The Eskimo's Secret Page 7

  “Nancy, give me a straight answer,” Helena snapped. “Have you seen your father?”

  “No.” Nancy couldn’t keep her tone from showing her desperation.

  “Has he been kidnapped?”

  “Kidnapped?” Nancy swallowed hard. “What makes you think that, Miss Haggler?”

  “So something has happened to him.” The woman sounded as weary and discouraged as Nancy felt.

  “They warned me,” Miss Haggler said. “They said to drop the investigation or accept the con-sequences. I expected maybe another warehouse fire or an interruption in a shipment from a foreign port. I never dreamed they would strike so close to home.”

  “Who?” Nancy demanded, recovering her senses. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the men behind Investors, Inc., of course. Why do you think I told your father that I wanted to call off the investigation. I was trying to buy some time, time to build up my security at all the shops, time to warn all my import people, my foreign buyers. I just wanted time to set up some sort of trap.”

  “Is that what you and Dad were going to dis-cuss?” Nancy asked. “Had you told him?”

  “I was going to tell him when he got here,” Helen Haggler answered. “I don’t ordinarily discuss things like that over the telephone.” “Did anyone else know what you were planning?” Nancy asked, her frown deepening.

  “Just my board of directors. I had to tell them about the new threat, but surely none of them would betray me.” Her tone had changed to one of speculation.

  Nancy hesitated for a moment, her mind whirling. She didn’t know what to say.

  “Where is your father?” Miss Haggler asked again.

  “He’s being held somewhere,” Nancy replied, making her decision. “He’s safe as long as I don’t call in the authorities and do what his kidnappers want.”

  “What do they want?” Helen asked. “Is it my corporation?”

  “No, no, it has nothing to do with you,” Nancy answered. “It’s another matter entirely, something that I was working on here in Victoria. I’m making ransom arrangements now, so please, Miss Haggler, for Dad’s sake, don’t do anything to jeopardize them. Just wait and he’ll be calling you himself.”

  “You can’t deal with that sort of person,” Miss Haggler warned. “You can’t trust them, Nancy. You need help.”

  “I have it,” Nancy replied, stretching the truth a little. “I have friends with me now, some of the people involved in the case, so it will be all right. Please trust me.”

  There was a long moment of silence and Nancy held her breath, well aware that her father’s safety could depend on Helen Haggler’s cooperation. Finally the woman sighed. “I’ll give you until this time tomorrow night,” she said. “If I don’t hear from Carson by then, I’m going to report his disappearance and stir up a manhunt that will put all these crooks out of business for good.”

  “Midnight tomorrow night,” Nancy murmured, closing her eyes for a moment to offer a silent prayer that it would be long enough. “I’ll be in touch before then.”

  “Not you, Nancy,” Miss Haggler corrected. “I want to talk to Carson before that. Understand? I don’t care what other cases he’s working on.

  He was on his way to talk to me and I feel re-sponsible for his disappearance.”

  “He’ll call you,” Nancy promised, hoping she was telling the truth.

  “You take care of yourself, too,” Miss Haggler continued. “I know how much confidence your father has in your abilities, but this must be a dreadful time for you. If there is anything I can do, just let me know—day or night.”

  “Thank you,” Nancy replied, “and thank you for caring.”

  “Just get Carson back.”

  “I’ll do my best.” Nancy replaced the receiver, feeling drained. She leaned against the cool metal for a moment, then she remembered that Alana and Ben would be waiting for her. In spite of her exhaustion, the night was not yet over.

  She took the elevator to her floor, then hurried along the hall to the stairs. Once there she took a bandage from her purse and used it to keep the door to the stairway from locking. The doors to the stairs, which were meant only as a fire exit, had no knobs on the inside, so they couldn’t be opened except from the hall or with a key. Once she was sure she could get back into the hall, she hurried down to the first floor and cautiously opened the exit door.

  “Where have you been?” Alana demanded. “We’ve been waiting forever.”

  “I’m sorry, but I had to take care of something,” Nancy said, then explained about Miss Haggler’s call, finishing, “I couldn’t risk her calling the police in Seattle and I was afraid the phone in my room might have been bugged.” Alana nodded. “We have to keep anyone else from knowing what is going on.”

  “Anyway, let’s get back upstairs and out of sight,” Nancy said.

  “This really is very kind of you,” Ben commented.

  “You’re a part of this, too,” Nancy reminded him. “After all, the Tundra is your heritage.” “And the treasures could give my people a real chance,” Ben agreed. “If they had those carvings back, they could sell some and build the school and the other things they need in Seal Bay. The settlement never really recovered from what Cole did to it when he was trying to force the artists to sell him their works.”

  “What do you mean?” Nancy asked, stopping for a moment to catch her breath on the long climb.

  “There’s nothing there for the young people. I left as soon as I could and so do many of the others. It’s a town without a future, unless something is done. I think my grandfather was beginning to realize that and to feel guilty toward the end. I just wish he’d entrusted the secret to someone else—someone who could solve the riddle of the Tundra.”

  “We’ll solve it,” Nancy assured him with more confidence than she truly felt. “Just as soon as we get it back.”

  “That’s what I like,” Alana said. “Confidence!”

  They waited while Nancy peeled the tape off the door, then followed her down the hall to her room. Nancy handed Ben the key she’d just gotten from the desk clerk. “Your room is right there,” she said, indicating the door next to hers, “but why don’t you come in with us first. Maybe we can come up with a plan.”

  “I hope you have some ideas,” Alana said as Nancy unlocked the door. “I, for one, have just about run out. She stopped as Nancy grabbed her arm. “What is it?”

  “I’m sure I turned off the lights when I left,” Nancy said, looking around. Then she saw it— a small tape player resting on the dresser, waiting for them.

  14. A Puzzling Code

  “Let me check,” Ben said, moving past the two girls to look in the bath and closet. “There’s no

  one here,” he told them. “Maybe you just forgot about the lights.”

  Nancy shook her head. “They’ve been here,” she said. “They just made a delivery.”

  “What do you mean?” Alana asked.

  Nancy crossed to the dresser and looked down at the tape player. “They brought this,” she replied.

  “A message?” Ben asked.

  “Or instructions,” Nancy suggested.

  “For what?” Alana looked pale. “Do you think they know you’ve found me?”

  Nancy shrugged. “Your car was at the lodge,” she reminded her. “I’m sure they saw it after we left, even if they didn’t notice it before.”

  “What are we going to do?” Ben inquired.

  “I guess the only way we’ll know for sure what’s going on is to play this,” Nancy said. “We might as well sit down and relax.”

  They settled themselves about the room, but no one was relaxed. Nancy pressed the button with a real feeling of fear—for her father and for her friends.

  “Nancy.” The voice was her father’s and she felt a quick swelling of relief just hearing it. “I’ve explained to these . . . gentlemen that they must allow you to make some business calls for me. The various cases I was handli
ng in Seattle all included appointments I either missed today or will miss tomorrow.

  “These matters are crucial to the clients and if they cannot reach me by telephone for an ex-planation, several of them will be angry enough to call the police and institute a manhunt. My kidnappers have no desire for the spotlight at this time. I will give you a list of clients, phone numbers, and messages to be delivered.” “Clients?” Nancy whispered. “We were working on one case, and I’ve already talked to her.”

  “It is imperative, Nancy, that you spread oil on the waters with these people and convince them that I am working on their cases. Just be sure you don’t tell one about the others. Let each one think I’m working exclusively for him or her.”

  The tone and voice were smooth and businesslike, the instructions given as concisely as though her father were sitting at the desk before her. All that was wrong was that the instructions concentrated on clients and cases that didn’t exist.

  The list of names, numbers, and messages went on for several minutes, then her father sighed, “That’s it, Nancy, if you can handle the ACB s of my clients, we can progress with what has to be done to win my freedom.” The tape ended.

  “What’s wrong, Nancy?” Alana asked.

  Nancy shook her head and laughed, rewinding the tape. “Nothing is wrong,” she said. “In fact something is very right, if I can just make sense of this.”

  “What is there to mike sense of?” Ben asked. “It sounded pretty routine to me.”

  “Oh, it is,” Nancy agreed. “Except that most of these clients and cases exist only in my father’s mind or in our history. We were in Seattle working on the Haggler case, period.”

  Alana frowned, then her expression cleared and she laughed. “It’s a code, right?”

  “It’s a message,” Nancy said, “but not in any kind of code that’s easy to decipher. He obviously had no time to work out any precise system. I’m going to have to take all this down and try to reason out his message with each name, number, and message.”

  Ben whistled. “That sounds very difficult.” “It’s our best chance yet,” Nancy said. “If I can figure our what he means, I’ll bet it will tell us where he is, who is holding him, and how we can rescue him.” She got a small notebook and pen from her purse and started the tape again. “I have to take this down word for word.”

  The telephone stopped her. Nancy shut off the tape player and, after a nervous look at Ben and Alana, picked up the receiver. Her hello sounded a great deal more confident than she felt.

  “Nancy Drew?”

  “Speaking.”

  “It’s about time you got back.” It was the same voice as the first call.

  “You told me to find Alana,” Nancy replied coldly. “I can’t do that sitting around a hotel room.”

  “Did you find her?” The voice frightened her. “Not yet,” Nancy said. “I did manage to find out where she’s been hiding, but I arrived too late. She’d already made arrangements for a different car and some kind of disguise.” She had to bite her lip to keep from giggling at the expressions on Ben’s and Alana’s faces as they listened to her.

  “There was someone else in the car with you when you left,” the voice said, making it clear the men had managed to escape from the Firebird Lodge.

  “The man who helped her,” Nancy admitted. “He’s an old friend of Alana’s, and your men scared him pretty badly. I’m going to have to try to convince him to trust me, but it won’t be easy with your thugs following me around.”

  Ben looked insulted, then amused by her words.

  “Are you threatening me, Nancy Drew?” the voice asked.

  “I’m just telling you that I can’t do what you want me to if you keep blocking me. You have my father and you know I’ll do anything to get him back safely. But I can’t locate Alana if you frighten her away before I can reach her.” There was a long silence from the other end. Nancy covered the mouthpiece and took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself. She could be in desperate trouble if they knew she wasn’t telling the truth. If they believed her, she could buy time. That was what she needed most, she realized. Time to think and to study what her father had tried to tell her on the tape. Everything had happened too fast so far; she’d had to rely on intuition and quick responses. Now she needed a plan.

  “You do believe you can find her?”

  “I have to,” Nancy answered quietly. “For my father’s sake.”

  “I’m glad you’ve decided to be cooperative,” the voice said, warming slightly. “Did you find the tape?”

  “Of course. I was just listening to it.”

  “You will carry out your father’s instructions?”

  “To keep him safe, naturally. However, I can’t do anything until tomorrow morning.”

  “Why not?” The suspicion was back. “Because lawyers don’t call clients in the middle of the night unless it’s an emergency and I don’t think you want to make our clients suspicious about my father’s disappearance.” Again there was a moment of silence, then a sigh. “I suppose that’s correct, as long as they don’t report him missing before you call.”

  “I’ll make sure that they don’t,” Nancy assured him.

  “What about Alana Steele?”

  “That will have to wait until tomorrow, too,” Nancy said. “When I talk to her friend again, I’ll try to find out where she might be hiding. But that could take a little time.”

  “You don’t have much,” the voice snarled, “We can’t wait for long.”

  “But I’m doing my best.” Nancy allowed her real feelings of desperation to show in her voice. “Please don’t hurt my father. I’ll find Alana somehow. Just don’t hurt him!”

  “We’ll be in touch.” The phone clicked dead. Nancy replaced her own receiver and closed her eyes for a moment.

  “You were wonderful, Nancy,” Alana said. “Did they believe you?” Ben asked.

  “I think so,” Nancy said. “If they had known that Alana was with me, they would have come after her.”

  “So what’s our next move?” Alana asked, yawning.

  “Sleep, I think,” Nancy said. “I’ll write down everything from the tape, then sleep on it. Right now I don’t think I could decipher anything.” Ben nodded, getting to his feet. “Pound on the wall if you need me,” he said, then grinned, his black eyes dancing. “I’m really not afraid of those crooks.”

  “Sorry,” Nancy apologized with a giggle. “I thought it was better if they didn’t see you as a threat.”

  “I know,” he assured her. “I just hope I get a chance to show them how I really feel.”

  “I hope we all do,” Nancy said.

  Nancy worked on transcribing from the tape while Alana got ready for bed. A final check made her sure she had everything down exactly as he’d said it, but the words swam before her aching eyes and refused to make any sense to her.

  “You look worse than I feel,” Alana told her.

  “I just hate to give up,” Nancy admitted. “Every minute can be important to Dad. I have to figure out what he was trying to tell me.”

  “Nancy, there is something.” Alana’s serious tone brought Nancy’s attention away from the words.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “If it comes right down to it. If we can’t figure out a way to trick them, I want you to make the exchange. I’ll go to them. I can’t help them, but if they’ll set your father free, it’s worth it. It’s my fault that all of you are involved in this mess. If I hadn’t asked so many questions about the Tundra, maybe none of this would have happened.”

  Nancy went over to hug her friend. “Thanks, Alana,” she said, “but I couldn’t do that.”

  “I’m not asking you to, I’m just telling you what I’ll do,” Alana stated firmly.

  “But it wouldn’t work,” Nancy told her gently. “Don’t you see, they can’t let my father go. He knows far too much about them already.

  Alana’s face grew pale and her grey eyes widened in horro
r.

  “We’re his only hope,” Nancy said.

  15. Message in Pieces

  In spite of the late hour when she went to bed, Nancy woke shortly after dawn. Alana was still sleeping soundly, so Nancy moved to the small table in front of the window and began to study the words she’d written down.

  Some of it made perfect sense, but there were so many phrases that just didn’t sound like her father. She began underlining the things that sounded wrong.

  Spotlight at this time. Oil on the waters. The whole portion about not telling one about the others. All the names, numbers, and messages except for Helen Haggler and, in his final words, his saying ACB’s.

  These were not accidental words, she was sure of it, even though they were delivered without the slightest emphasis. Glaring at them, she knew she’d chosen the right phrases as clues, but she lacked the key that would make sense of them. She turned her attention to the names.

  Ned Nickerson. Nancy smiled. Obviously not a client since he and Nancy were dating. Okay the Merritt case was the message.

  “Merritt, Merritt.” Nancy murmured, then grinned. “Merritt Island,” she crowed, then put her hand over her mouth quickly, looking toward Alana. Her friend stirred, moaned, and was quiet again. Merritt Island was in Florida and Ned’s parents owned a home there, one that Nancy had visited.

  Mr. DeFoe. Another familiar name, this time from a past case. The missing horse Polka Dot has been located and I have put in a claim. Nancy shook her head. The Polka Dot was a boat, not a horse.

  “Boat. Island. Oil on water.” Nancy began to laugh softly. It had to be her father’s way of telling her that he was being held on an island. But what island. Her smile faded. Spotlight. A lighthouse? That made sense.

  The next name referred to another case in which her father had to distribute an inheritance among three claimants. Three men. The number of men on the island with him?

  The fourth name was Helen Haggler and the number was correct. The message, however, surprised her a little. Instincts correct. Case closed. A warning to Miss Haggler? Nancy decided that’s what it meant and to call Miss Haggler and relay it. With luck, it should buy them a little more time.