The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk Read online

  Nelda asked, “Could anyone order this lock and key?”

  “Oh yes,” Lou replied.

  All the time he had been demonstrating the unusual lock in his hands, he was stealing glances at Nancy’s trunk under her bed. Nancy assumed he suspected it was different from the one for which he had made the key. She was afraid he might question her about it.

  “If he does, how should I answer him?” she thought. Luckily, Lou said nothing.

  Nancy wondered whether or not he had come to the girls’ cabin of his own volition. Or had Heinrich reported his suspicions to the locksmith and requested that he look for himself? Showing off a lock and key would be a perfect cover-up.

  A few minutes later Lou left. At once the three girls began to discuss his visit. All wondered if he had brought the unique lock because he thought they would be interested. Or was this just an excuse to look at the brass-bound trunk in cabin one twenty-eight?

  Bess checked her watch. “Visiting hours at the infirmary are beginning,” she said. “Let’s go down to see George. She’ll want to know what’s been happening while she’s been gone.”

  “Good idea,” Nancy agreed.

  The three girls stepped into the corridor, locked their cabin door, and hurried away. They found George looking healthy and feeling much better. She was eager to leave the hospital

  “Tell me everything you’ve been doing,” she begged. “Knowing Nancy Drew, I’m sure I’ve missed a lot of excitement.”

  In whispers, the other three girls took turns bringing George up-to-date on all that had taken place during the past twenty-four hours. Several times the patient’s eyes opened wide and once her lower jaw dropped when she heard about the dire threat to Nelda.

  “To think I missed all this!” George groaned, as Nancy finished the story. “But I won’t be out of things much longer. The doctor says I may leave here just before dinner tonight!”

  “Wonderful!” said Bess.

  “I have a request,” George added.

  “What’s that?” Nancy asked.

  George replied, “Would you mind waiting until I can be with you before you open the mystery trunk and make a closer examination of the contents?”

  The three girls agreed and then said good-by. They noticed an open magazine lying upside down on her bed and assumed that she had been reading it. They were sure the hours would pass quickly until dinnertime.

  On the way to the upper deck Nelda asked, “What do you suggest we do in the meantime? Some more sleuthing?”

  “How about having some fun?” Bess answered promptly. “I’m tired of being so serious. We can swim and play shuffleboard and do lots of other things outdoors. Besides, I want to get some more sun tan before we get back home.”

  The girls decided to play shuffleboard first and went to the top deck. They found a court that was not being used and began to play.

  Presently Bess said, “Oh, Nelda, you’re just too good!”

  The girl from Johannesburg laughed and admitted that she often played this game at home.

  “My father is a real challenger, and I learned many points from him,” Nelda explained.

  Nancy had been glancing around at other players and passengers stretched out in deck chairs, enjoying the sun. Her eyes lighted on one man seated by himself in a corner. To her amazement he was using the sign language of deaf people.

  “He must be practicing,” the girl thought to herself.

  Interested at once, Nancy excused herself from the shuffleboard game and moved a little closer to the man. Could he be the same person who had been “talking” to the man on the dock at Rotterdam—the one who had been given the warning message:—EWARE NANCY DREW AND NE?

  The girl detective was able to figure out parts of the words the man was practicing. The first one was CREW, the second CAN. The third word had four letters in it, the second one being E. The fourth word had two letters she did not know, but the last two were ND.

  As Nancy watched the last word, she smiled with excitement. She had detected NEC—ACE. “It must mean necklace!” she thought. “And that could mean stolen jewelry!”

  More eager than ever to find out something about this passenger, she moved a little closer. He had stopped practicing and now lay back in his deck chair, staring out over the ocean. It was calm and almost waveless.

  Nancy walked up to the man. “Pardon me,” she said. “I saw you practicing the finger language. Are you deaf?” If he was, she knew he could probably read her lips and understand the question.

  To her surprise, the man shook his head. “No, I’m not deaf. I can hear very well. I’m on my way to New York to meet my father, who is deaf. I thought I’d surprise him by learning the finger alphabet he has to use now.”

  “That’s very nice,” Nancy said. She felt, however, that the man was not speaking the truth. Why was he lying?

  He looked at her sharply. “Do you understand the finger language?” he asked.

  “Oh, no,” Nancy replied. “I once learned to spell my own name, that’s all.”

  The stranger rose suddenly, as if he did not want to converse any longer with Nancy. Excusing himself, he walked off quickly.

  Nancy decided to follow him and see if she could find out who he was. She came back to the shuffleboard court and paused a second to speak to the girls.

  “I’m on that man’s trail. I’m going to follow him and see if I can learn anything about him.”

  She went on and had no trouble keeping the stranger in sight. He seemed to be in a hurry and did not look back.

  The man headed straight toward cabin one twenty-eight! As he paused there, Heinrich came up to him. Nancy moved as close as she dared but turned into an adjoining corridor, hoping she could see and hear what went on between the two men.

  To her disappointment, they spoke in very low voices. Nancy could not make out their conversation. She saw the stranger hand Heinrich a bill, and after a few more words he walked off in the opposite direction.

  Nancy hurried forward and caught up with the steward, wondering why the stranger had handed him the money. Was he bribing Heinrich for some reason? If so, what? Did it have anything to do with cabin one twenty-eight?

  CHAPTER IX

  The Sealed Tray

  WHEN Nancy reached Heinrich, she asked him who the man was. The steward looked a little frightened, but said his name was Mr. August.

  “He was on the last trip of this ship. I was his steward.”

  Nancy smiled. “How nice of him to come and talk to you!” As she said this, she watched Heinrich’s face closely.

  The steward showed no sign of guilt. He merely replied, “I bought some special candy for Mr. August in Holland and he just came to pay me for it.”

  Nancy wondered if Heinrich was telling the truth. Was the man really Mr. August, and what cabin was he occupying? She decided to look at the passenger list, which had been delivered to each room.

  Glancing at the A’s in the folder, she spotted a Mr. Otto August.

  “He must be the one!” she thought.

  No cabin number was given, but the young detective decided to try to find it out anyway. She hurried to the purser’s office and asked Rod Havelock for August’s room number.

  The assistant purser gave her a long look, then smiled. “I’m sorry, but it’s against the rules of the Winschoten to give out the cabin number of anyone aboard.”

  Nancy looked crestfallen. “Oh, dear! It’s really important that I find out.” Now she would have to try some other way to glean the information.

  Havelock glanced at her, then said, “I suggest that you follow me.”

  Speaking to another man at the desk, he left his post came out through a side door, and walked up one of the corridors. Nancy followed, but instinct told her not to catch up to him. She was sure he had something in mind that would help her learn more about the mysterious Mr. Otto August.

  In a few moments the assistant purser turned into another corridor, then went up a stairway. She f
ollowed a few yards behind. Rod did not slow his pace until they had gone two decks above. Then, once more, he entered a corridor and proceeded toward the middle of the ship. Suddenly he began to walk more slowly, and finally paused for a few seconds in front of cabin four twenty-five. Then he went on without turning to speak to her.

  Nancy smiled. “This must be Otto August’s cabin! I wonder if he has a roommate. I’ll have to figure this out.”

  For a moment she was tempted to try to locate the steward who serviced this cabin. Then she decided it would be best not to reveal that she had been there. “But I’ll work on this some more.”

  She turned back, retraced her steps, and proceeded directly to where she had left her friends on the sports deck.

  “What’s up?” Bess asked her.

  “I’ll tell you all about it later,” Nancy promised.

  Nelda said she was tired of the deck sports. “Let’s go swimming,” she suggested.

  The other girls agreed and went at once to their cabin. While they were changing into bathing suits, Nancy told them how she had found out about Otto August.

  “He sat by himself and was practicing the sign language. I spoke to him. He’s not deaf. He said he was practicing the finger language in order to ‘talk’ to his father in New York. I also found out he’s staying in cabin four twenty-five.”

  Nelda expressed her admiration for the girl detective’s astute sleuthing. “You amaze me, Nancy,” she said.

  The young detective smiled and said, “Don’t give me too much praise until I solve your mystery and the mystery of the brass-bound trunk.”

  The girls went to the pool. A group of teen-age girls had gathered around four college boys. They waved to Nancy and her friends as they approached them.

  A red-haired boy said to Nancy, “You certainly have been avoiding us lately!”

  Nancy laughed. “We don’t even know you!”

  “That’s no reason to avoid us,” the boy went on. “My name is Al, and my friends here are Bruce, Chipper, and Tubby over there.” He pointed to a chubby boy with blond, curly hair.

  The girls laughed and introduced themselves.

  “We’re glad we finally met you,” Al said with a grin. “And now that you know us, how about a race in the pool?”

  “You fellows against us?” Bess asked. “That wouldn’t be fair.”

  “Never accuse Al of being unfair,” the cheerful redhead said. “We’ll make girl-boy teams, of course. I’ll take Nancy Drew as a partner. Okay with you, Nancy?”

  “Why not?” Nancy could not help but like the friendly boy.

  Dark-haired Bruce chose Bess, while Chipper teamed up with Nelda.

  Tubby made a face. “As always, poor Tubby winds up without a girl,” he said good-naturedly. “But I don’t mind. I’ll time you people. Al, give me your stop watch, will you please?”

  “Over there in my jacket pocket. Tub, you’re a good sport!”

  “Since the pool is small, how about four laps apiece?” Chipper suggested.

  “Okay,” Al said. “Swim any style you want. Girls, you start. Ladies first, of course!”

  The three girls lined up and when Tubby gave the signal, they dived in. Nancy was off to a good start and led in the first two laps. Then Nelda put on an extra burst of speed and almost caught up to her by the time they finished their stretch. Bess lagged behind slightly. Now the boys dived in. All the girls at the pool cheered them on with excited screams.

  “Come on, Al! Hurry up!” Nancy called out.

  Chipper went into a turn, which he executed beautifully, gaining some time. “Great, Chipper!” Nelda cried. “We’ll make it yet!”

  “Better hurry, Chipper,” a teen-age boy teased. “A kiss for the winner!”

  Chipper was swimming through the water so fast that he looked like a dark streak in the waves. Other people gathered and watched the meet.

  One woman called out, “This is the most fun I’ve seen since I climbed aboard!”

  Chipper came in first, half a length before Al, and the rest gathered around him to congratulate him and Nelda for winning the competition. The swimmers were breathing heavily and sat down to rest.

  Sara Jane Ramsey came over and joined Nancy. “You’re a marvelous swimmer,” she said.

  “Oh, thank you,” Nancy replied.

  Sara stared at Nancy’s swimsuit. “It’s a Lochinvar Special, isn’t it?” she asked.

  Before Nancy had a chance to answer Bess put in, “Yes, Nancy bought it in Switzerland.”

  “Oh,” said Sara Jane, “then you found your trunk? Lucky you!”

  “Yes,” Nancy said. “It had been delivered to the hold instead of my cabin, but it was finally found.”

  As she spoke, she happened to glance at a man standing nearby. Otto August!

  She was sure he had overheard the conversation. “Well,” Nancy thought, “that’s all right. Now he’ll think his trunk is in the hold instead of mine, so he won’t come into our cabin looking for it. At least I hope that’s what he’ll think!”

  She told her friends she was going to get out of her wet swimsuit. Bess and Nelda went with her. While changing, they discussed Sara Jane Ramsey and her inadvertent remark. She had advertised to those standing around that Nancy’s trunk was now in one twenty-eight.

  Nancy said to the other girls, “Did you notice that older man standing nearby? Medium height, with a receding blond hairline? He’s Otto August!”

  Nelda looked frightened. “Do you think he’s connected with the jewel robbery in Johannesburg?” she asked Nancy

  The girl detective admitted that she suspected him strongly.

  The telephone rang, and Nancy picked it up. George was calling from the infirmary.

  “How do you feel?” Nancy asked her. “Will you be out by tonight?”

  “Sure. I feel fine. But I need my mice.”

  “What?”

  George laughed. “The mice I want to sew on my costume, Nancy. Will one of you please bring me the nightie and the mice? They’re already cut out. They’re in a plastic bag in my suitcase, together with thread and needle.”

  “Sure, George, we’ll get them to you,” Nancy said. She hung up.

  The errand was completed and the afternoon seemed to pass quickly. At about five o’clock there was a tap on their door. George had arrived! She looked rested and healthy and declared she felt great. She showed them her nightie.

  “Cute,” said Bess. “But those mice look too real to suit me!”

  “Did anything exciting happen this afternoon?” George asked.

  Nancy related the events and George remarked in praise, “You don’t waste a minute, do you, Nancy? So you think Otto August is a suspect.”

  The young sleuth nodded. Then she told George that after the evening festivities were over, they would open the mystery trunk.

  “I hope we find a treasure inside,” George said.

  After dinner the four girls returned to one twenty-eight and put on their masquerade costumes. They entered the parade. George received the first prize in the women’s section. Her long, old-fashioned nightie with the mice on it brought laughter and applause.

  The candle she was carrying flickered jauntily as she went up to receive her trophy. It was a tiny replica of the Winschoten, and contained some delightful perfume.

  As soon as all the prizes had been given out, the band began to play a lively dance number. Rod Havelock, who had been watching closely, came up to claim Nancy and was only a second ahead of Al.

  “I guess I’d better get my dances in early,” the assistant purser teased. “I see I have a handsome rival.”

  Nancy laughed as they glided off. “I’m glad you did, because I must ask you a question. We are planning to open the mystery trunk tonight after this party is over. Will you come and help us investigate it?”

  “You bet I will,” Rod replied. “I can tell you now that the dancing will end at eleven o’clock sharp. Shall we say eleven-fifteen in your room?”

&
nbsp; “Perfect,” Nancy agreed.

  At this moment the music ended. Others came up to talk to the couple, and presently AI made his way toward Nancy. “May I have the next dance?” he asked.

  The whole evening was a joyful one for Nancy and her friends. They were claimed for every dance. Al asked the girl detective if she would accompany him to the lavish table of food that had been set up on the deck outside.

  She went along and they found Bess, George, and Nelda there with Bruce, Chipper, and Tubby.

  “Hey, have some of those delicious meatballs!” Tubby recommended.

  “Now, Tub, I thought you were staying away from all this fattening stuff?” Chipper teased.

  “Well, I had to try a little of each!” Tubby defended himself.

  When the music began to play again, Al asked Nancy to dance.

  “Sure, I’d like to,” she said.

  “I’m glad you would,” Al commented. “Next to football, dancing is my favorite pastime.”

  At eleven o’clock when the band was playing the final number, the boys asked the girls to go to another part of the ship, where there would be dancing till after midnight.

  “I’d better not,” George said. “Remember, I just came out of the hospital and the doctor told me to take it easy.”

  “Some other time,” Nancy promised Al, who was disappointed. “Tonight we have to take care of George.”

  The girls went to cabin one twenty-eight. A few minutes later Rod Havelock arrived. They locked the room on the inside, so no one could use a passkey to intrude.

  “All set?” Rod asked.

  “We certainly are,” Nancy replied and led the way to the adjoining room. She switched on the light, then realized that anyone passing by in the corridor could see a crack of light underneath the door.

  She went to the bathroom, took a long Turkish towel, unfolded it, then rolled it lengthwise and laid it against the door on the floor.

  “Now no one will suspect we’re in here,” she whispered to the others. “Also, I suggest we speak in very low tones.”

  “Right,” Rod said. He unlocked the wardrobe and hauled out the mystery trunk. He set it in the middle of the floor and Nancy now used the key Lou, the locksmith, had made to open it. She swung back the lid and the girls took out the contents.