The Mystery of the 99 Steps Read online

  “Will you please ask Mr. Drew to call his daughter at the Bardots’ number,” Nancy said.

  “Yes, mademoiselle.”

  When Nancy reported this latest bit of news to her friends, the others looked puzzled. She herself was fearful that her father might be in danger —perhaps from attack by Louis Aubert! Resolutely she shook off her worry. Surely Carson Drew would not easily be caught off guard!

  The three girls, after a late, light supper, tumbled wearily into bed. In the morning Mr. Drew telephoned Nancy. She thought that his voice did not have its usual cheerful ring to it.

  “I’m leaving here at once,” he told his daughter glumly. “I will come directly to see you.”

  A sudden idea flashed into Nancy’s mind. “Why don’t you bring Monsieur Leblanc along? I have some exciting things to tell you which I am sure will interest him too.”

  Nancy did not dare say any more for fear some servant might be an accomplice of Aubert’s and be listening in on the conversation.

  “I’ll ask Leblanc. Hold the wire.” The lawyer was gone for a minute, then returned to say that his host would be happy to see Nancy again. “He’ll postpone going to his office until this afternoon.”

  When the two men arrived, Nancy greeted Monsieur Leblanc graciously. Then, excusing herself, she took her father aside. “Dad, tell me your story first.”

  The lawyer said he had tried diplomatically to impress Leblanc with rumors he had heard of the financier’s transactions. “I told him that reports of his selling so many securities was having a bad effect on the market and that his employees were panicking at the prospect of his factory closing down.”

  Mr. Drew said Monsieur Leblanc had been polite and listened attentively, but had been totally uncommunicative.

  “I can understand why!” Nancy then gave a vivid account of the girls’ experiences of the previous day.

  When she finished, Mr. Drew said he could hardly believe what he had just heard. “This Arab alchemist must be captured and his racket exposed, of course. The question is what would be the best way to do it without tipping him off? I certainly don’t want Monsieur Leblanc to be harmed.”

  Nancy suggested that they tell the financier the whole story from beginning to end. “Then I think he should keep his date with the Arab this afternoon and turn the money over to him as planned.

  “In the meantime, Bess, George, you, and I could go with a couple of police officers and hide near the 99 steps. Then, at the proper moment, we can pounce on Louis Aubert, or whoever this faker is.”

  Mr. Drew smiled affectionately at his daughter and put an arm around her. “I like your idea very much, Nancy. I promised you a lovely gift from Paris. Now I think I ought to give you half my fee!”

  Nancy’s eyes twinkled. “Only half?” she teased.

  She and Mr. Drew returned to the others and Nancy whispered to Madame Bardot, “Would it be possible for you to find errands for the servants outside the house so that nobody will overhear our plans?”

  “Yes, indeed. I’ll send them to town.”

  As soon as the servants had left, Mr. Drew said, “Monsieur Leblanc, my daughter has an amazing story to tell you. It vitally affects your financial holdings and perhaps even your life.”

  The man’s eyebrows raised. “This sounds ominous. Miss Drew is such a charming young lady I cannot think of her as having anything so sinister to tell me.”

  Bess burst out, “Nancy’s wonderful and she’s one of the best detectives in the world!”

  Monsieur Leblanc clapped a hand to his head. “A detective!” he exclaimed. “Do you mean to say you have discovered why I am selling my securities?”

  Nancy smiled sympathetically. “I believe I have.”

  Then, as Monsieur Leblanc listened in amazement, she related the story of Claude and Louis Aubert. She told about the many ways they had tried to keep the Drews from helping Monsieur Leblanc, and finally how she and George had seen the financier come into the secret laboratory at the foot of the 99 steps.

  “You saw me!” he cried out. “But where were you girls?”

  When Nancy told him they had hidden behind the bins, he knew she was not inventing the story. Leblanc sat silent for fully a minute, his head buried in his hands.

  Finally he spoke up. “To think I, of all persons, have been duped! Well, it is only fair I give you my story. In the first place, if this chemist is actually someone named Louis Aubert, I do not know it. To me, the man is Abdul Ramos. I never saw him in any other clothes than Arabian.”

  Monsieur Leblanc said that Abdul had come to his office one day a couple of months before and showed him several very fine letters from Frenchmen, as well as from Arabs, attesting to his marvelous experiments.

  Nancy at once thought of Claude Aubert. He could very well have forged the letters!

  The financier continued, “Abdul wanted financial backing for a great laboratory he planned to build. Because of the letters, and some experiments he later showed me, I was convinced he knew how to turn certain things into gold. Yesterday when I saw the solid gold emerge from the heated charcoal—” Monsieur Leblanc’s voice trailed off and he shook his head gloomily. “How could I have been so foolish!”

  After a pause the financier admitted what Nancy had already overheard—he had intended to sell all his holdings and put the money into precious stones. “Since gold is the standard for all currency in international trade, I really feared the economy of the world would be disastrously harmed when Abdul’s ability to transform substances into gold became known.”

  Mr. Drew remarked, “That explains the large quantity of uncut diamonds you bought recently.”

  The Frenchman looked surprised but did not comment.

  Nancy spoke up. “Also, you figured that diamonds would replace gold as the world standard.”

  “Precisely. I realize now that my self-interest is unforgivable. It was neither patriotic nor humanitarian. Instead I’ve been unforgivably greedy. Thank you for showing me up. This has been a great lesson to me and I shall certainly make amends for it.”

  George asked, “Monsieur Leblanc, what about the number 9?”

  He explained that Abdul Ramos knew a great deal about astrology and the magic of numbers. “He convinced me that on the 9th, 18th, and 27th days of each month new secrets were revealed to him and he threatened to announce his discoveries to the world.”

  George next inquired if he had left money on the 99th step at Versailles where M9 had been chalked.

  Monsieur Leblanc nodded. “I did not see Abdul that day, but left the money there at exactly the time he had told me—directly after lunch.”

  When Leblanc was told of George’s experience, the Frenchman was shocked. “All I can say is I am very sorry. I was foolish to let that man control me and cause so much worry.” He shook his head sadly.

  Bess, too, had a question for him. “Is Abdul married?”

  The financier shook his head. “I have never heard him speak about a wife.”

  Nancy had been mulling over Leblanc’s remark that he had allowed himself to be controlled by Louis Aubert and would like to make amends. She described her plan for exposing the fake alchemist.

  “I will be glad to cooperate in any way,” said the Frenchman, and Mr. Drew nodded approval. Soon afterward, Monsieur Leblanc left for his office.

  Late that day three cars converged on the chateau ruin in the woods near Chambord. One vehicle carried Mr. Drew and the three girls, another two police officers, Beaumont and Careau. In the third was Monsieur Leblanc. The first two cars were well concealed among the trees and the passengers proceeded cautiously on foot through the woods.

  At the small clearing near the ruin, they paused until they were certain no one was around. Then they darted to the 99 steps. Again the lanterns were lighted. The group tiptoed down.

  Nancy peered through the barred opening of the door. Everything inside the laboratory looked the same as the day before, even to the glowing fire in the open furnace. Th
e grating lay over it and she wondered if Abdul planned to show Leblanc another experiment.

  Softly Nancy opened the door and one by one the watchers went inside and hid themselves behind the bins. Ten minutes went by, then Monsieur Leblanc strode in. He tinkled the bell and in a few seconds the Arab came through the rear door.

  “Ah, I see you are on time, monsieur,” he said smugly, with a little bow.

  The financier reached into a pocket and brought out a roll of bills. He did not hand them over at once, however, saying, “Do you agree to a waiting period in return for this?”

  “Have I not always kept my word?” Abdul said haughtily.

  Leblanc laid the bills on a bench and immediately the Arab snatched up the money and tucked it into a pocket.

  “How much more time do you wish before I reveal my great work to the world?” he asked.

  “At least a week,” Monsieur Leblanc replied. “I have several big transactions I must complete first.”

  “A week?” Abdul repeated, and began to walk around the room.

  Presently he paused at the door which led to the 99 steps. The hidden group could see him reach toward it and heard something click. Nancy wondered if he had used a secret latch to lock the door and why. Were they all in danger?

  Suddenly apprehensive, she watched the Arab intently as he returned to the furnace. He gazed at the fire, then with a brisk movement picked up a small sack from a bench. He hastened to the rear door, opened it, and whirled about. His eyes held a menacing gleam.

  “Leblanc,” he cried out, “you have double-crossed me! I know you have spies hiding in this room because I followed you to the Bardots! But I shall not be caught. Everyone of you shall perish!”

  Without warning, the Arab threw the sack onto the furnace grate, then backed out, slammed the door and bolted it from the other side!

  CHAPTER XX

  Surprising Confession

  IT took but the fraction of a second for Nancy and the others trapped in the laboratory to realize the danger they faced. The sack hurled onto the furnace might explode at any moment!

  Instantly Officer Beaumont jumped from his hiding place and made a grab for the bag. Fortunately, it had not yet ignited. As a precaution, he dropped it into a pail of water which stood nearby.

  By this time everyone else had jumped up. Nancy exclaimed, “We mustn’t let that awful man Abdul get away!”

  She started for the doorway through which the Arab had fled, but then remembered he had bolted it from the outside. Those in the room were prisoners!

  Nancy collected her wits. First she thanked Beaumont for saving them all. He shrugged this off and said, “We will have to break down the door and go after that crazy fooll”

  Suddenly Nancy stared across the room in horror. Monsieur Leblanc had collapsed and was lying on his back, apparently unable to get up. Bess had already noticed this and was searching in vain for fresh water to revive him. Frantically she dug into her dress pocket and pulled out a small vial of perfume. Bess held it under Leblanc’s nostrils. He took a deep whiff and almost instantly sat up.

  In the meantime, the two policemen and Mr. Drew were heaving their bodies against the rear door. There was a loud splintering sound and finally the door began to give way.

  The second it crashed down, the officers scrambled out and dashed up the corridor. Nancy started to follow, but her father held her back. “Let those lawmen handle the job,” he said. “Beaumont was right when he called the faker crazy. No telling what he’ll do.”

  The young sleuth became agitated at the delay. But only ten minutes had elapsed when they heard footsteps and voices in the corridor. Everyone gazed out and in the dimly lighted area they could see the police officers returning.

  With them were Louis Aubert and the grayishblond woman!

  “She was the one who was singing the madrigals!” Nancy exclaimed.

  Those in the laboratory could hear the woman saying, “My husband is a great scientist! He could not do anything wrong!”

  “We’ll see about that,” said Officer Beaumont. “Anybody who wears a disguise and cheats people out of money by pretending he can turn almost anything into gold has a lot to answer for!”

  Careau added, “To say nothing of threatening lives!” Madame Aubert said no more.

  As the four entered the laboratory, Louis glared malevolently at Leblanc, Mr. Drew, and the girls. At first he would answer no questions, but when confronted with accusations from the financier, Nancy, Bess, and George, the would-be scientist broke down and admitted to engineering the holdup of Monsieur Leblanc as well as practically all of the other charges against him.

  Bess, proud of Nancy’s sleuthing, said, “He has confessed to just about everything you suspected him of—even the canoe incident and to hiring two boys to follow us and get information.”

  Nancy, too, was elated—not only at the capture, but also because her father’s mystery had been solved. There were still a few questions in her mind which she now put to the prisoner.

  “Your brother Claude forged the letters of recommendation which you showed to Monsieur Leblanc, didn’t he?”

  “Yes.”

  Aubert also revealed that it was Claude who had written the letters about a helipad being built on the Drews’ roof.

  The young detective suggested that the various other happenings in River Heights had been Claude’s work, while those in France were Louis’s schemes.

  “That’s right. I suppose you’ll get it out of me sooner or later how I knew about you Drews, so I might as well tell you. A servant at the Tremaines is a friend of mine. It was he who stole an invitation for me to the soirée. He used to eavesdrop on conversations and found out that Mr. Drew had been retained secretly to investigate why Leblanc was selling his holdings.

  “I did not want my scheme ruined, so I sent Claude to the United States. With his ability to forge all kinds of documents it wasn’t hard for him to enter your country under another name. Unfortunately your father had left. But he did learn that you were coming and he did his best to frighten you into staying home.”

  “You used lots of names besides Abdul,” George said to him. “Monsieur Neuf, the Green Lion, the Red King.”

  Aubert admitted this, adding that Claude, too, had used Neuf and the “Lion” on the warnings to the Drews. The prisoner bragged, “I know a lot about astrology and the practices of ancient alchemists. That’s what gave me the idea about the gold and using alchemists’ symbols.” The M9 chalk mark had been left by Aubert at L’Orangerie as the place for Leblanc to leave money, but he had rubbed it out upon spotting the girls there.

  During the interrogation, his wife had been sitting on a bench, pale with shock. She kept daubing her eyes with a handkerchief and murmuring, “I knew nothing about this.”

  Nancy went over and sat down beside the distraught woman. The young sleuth had not forgotten she had a mystery of her own to solve!

  In a kind voice Nancy asked, “Were you Mlle. Lucille Manon?”

  “W-why, yes!”

  “I’m a friend of Mrs. Josette Blair. You were her governess many years ago. She has a recurring dream that frightens her. We thought perhaps you could explain the meaning of it.”

  The woman looked puzzled. “I do not understand,” she said. “I took care of Josette when she was only three years old.”

  “Her dream dates back to that time,” Nancy explained, and told about the nightmare.

  As Nancy finished speaking, the woman began to weep aloud. “Yes, yes, I can explain. In a way Louis was responsible for this. I suppose he has always mesmerized me—as he has Monsieur Leblanc. During the time I was taking care of Josette, he was a guest at a chateau where the little girl and I had been left for a short time while her parents were away.”

  “Louis and I fell in love, and as it was not considered proper for a guest and an employee to date, we had to meet secretly.”

  Madame Aubert went on to say that Louis had already come upon the ruin with th
e underground alchemist’s laboratory.

  “It became our meeting place. One day I had to bring Josette along. He did not want her to recognize him or to see the laboratory for fear she would tell others about it. Louis wanted to keep the place a secret until he was ready to reveal a great scientific fact to the world.”

  The ex-governess went on, “I thought up the idea of playing blindman’s buff. I took Josette to the woods and then blindfolded her. After we had played the game a while, I led her here. When I told her she was going down steep steps, Josette became afraid. I said I would hold her hand and she should count. Of course she could not count very far, so I did the rest.”

  “And the total, of course, turned out to be 99,” Nancy put in.

  “That is right,” Lucille Aubert answered. “Louis thinks the alchemist who built this place chose that number of steps because it’s a multiple of 9, a magic number for alchemists. The chateau dates back to the fourteenth century.”

  The ex-governess continued, “After Louis and I had looked at his laboratory, we three went back up the steps. Josette was still blindfolded. Just as she reached the top, she lost her balance and started to fall. Louis caught her, but for a long time after that, poor little Josette used to cry out in her sleep.”

  “No wonder the 99 steps made such a deep impression on her,” Bess remarked.

  Madame Aubert hung her head. “Not long after the incident, Josette’s mother discharged me. I guess she suspected I was responsible for scaring her daughter. A short time later Louis and I were married.”

  Her husband spoke up. “When I found out the Bardot sisters were going to the Drews’ home, I eavesdropped at the Bardots a good deal. One day I heard Madame Bardot read a letter from Mrs. Blair about the dream and I decided to send the warning note to her. Claude carried on from there. My wife didn’t know anything about it.”

  Nancy said she was sure that when Mrs. Blair heard the story, her nightmares would cease. Nancy expressed her sympathy to Madame Aubert for her present predicament.