The Clue in the Crumbling Wall Read online

  “What worries me,” said Nancy, “is whether we can get in. Of course, I have a key to the front door, but it may have been padlocked.”

  When they reached it the girls were amazed to find the door ajar.

  “Hector may be here,” Bess whispered worriedly. “Or perhaps Cobb and Biggs.”

  There was not a sound of anyone stirring about the premises. Noiselessly, Nancy and the girls slipped inside the castle.

  “I have a hunch,” Nancy whispered, “that Juliana is imprisoned in the tower, not in this building. Let’s look there first.”

  The girls tiptoed along the winding corridor to the courtyard garden where the entrances to the towers were. Nancy tried the door of the one in which she had been imprisoned. It was unlocked.

  “Will you two please stand guard while I go upstairs?” she asked her friends.

  They nodded, and Nancy ascended the circular iron staircase. She was gone several minutes. Bess was becoming uneasy about her friend when she heard Nancy returning.

  “No one there,” the young detective reported. “I looked out over the grounds, too, but didn’t see anything suspicious.”

  “Where next?” George asked.

  “Here’s a trap door,” Nancy replied, pointing toward the floor. “What it opens into I haven’t been able to find out. But some tools that weren’t here before are in that corner now. I believe someone left them to lift the trap door.”

  Carefully Nancy inserted a finely edged tool in the crack, then slipped a thin chisel through the space and depressed a catch. Using a crowbar, the girls raised the heavy metal door.

  Cautiously they peered into the darkness below. Nancy and George snapped on their flashlights. They revealed a flight of iron steps leading into a long corridor. Grilled doors opened from it.

  “Anyone down there?” Nancy called.

  No answer. Her own voice echoed weirdly. Just then Nancy thought she heard a sound like a moan. She hurried down the stairway, followed by Bess and George. Several cells lined one wall.

  Nancy flashed her light into the first cell. It was a tiny room, musty and dark. The only visible sunlight filtered in through a high, barred window.

  “These rooms look like old dungeons,” Bess commented with a little shiver.

  “Probably the Heaths used them for storing food and other things,” George said.

  The next two cells were empty. But as the girls approached the fourth, they distinctly heard someone moan. Pausing to listen, they caught a pitiful cry from the far end of the corridor.

  “Let me out! Let me out! Please help me!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George hurried up the passageway. A small woman, crippled and weak, had pulled herself to the grilled doorway. She dung there, frightened and beseeching.

  “Juliana Johnson!” Nancy said, recognizing the lovely face in Mrs. Fenimore’s photographs.

  “No! No!” The prisoner shrank back. “I am Miss Fleur.”

  “We’ll talk about that later,” Nancy told her kindly, and unbolted the door.

  She and Bess assisted the woman along the musty corridor, while George beamed the flashlights. It was slow work because of Juliana’s weak condition.

  Nancy introduced herself and the girls. “We’ve come to help you,” she added. “Who brought you here?”

  “Have you been mistreated?” Bess put in.

  “I’ve had enough to eat and drink,” the former dancer said. “But I’ve been so perplexed.”

  Questioned by Nancy, she revealed what had happened to her. A man, who had shown an identification card of a government agent, had taken her away from Jardin des Fleurs in a car.

  “It was dark when we reached this place. I was hurried inside and locked in the cell. I was told it was because of not paying enough income tax,” she ended the story. “What does it all mean?”

  “That’s not true,” Nancy replied. “My father inquired. A great deal has happened since you left your home ten years ago,” she added.

  “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “You are Juliana Johnson,” Nancy said with quiet conviction. “Why not admit it?”

  “No, no, never!”

  “Do you realize where you are now?” Nancy asked, taking a different tack. “You are at Heath Castle.”

  “Heath Castle! You mean—Walt—?”

  “Walter Heath died a number of years ago,” Nancy said gently. “He loved you to the end and willed all his property to you.”

  “Walt—dead!” the woman whispered. “Then he thought of me as I used to be—beautiful, and a talented dancer.”

  “He loved you for yourself,” Bess spoke up. “Not for your fame.”

  Juliana brushed a wisp of straggling gray hair from her eyes. Her slumping shoulders stiffened.

  “But I’ve lost all my beauty!” she cried out. “Oh, I want to be left alone. I have my farm. Take me back there, please!”

  “You mean you don’t want Heath Castle?” George asked.

  “I loved Heath Castle, and I loved Walt,” Juliana said brokenly. “But I hid myself away so that he never would see me in this condition. Perhaps this is foolish pride, but it seems best that I finish out my days as I am doing.”

  “Your sister Vera wants to be with you very much,” said Nancy. “She is a widow now with a little girl who looks a great deal like you.”

  Juliana was deeply moved. “Vera has a daughter?” she murmured. “Where is she?”

  “The child’s name is Joan. She and her mother, now Mrs. Fenimore, live in River Heights. Joan likes flowers and gardening, just as you do. I can’t tell you the whole story now, but the two of them need you.”

  “If I had known before—” Juliana began. “At the beginning of my retirement I sent a letter to my sister but it came back. I had no idea where she was.” .

  “Mrs. Fenimore and Joan want to leave the neighborhood where they live,” Nancy put in. “Joan would be so happy in these surroundings.”

  “Are the gardens still beautiful?” the former dancer asked dreamily.

  Nancy hated to tell the woman the truth. She tried to soften it by saying, “They have been badly neglected. But they could be landscaped again. However, only a person who truly loved the place would want to do it.”

  “To me it would be a challenge,” Juliana said with sudden spirit. “A memorial to Walt. But the castle and its grounds really are pretty large for three people.”

  “What a wonderful place it would be for handicapped children!” Bess mused.

  “And I’d like to help them!” Juliana announced. “Yes, I’ll make this place a beautiful spot again! I’ll bring Joan and Vera here. And later we’ll see about the other children.”

  “Good!” Nancy said. “We’ll take you right to your sister, and then I’ll go to settle my score with Mr. Hector.”

  The group had finally reached the foot of the stairway. Before the former dancer could be helped up the steps, a sardonic laugh echoed down to them.

  “I’ll make sure you don’t get out!” a voice threatened.

  The next instant the trap door dropped into place with a crash. A heavy object was placed on top of it. Then all was quiet in the dungeon!

  CHAPTER XIX

  Release and Capture

  NANCY darted up the stairway to try opening the trap door. As she had feared, it did not budge. George and Bess pushed with all their might.

  “It’s hopeless,” said Bess, panting.

  “We’re all prisoners!” Juliana Johnson exclaimed.

  Nancy was fearful this new shock might undermine Juliana’s health completely, so she said, “I feel sure there’s no cause for alarm. When we fail to show up, help will come. I left a note at home.”

  “But will the trap door be noticed by anyone?” Juliana asked dubiously.

  “Perhaps I can find another exit,” Nancy said.

  While Bess remained with Juliana, Nancy and George, using flashlights, searched the various cells. They could find no exit. The onl
y openings were the high grilled windows.

  “Nancy,” George said suddenly, “I brought a police whistle. Suppose I blow it.”

  “Great!” said Nancy. “If you stand on my shoulders, you should be able to reach one of the windows and signal for help.”

  George and Nancy stepped into the nearest cell and went to the window. With agility George climbed to Nancy’s shoulders and clung to the iron grills of the window. She blew a dozen shrill blasts with her whistle.

  “I hope it’ll work,” she said, after dropping lightly to the floor.

  She and Nancy wondered how long they might have to wait and how long Juliana could stand the added strain. They returned to the others and sat down on the steps.

  Juliana had lapsed into silence, but Nancy gradually drew her out. One of the first questions Nancy asked was whether or not Walter Heath had given her a large pearl.

  “No, but he was going to. It was being made into a ring when I went away.”

  Nancy next inquired if Juliana’s nance had had a special name for her.

  “Yes. He called me his little Cinderella,” she said, smiling at the recollection. “Once Walt asked me to put on one of my dancing slippers and make a print in a block of newly made cement. He said he was going to set it in the garden wall opposite Poet’s Nook. I suppose it was a lover’s foolish idea.”

  “That wasn’t foolish,” Nancy replied. “It was very sensible. That footprint clue in the crumbling wall will prove your right to the Heath fortune against any claim of an impostor!”

  Juliana said, “Please tell me the whole story. I am terribly confused.” As kindly as she could, Nancy related all she knew.

  “How dreadful!” Juliana exclaimed. “And what harrowing experiences you have had!”

  “Tell me something,” said Nancy. “It was reported that the hospital found a lot of money on you. Did you plan to stay away a long time?”

  “Oh no. I was going to buy an expensive personal gift for Walt from a man who wanted cash. Also I planned to purchase something for our home.” The former dancer sighed deeply.

  Suddenly the woman slumped forward. In an instant Nancy caught her and placed the limp body on the floor.

  “Juliana has fainted!” Bess cried out.

  Nancy was fearful that the woman was suffering from something more serious than a faint, because the former dancer’s pulse was very weak. Under the flashlight her face looked chalk-white.

  “The poor woman!” Bess murmured. “She has been through so much!”

  The girls tried to revive Juliana, and finally succeeded.

  “We must get out of here!” said Nancy.

  At that moment they heard distant shouts out side.

  “Listen!” George commanded.

  The voices were coming closer. George blew several loud blasts on her whistle.

  “Where are you?” somebody called. “We’re the police. There are four of us.”

  Nancy shouted that they were below the trap door in the tower. She called out directions and in another five minutes the four prisoners were released.

  “Lieutenant Masters!” exclaimed Nancy. “How glad I am to see you! Did my father get in touch with you?”

  “No. Hannah Gruen did. And who is this?” she asked, smiling at the former dancer.

  Juliana herself replied to the question. When Nancy suggested that she ought not to expend her strength talking, the woman insisted she felt much better.

  “Who shut you in here?” the policewoman demanded.

  “I’m not sure,” Nancy answered. “The voice was disguised, I think. But it might have been Daniel Hector. He must have escaped.”

  “Oh, no, he didn’t,” said a voice triumphantly. “We nabbed him climbing over a wall. Also these two birds.”

  Two more policemen appeared. With them, handcuffed, were Cobb and Biggs. Behind the men was Daniel Hector.

  “This is an outrage!” the lawyer snapped. “You can’t arrest me. I have a perfect right to be on this property. The others are trespassing.”

  Coolly Nancy presented her evidence against the lawyer. She accused him of stealing jewelry from the estate, a claim that could be proved by photographs found in Walter Heath’s box.

  “And that’s not the worst,” she said to him. “You pretended to look for the woman who was to inherit the estate. But when you did locate her you kept it a secret so you could help yourself to the estate. When you found out I was on the trail of the real Juliana Johnson, you had her kidnapped and locked in the dungeon here! To protect yourself, you produced an impostor with whom you had made a bargain.”

  “Ridiculous!” Hector cried furiously. “Lies—lies! Nothing but lies!”

  Hector had not seen Juliana yet. She was seated on the winding stairs in the tower behind Nancy. The young sleuth now stepped aside. Hector stared at the crippled dancer.

  “So what?” he demanded after a moment. “I had nothing to do with bringing her here! And she can’t prove she’s the missing dancer. Just look at her!”

  “Oh, yes, I can prove it,” Juliana retorted with spirit. “The imprint of my dancing shoe is embedded in a wall at Heath Castle. Furthermore, I still have the slipper that made the imprint!”

  “What’s that got to do with it? The real Juliana is at the Riverview Hotel!” the lawyer blustered. “She has a note to prove her identity. A note signed Walt.”

  “Don’t you mean half a note?” Nancy asked. “I have the rest!”

  Cobb and Biggs looked startled. “You?” Biggs cried. “Where did you find it?”

  “At the factory after the explosion.”

  The three men hung their heads guiltily, admitting they had been there. Biggs added, “Hooper here found the note in a desk Hector sold. He tore it in two pieces, expecting the lawyer to put up more money for the second half. When one piece was lost, we thought Hector had found it.”

  In answer to Nancy’s question if he were Teddy’s father, the man nodded sullenly.

  Nancy explained to Juliana that Teddy had learned about the estate from Joan. Teddy had told his father that Juliana was missing. Cobb and Biggs got together. Biggs suspected his former employer had hidden some valuable things in the estate walls and the two men convinced Hector he ought to hire them to look for the treasure. When they found a few items, the men kept them.

  “You guessed right, but I can’t figure out how,” said Biggs.

  “I know nothing about all this!” shouted the lawyer.

  “Yes, you do,” Cobb Hooper said bitterly. “You were behind the whole thing. You brought the dogs to guard the estate, but later I kept ‘em tied up and then took ’em back to the kennel.”

  “We were afraid of them ourselves,” Biggs added.

  “Mr. Hector,” said Lieutenant Masters, “it looks as if the case against you is pretty serious.”

  “I tell you I never saw these men before,” the lawyer insisted. “Nor that crippled woman, either. Now all of you get out of here!”

  For a long second there was silence. Then Juliana slowly got to her feet. Her eyes ablaze, she pointed a finger at Hector and exclaimed:

  “Arrest that man! Arrest him for kidnapping!”

  The wily lawyer’s jaw dropped. Then he recovered. “The woman is crazy!” he shouted.

  “The night you came to my farm and brought me here you wore a disguise,” Juliana said accusingly. “At first I didn’t recognize you. But your voice-I know your voice.” Her eyes snapped with anger as she added, “I will bring charges against you to the fullest extent of the law for Walter Heath’s sake!”

  Daniel Hector knew he was beaten. But he would not give up yet. He glared at Nancy and cried out:

  “If you had minded your own business, there wouldn’t have been all this trouble! But don’t be so smug. You think there are treasures and money for Juliana. You’re wrong. There’s nothing in the estate but debts. She has inherited a wreck!”

  CHAPTER XX

  A Last Surprise

  “NOTHING in the
estate!” Nancy exclaimed. “What do you mean?”

  The angry lawyer refused to reply. He and the other prisoners were led away by the police. Nancy, Miss Masters, and Juliana headed for the Fenimore home. When they arrived, Juliana asked Nancy to go in first and break the news.

  “Oh, you’ve found my sister!” Mrs. Fenimore cried, after Nancy had told her. “You wonderful girl! I don’t care if we never have Heath Castle. To think Juliana is alive, and we can be together again!”

  Gently Nancy warned her about Juliana’s condition. The news was a shock, but Mrs. Fenimore took it bravely as Juliana was brought in. The sisters embraced and both cried a little. Then over and over the joyful women expressed their gratitude to Nancy.

  The young sleuth said she was glad to have accomplished what she had, but was not satisfied to leave the case yet. For days afterward she was tormented by all the distressing angles of the affair.

  In the meantime, Juliana had claimed her inheritance and had requested that all legal matters be attended to by Mr. Drew. The lawyer had lost no time in having Hector and the other men prosecuted, and also brought charges against the woman who had impersonated the dancer.

  “Hooper and Biggs admit having found several bottles of dye and a formula marked, ‘Perfected Formula,’ hidden in the cloister walls,” Mr. Drew told Nancy. “They’ve surrendered them and I’ve had an analysis made. The dye has dried up but a newly made liquid would be of great value commercially if produced under the same conditions that Walter Heath used.”

  “What were they?” Nancy asked.

  “Sea salt was mixed with the spring water in the pond. Marine whelks, which are a huge type of mollusk, were imported and put into it. They exude a beautiful purple dye. After Heath’s death the whelks vanished.”

  Nancy was thoughtful. “It would take a good bit of money to start up that business, wouldn’t it?”

  “Yes,” her father replied. “But it would be profitable for Juliana. The special shade of purple is difficult to imitate synthetically.”

  Nancy had been hoping that Hector’s dire statement regarding the estate would not be true, but part of it was. Mr. Drew had learned that the total Heath assets were twenty dollars, the walled grounds, and a ruined castle with a few pieces of furniture. The debts, however, were illegal loans, which Hector had made against the estate and which he would have to pay back.