The Clue in the Crumbling Wall Page 12

  Account books had been falsified to show that huge sums had been paid to various detective agencies, supposedly for the purpose of conducting a search for the missing Juliana. But the wily lawyer had kept the money.

  “Unfortunately we can’t recover it,” Mr. Drew remarked to his daughter. “Hector has spent it all and has little of his own left.”

  “How about the Heath pearl, Dad? You didn’t find it?”

  “No. I’ll keep on trying, of course. Frankly, I don’t feel hopeful.”

  “Somewhere on those grounds,” said Nancy, “there must be something of value hidden. After all, Walter Heath told Sam Weatherby there was another treasure.”

  “I’ve had the place searched, Nancy. Workmen even removed the imprinted block of cement below the wall fountain, but there was nothing behind it. Heath Castle will have to be sold.

  “But I’m afraid,” he went on, “the sale price won’t be much, considering its present condition. Juliana wants to keep the property, but she can’t. She has barely enough funds to operate Jardin des Fleurs.”

  It was some consolation to Nancy that she had brought the sisters together, but she felt as if she had failed in one of the most vital tasks of her life.

  “Even if I did find Juliana, I wasn’t able to save the estate or help the Fenimores financially. And they need money so badly.”

  Unwilling to give up, Nancy drove out to the estate one day after lunch to try to find the treasure which Walter Heath had mentioned.

  “What can it be and where?” she asked herself. “It’s supposed to be in plain sight.”

  Nancy worked her way doggedly through the neglected grounds and examined the statuary. Though not an expert, she could tell that none of it was unusual. She looked at a grove of fruit trees which might become a source of profit. But the trees were too old.

  Finally the young detective, hot, thirsty, and discouraged, arrived at the little garden off the cloister. As Nancy walked toward the fountain, she suddenly stopped short and stared at the sparkling stream of water.

  “That’s it!” she exclaimed softly. “Spring water! Cold, clear, delicious, and probably pure. It might even have minerals in it!”

  Nancy could visualize the estate as a health resort where people came to rest and drink the water.

  “Or it could be bottled and sold!” she thought.

  Excited by the idea, Nancy quenched her thirst, then hurried home to telephone her father. He promised to have the spring tested in the morning.

  The next afternoon the Drews were delighted to learn that the water was pure and rich in minerals. A further search of the grounds revealed several more beneficial springs.

  “The supply is plentiful,” Nancy told Bess and George. “Dad will probably make arrangements with a bottling company to market it.”

  In the meantime Nancy had remembered the beautiful shells she had found in the pond. Saying nothing to Juliana, she sent one of them to a company in New York which specialized in making fine mother-of-pearl jewelry. The answer came back promptly: the firm would buy at a good price all similar shells.

  “Nancy, you’re wonderful!” exclaimed Juliana when Nancy telephoned her about it.

  The bottling company also offered financial backing to convert part of the castle and grounds into a health resort.

  “That’s wonderfull” Juliana cried out. “Now I can afford to turn a section of the castle and grounds into a free vacation spot for handicapped children, and, of course, my sister and Joan and I will occupy some of the rooms.

  “You’ve certainly changed our lives, Nancy,” she added gratefully. “And now the Heath property will become beautiful again!”

  A year later, upon invitation, Nancy, Bess, George, Mr. Drew, and Lieutenant Masters journeyed to the estate to view the many changes. The great gate stood open. The visitors drove up a winding road between avenues of trimmed hedge and trees. The three girls smiled when they recalled how different everything had seemed to them on their former trips there.

  “It doesn’t make me feel a bit creepy now,” Bess remarked.

  “Those penetrating eyes that spied on us from behind the evergreen,” Nancy said, “were Hooper’s or Biggs’.”

  “With Cobb Hooper in jail, what has become of Mrs. Hooper and Teddy?” asked George.

  “She’s working,” the policewoman replied. “Teddy has been sent to a special school, where he’s doing very well.”

  The visitors got out of the car near the restored loggia and paused to admire the repairs to the crumbling walls. The gardens were a mass of bloom. The lawn in front of the castle was velvety smooth with no weeds.

  “How did Juliana ever accomplish so much in such a short time?” George asked.

  Nancy replied, “She imported her gardeners from Jardin des Fleurs.”

  Bess called the girls’ attention to the children who had come out on the lawn to play. A few were in wheelchairs, but they pushed themselves about with amazing skill.

  “Juliana is doing remarkable work with these youngsters,” said Lieutenant Masters. “She’s putting new spirit into them. Joan is developing into a fine little girl, too. She’s proving to be a great help to her aunt.”

  “What is she doing?” Bess asked.

  “Juliana, with the help of a therapist, teaches exercises to the children to restore nimbleness to their bodies. Joan does the demonstrating. And incidentally, Joan is the delight of her aunt. She’s going to be a wonderful dancer someday.”

  “And carry on from where Juliana left off,” Bess said dreamily.

  The callers were greeted cordially by the mistress of Heath Castle and her sister, Mrs. Fenimore, now restored to health and looking very attractive with a fashionable new hairdo. Both women thanked Bess and George for their excellent assistance to Nancy in solving the mystery.

  Joan hugged Nancy and the others happily. “Oh, come see my garden,” she exclaimed, and showed them a small plot of beautifully tended Bowers in front of the castle.

  Tea was served on the terrace. Afterward, Juliana led her guests to the little garden where Nancy had discovered the spring. Children were playing on the shady walks.

  “The water is helping to build strong bodies,” Juliana said proudly. “Oh, it means so much to me to bring these boys and girls here! I’d never have forgiven myself if I had returned to a lonely life at Jardin des Fleurs. By the way, I sold it at a nice profit.”

  Mr. Drew had been waiting for this very moment. He took a tiny box from his pocket and slipped it into Juliana’s hand.

  “A little surprise,” he explained, smiling.

  The woman slowly raised the lid. Nestled in purple velvet was a ring set with a huge pearl.

  “Not the one Walt meant for me?” Juliana asked, dazed.

  “Yes.”

  “But how did you recover it? I thought Mr. Hector had found the ring and sold it.”

  “He had, but Dad was able to trace it,” Nancy spoke up. “Mr. Hector failed to notice the inscription inside.”

  Tears filled Juliana’s eyes as she read, “ To my Cinderella.’ I’ll wear the ring always in memory of Walt,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Oh, Nancy, my dear friend—and Mr. Drew, and Bess and George, and Lieutenant Masters, also my dear friends—you’ve made me very, very happy.”

  The young detective smiled, glad that everything had worked out so successfully. Her gaze wandered along the stately cloister of Heath Castle. With the afternoon sun sinking low, the shadowy passageway had never looked more beautiful.

  It was peaceful and quiet, and nothing was further from Nancy’s thoughts than a new mystery. Yet in a short time she would be working on another exciting case called, Mystery of the Tolling Bell.

  “Don’t thank me for helping you, Juliana,” she said earnestly, taking the woman’s hand. “Thank the crumbling walls. They contained the clues that brought you here. To me Heath Castle will always remain a symbol of mystery and romance.”

  />   Carolyn Keene, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall