear thunder.”

  Bess looked nervously from one to another. “I don’t like the sound of it,” she said finally.

  Nancy, intrigued by the mysteries that lay ahead, had made no comment. Now she urged Helen and Jim to continue. “How many places are we going to visit?”

  “Five in all,” Helen answered. “The third place is the Red Barn Guesthouse. Several persons have seen a phantom horse racing across a field at night, with a ghost rider running after it.”

  Dave burst into laughter. “This I want to see. A ghost horse that dumped its rider!”

  Everyone laughed but became serious a moment later when Jim said that the fourth stop was at a mountaintop inn. “It was once an old fort and the ghosts of prisoners are reported to be flitting around,” he announced.

  George’s eyes sparkled. “This trip gets more interesting every minute. And now let’s hear about the final place. It’s probably a dilly.”

  Helen explained that they would not be staying at the place because it was a private home. “The owner is a skull and shell collector. We couldn’t find out anything except that the house is set in a huge estate and night after night there’s an invisible intruder in the mansion.”

  “An invisible intruder?” Burt asked.

  Once more the two leaders of the ghost hunters shrugged. “We’ll have to track down that story,” Helen replied. “Well, do you all still want to go?”

  “More than ever,” Nancy answered quickly. “If we accomplish all this, we’ll be solving five mysteries in one trip!”

  “That’s right,” Helen said. “Can you be ready early Monday afternoon?”

  All said they would be and it was decided that the six of them would use Nancy’s car.

  Two days later the whole group met at the Archers’ house. Nancy and her friends were introduced to Bab and Don Hackett, Rita and Rod Rodriguez, and Ann and Bill Blanchard. Nancy liked all of them.

  “Helen told us about your mysterious warning, Nancy,” said Bab. “You haven’t any idea who it could have been?”

  “No.”

  “Sounds kind of scary,” said Ann. “We’ll have to keep our eyes open.”

  The ghost hunters reached Lake Sevanee late in the afternoon. It was such a hot day Ned suggested that he and Nancy, Bess, George, Burt, and Dave go swimming off the dock of Pine Grove Camp.

  “We girls will meet you in a jiffy,” Nancy said. “Won’t even take time to unpack.”

  She was assigned to a cabin with Bess and George. Ned, Burt, and Dave were in the next cabin, while Helen and Jim and the other couples were in their own cabins nearby.

  A few minutes later the three couples were diving and swimming in the lake. Bess looked very happy. She declared that the water was perfect.

  “I just can’t believe that this place is haunted,” she said. “It’s too nice a spot for ghosts.”

  But a moment later she cried out in excitement, “I see it! Over there! The canoe! It’s paddling itself!”

  The others gazed toward the middle of the lake. A long, sleek, aluminum canoe with a blue stripe along the gunwale was actually paddling itself across the water!

  Nancy called, “Let’s swim out and overtake it!”

  She made a long shallow dive and began swiming furiously underwater. Ned, George, and Burt followed.

  CHAPTER II

  Strange Whispering

  As the foursome raced along through the water, Ned took the lead.

  “I’ll bet there are a couple of spoofers under that canoe!” he called.

  He and Burt reached the moving craft at about the same time and dived under it. To their surprise no one was there. The canoe continued to glide through the water.

  “That’s strange,” Ned thought.

  The two boys surfaced, planning to grab the paddles which were digging in deep and fast. But with a sudden spurt the canoe shot far ahead of its pursuers.

  Meanwhile, Nancy and George had caught up to the boys and watched in amazement as the craft sped away.

  With a sheepish grin Ned said, “No one was underneath. I guess the canoe is haunted!”

  The unexplainable incident sent a tingling sensation down the spines of the four frustrated swimmers. There was no earthly explanation for the strange event!

  “Let’s swim back to the dock and take a motorboat,” Nancy suggested. “Maybe we can catch up with the canoe.”

  When they reached shore, Bess and Dave were waiting. “Did you solve the mystery?” Bess asked.

  “No,” Nancy admitted, and explained that the canoe did indeed propel itself. “We’re going out in a motorboat to look for it. Want to come along?”

  “Sure thing,” Dave replied.

  Ned ran to the lobby in the main building and obtained permission and a key to the boat. Within a short time the entire lakeside had been investigated. There was no sign of the haunted canoe.

  “Do you suppose somebody took it away on top of a car?” George asked.

  “Could be,” Burt replied. “Or a truck.”

  George went on, “Anybody have an idea as to what made the canoe propel itself? There has to be a reason.”

  No one answered, but an idea was forming in Nancy’s mind. She did not express it aloud because at the moment it seemed too far-fetched.

  “But it just might work,” she said to herself.

  By the time the six searchers returned to the camp dock, they had to hurry to dress for supper. A bell had already sounded, announcing the meal. The ghost hunters were given a large round table in the center of the dining room.

  As soon as they were seated, Bab said, “I hear some of you tried to catch the phantom who paddles the canoe.”

  Nancy smiled. “There must be two—one fore and one aft. Two paddles were working at top speed.”

  “So the story is true,” Rita spoke up. “You people don’t want to believe in ghosts, but I’m not ashamed to.”

  Rod laughed. “Don’t mind my wife. She’s a student of the occult, but she has never convinced me about phantoms.”

  The others laughed, but made no comment because a waitress came up to take their orders.

  “We have roast beef tonight,” she said. “How do you like it?”

  The girls chose medium, while the boys wanted it rare. Burt grinned. “Raw meat for the he-men.”

  “You’ll need it to conquer the spooks,” George commented.

  “No, all we need is Nancy Drew,” Ned said with a smile. He reminded the group of the many cases she had solved, beginning with The Secret of the Old Clock. The latest had been the exciting Spider Sapphire Mystery. “This one could be even more of a dilly than the rest,” he added.

  There were few other guests in the dining room and Helen said, “I was talking to the desk clerk. He told me almost no one ha
s registered for the summer. The story about the haunted canoe and other strange happenings in the area have made people afraid to go out on the lake.”

  “That’s a shame,” Bess spoke up. “But I can’t say I blame them. Helen, you should have seen that canoe paddling itself up the lake—as if it were in a race.”

  Jim put in, “I wish I had. The owner of this camp, Mr. Leffert, has gone to a great deal of trouble and expense to make it an attractive place. He said that if things keep on the way they are, he’ll have to sell it.”

  “But who would buy it now?” Dave asked.

  Ann spoke up. “We’ll solve this mystery and everything will be all right,” she declared.

  Her husband Bill added, “I’ll bet we’ll be off to our second ghost hunt before you know it. Won’t we, Nancy?”

  “I don’t think it will be that easy,” she replied.

  When everyone finished eating, Bess got up from the table with a sigh. “I hope you’re right. But that phantom paddler is pretty clever.”

  Everyone filed out of the dining room. The evening was chilly, and Mr. Leffert had had a roaring fire built in the huge fireplace at the lounge end of the lobby. The ghost hunters gathered around it and continued to discuss the mystery

  Presently George remarked that she thought they should take time out from the mystery of Lake Sevanee and talk about something else. “Anybody know a good joke?” she asked.

  “I’ll oblige,” Jim Archer answered. “Ever hear about the cowboy who had a record for finding strays? Nobody could figure it out. It seems one of the cows told him where they were, after he’d learned to moo their language.”

  “That’s terrible,” Don said with a groan.

  “Got a better one?” Jim asked.

  “Sure. About the cow who jumped over the moon and came down via the milky way.”

  The ensuing laughter had barely subsided when the outside door to the lobby burst open and a blast of wind rushed in. Papers were sent flying off the tables and desk.

  The gust hit the fireplace with such force that sparks and ashes whirled across the room. There was a mad scramble by the young people to stamp out the sparks and rescue some papers which had blown toward the fire.