160 The Clue On The Crystal Dove Read online

  kitchenware, clothes, and even some shoes.”

  In a low voice Nancy said to Bess and George, “Let's

  talk about the bridge thing later, guys. I don't want to

  worry Aunt Eloise.”

  Nancy smiled. “Bess went shopping, too—in

  SoHo—while George and I took a stroll across the

  Brooklyn Bridge. And earlier we saw Dell.”

  “Oh, really? How is she?”

  Nancy filled her aunt in about the strange things

  that had happened at Dell's house, including Walter's

  disappearance.

  Her aunt's face clouded over. “I understand that you

  want to investigate the case, Nancy. You are a de-

  tective, after all. But please be careful. This person

  sounds dangerous.”

  Nancy promised she would be careful. Then she

  explained that she, George, and Bess were going out

  for the evening to S.O.I. “Sounds like fun,” her aunt

  said. “I'm going to call Dell and tell her I'll do whatever

  I can to help Walter.”

  Half an hour later Nancy, George, and Bess were

  sitting at a table at S.O.I., sipping sodas. A crowd of

  young people filed into the club, taking seats at sur-

  rounding tables. Some had dreadlocks like John and

  Avery, while others looked punk with brightly dyed

  hair and black leather clothes. Still others appeared to

  be young working professionals. All of them, Nancy

  thought, seemed eager to see the show.

  Nancy checked her watch and said, “It's a quarter of

  eight—fifteen minutes till the band comes on.”

  Leaning back in her chair, she closed her eyes and

  added, “It feels great to sit back and relax after such a

  crazy day. Thank goodness John and Avery came along

  when they did.”

  “You're telling me,” George said. “Speaking of our

  crazy day what do you make of the case so far, Nancy?

  I mean, who doesn't want the Van Hoogstraten

  Collection opened to the public—and why?”

  “And why was poor Walter kidnapped?” Bess

  chimed in.

  Nancy pushed her hair behind her ears as she

  thought. “Well, whoever is doing all this must realize

  I'm investigating the case or I wouldn't have been

  pushed off the bridge. And since Dell, Alden, Violet,

  and Mr. Schoonover knew our plans this afternoon,

  they're our top suspects.”

  “That seems right,” George agreed. “Also, Violet was

  at the scene of some of the weird things that happened,

  like when the papers were taken from Julius's secret

  panel, and she climbed up that ladder to the

  chandelier.”

  “Plus, she brought in the pile of mail with the

  anonymous note in it,” Bess pointed out. “But what

  makes me curious is—why would she be doing all

  this?”

  “Maybe because she doesn't want Dell to get mar-

  ried and move away from New York,” Nancy guessed.

  “She mentioned to me that she and Dell had always

  been close, and New York City won't be the same for

  her after Dell moves away.”

  “So if Dell's house doesn't become a museum, what

  would happen to it if she moves to Boston?” George

  wondered.

  “It would either be empty, or the Van Hoogstratens

  would have to sell it,” Nancy said, “and Dell might not

  want to do either of those things.”

  “Yeah, maybe Violet thinks that if she nixes the

  museum plan, Dell will change her mind about moving

  to Boston,” George said.

  “Hmm,” Bess began, “Violet wasn't at the house

  when Walter disappeared—I wonder if she has an alibi

  for that time?”

  “Even if she doesn't have one, it wouldn't matter,”

  Nancy said. “Violet is so old and frail, I can't see her

  kidnapping Walter and attacking Mr. Schoonover. I

  suppose she could have hired someone to do all that

  stuff for her.”

  “But why would she have taken the crystal bird?”

  Bess asked.

  Nancy shrugged. “Who knows? But then, why would

  Alden or Dell have taken it? They're suspects, too.”

  “And don't forget,” George said, “Alden had the

  opportunity to steal the papers on the train, just as

  Violet did. He could have cut the chandelier chain

  after Violet left the room yesterday—he admitted to

  being at the house when the ladder was up. Plus, he's

  strong enough to have attacked Mr. Schoonover and

  kidnapped Walter on his own.”

  “I don't know, George,” Bess said, twirling a strand

  of long blond hair around her forefinger. “I mean,

  everything you just said is true, but I think you're being

  a little hard on the guy. Why would Alden want to close

  the museum? He's the publicity director. He's devoting

  two weeks of his vacation to promoting the place.”

  Nancy took another sip of her soda. “Alden doesn't

  really have a motive,” she agreed. “But Mr. Schoonover

  does, since he's so jealous of Julius's reputation.”

  “Julius will probably become world famous the

  minute everyone discovers how great his birds are,”

  George remarked. “That's going to drive Mr. Schoon-

  over ballistic. He'd do anything to keep people from

  knowing about Julius and talking up his work.”

  Nancy cast her mind back to their conversation with

  Alden on the train. “Remember when Alden told us

  that only a couple of glass experts have ever seen

  Julius's birds? So not that many people know about

  him. But if a bunch of modern critics see the birds and

  rave about how great they are, everyone will know

  about Julius.”

  “A nightmare for Mr. Schoonover,” Bess pro-

  nounced. Leaning her cheek on her hand, she added,

  “I can see why Mr. Schoonover may have taken the

  crystal dove—it's probably really valuable and he could

  sell it to a glass collector through his store.”

  “Good thinking, Bess,” Nancy said approvingly.

  “Now, what about Dell?” George said, changing the

  subject. “I know she heard us make plans to walk on

  the Brooklyn Bridge, but does it really make sense that

  she's a suspect? I mean, why would she want to ruin

  her own museum?”

  Nancy chewed her lip, thinking. “Maybe she's hop-

  ing to manipulate Walter into living with her in the

  mansion instead of in Boston. We just mentioned that

  if the Van Hoogstraten Collection can't open, Dell

  might not want to leave the house empty or sell it.”

  “Yeah, but Dell was with us when Walter was kid-

  napped,” Bess declared. “And she wasn't on the train

  when the papers disappeared.”

  “Neither was Mr. Schoonover,” George said. “You

  know, Dell could have an accomplice. She sure has

  enough money to hire someone.”

  Before Nancy could comment, the John Avery

  Quartet filed on to the stage from behind a curtain and

  took up their places. Nancy noticed that Avery played

  drums, while John played bass guitar. Another man

 
carried a trumpet, while still another sat down in front

  of a piano. The audience buzzed with anticipation as

  the band checked their instruments.

  Cupping her hand beside her mouth, Nancy whis-

  pered, “I have this major feeling that Julius's missing

  papers and the crystal dove are important clues to the

  case. I'm going to do some research on the history of

  the dove tomorrow.”

  George gave her the thumbs-up sign, while Bess

  nodded eagerly. Then the band launched into a song,

  and the club was immediately quiet. Tapping her foot

  in time to the rhythmic beat, Nancy stopped thinking

  about the case for a few hours while she lost herself in

  the music.

  * * *

  “So how are you going to research the history of that

  dove, Nancy?” Bess asked as Nancy, Bess, and George

  piled out of a cab in front of the Van Hoogstraten

  mansion the next morning.

  “I'm going to see if Dell has any of Julius's old letters

  and papers,” Nancy replied. “You never know— maybe

  there's some information in them about the dove that

  will give us a clue.”

  Standing outside the huge oak doors of the house,

  Nancy rang the bell. Seconds later the door flew open.

  Walter Lang stared at her grimly from the foyer.

  11. Crazy Horse

  “Excuse me, Nancy,” Walter said in a clipped tone.

  “Please let me by.”

  With his gaze set and his lips pressed firmly to-

  gether, Walter brushed past Nancy, George, and Bess

  and raced down the flight of marble steps to the

  sidewalk below. Nancy quickly lost sight of him as he

  threaded his way east among a crowd of other

  pedestrians.

  “Walter?” George said, sounding stunned.

  “Am I seeing things?” Bess murmured.

  Dell appeared at the door. “What's the story with

  Wal—” Nancy began, then stopped at the sight of

  Dell's stricken face. Tears glistened at the corners of

  her eyes, and her mouth trembled as she invited the

  girls inside.

  Dell led the way to a cozy sitting room off the foyer.

  “Alden and I have been using this room as the museum

  office,” Dell explained as she motioned for the girls to

  sit down on a sofa. “It's where we've been working on

  museum press releases and finances and stuff like

  that.” She took a tissue from a box on a desk and blew

  her nose as she eased herself into an armchair.

  “Tell us about Walter, Dell,” Nancy asked. “Obvi-

  ously, he's back.”

  “In a manner of speaking,” Dell said mournfully.

  Taking a deep sigh, she explained, “I was eating

  breakfast in the kitchen this morning when the front

  doorbell rang. I nearly fainted with surprise when I

  opened the door and saw Walter. I was so happy that I

  threw myself into his arms, but—” She paused,

  dabbing at her eyes with another tissue. “Oh, it's too

  embarrassing—I can't go on.”

  Nancy felt a pang as she watched Dell bite her lip to

  keep from crying. “You don't have to be embarrassed

  in front of us, Dell,” she said gently.

  “Oh, I know, Nancy.” Dell sniffed, forcing her lips

  into a smile. “Thanks for the reassurance. Anyway, I

  have to tell you what happened because if you're going

  to solve this case, you'll need to know all the details.”

  Dell took a deep breath and continued, “I knew right

  away that something was wrong when Walter came in

  today. He's always been very affectionate, but when I

  tried to hug him, he pulled away from me. And every

  time I tried to look him in the eyes, he averted his

  gaze. It was weird.”

  “Oh, Dell—how awful!” Bess said sympathetically.

  “It was awful,” Dell said. “Walter kept me at arm's

  length and looked at me as if I were a total stranger.

  Then he told me that we needed to talk. My heart was

  hammering as I followed him into the kitchen, but

  somehow I managed to ask him where he'd been and if

  he was all right.”

  “What did he say?” Nancy asked.

  “Just as we suspected, he'd been kidnapped, but he

  refused to tell me who had done it,” Dell replied. “He

  said it didn't matter because he was okay. He even

  asked me to call off the police. And then—”

  Dell paused, her face tightening as she added, “He

  broke off our engagement!”

  “No!” Bess said, looking stricken.

  “Oh, Dell, I'm so sorry,” Nancy said, while George

  shook her head gravely.

  “He told me that he still loved me,” Dell explained,

  “but he thought our backgrounds were too different for

  the marriage to work.”

  “Your backgrounds are too different?” George

  echoed, sounding puzzled. “What does he mean by

  that?”

  Dell shook her head, clearly bewildered. “Walter

  comes from more modest beginnings and he went to

  college on a scholarship, but we definitely have the

  same interests. I mean, we like the same people and

  books and movies and restaurants—all that stuff. And

  we both love animals and the outdoors. He thinks he'll

  be taking me away from my house and my fancy life,

  but I want to live more like a regular person, anyway.”

  Gesturing around the room with her hand, she

  added, “I never asked for any of this. Sure, the house is

  beautiful, but so what? I don't want to live like some

  relic in a museum. All I want is Walter.”

  Nancy sighed. It was true that Dell lived in a

  spectacular house, but what was the point if she was

  lonely? “So Walter didn't say anything about how he

  got kidnapped?” she asked.

  “Nope,” Dell said, “and he was adamant that we call

  off the police. He claimed he was harmlessly detained,

  and he totally refused to go into any details.”

  Nancy sat forward, cupping her chin in her hands.

  “Hmm,” she said thoughtfully, “if you ask me, Dell, the

  person who kidnapped Walter probably talked him into

  breaking off the engagement.”

  “Why do you think that, Nancy?” Dell asked.

  “Because the kidnapper is probably the same person

  who wants to keep the Van Hoogstraten Collection

  from opening,” Nancy declared. “And that person

  wants you to break up with Walter so you'll stay in your

  house and it won't become a museum.”

  “I'll bet you're right, Nancy,” Bess chimed in.

  Looking at Dell, she added fervently, “You said Walter

  said he still loves you, so someone must have forced

  him to break things off. I just know it, Dell.”

  Dell brightened. “Do you really think so?” she

  asked, looking expectantly at all three girls.

  Nancy smiled. “I really think so,” she said.

  Nancy cast her mind back to the conversation at

  S.O.I., when she had wondered whether Dell might be

  the person who wanted to jinx the museum. She had

  thought that Dell might be trying to manipulate
Walter

  into moving into her New York house. But looking at

  Dell's hopeful eyes, Nancy couldn't believe that she

  would do such a thing to Walter, whom she obviously

  loved. And even if Dell was a really good liar, Nancy

  thought, how would kidnapping Walter and then

  letting him go get her what she wanted?

  Nancy stood up. “I'm sure that the sooner I solve

  this case, the sooner you and Walter will patch things

  up.”

  Squaring her shoulders, Dell looked Nancy in the

  eye. “How can I help you, Nancy?” she asked.

  “Do you have any old letters or papers of Julius's?”

  Nancy asked.

  “Hmm,” Dell said. “I've been sending things to

  storage in Boston this past month as I've gotten ready

  to move—mainly old family letters and stuff. But

  there's one box of legal documents I haven't dealt with

  yet. It's in a storeroom on the third floor. I'm not sure

  what you'll find in it, but let's hope for the best.”

  Dell led the three girls to a dusty room on the third

  floor of the house. In a corner was a box marked Old

  Family Documents in black marking pen.

  “I'm beat, girls,” Dell announced, stifling a yawn.

  “The stress of Walter's leaving has been too much for

  me. Do you mind if I go downstairs and rest? Let me

  know if you need anything else.”

  Nancy assured her they'd be fine and encouraged

  her to take a well-deserved break. After Dell had left,

  Nancy, George, and Bess began sorting through the old

  yellow documents. Some of them were leases and

  deeds that were no longer relevant. Others were old

  marriage licenses and birth certificates.

  Scanning the documents, Nancy's heart sank with

  disappointment. Nothing in them suggested a clue to

  the case.

  Bess and George rummaged around at the bottom

  of the box, making sure they hadn't missed anything

  important. “What's this?” Bess wondered, drawing out

  a thick official-looking document and handing it to

  Nancy.

  Nancy frowned as she concentrated on the graceful

  script at the top of the page that read, “From the

  Estate of Julius Van Hoogstraten: His Personal

  Property as of May 10, 1915.”

  “This looks like a list of Julius's furniture and stuff

  after he died,” Nancy said, reading the columns

  describing furniture, jewelry, and cars. She turned a

  page. “Oh, here's a list of his birds.”