The Ringmaster's Secret Read online

  “I’ve made reservations for my son and myself at a small West End hotel. Now that you are here, I am sure they could take care of you and your father too.”

  Mr. Drew agreed, and they took a taxi. Pietro told his father what had happened to Nancy at the New York airport. A worried look came over the older man’s face and he said he hoped she would have no such experiences in England.

  “I’m sure I’ll be all right,” Nancy said. “But you men will have to let me do a little shopping. That awful man and his acid ruined some rather necessary articles in my wardrobe.”

  After breakfast, the group set off for the shopping trip and a visit to the pawnshop from which Nancy’s bracelet had come. When they reached Liberty’s Department Store, Mr. Drew suggested Nancy be given half an hour for her shopping.

  “We men will look around and meet you here,” he said, as he handed her some English money.

  Hurrying from one counter to another, Nancy made several purchases.

  “I ought to pick up a few souvenirs while I’m here,” she told herself. “I must get something for Aunt Eloise and Hannah. And for George and Bess. They were wonderful, helping me on the mystery.”

  Nancy had so much fun buying some of the lovely things for which the store was famous that she actually forgot the time. When she rejoined her companions, she apologized for keeping them waiting.

  “You did pretty well at that,” her father teased. “Most girls would have taken half a day to buy all those things,” he said, looking at her many packages.

  The pawnshop was not far away. The owner proved to be very helpful. Although it had been three years since the woman who had signed her name as Laura Flynn had visited his shop, he remembered her well.

  “I felt sorry for her,” he said. “She seemed very nervous. Apparently it was hard for her to part with the bracelet.” When he described her, Nancy was at once reminded of Lolita.

  “She’s the one I saw in Tewkesbury, all right!” Mr. Favia exclaimed.

  Nancy wanted to start at once to look for Lola Flanders. But the others insisted that she should do some sightseeing in London first. Mr. Drew wanted to call on his lawyer friend, so Pietro and his father showed Nancy the most famous sights of the old city.

  The next morning Mr. Drew hired a comfortable car to use during their stay in England. They set out early with Pietro’s father behind the wheel.

  Nancy was charmed with the countryside as they approached the town of Tewkesbury. Presently Mr. Favia asked her where she intended to search. He had already made inquiries in several places.

  “I have an idea that Lola Flanders may be in a nursing home of some sort,” Nancy said.

  “That’s a good hunch,” her father remarked. “Mr. Favia, how can we go about finding out where nursing homes are?”

  The retired clown suggested that they go to the medical registry. He drove to the building and went inside with Nancy. They learned that there were two large and eight small nursing homes in the area.

  As they went from one to another, Nancy asked if they had a patient by the name of either Lola Flanders or Laura Flynn. After they had inquired at six of them and received a negative reply, the three men became discouraged.

  “We have four more to investigate,” Nancy said cheerfully. “I’m not giving up yet!”

  The last home they came to was a very shabby place. The house was in disrepair and badly in need of paint. Unlike others in the neighborhood, it had a weedy, run-down garden.

  The men waited in the car while Nancy approached the house. The woman who answered her knock proved to be the owner. Her name was Mrs. Ayres and she was as shabby looking as her house. But in a moment, Nancy forgot all this.

  In reply to Nancy’s question, the woman said one of her patients was named Lola Flanders!

  “I’ve come all the way from the United States to see her,” said Nancy excitedly.

  Mrs. Ayres stared at the visitor. “Well, it’s too bad you went to all that trouble, miss,” she said. “You can’t see Lola Flanders. She has amnesial She doesn’t know who she is!”

  CHAPTER XVII

  The Hunt Narrows

  MRS. Ayres started to close the door of her nursing home.

  “Oh, please!” Nancy said hurriedly. “I must talk to you.”

  The woman grudgingly invited Nancy to step inside and ushered her into a dark living room. The furnishings were threadbare and dilapidated.

  “Would you mind telling me something about Mrs. Flanders?” Nancy asked, smiling disarmingly. “If she is the person I’m looking for, I know her daughter well. She is very anxious to find her mother.”

  Mrs. Ayres hesitated a moment, then said, “Lola Flanders is an American. She worked in a circus, where she had a bad fall. I don’t know much about that. A man named Jones came here and asked me if I could board Lola. When I said I could, he brought her here. That’s all I know.”

  “How long ago was this?” Nancy asked.

  “Let me see,” Mrs. Ayres said. “It must have been nearly ten years ago.”

  The date fitted the time when Lolita had been brought to America from Europe by the Kroons!

  “Would you mind describing this Mr. Jones?” Nancy asked.

  Mrs. Ayres’ description fitted Reinhold Kroon. The pieces of the puzzle were falling together—fast!

  “Did Lola Flanders bring any jewelry with her?” was Nancy’s next question.

  Mrs. Ayres looked startled. “Mr. Jones,” she said haltingly, “is kind of slow paying. He never sends checks but shows up here once a year with the money. About three years ago he didn’t come until very late. I couldn’t keep Lola here for nothing—you know how it is,” she said.

  Nancy nodded and the woman went on with her story. Mrs. Ayres said that when she had talked to Lola about the situation, her patient had produced a very beautiful bracelet, which she had kept hidden in her luggage.

  “Lola and I took a little trip to London to pawn it,” Mrs. Ayres continued. “She didn’t want to give her right name to the pawnbroker because she was kind of ashamed to have to pawn anything.”

  “So she used the name of Laura Flynn, didn’t she?” Nancy asked.

  Mrs. Ayres almost toppled from her chair in surprise. Nancy told her not to worry—that she had received the same bracelet as a gift and had been trying ever since to find out who the original owner had been.

  “How long has Mrs. Flanders had amnesia?” she asked.

  Mrs. Ayres replied that it was ever since Lola had come to live there. “She doesn’t have complete amnesia,” the woman said. “Every so often she seems to remember things very well. Then her memory will fade and for a long time she’ll be almost like a child. To tell you the truth, Miss Drew, I think that medicine Lola takes has something to do with it.”

  “She’s under a doctor’s care?” Nancy asked.

  Mrs. Ayres nodded and said that the physician was not a local man. He came once a month from London to see the ex-circus performer. He always left a supply of pills, which Lola was to take every day.

  “You’ll let me see Mrs. Flanders, won’t you?” Nancy queried.

  Once more, Mrs. Ayres seemed undecided as to what she should do. But finally she said, “I’m ready to wash my hands of the whole thing. It’s very hard to keep Lola here on the small amount of money Mr. Jones gives me. Come on, I’ll take you to her.”

  Nancy’s pulse quickened as she followed the woman up a narrow, winding stairway. Mrs. Ayres opened one of the bedroom doors and called out, “Lola, you have a visitor from the United States.”

  As Nancy walked in, she saw a small, sweet-looking woman seated in an old-fashioned rocker. There was no doubt in Nancy’s mind that she was Lolita’s mother!

  “How do you do, Mrs. Flanders,” she said, going forward and shaking hands with the woman. “I’ve come a long way to see you. How are you?”

  “It’s very nice to meet you, my dear,” Mrs. Flanders said. “I never have any visitors.”

  Nancy told h
er that a former friend lived close by. He had seen her at a circus and had tried to speak to her. “But you left rather quickly,” said Nancy.

  Mrs. Flanders looked questioningly at Mrs. Ayres. Apparently she did not remember the incident.

  “Oh yes, we went to the circus when it came here,” said Mrs. Ayres. “Who is this person you speak of?”

  “His name is Pietro Favia,” Nancy said, watching Lolita’s mother closely.

  Mrs. Flanders jumped from her chair. For a few seconds her mind appeared clear. “Pietro!” she cried excitedly. “I remember him very well. He was one of the best clowns in the circus!”

  Then suddenly the woman’s face seemed to cloud over and she sat down in the rocker. “What were you asking me, my dear?” she said sweetly.

  Mrs. Ayres shrugged as if to say to Nancy, “You see how it is.” But the young detective was not discouraged. She felt that with proper care Lola’s memory might be restored completely.

  “I haven’t told you,” said Nancy, “but I’m a friend of your daughter Lolita.”

  “Lolita,” Mrs. Flanders said softly. “My little Lolita died when she was very young.”

  Nancy was shocked. Apparently Mrs. Flanders had been told that her child was no longer living. Another of Kroon’s tricks!

  Nancy decided to change the subject. “Mrs. Flanders,” she said, “a queen once gave you a beautiful bracelet with gold horse charms, didn’t she?”

  Again Lola Flanders rose from her chair and her eyes flashed. “Yes,” she said excitedly. “Mrs. Ayres, where is my bracelet?”

  Quickly pulling up her coat sleeve, Nancy asked, “Is this it?”

  Mrs. Flanders stared at the bracelet as if she were seeing a ghost. Nancy took off the jewelry and put it around Mrs. Flander’s thin wrist.

  As the woman looked at it, all her uncertainty seemed to disappear. She smiled at Nancy and Mrs. Ayres.

  “Please tell me more about this bracelet. How did you get it, Miss Drew?”

  Nancy was brief. “It came from a shop in the States,” she said. “An aunt of mine saw it and bought it for me.”

  Nancy hurried on. Putting an arm about the woman, she said, “You think your daughter is no longer living. That isn’t true. Lolita is alive and well. She lives in the United States.”

  “My little girl is alive!” Lola Flanders exclaimed happily.

  Nancy nodded. “Would you like to see her?” she asked.

  “Oh yes!” Mrs. Flanders said softly.

  Nancy told her that Mr. Drew, who was a lawyer, was outside. He could make the legal arrangements for Lola Flanders to accompany them to the United States very soon. Nancy also revealed that Pietro Favia and his son were waiting with her father.

  “Oh, I want to see them!” Lola Flanders cried.

  Then suddenly she looked at her shabby clothes and shook her head. She said she could not possibly appear in public until she had her hair fixed and a new dress. Nancy and Mrs. Ayres laughed. For the next few minutes they helped Mrs. Flanders get ready. Nancy combed her hair into a more modern and becoming style. From a closet Mrs. Ayres brought out her own best dress. She wore it only to church, she said.

  “Put this on,” Mrs. Ayres suggested.

  “My little girl is alive!” Mrs. Flanders exclaimed.

  Lola Flanders slipped it over her head, and smiling happily as a girl, surveyed herself in the mirror. When she was ready, the former circus performer went downstairs. Nancy hurried outside and brought in the men.

  “Lola! Lola! This is wonderful!” the elder Pietro cried, kissing her.

  Mrs. Flanders blushed. Then Nancy introduced her father and the younger Pietro.

  “How soon could Mrs. Flanders be ready to leave?” Nancy asked Mrs. Ayres.

  “Any time,” the owner of the nursing home said. “She has very little in the way of luggage. It wouldn’t take ten minutes to pack it.”

  Before Lola Flanders knew what was happening, she and her suitcase were in the big automobile, and she was saying good-by to Mrs. Ayres. The trip back to London did not take long.

  Mr. Drew insisted that Mrs. Flanders be examined by another doctor. The physician revealed the patient had been under heavy medication and should be feeling her old self as soon as the drugs were out of her system.

  By the following morning, Mr. Drew had made arrangements for taking Lola Flanders to the United States. He and Nancy had decided not to cable Lolita. While they hoped the flight would not tire Mrs. Flanders too much, they agreed that it would be better to wait until they arrived home before telling Lolita the wonderful news.

  At the airport the two Pietros said good-by. The younger clown took Nancy aside. “Do you think I should tell Mrs. Flanders that Lolita and I are going to be married?” he asked.

  “Not yet,” Nancy advised. “Wait until she is feeling better.”

  The journey over the Atlantic was smooth and quick. When the plane landed in New York, a messenger was waiting with several telegrams. The stewardess came to Nancy’s seat and handed one of them to her.

  Quickly she tore it open, then stared at the paper in horror. The message had been sent from River Heights and read:

  LOLITA BADLY INJURED. WILL MEET YOU HOTEL COLES NEW YORK WITH DETAILS.

  BESS

  CHAPTER XVIII

  Dodging Spies

  FoR a moment Nancy sat in stunned silence. Then quickly she showed the telegram to her father, and in a whisper cautioned him not to read it aloud.

  “Mrs. Flanders mustn’t see it,” she said hurriedly.

  “You’re right,” her father agreed in a low voice. “This is dreadful news.”

  Trying not to show her agitation, Nancy helped Mrs. Flanders from the plane. The woman looked around in a daze. For a moment Nancy was afraid Mrs. Flanders might collapse from the strain of the trip. But suddenly the ex-circus performer smiled and said, “To think that I am back in the U. S. A.! Oh, it doesn’t seem possible that in a little while I’ll see my daughter again!”

  “We’ll have to find out where she is,” said Nancy gently. “I don’t know where the circus is right now.”

  Mrs. Flanders was trembling with excitement. While Mr. Drew took their baggage through Customs, Nancy suggested that she sit down.

  She led Mrs. Flanders to the women’s lounge and asked the matron if she would please look after her for a few minutes. The kindly woman promised to do so.

  “Please don’t let her out of here,” Nancy requested.

  “Don’t you worry, miss,” the matron said. “I’ll guard her as if she were my own relative.”

  Nancy hurried off to find her father. At the Customs desk, she said to him in a low voice, “Dad, I’ve just decided that the telegram is a hoax. Nobody in the States knew when we were flying back.”

  “It’s just possible,” said Mr. Drew, “that the doctor who attended Lola Flanders may have visited the nursing home and found out that she had left for the States. He could have cabled Kroon.”

  Nancy thought they should call Bess’s home. Going at once to the telephone booth, she placed the call. Bess herself answered.

  “Where are you?” she asked Nancy.

  “New York City. I just landed. Bess, did you send me a telegram?”

  “Why, no,” Bess replied in surprise. “What made you think I had?”

  Nancy told her that someone had signed her name to a very unfortunate message. Then she asked if Bess had heard from Lolita recently.

  “Yes. I just spoke to Erika. Lolita is fine. Why do you want to know?”

  Nancy told her about the latest developments. Bess gasped, first in horror that anyone could be so cruel as to send such a message, and then in delight to hear that Lolita’s mother had been found.

  “Where is the circus playing?” Nancy asked.

  “It’s moving to Melville tonight. They’ll be there for three days. That’s why Erika called me. She wanted to know about any news of Pietro.”

  Quickly Nancy gave Bess the details of the trip an
d concluded by saying that Pietro wanted to return to the circus as soon as possible and marry Lolita. “When Erika calls again, will you please give Lolita that message,” she concluded.

  Returning to her father, who had just received their baggage, Nancy told him the latest turn of events. Mr. Drew became grave.

  “One thing is sure. We are being spied upon. We’ll probably be followed. I suggest that we evade our pursuers and throw them off the track.”

  Nancy agreed. Suddenly an idea came to her. “I heard an announcement a few minutes ago that a helicopter’s taking off for Newark. Suppose we fly over there and then drive back to New York? Anybody following us could never get there in time.”

  Mr. Drew smiled. “That’s an excellent plan,” he said to his daughter.

  He went to buy the tickets while Nancy hurried to the women’s lounge for Lola Flanders and then led her to the helicopter.

  The trip to Newark and back was made in a little more than an hour. When they arrived at Eloise Drew’s apartment, the lawyer took his sister aside to ask if Lola Flanders might stay at her apartment temporarily. Under the circumstances, it seemed best to keep her in hiding until they found out who had sent the strange telegram.

  Eloise Drew was delighted with the arrangement. Nancy would stay with her also. Mr. Drew said he had to return to his office at once and would catch an afternoon plane to River Heights. After luncheon, Nancy said she would like to do an errand. Actually she wanted to talk to Captain Smith and tell him what she had found out in England. Miss Drew also said that she had an errand, which must be taken care of.

  “Do you mind staying alone, Mrs. Flanders?” Nancy asked.

  The woman laughed. It was the first time Nancy had heard her laugh and it reassured the girl as to Lola Flanders’ condition.

  “Go ahead,” Mrs. Flanders said. “You know, I feel like a new person. I have no more fears.”

  Nancy and her aunt left the apartment together. Miss Drew said she would not be gone more than twenty minutes, and Nancy could take all the time she needed. They separated, and Nancy went at once to call on Captain Smith.