The Hidden Staircase Read online

  A few moments later Harry walked in alone. “Oh hello, miss,” he said to Nancy, barely raising his eyes from the floor.

  “Won’t you sit down, Harry,” Nancy asked, in. dicating a chair alongside hers. “It was nice of the captain to let me talk to you.”

  Harry scated himself, but said nothing. He twisted his driver’s cap nervously in his hands and kept his gaze downward.

  “Harry,” Nancy began, “I guess your children would feel terrible if you were kidnaped.”

  “It would cut ’em to pieces,” the cabman stated emphatically.

  “Then you know how I feel,” Nancy went on. “Not a word from my father for two whole days. If your children knew somebody who’d seen the person who kidnaped you, wouldn’t they feel bad if the man wouldn’t talk?”

  Harry at last raised his eyes and looked straight at Nancy. “I get you, miss. When somethin’ comes home to you, it makes all the difference in the world. You win! I I can identify that scoundrel Greenman, and I will. Call the captain in.”

  Nancy did not wait a second. She opened the door and summoned the officer.

  “Harry has something to tell you,” Nancy said to Captain Rossland.

  “Yeah,” said Harry, “I’m not goin’ to hold out any longer, I admit Greenman had me scared, but he’s the guy who rode in my cab, then ordered me to keep my mouth shut after that other pas. senger blacked out.”

  Captain Rossland looked astounded. It was evident he could hardly believe that Nancy in only a few minutes had persuaded the man to talk!

  “And now,” Nancy asked, “may I talk to your prisoner?”

  “I’ll have you taken to his cell,” the captain responded, and rang for a guard.

  Nancy was led down a corridor, past a row of cells until they came to one where the man with the crinkled ear sat on a cot.

  “Greenman,” said the guard, “step up here. This is Miss Nancy Drew, daughter of the kidnaped man. She wants to talk to you.”

  The prisoner shuffled forward, but mumbled, “I ain’t goin’ to answer no questions.”

  Nancy waited until the guard had moved off, then she smiled at the prisoner. “We all make mistakes at times,” she said. “We’re often misled by people who urge us to do things we shouldn’t. Maybe you’re afraid you’ll receive the death sentence for helping to kidnap my father. But if you didn’t realize the seriousness of the whole thing, the complaint against you may turn out just to be conspiracy.”

  To Nancy’s astonishment, Greenman suddenly burst out, “You’ve got me exactly right, miss. I had almost nothing to do with takin’ your father away. The guy I was with—he’s the old-timer. He’s got a long prison record. I haven’t. Honest, miss, this is my first offense.

  “I’ll tell you the whole story. I met this guy only Monday night. He sure sold me a bill of goods. But all I did was see that your pop didn’t run away. The old-timer’s the one that drugged him.”

  “Where is my father now?” Nancy interrupted.

  “I don’t know. Honest I don‘t,” Greenman insisted. “Part of the plan was for somebody to follow the taxi. After a while Mr. Drew was to be given a whiff of somethin’. It didn’t have no smell. That’s why our taxi driver didn’t catch on. And it didn’t knock the rest of us out, ’cause you have to put the stuff right under a fellow’s nose to make it work.”

  “And the person who was following in a car and took my father away, who is he?”

  “I don’t know,” the prisoner answered, and Nancy felt that he was telling the truth.

  “Did you get any money for doing this?” Nancy asked him.

  “A little. Not as much as it was worth, especially if I have to go to prison. The guy who paid us for our work was the one in the car who took your father away.”

  “Will you describe him?” Nancy requested.

  “Sure. Hope the police catch him soon. He’s in his early fifties—short and heavy-set, pale, and has kind of watery blue eyes.”

  Nancy asked the prisoner if he would dictate the same confession for the police and the man nodded. “And I’m awful sorry I caused all this worry, miss. I hope you find your father soon and I wish I could help you more. I guess I am a coward. I’m too scared to tell the name of the guy who talked me into this whole thing. He’s really a bad actar-na tellin’ what’d happen to me if I gave his name.”

  The young sleuth felt that she had obtained all the information she possibly could from the man. She went back to Captain Rossland, who for the second time was amazed by the girl’s success. He called a stenographer. Then he said good-by to Nancy and Helen and went off toward Greenman’s cell.

  On the way back to Twin Elms, Helen congratulated her friend. “Now that one of the kidnapers has been caught, I’m sure that your father will be found soon, Nancy. Who do you suppose the man was who took your father from Greenman and his friend?”

  Nancy looked puzzled, then answered, “We know from his description that he wasn’t Gomber. But, Helen, a hunch of mine is growing stronger all the time that he’s back of this whole thing. And putting two and two together, I believe it was Willie Wharton who drove that car.

  “And I also believe Wharton’s the one who’s been playing ghost, using masks at times—like the gorilla and the unshaven, long-haired man.

  “Somehow he gets into the mansion and listens to conversations. He heard that I was going to be asked to solve the mystery at Twin Elms and told Gomber. That’s why Gomber came to our home and tried to keep me from coming here by saying I should stick close to Dad.”

  “That’s right,” said Helen. “And when he found that didn’t work, he had Willie and Greenman and that other man kidnap your dad. He fig ured it would surely get you away from Twin Elms. He wanted to scare Miss Flora into selling the property, and he thought if you were around you might dissuade her.”

  “But in that I didn’t succeed,” said Nancy a bit forlornly. “Besides, they knew Dad could stop those greedy land owners from forcing the railroad to pay them more for their property. That’s why I’m sure Gomber and Wharton won’t release him until after they get what they want.”

  Helen laid a hand on Nancy’s shoulder. “I’m so terribly sorry about this. What can we do next?”

  “Somehow I have a feeling, Helen,” her friend replied, “that you and I are going to find Willie Wharton before very long. And if we do, and I find out he really signed that contract of sale, I want certain people to be around.”

  “Who?” Helen asked, puzzled.

  “Mr. Barradale, the lawyer, and Mr. Watson the notary public.”

  The young sleuth put her thought into action. Knowing that Monday was the deadline set by the railroad, she determined to do her utmost before that time to solve the complicated mystery. Back at Twin Elms, Nancy went to the telephone and put in a call to Mr. Barradale’s office. She did not dare mention Gomber’s or Willie Wharton’s name for fear one or the other of them might be listening. She merely asked the young lawyer if he could possibly come to Cliffwood and bring with him whatever he felt was necessary for him to win his case.

  “I think I understand what you really mean to say,” he replied. “I take it you can’t talk freely. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll ask the questions. You want me to come to the address that you gave us the other day?”

  “Yes. About noon.”

  “And you’d like me to bring along the contract of sale with Willie Wharton’s signature?”

  “Yes. That will be fine.” Nancy thanked him and hung up.

  Turning from the telephone, she went to find Helen and said, “There’s still lots of daylight. Even though we can’t get inside Riverview Manor, we can hunt through the outbuildings over there for the entrance to an underground passage to this house.”

  “All right,” her friend agreed. “But this time you do the searching. I’ll be the lookout.”

  Nancy chose the old smokehouse of Riverview Manor first, since this was closest to the Twin
Elms property line. It yielded no clue and she moved on to the carriage house. But neither in this building, nor any of the others, did the girl detective find any indication of entrances to an underground passageway. Finally she gave up and rejoined Helen.

  “If there is an opening, it must be from inside Riverview Manor,” Nancy stated. “Oh, Helen, it’s exasperating not to be able to get in there!”

  “I wouldn’t go in there now in any case,” Helen remarked. “It’s way past suppertime and I’m starved. Besides, pretty soon it’ll be dark.”

  The girls returned to Twin Elms and ate supper. A short time later someone banged the front-door knocker. Both girls went to the door. They were amazed to find that the caller was Mr. Dodd, the realtor. He held out a large brass key toward Nancy.

  “What’s this for?” she asked, mystified,

  Mr. Dodd smiled.

  “It’s the front-door key to Riverview Manor. I’ve decided that you can look around the mansion tomorrow morning all you please.”

  CHAPTER XIX

  The Hidden Staircase

  SEEING the look of delight on Nancy’s face, Mr. Dodd laughed. “Do you think that house is haunted as well as this one?” he asked. “I hear you like to solve mysteries.”

  “Yes, I do.” Not wishing to reveal her real purpose to the realtor, the young sleuth also laughed. “Do you think I might find a ghost over there?” she countered.

  “Well, I never saw one, but you never can tell,” the man responded with a chuckle. He said he would leave the key with Nancy until Saturday evening and then pick it up. “If Mr. Gomber should show up in the meantime, I have a key to the kitchen door that he can use.”

  Nancy thanked Mr. Dodd and with a grin said she would let him know if she found a ghost at Riverview Manor.

  She could hardly wait for the next morning to arrive. Miss Flora was not told of the girls’ plan to visit the neighboring house.

  Immediately after breakfast, they set off for Riverview Manor. Aunt Rosemary went with them to the back door and wished the two good luck. “Promise me you won’t take any chances,” she begged.

  “Promise,” they said in unison.

  With flashlights in their skirt pockets, Nancy and Helen hurried through the garden and into the grounds of Riverview Manor estate.

  As they approached the front porch, Helen showed signs of nervousness. “Nancy, what will we do if we meet the ghost?” she asked.

  “Just tell him we’ve found him out,” her friend answered determinedly.

  Helen said no more and watched as Nancy inserted the enormous brass key in the lock. It turned easily and the girls let themselves into the hall. Architecturally it was the same as Twin Elms mansion, but how different it looked now! The blinds were closed, lending an eerie atmosphere to the dusky interior. Dust lay everywhere, and cobwebs festooned the corners of the ceiling and spindles of the staircase.

  “It certainly doesn’t look as if anybody lives here,” Helen remarked. “Where do we start hunting?”

  “I want to take a look in the kitchen,” said Nancy.

  When they walked into it, Helen gasped. “I guess I was wrong. Someone has been eating here.” Eggshells, several empty milk bottles, some chicken bones and pieces of waxed paper cluttered the sink.

  Nancy, realizing that Helen was very uneasy, whispered to her with a giggle, “If the ghost lives here, he has a good appetitel”

  The young sleuth took out her flashlight and beamed it around the floors and walls of the kitchen. There was no sign of a secret opening. As she went from room to room on the first floor, Helen followed and together they searched every inch of the place for a clue to a concealed door. At last they came to the conclusion there was none.

  “You know, it could be in the cellar,” Nancy suggested.

  “Well, you’re not going down there,” Helen said firmly. “That is, not without a policeman. It’s too dangerous. As for myself, I want to live to get married and not be hit over the head in the dark by that ghost, so Jim won’t have a bridel”

  Nancy laughed. “You win. But I’ll tell you why. At the moment I am more interested in finding my father than in hunting for a secret passageway. He may be a prisoner in one of the rooms upstairs. I’m going to find out.”

  The door to the back stairway was unlocked and the one at the top stood open. Nancy asked Helen to stand at the foot of the main staircase, while she herself went up the back steps. “If that ghost is up there and tries to escape, he won’t be able to slip out that way,” she explained.

  Helen took her post in the front hall and Nancy crept up the back steps. No one tried to come down either stairs. Helen now went to the second floor and together she and Nancy began a search of the rooms. They found nothing suspicious. Mr. Drew was not there. There was no sign of a ghost. None of the walls revealed a possible secret opening. But the bedroom which corresponded to Miss Flora’s had a clothes closet built in at the end next to the fireplace.

  “In Colonial times closets were a rarity,” Nancy remarked to Helen. “I wonder if this closet was added at that time and has any special significance.”

  Quickly she opened one of the large double doors and looked inside. The rear wall was formed of two very wide wooden planks. In the center was a round knob, sunk in the wood.

  “This is strange,” Nancy remarked excitedly.

  She pulled on the knob but the wall did not move. Next, she pushed the knob down hard, leaning her full weight against the panel.

  Suddenly the wall pushed inward. Nancy lost her balance and disappeared into a gaping hole below!

  Helen screamed. “Nancy!”

  Trembling with fright, Helen stepped into the closet and beamed her flashlight below. She could see a long flight of stone steps.

  “Nancy! Nancy!” Helen called down.

  A muffled answer came from below. Helen’s heart gave a leap of relief. “Nancy’s alive!” she told herself, then called, “Where are you?”

  “I’ve found the secret passageway,” came faintly to Helen’s ears. “Come on down.”

  Helen did not hesitate. She wanted to be certain that Nancy was all right. Just as she started down the steps, the door began to close. Helen, in a panic that the girls might be trapped in some subterranean passageway, made a wild grab for the door. Holding it ajar, she removed the sweater she was wearing and wedged it into the opening.

  Finding a rail on one side of the stone steps, Helen grasped it and hurried below. Nancy arose from the dank earthen floor to meet her.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” Helen asked solicitously.

  “I admit I got a good bang,” Nancy replied, “but I feel fine now. Let’s see where this passage. way goes.”

  The flashlight had been thrown from her hand, but with the aid of Helen’s light, she soon found it. Fortunately, it had not been damaged and she turned it on.

  The passageway was very narrow and barely high enough for the girls to walk without bending over. The sides were built of crumbling brick and stone.

  “This may tumble on us at any moment,” Helen said worriedly.

  “Oh, I don’t believe so,” Nancy answered. “It must have been here for a long time.”

  The subterranean corridor was unpleasantly damp and had an earthy smell. Moisture clung to the walls. They felt clammy and repulsive to the touch.

  Presently the passageway began to twist and turn, as if its builders had found obstructions too difficult to dig through.

  “Where do you think this leads?” Helen whis. pered.

  “I don’t know. I only hope we’re not going in circles.”

  Presently the girls reached another set of stone steps not unlike the ones down which Nancy had tumbled. But these had solid stone sides. By their lights, the girls could see a door at the top with a heavy wooden bar across it.

  “Shall we go up?” Helen asked.

  Nancy was undecided what to do. The tunnel did not end here but yawned ahead in blackness. Should they follow it before tr
ying to find out what was at the top of the stairs?

  She voiced her thoughts aloud, but Helen urged that they climb the stairs. “I’ll be frank with you. I’d like to get out of here.”

  Nancy acceded to her friend’s wish and led the way up the steps.

  Suddenly both girls froze in their tracks.

  A man’s voice from the far end of the tunnel commanded, “Stop! You can’t go up there!”

  CHAPTER XX

  Nancy’s Victory

  THEIR initial fright over, both girls turned and beamed their flashlights toward the foot of the stone stairway. Below them stood a short, unshaven, pudgy man with watery blue eyes.

  “You’re the ghost!” Helen stammered.

  “And you’re Mr. Willie Wharton,” Nancy added.

  Astounded, the man blinked in the glaring lights, then said, “Ye-yes, I am. But how did you know?”

  “You live in the old Riverview Manor,” Helen went on, “and you’ve been stealing food and silver and jewelry from Twin Elms!”

  “No, no. I’m not a thief!” Willie Wharton cried out. “I took some food and I’ve been trying to scare the old ladies, so they would sell their property. Sometimes I wore false faces, but I never took any jewelry or silver. Honest I didn’t. It must have been Mr. Gomber.”

  Nancy and Helen were amazed—Willie Wharton, with little urging from them, was confessing more than they had dared to hope.

  “Did you know that Nathan Gomber is a thief?” Nancy asked the man.

  Wharton shook his head. “I know he’s sharp—that’s why he’s going to get me more money for my property from the railroad.”

  “Mr. Wharton, did you sign the original contract of sale?” Nancy queried.

  “Yes, I did, but Mr. Gomber said that if I disappeared for a while, he’d fix everything up so I’d get more money. He said he had a couple of other jobs which I could help him with. One of them was coming here to play ghost—it was a good place to disappear to. But I wish I had never seen Nathan Gomber or Riverview Manor or Twin Elms or had anything to do with ghosts.”