Mystery of the Ivory Charm Page 7

  “Oh, yes, now that you speak of it, I do.”

  “Surely you must remember that we carried out several boxes of treasure,” Nancy reminded her, “and that a small container of jewels was dropped on the ground.”

  Mrs. Allison’s blank expression made it evident to the girls that the incident had left no impression on her mind.

  “You don’t remember anything you said to Nancy?” George asked.

  Before Mrs. Allison could answer, Mr. Drew rejoined the group.

  “You’re looking much better than you were, Mrs. Allison,” the lawyer remarked. “Are you all right now?”

  “I feel quite my usual self, thank you. If you’ll excuse me, I believe I’ll go to my car.”

  “Just a minute,” Carson Drew said. “Don’t you want to hear where I took your boxes?”

  “Boxes?”

  “Yes, the treasure we carried from the tunnel. I deposited everything in a vault at the River Heights National Bank. Here’s the receipt and your credentials.”

  Absentmindedly the woman reached for the papers.

  “Thank you,” she murmured. “Thank you for your trouble.” Abruptly turning, she walked swiftly down the wooded trail toward her parked car.

  “Well, is that all the appreciation we get for lugging out her heavy old boxes?” George demanded with annoyance, when the woman had disappeared from sight.

  “I don’t believe Mrs. Allison is entirely herself,” Nancy said. “She’s been talking wildly, Dad.”

  “I doubt that she understood what I was telling her,” Carson Drew added with a troubled frown. “At any rate, I hope she doesn’t lose those papers.”

  “Perhaps we can catch her before she leaves and explain matters again,” Nancy suggested, following the woman.

  They all ran to the roadside but Mrs. Allison had driven away. Mr. Drew glanced at his wristwatch and said it was not too late to attend the wild-animal show.

  “I’d like to take Rishi,” said Nancy. “Do you think he might be recognized, though, and there’d be trouble?”

  “Let’s chance it,” her father suggested. “We might pick up a good clue.”

  When Rishi received the invitation, he was happy at first, then sobered. “Rishi afraid to meet Rai.”

  “I’m sure he isn’t there,” Nancy replied. “Mr. Strong promised to notify us if Rai returned.”

  “Then Rishi go,” the Indian boy said. He changed his shirt and they all set off for the show.

  The town of Hanover was crowded with cars, and the streets near the fairgrounds, where the huge tents had been erected, were jammed with people. While Mr. Drew parked the car, the others walked into the grounds. Soon they heard the first strains of carnival music and were approached by vendors of popcorn, balloons, and toy animals.

  “The show will soon be starting,” Nancy said, her anticipation mounting.

  They could not hurry, however, as they moved along the lanes of caged wild animals. The three girls with Rishi elbowed their way through the throng, clinging to one another to avoid being separated.

  As they approached the monkey cage, the crowd became even denser, drawn by the comic antics of the animals. It seemed hopeless to find Mr. Drew in such a mob.

  “Oh, I see him!” Nancy cried presently. “Over there on the opposite side of the cage. Dad! Dad!” she called to him.

  Before the girls could reach him, the crowd grew wildly excited, pushing and shoving in an attempt to move away from the vicinity.

  “What’s wrong?” George asked, clinging tightly to her friends.

  She was told by a bystander that a careless guard had left the monkey-cage door unbolted, and now a dozen of the mischievous little animals were escaping. One athletic monkey perched himself atop the cage, two others clung to the outside wire network, while the rest began to terrify the crowd by leaping from one onlooker to another.

  “Oh!” Nancy exclaimed.

  One monkey had landed on her head and began pulling the girl’s hair.

  “Ouch! That hurts! Get off!” she cried out, trying to grab the frisky little animal.

  All he did was squeak and pull harder. At first Bess and George giggled at the funny sight. But then George pulled the monkey’s tail. This was not to the animal’s liking, and he quickly abandoned his fun.

  Rishi had become separated from the girls but now he returned in a flash. With a skill the bystanders could not believe, he coaxed the monkeys in a gentle, persuasive voice back into their trailer cage. The crowd cheered as he rejoined his friends.

  The boy was embarrassed and said, “Rishi want to go now.”

  Nancy took him by the arm and hurried away, with Bess and George trailing them. They met Mr. Drew beyond the monkeys’ cages. Nancy could not resist teasing her father.

  “Dad, I’m surprised you’d deliberately unlock a cage door. Were you trying to get in with the monkeys?”

  “At least no one has fed me any peanuts yet,” Mr. Drew answered, grinning.

  The show was just starting and Nancy’s group hurried to locate their seats.

  “I wish the elephant act would start,” Nancy said to her father. “I can’t wait to see who is in it.”

  “Your wish is about to be granted.” Mr. Drew smiled. “Here they come now.”

  Nancy leaned forward. She caught a fleeting glimpse of the elephant trainer as he entered the big tent in full regalia.

  “Is that Rai?” she whispered tensely. “It looks like him!”

  Had Rai perhaps secretly returned without notifying Mr. Strong? Had he changed places with one of the handlers?

  Rishi shrank down beside her and buried his head. “He mustn’t see me!”

  CHAPTER XII

  A Startling Discovery

  THE three jumbo elephants, guided by their trainer, had entered the ring directly in front of the section where Nancy and her friends were seated. The man turned to bow low to the audience.

  “That isn’t Rai, after all,” Nancy murmured.

  Hearing this, Rishi raised his head, and watched in fascination as the huge animals performed a series of perfectly executed stunts. In the final number, they climbed up on one another’s backs to form a pyramid, as acrobats do.

  As the applause died away, the beasts got down and lined up for a bow. The clapping was thunderous. Then, as the animals were about to trot from the ring, there was a sudden change from their placid attitude. The largest one stopped, raised his trunk, and began to trumpet loudly.

  “Something is wrong!” Rishi cried. “That’s old Arun!”

  By now the elephant was making a beeline for a certain block of seats. The trainer was yelling at the animal. Guards were shouting, “Look out! He’ll crush you!” and trying to keep the other beasts from stampeding.

  Then someone yelled, “Arun smells Rail He hates him!”

  Rishi was already stepping across his friends’ feet to get to the aisle. He reached it, leaped down the steps, and vaulted into the arena.

  Nancy was alarmed. If Rai saw him, he might claim the boy and take him away before Rishi could find his rightful father!

  She dashed after him but this was not necessary. Rai had left his seat hurriedly and scooted up the stairway to an exit. He disappeared.

  By this time Rishi had reached the angry elephant and between trumpetings called softly to him. Old Arun stopped knocking over chairs in a front-row box and trying to step up among the panic-stricken, fleeing viewers.

  “Arun! Arun!” Rishi pleaded, and added some soothing words in Hindi.

  The elephant stopped his noisy outcries and backed up. Rishi gave a flying leap onto the elephant’s back and sat down just behind the animal’s head. Arun docilely joined his fellow elephants, and they all plodded peacefully out of the arena to the thunderous applause of the audience.

  Nancy returned to her seat and ten minutes later Rishi came back. Everyone smiled at him but refrained from talking until the show was over. Then they praised him loudly, but the boy from India begged them to s
top.

  “Rishi glad to help. Lucky Rai not killed by Arun.”

  “And you’re lucky,” said George, “that Rai didn’t have a chance to take you away.”

  Mr. Drew’s group went to his car and drove off. It was late afternoon. The roads were still jammed with cars and the trip took longer than it would have under normal conditions. Consulting his watch, Mr. Drew announced that it was dinnertime.

  “Let’s stop at the next restaurant,” he proposed.

  The young people eagerly assented. In spite of the peanuts and popcorn they had eaten, they were hungry. Half a mile farther, Nancy noticed a brilliantly lighted restaurant just off the road.

  “It looks all right,” Mr. Drew commented, turning in at the driveway. “We may as well try it.”

  They entered the main dining room, which was only half filled with guests. The group found a table for five near the window. After Nancy had made her selection from the menu, she glanced around at the other diners.

  “There’s Mrs. Allison!” she said quietly. The others turned to stare.

  “It is!” George agreed. “And she’s with Steve Roach.”

  “I’d like to talk to her,” Nancy said impulsively.

  “Perhaps you’d better wait,” Mr. Drew cautioned. “Mrs. Allison and her friend seem to be having an argument.”

  The couple talked earnestly together, totally oblivious to the others in the room. Their voices rose higher and higher until Nancy and her friends caught enough to deduce that they were discussing the sale of Mrs. Allison’s property.

  “The argument seems to be nearly over now,” Nancy observed presently. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go talk to them.”

  She approached the table at the opposite side of the room and spoke the woman’s name. Recognizing the girl, Mrs. Allison made a pretense of welcoming her. Steve Roach scowled openly as he rose and offered Nancy a chair.

  “I must apologize for interrupting your conversation,” Nancy said, “but I have a rather important matter to discuss with you.”

  “Perhaps another time——” Mrs. Allison began.

  “Oh, I didn’t mean that I wanted to talk with you here, but I’m eager to get your present address so I can find you.”

  Mrs. Allison and her companion exchanged swift glances, which were not lost on Nancy.

  “I move about from place to place,” the woman answered vaguely.

  “But surely you have a postal address. There must be some way for me to communicate with you.”

  “Just write a letter in care of General Delivery, River Heights,” Mrs. Allison said.

  Nancy was annoyed. The woman apparently did not wish to give out any information regarding her whereabouts. Nancy realized it would be useless to pursue the matter further, so she rose and said good-by. As Nancy returned to her own table, Mrs. Allison and Steve Roach immediately left the restaurant, without finishing their dinner.

  “Where’s Rishi?” Nancy asked, noticing that he had left the table and apparently taken his plate of food with him.

  Mr. Drew shrugged. “He excused himself and said he would meet us at the car.”

  “Probably,” George spoke up, “he didn’t want Mrs. Allison or Roach to see him.”

  Her statement proved to be true. When the Drews and their friends returned to the car, they found Rishi seated on the floor of the rear seat.

  “Excuse Rishi, please,” he said. “Not wish to meet people Nancy speak to.”

  “I understand,” Mr. Drew replied, and nothing more was said.

  Bess carried the empty dishes back into the restaurant; then the group set off for River Heights. That evening Rishi studied for a short time before going to bed. Nancy briefed Hannah on the day’s events.

  “I have a little news, too,” the housekeeper said. “A phone call came for Rishi. It was a man who didn’t give his name. All I said was, ‘There’s no one here by that name,’ and he hung up.”

  “Good for you, Hannah,” said Nancy. “But someone must suspect he’s here. We’ll have to guard him very carefully.” The housekeeper nodded.

  The following morning, after Mr. Drew had left, Rishi went back to his studies. Hannah asked Nancy to do some marketing. The housekeeper went out to the garden to pick fresh flowers for the house. She found some weeds near the garage and decided to pull them.

  “Oh, there’s the phone,” Hannah told herself.

  She started for the back porch. By this time the bell had stopped ringing, so she turned back to her work. By the time she had finished, Nancy drove in and the two went into the kitchen to prepare lunch and chat.

  “I’ll call Rishi,” Nancy offered, going to the foot of the front stairs.

  The boy did not reply, so she mounted the steps and went to his room. It was empty. Not only was Rishi not there, but an open closet door revealed that his clothes were missing.

  “Rishi has run away!” Nancy thought.

  She looked for a note but none was in sight. Nancy opened the bureau and desk drawers. Still no explanation for the boy’s disappearance. Suddenly she recalled the ringing telephone about which Hannah had told her. She raced downstairs.

  “Hannah,” Nancy cried out, “I’m afraid Rishi has been kidnapped!”

  CHAPTER XIII

  Coffeepot Cache

  Mrs. Gruen’s mixing spoon clattered from her hand to the floor. “Rishi kidnapped!” she exclaimed. “This is dreadful! Who could have done such a thing?”

  “I have a suspicion, but of course no evidence,” Nancy replied.

  “We must call the police at once!” the housekeeper insisted.

  “I agree,” said Nancy, and she hurried to the kitchen telephone. “I’ll talk to Chief McGinnis personally.”

  After hearing the young detective’s story, the chief offered to come to the house and get the details. He arrived shortly and was amazed by what he learned.

  “Rishi was studying with Professor Stackpole, wasn’t he?” the officer asked. “Do you think his teacher thought the boy might be safer staying with him?”

  Nancy shook her head. “The professor would never do such a thing. He would have asked us first.”

  Nevertheless, she phoned him. Dr. Stackpole was shocked to hear the news and declared he knew nothing about the kidnapping.

  Chief McGinnis asked Nancy if she suspected anyone. “Yes. The man named Rai, who claims to be Rishi’s father.”

  The officer said the police were still trying to locate the animal trainer. “But I’ll put a couple of special detectives on the case.”

  After Chief McGinnis had left, Nancy and Hannah talked over the case. Nancy thought of two places to search.

  “One is the home of Rishi’s real father, the other is Mrs. Allison’s property. Hannah, suppose you wait here for a phone call. I’ll try to get Bess and George to ride to the other places with me.”

  In the meantime, Nancy called her father and learned he was out of town for the day. Next she phoned Bess and George, who gasped when they heard that Rishi had disappeared mysteriously, with his borrowed belongings.

  Nancy picked the girls up a few minutes later and drove directly to the house occupied by the importer from India. No one answered the bell. The same neighbor she had talked with before, Mrs. Wilson, told the girls that Mr. Tilak had not yet returned from India.

  “Have you seen the boy who was with me around here?” Nancy asked her.

  “No.”

  “If you do, please hold him until I can get here,” Nancy requested.

  “He’s a runaway,” Bess added. “In fact, he has been——” She stopped speaking abruptly as George gave her a withering glance. She was fearful Bess was about to say “kidnapped,” an angle that was not to be generally revealed.

  “If I see the child around, I’ll invite him in, then notify you,” Mrs. Wilson promised with a smile.

  Nancy thanked her and the girls left. “I’ve decided to drive out to the Allison property and see if I can find Jasper Batt,” Nancy announced as the gi
rls entered the car. “I have a feeling he may know something about the kidnapping.”

  After a swift trip through the countryside, Nancy parked the car as close as possible to the ruins of the old house. The girls walked the remaining distance. Jasper Batt was busy raking up the debris around the burned mansion.

  “I scarcely know how to approach him,” Nancy whispered. “He may decide that I’m an enemy and attack us with that rake.”

  “We’ll be on our guard,” Bess declared. “If he seems to be in an ugly mood we can always turn and run.”

  But this was not Nancy’s idea of how to approach him. She put two fingers to her lips and the girls drew near quietly.

  “How are you, Mr. Batt?” Nancy said pleasantly.

  The man looked up and scowled. “Well, what do you want?” he demanded. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

  “This will take only a minute, Mr. Batt,” the girl detective began. “I want to talk to you about a boy named Rishi.”

  “I never heard of him. Go away and let me do my work.”

  “Very well, if that’s the way you want it,” Nancy said, humoring him. She turned as if to depart, then paused again. “By the way, Mr. Batt, did you ever recover those valuable papers you lost?”

  “No, I didn’t!” the caretaker snapped. “But I know what became of them all right!”

  “I suppose you lost them accidentally?” Nancy prodded.

  “Lost them! I should say I didn’t. They were stolen by that no-good relative of mine. Name’s Pete. He did it to get even with me because Mrs. Allison gave me his job of taking care of the place. Before I came here Pete looked after things.”

  “Pete?” Nancy inquired.

  “Peter Putnam,” Batt replied.

  “Let me see, he lives near here, doesn’t he?” Nancy probed.

  “Too near to suit me. His place is about twenty miles beyond Doverville. You won’t find Pete living in a regular house, though—not that guy. He’s too stingy to build himself a decent place. He lives in an old barn that was standing on the property when he bought it.”

  Nancy asked several additional questions. Batt became suspicious that he was being pumped for information and refused to say any more. The girls returned to the parked car.