The Double Jinx Mystery Page 8
“Oh, I wasn’t worried,” the housekeeper remarked, smiling. “It was a pleasure to wait on you, Ned. You’re a very good patient—no trouble at all.”
He gave her a rewarding hug and a kiss. Then Nancy walked with him to his car.
“Take it easy, Nancy,” Ned warned her. “When I return, I want you to be in tiptop condition.”
“I promise,” Nancy replied, smiling.
Ned opened the driver’s door. Glancing at the car seat, he asked, “What’s this?”
He picked up a small sheet of paper. On it, crudely drawn, was a small circle inscribed with a cross. He and Nancy stared at it, then Ned remarked, “Jinxed again!”
“It looks that way,” Nancy agreed. “Of course we’re not superstitious, so whoever is trying to jinx us is getting no place. Just the same, Ned, please be very careful while driving, and watch out for tricksters.”
Nancy took the paper. After Ned had said goodby and pulled out of the driveway, she stared at the sheet. It was evident from the unevenness of the picture that the bad luck sign had been drawn hurriedly.
As Nancy entered the house, the phone began ringing. Bess was calling.
“On the way home George and I decided we’d like to take you on a picnic tomorrow. We’ll go into a little woods where it’s cool and quiet. Okay with you?”
“Sounds wonderful,” Nancy answered. “I hope Dad and Hannah say it’s all right for me to go.”
To her delight both of them thought it would do her good. “But don’t let yourself get overtired,” Hannah Gruen ordered.
The following morning Bess and George picked Nancy up. They had prepared the lunch and drove a few miles to a pretty wooded area with a creek running through it.
“We’ll park here and walk a little way up the stream,” Bess said as her cousin halted the car.
They had barely started the hike when Nancy stopped short and stared up at a branch of a large old maple tree.
“Look at that bird!” she exclaimed, and noted the snakelike way it twisted its head. “There’s a wryneck straddling that branch. I wonder if it could be Petra.”
The cousins followed Nancy’s line of vision and agreed this might be Kammy’s pet.
“We must capture the bird and take him with us!” Nancy said.
Before the other girls could stop her, she started shinning up the tree. Reaching the branch on which the wryneck sat, she began to coax him toward her with a low whistle and whispered words.
“Petra! Petra! Come here! Kammy misses you!”
The bird swung its head forward. He did not move but showed no sign of fright.
“He must be Petra!” Nancy thought. “Come, come!” she said.
Nancy began crawling along the limb toward the bird. She had almost reached him when the girls heard a cracking sound.
“Nancy!” Bess screamed.
“Nancy!” Bess screamed.
“Jump! Quick!” George cried out as they watched the branch begin to split away under Nancy’s weight.
As the wryneck flew off and there was another loud cracking sound, Nancy raised herself up to grab the limb above her. She was not a moment too soon. The one on which she had been crawling crashed to the ground.
Bess had covered her eyes with her hands, fearing the worst, but sighed in relief as she now saw Nancy pulling herself hand over hand toward the trunk of the old maple. In less than a minute she had shinned to the ground.
“Thank goodness,” Bess exclaimed in relief. “Nancy, are you all right?”
“Yes, but I’m disappointed,” she replied.
“Disappointed about what?” Bess queried.
Nancy said she was sorry to have lost her chance to capture the wryneck. She was sure he was Kammy’s pet.
George suggested that Nancy relax a bit while they ate their lunch. “Maybe the bird will come back here and then Bess and I can try to capture him. You’re still too weak to climb trees and chase birds.”
The wryneck did not return, however, though the girls dawdled over the picnic for nearly an hour. Finally Bess said that perhaps Nancy had had enough excitement for one day and should return home.
“No, no,” the young detective said quickly. “Won’t you please drive to Harper University? I want to tell Kammy that we think we saw Petra. She can come here and try to catch him.”
When the girls arrived at her dormitory, they went upstairs. Kammy’s door was closed, so Nancy knocked.
“Come in,” said a weak voice.
Nancy opened the door and the three callers entered. Kammy lay on a cot and her eyes were reddened and swollen from crying.
Nancy walked over and hugged the Eurasian girl. “I’ve brought you some good news,” she said. “We believe we saw Petra in the woods. We’ll give you directions to the spot.”
“Oh, I hope you’re right,” said Kammy. “If he returns to me, I won’t be responsible for breaking a long family tradition of keeping a wryneck.”
Bess was a little surprised that Kammy did not seem happier that she might find Petra. Finally she burst out, “Kammy, we thought you’d be delighted to hear about Petra.”
“Oh I am, I am,” Kammy assured her. “But that is not my big worry now. Something awful has happened! I’m going to be arrested!”
CHAPTER XIV
Strange Hiding Places
“ARRESTED? For what?” Nancy asked Kammy, wondering if she had heard the girl right.
Sadly Kammy told Nancy, Bess, and George that a message had been sent to Professor Saunders accusing her of being a thief. “They say I stole and sold several specimens from the Harper University Museum!”
“Who sent the note?” Nancy inquired.
Kammy said it had not been signed. “But that doesn’t make any difference. The birds are missing. Oh, girls,” Kammy said, a little catch in her voice, “I didn’t take them.”
“Of course you didn’t,” George told her. “That was a wicked thing for someone to do.”
Kammy burst into tears, “I have not harmed anyone and I cannot see why the person would deliberately tell a lie about me.”
Nancy put an arm around her distressed friend. “Kammy,” she said, “here in America people are given a chance to prove their innocence before they’re arrested. Please don’t worry.”
Nancy stood up. She suggested that Bess and George tell Kammy about everything that had happened recently, while she went to speak to Professor Saunders.
“All right,” George agreed.
She engaged Kammy in conversation as Nancy quietly went out the door. She hurried to the professor’s office and fortunately found him in. He was correcting summer students’ term papers.
“Oh hello, Nancy Drew!” he greeted her. “I’m glad to see you. Anything new on the Thurston case?”
Nancy chuckled. “One big problem is now over. A friend of mine and I who were helping with the Thurston birds both caught ornithosis.”
“How unfortunate!” the professor exclaimed. “Does Kammy know this?”
“I’m afraid not. She hasn’t been in touch with the Thurstons, but two friends of mine who drove me here are telling her now.”
Gradually Nancy turned to the subject uppermost in her mind and mentioned how upset Kammy was.
“She tells me she’s going to be arrested for stealing and selling birds from the museum.”
To Nancy’s amazement the professor laughed heartily. Then he sobered.
“Poor Kammy! Did she take that note seriously?” he asked. “Since it was unsigned, I assumed it was meant as some kind of a hoax or joke. It’s true that several valuable, rare birds disappeared from the museum. But it would not occur to me that Kammy had taken them.”
“Then I have your permission to tell her not to worry any more?” Nancy asked. “And that she’s not going to be arrested?”
“Please do. Tell her I’m exceedingly sorry this has happened. Kammy has seemed very sad lately but she never gave a reason for her moodiness and in fact she rarely talks.”
“Mysterious?” Nancy repeated. “How?”
Professor Saunders pointed to a pile of themes pushed to one side of his desk. “My students had an assignment and of all those I have read so far, Kammy’s is superior to the rest.”
Nancy wondered what this remark had to do with his thinking Kammy was mysterious. In a moment he explained.
“Near the end of her paper, I found a sheet which had been inserted. The paper did not match the others and there was no handwriting on it, just a drawing.”
Professor Saunders stood up and started looking through the pile of papers. Presently he came to Kammy’s and pulled it out. After flipping over several pages, he showed one of them to Nancy. On the inserted sheet was a large circle in which a cross had been drawn!
Professor Saunders looked at Nancy. “Have you any idea what this means and why Kammy would have put such an unrelated piece in this theme?”
Nancy told him that it was said to be a bad luck symbol but admitted that she was baffled too. “I doubt that Kammy inserted it herself,” she said.
Professor Saunders looked at Nancy, puzzled. “My office is locked and no one but me has access to these papers.”
The young detective thought a moment, then said, “The person who stole the birds from your museum perhaps could have access to your office also.”
“That’s possible,” he agreed. “It might be a lead for the police. Apparently the thief is an enemy of Kammy’s.”
Nancy told the professor that the same symbol had been left in various places, including the Thurston home, the ballet director’s desk, and Ned Nickerson’s car. The professor was astounded.
“This whole case is more serious and mysterious than I realized,” he remarked.
Nancy did not want to reveal any more of the results of her father’s investigation, so she stood up and said she must hurry back to Kammy and tell her the good news.
“By all means,” he replied.
When Nancy reached the dormitory, she found Kammy, Bess, and George talking animatedly. They stopped at once and looked up at Nancy.
“Good news!” the young detective exclaimed and rushed over to hug Kammy.
After she had delivered Professor Saunders’ message, the Eurasian girl smiled. “Oh, I am so happy about this,” she said. “Now I must find Petra! Please, could you take me to the place where you saw him?”
“We’d be glad to, but first I want to tell you something,” Nancy replied. “Mr. and Mrs. Thurston need you very much at the farm, Kammy. The danger of the disease spreading among the rest of the birds is over. It will be perfectly safe for you to go back, and for you to take Petra if you find him.”
“But I am afraid I bring bad luck to the Thurstons,” she said.
Nancy insisted that this could not be true and that Oscar Thurston at least would not accept such an excuse.
“You know his wife is superstitious and believes in weird signs and omens and probably can be mesmerized. If she refuses to cooperate about selling the farm, someone may threaten to put a curse on her. We mustn’t allow this to happen.”
Kammy thought over the girl’s comments a few seconds, then said, “Nancy, you are an amazing person. I feel so much better now. When we get to the front hall, will you telephone to the Thurstons and ask if they really want me to come back?”
Nancy was delighted. “And if they do, will you go?”
“Yes.”
When Nancy phoned the Thurston home, Oscar answered. He said it would be wonderful if Kammy would return. Both he and his wife missed her very much and her help was invaluable. Nancy passed the complimentary message along to Kammy, whose face lighted up.
“I am so happy!” she said, and picked up Petra’s large cage. “Now we find my lovely bird!”
As the girls left the building, she tucked her arm into Nancy’s and said, “I just feel that some terrible spell has left me. I must not let it take possession of me again.”
Nancy, Bess, and George exchanged satisfied glances. This truly was good news!
On the way to George’s car, Kammy stopped at the housing office to arrange permission to return to the Thurston farm. Then the girls rode to the spot where they had seen the wryneck.
“Look!” Bess exclaimed. “Petra is sitting on that broken limb!”
When Kammy alighted from the car, she slowly walked toward her pet. He did not fly away nor even move. When she opened the bird-cage door, he flew to it and hopped inside. The Eurasian girl began speaking to him in her native language. The bird jumped around the cage excitedly, apparently understanding her words.
The next moment she reached in and took Petra in her hands. Lovingly she stroked his feathers.
Suddenly Petra began to show signs of being uncomfortable, so Kammy held him by his feet. The bird stretched his wings wide. His owner gave a little gasp.
Taped underneath one wing was a tiny package!
George spoke up. “So Petra was stolen!” she remarked angrily.
Carefully Kammy detached the little package, returned the pet to his cage, and closed the door. As the girls watched, she unwrapped the package, looked at the object inside, then burst into tears.
CHAPTER XV
Fingerprint Proof
“KAMMY, what’s the matter?” Nancy asked as her Eurasian friend continued to sob.
Bess and George were trying to see what she was holding, but the girl had doubled her fist, hiding the object from view.
A few seconds later Kammy stopped crying and opened her hand. On the palm lay a gorgeous ring. She slipped it onto her thumb and they all stared at the golden band. Mounted on the top were three circles of gems. The outer one was sparkling green emeralds. The middle one contained glistening yellow topaz and the inner circle was set with small diamonds clustered around a larger one.
“It’s fabulous!” Bess exclaimed. “But why would it be taped under Petra’s wing?”
“I do not know,” Kammy replied. “This is a family heirloom which I brought with me when I came to this country. It disappeared about a month ago and I thought I had lost it. I am very puzzled now—and a little frightened too.”
“Why should getting the ring back frighten you?” Bess asked her.
Kammy said it was not the ring itself which bothered her, but the strange way in which it was returned. Had someone found it? Had an enemy stolen it? But if so, why would he or she want to give the valuable piece back?
Bess gave a great sigh. “Oh, if Petra could only talk, he could solve the whole thing!”
Nancy, seeing that Kammy was becoming more upset, decided to change the subject. “Since you’re going back to the Thurstons, and if George doesn’t mind, why don’t drive over there now and leave Petra?”
Kammy agreed and George said she would be happy to take them all.
But Bess was concerned about how Nancy was feeling. “Maybe you’ve had enough excitement for one day. You were supposed to take it easy, and I wouldn’t say you have.”
Nancy laughed and assured the others she felt all right. “I’m sure I’ve recovered completely.”
The Thurstons were delighted to see the girls. They especially welcomed Kammy cordially and said they were delighted she was coming back.
“My birds haven’t seemed entirely happy since you left,” Oscar told her. “They don’t sing or chatter much.”
Kammy blushed. “It’s good to hear that they missed me,” she replied. “Is there some work I can do right now?”
“Not out in the cages,” the man answered. “But—”
Mrs. Thurston interrupted him and said to the girls, “Oscar and I are very much alarmed!” She turned to her husband. “Show the girls that awful letter you got.”
Oscar took it from the desk and read the contents aloud. The letter was from Mr. Ramsey Wright, president of the High Rise Construction Company. It was an order for the Thurstons to vacate the premis
es totally within a month.
“We are raising our price to you by one thousand dollars,” the letter stated. “That should cover any loss you may have to take with the closing of your zoo and aviary.”
Oscar put down the letter. “I don’t want the money. I just don’t want to leave here. Nancy, what can we do?”
The young detective offered to phone her father at once for his advice. Mr. Drew told her that Ramsey Wright had no business to send such a letter.
“Mr. Wright is just trying to take advantage of someone who does not know his rights under the law,” he said. “Nancy, tell Oscar that no sale can be forced until after the town council has voted to grant the High Rise Construction Company authority to acquire the land.”
Smiling, Nancy rejoined the group. She passed along her father’s message and Mr. and Mrs. Thurston relaxed.
“Dad also told me something else,” Nancy went on. “He received a phone call from Mr. Winnery, who said that he had convinced Mr. Hinchcliff, Mr. Ryan, and another councilman, Mr. Clifford, to vote for my alternate plan for the housing development.”
Bess suddenly clapped her hands and said, “Hip, hip, hurrah!”
As the others grinned at her in amusement, she went on, “Now that makes four out of the five councilmen who are for Nancy’s plan. Isn’t that a majority?”
Oscar nodded. “Yes, it is, but in this case the council agreed some time ago that the vote would have to be unanimous.”
“Humph!” said George. “That means we have one more man to convince.”
Kammy said she must leave. “I’ll take the bus back to the university and pick up my clothes that are there. I’ll return as soon as I can.”
George offered to take her but the Eurasian girl shook her head. “Nancy should go right home and crawl into bed. She looks very tired.”
Nancy admitted that she was, so all the girls left. They had barely started off when Nancy said, “I’d like to stop at police headquarters and see if there’s any news on the case.”
Bess tried to convince her friend that she should not stop just now, but Nancy said the call would not take long.