The Phantom of Pine Hill Read online

  “I guess this is our answer,” Nancy said. “The phantom crossed the lawn here, and some clippings clung to the bottom of his trousers. They dropped off while he was kneeling at the safe.”

  Very faint depressions were visible in the pile—not clear enough to be identified as anyone’s footprints. The girls could find nothing else, so now they began to scan the entire foundation carefully. There was not a single footprint near it. Finally the two searchers gave up and went into the house.

  At exactly one o’clock Mr. Rorick drove up and came in. He was jovial and looked rested from his vacation.

  “Well, how’s the mystery going?” he asked. “Have you solved it yet?”

  Nancy admitted defeat, saying she really was baffled about the phantom. Uncle John praised her for what she had discovered so far and insisted she keep on.

  “I don’t care if it takes all summer,” he said. “But just don’t leave me with an unsolved mystery .”

  “All summer!” Nancy instantly thought of all the plans she had and knew she would not be able to stay at Emerson much longer. She set her jaw in determination. Before she left, she must find out who the phantom was and how he entered the library!

  As soon as luncheon was over, she told Mr. Rorick about the pieces of grass in front of the safe. “Perhaps you’d better open the safe and see if everything is still there.”

  “I’ll do that. But it would take a professional safecracker to figure out that combination.”

  The whole group trooped into the library. Mr. Rorick knelt on the floor in front of the safe and began to dial the combination. In a few moments he grasped the handle and turned it. The door swung wide open.

  Uncle John looked inside. A startled expression came over his face and he quickly began pulling out various envelopes. When they all lay on the floor, he turned to the others, his face pale.

  “All the money that was in there is gone!”

  CHAPTER XVI

  Stolen Coin Collection

  “ALL your money’s gone!” Bess exclaimed in dismay.

  The other girls expressed their sympathy and George suggested calling the police at once.

  The elderly man shook his head. “They wouldn’t believe us about the phantom, so why should they believe me now?”

  The housekeeper asked gently, “Isn’t it possible that you took the money out so you’d have it for your trip to the reunion?”

  Uncle John Rorick shook his head vigorously “No.” Suddenly the memory of something came to him and he jumped up, his eyes staring into space and his hands clutched above his head. He began to pace the room, shaking his head from side to side as if in great pain.

  “Is something else wrong?” Nancy asked.

  Mr. Rorick turned and faced the others. “My coin collection is gone too!”

  At this announcement Mrs. Holman fell into a chair. “Your coin collection! Oh no!”

  There was silence for several seconds, then Bess ventured, “Was it very valuable?”

  “Valuable?” Uncle John almost roared. “It was priceless!

  This statement stunned the girls.

  “How were the coins kept?” Nancy asked.

  “In collectors’ books. They ranged all the way from pennies up to ten-dollar gold pieces in old American money. And then, there were some very rare ones from Europe. I even had some that were minted before Christ. One was a rarity among ancient coins. It contained a female head and had been minted about 350 B.C. in Carthage. The other, showing eagles attacking a hare, was made in 410 B.C. in Agrigentum.”

  The distraught man continued to walk up and down. Nancy asked him if he had a list of the stolen coins. Mr. Rorick shook his head sadly.

  “I should have. But I never made one.”

  “Let’s write down as many of them as you can remember,” Nancy suggested, “and we can give these to the police at least. You won’t refuse now to tell the authorities, will you?”

  “No. They should know. I want that collection back! It’s worth a fortune!”

  As George went to call Chief Rankin, Nancy took a pad and pencil from the desk. She wondered if the thief thought he had found part of the treasure of coins from the Lucy Belle.

  Nancy began to write as Uncle John dictated. “One of my ten-dollar gold pieces was minted in 1798,” he said. “It was in very fine condition and is worth nineteen hundred dollars.”

  “Nineteen hundred dollars!” Bess repeated.

  “Yes,” replied Uncle John. “Then there was a half eagle, minted in 1827, that had never been circulated. That’s worth twenty-five hundred dollars!”

  “Good night!” George exclaimed.

  After a few more minutes of dictating, Uncle John paused. Bess asked him, “What was the most valuable coin in the collection?”

  Before he answered, the girls thought they detected tears in the corners of the elderly man’s eyes. “It was a gold one-hundred ducat from Poland, dated 1621. On the obverse side is a picture of Sigismund III wearing armor and the collar of the Golden Fleece. On the reverse side there is a crowned shield. It is a real rarity among European coins.”

  “How much is that worth?” Nancy asked.

  “Seventy-five hundred dollars!”

  There was a great gasp from the girls and Mrs. Holman. All of them came forward either to pat Mr. Rorick’s shoulder or put an arm around him.

  “This is terrible, terrible!” said the housekeeper, who was fighting back tears.

  The sad scene was interrupted by the doorbell. Mrs. Holman went to answer it and reappeared bringing Chief Rankin with an officer whom he introduced as Detective Newmark.

  For the first time the chief admitted that a real phantom thief was plaguing Mr. Rorick. The officer expressed regret that there was not a complete list of the coins but took the paper on which Nancy had been writing. When he saw the amounts listed, his eyes widened in amazement.

  Detective Newmark examined the bits of grass in front of the safe. Nancy told him how she believed they had been left there, and he thought she was right. Then he asked Mr. Rorick if the combination of the safe had been written down and hidden anywhere in the house.

  The elderly man shook his head. “My housekeeper and I memorized it. No one else knows the combination and there is no written copy of it.”

  The two officers gave Mrs. Holman a searching look. Mr. Rorick came to her defense at once. “Mrs. Holman is like a member of my own family. I would trust her with any secret.”

  “Perhaps,” Nancy said, “the theft was done by an expert safecracker.”

  “That’s a possibility,” the detective agreed.

  “Then the thief is probably an ex-convict or a wanted criminal,” the young sleuth suggested.

  Chief Rankin admitted this might be the case and asked Detective Newmark to get his fingerprinting materials from the car. The detective did this, and went all over the outside and inside of the safe. There was only one set of prints.

  “They must be mine,” Uncle John spoke up.

  The detective got another kit from the car, took the old man’s prints, and compared them with the ones he had lifted from the sare. “Yes, Mr Rorick is correct,” he said. “Whoever the thief was, he left no fingerprints.”

  Suddenly Mrs. Holman gave a tremendous sigh. “Our phantom has no fingerprints and no footprints, and he goes right through the walls!”

  Neither of the officers had an answer to the puzzles, but they promised to telephone Mr. Rorick if they picked up any professional safecrackers.

  After they had gone, the girls tried once more to comfort their host. Nancy remarked, “Since we can’t locate the phantom here, perhaps we can trace the coins and they, in turn, may lead us to the thief.”

  Mr. Rorick sighed. “I’m going to lie down in my room,” he said. “Don’t anyone disturb me until dinnertime.”

  Nancy glanced at the desk clock and remarked that she had a date with Ned to go scuba diving. She excused herself and went upstairs. She put on her swimsuit and slipped
a dress over it.

  Bess and George came to tell her that Burt and Dave had arrived at the house. At the boys’ request, they made tentative plans for the three couples to meet at dinnertime.

  Ned arrived later. As he and Nancy left, Mrs. Holman, on her way to the kitchen, admonished the young detective to be careful.

  Nancy smiled. “That’s just what our housekeeper, Hannah Gruen, would have told me,” she said. “Thank you. I promise.”

  As Ned started the convertible Nancy asked if he would first drive her to the locksmith shops in Emerson. “I want to find out if Fred Jenkins or anybody else had a key made for my car.”

  She told how Fred had insisted there was a key in the ignition when he had taken the convertible.

  “I don’t believe that,” Ned stated firmly. “But we’ll go to the shops and find out.”

  There were only two locksmiths in town and both of them told Nancy they had not made a car key for Fred Jenkins or any other person during the past two days.

  “Just as I suspected!” Nancy exclaimed as Ned drove toward Settlers’ Cove. “Fred lied to me and I think I know why.”

  “Then you’re a marvel.” Ned grinned.

  “He took the car to make me believe that the key had been in it. Then he suggested my key had been two places at once—that there was something supernatural about the incident. He was trying to scare me.”

  “But why,” said Ned, “unless he’s mixed up with the phantom?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he is,” Nancy declared.

  They discussed the handy man until they reached the end of the dirt road that led to the riverbank.

  “We’d better forget Fred and concentrate on our diving,” Ned remarked. “I’m as curious as you to get a glimpse of the Lucy Belle.”

  As the couple were donning their scuba gear, Burt and Dave were talking with Bess and George in the Rorick living room.

  “Where would you like to go?” Burt asked.

  George grinned. “Somewhere that won’t cost you a nickel.”

  “Swell!” the boys said in unison.

  Becoming serious, George said that she and Bess would like to do something to help Nancy with the mystery. The two couples talked for a long time but came to no conclusion.

  Then suddenly Dave said, “Say, maybe that phantom goes down the chimney like Santa Claus!”

  Eager for action, the four ran up to the third floor and climbed out a window onto the roof. They turned toward the chimney which led down to the dining room and library.

  “Look!” said Burt. “There’s an iron ladder built on the side of the chimney. Maybe the phantom climbs up that.”

  Dave offered to climb it. “I’ll play Santa!” he said.

  Reaching the top, he looked inside. Apparently he saw something interesting, because he leaned far down. The next instant his feet slipped off the top rung of the ladder. Dave disappeared headfirst down the chimney!

  CHAPTER XVII

  Scuba Scare

  “OH!” Bess screamed.

  She dashed across the roof and climbed the ladder. Looking into the chimney, she could see Dave’s legs thrashing wildly. He was not far down.

  “Are you hurt?” she called to him anxiously. His reply was a muffled, unintelligible one.

  George and Burt had hurried to the foot of the chimney and wanted to know what had happened.

  “Dave’s stuck, but I think we can pull him out,” Bess answered. “Climb up here and we’ll try.”

  The two quickly climbed the ladder. Burt grabbed one of Dave’s legs, while the two girls took the other. It was a precarious position for George and Burt, since Bess was the only one with a good foothold. In trying to yank out their friend, George and Burt might easily lose their balance.

  “Be carefull” Bess warned them. “One accident is enough.”

  Dave seemed to be pinned in such a way that he was unable to help himself. George guessed that probably his head and shoulders were stuck in one of the flues. The imprisoned boy began to cough. No doubt he was breathing soot!

  “Let’s pull!” Burt urged. “One, two, three!”

  He and the two girls tugged with all their might and managed to move Dave’s body upward about six inches. There were more muffled words from him, but this time Bess was sure he was saying, “Take it easy!”

  Burt called down, “Hold your breath, buddy. It will make it easier for us!”

  He now asked the girls to give another yank. This time Dave was able to call out clearly, “Okay,” and began to help himself.

  Little by little he was pulled to the top of the chimney. What a sight he was—completely blackened with soot! But Dave seemed unhurt as he perched on the edge of the chimney.

  “You sure you’re all right?” Bess asked solicitously.

  “Sure,” said Dave. “But give me first prize for being the stupidest guy in Emerson!”

  Burt grinned. “And the dirtiest! You look like the black phantom!”

  Everyone laughed, then George asked if Dave had found out anything by his descent.

  “Only that there are two flues that go off at angles. As a detective, I’m afraid I’m a failure. What say we all go into the house? I’d like to take a shower.”

  Bess climbed down the ladder, went across the roof, and through the attic window. The others followed in quick succession. When they reached the second floor, Bess suggested that Burt bring down Dave’s sooty clothes which could be put through the washing machine and the dryer.

  “I’ll do that,” he said.

  The girls found Mrs. Holman in the kitchen and explained what had happened. She shook her head and said, “I never knew people could have so many adventures in such a short time!”

  Bess laughed. “This is one we can’t blame on Nancy except indirectly.”

  George noticed a large, shopping-order pad and a pencil hanging on a hook. She removed them and began to sketch. Mrs. Holman and Bess were busy talking about what had happened to Dave and did not notice the picture George was making.

  A moment later Burt appeared with the sooty clothes and Bess asked if she might use the washer and dryer.

  “Yes, indeed,” said Mrs. Holman. “I’ll go down to the basement with you and show you how they work. Afterward, I’ll press the suit for you.”

  While the two were gone, George continued her work. Twenty minutes later it was finished, and even she as creator had to smile at it. The sketch showed a chimney with a ladder. Diving into it headfirst was Santa Claus. Underneath she had printed: SANTA CLAUS GOES TO MEET THE PHANTOM.

  When the whole group assembled later, she presented the picture to Dave. He roared with laughter and passed it around.

  Then he said, “Santa Claus always leaves gifts. Tell you what. I’ll take you all to supper if you’ll pick out a place that won’t empty my pockets.”

  George laughed. “We won’t give you a chance to change your mind!”

  The four young people left the house, telling Mrs. Holman where they would be, in case Nancy and Ned should inquire.

  At that moment the young sleuth and her companion were deep in the water. They had been swimming for some time, searching the murky bottom with the lights on their headgear. Suddenly Nancy’s heart began to pound with excitement. Below them was a large hulk. The Lucy Belle! It was indeed sunken in a watery valley and partially covered with weeds and silt.

  Nancy swam around the deck, trying to locate hatches. Not seeing any, she stood on the deck to look into the cabin.

  Without warning the rotted wood below her suddenly gave way, and before Nancy could make motions to swim upward, she fell through. Her tank hose became tangled in the broken timbers and in a moment her supply of oxygen was cut off!

  Like a flash Ned was at her side. He gently pulled her upward and straightened out the hose. She nodded her thanks. The fright had left Nancy feeling a bit weak and Ned led her away from the danger spot.

  He motioned as if to say, “We’d better go up!”

&nb
sp; But as soon as Nancy had taken a few deep breaths, she felt stronger. She pointed toward the hold of the ship and started swimming around it, hoping to find an opening.

  “I want to investigate the hold,” she indicated to Ned.

  On the far side of the sunken vessel they found a huge hole where a hatch had evidently blown out. Apparently this was where cargo had been loaded and unloaded.

  With their headgear lights turned on full, the two swimmers went inside. As they had expected, they were in the engine room where the fatal explosion had taken place. They swam through blown-out walls into the area beyond. There was no question but that this was the hold of the ship. However, there was nothing in it. They both wondered what had happened to the contents.

  Ned was thinking, “Probably divers in recent years have taken whatever was here.”

  Nancy had the same thought, but she still had a strong hunch that the chest of gold coins and the valuable Rorick cargo had been removed from the sinking ship by one or more persons who had escaped the wreck.

  The couple swam out of the hold and once more Ned pointed upward. Again Nancy shook her head. It had occurred to her that possibly the water in the tributary was higher now than it had been back in the 1700’s. There might be caves along the coast where the chests had been hidden for safekeeping.

  “If something happened to the survivors before they had a chance to come back for the treasure,” Nancy reasoned, “then it could still be here!”

  She led the way toward the shoreline and began swimming quickly, searching for caves. There was nothing in sight. Finally Ned, indicating that their time for safety underwater was up, insisted that they surface.

  In a few moments they came up at a spot not far from where they had parked the car. They removed their scuba gear and sat down in the warm, late-afternoon sun to dry off.

  “I’m disgusted,” said Nancy. “I didn’t learn a thing.”

  Ned laughed. “You surprise me, Miss Detective. You’ve always taught me that false clues do prove certain things.”

  The young sleuth smiled. “I stand corrected.