The Mysterious Mannequin

  Nancy tried not to show her excitement and asked, “Are you Miss Aisha Hatun?”

  “Yes. You are looking for me?”

  At close range the young woman was even prettier than at a distance. But she had a very sad look. She apparently did not recognize Nancy and set her big eyes on Ned admiringly.

  For the first time Nancy did not know how to begin a conversation. Aisha certainly did not look like a person who would be a friend of a burglar!

  Ned saved Nancy the trouble of launching into the subject. “You are Greek, or perhaps Turkish?” he asked.

  Aisha looked bewildered at her questioners but answered, “I came from Istanbul, but I have lived here with my aunt and uncle for several years.”

  “You have a very pretty accent,” Ned complimented her. “Do you speak other languages besides Turkish and English?”

  For the first time Aisha smiled a little. “I do speak French and Greek,” she answered, then added, “Please tell me who you are and what you want.”

  Ned introduced himself and explained that Nancy was an amateur detective.

  “Detective?” Aisha repeated, her eyes widening in fear.

  There was a slight pause and finally Nancy said, “We’re trying to find something and thought you might help us. But first, tell me about a friend of yours. Two little girls who live next door told us where he lives. His name is Tunay Arik.”

  Aisha’s expression changed. She no longer looked sad nor did she smile. With a frown she said scornfully, “He is not a friend.” Then she added, “Will you come inside, please? I would like to talk with you.”

  Nancy and Ned followed the girl into the living room. It occurred to Nancy that this was like being transported suddenly into another country. The entire decor was Turkish. There was a beautiful hand-woven Oriental rug on the floor, carved furniture, and several brass filigree lamps with matching oval shades.

  After Aisha and her callers had sat down, she said to Nancy, “I recognize you now. You are the girl who was coming after me with the police and Arik told me to run. But why?”

  Nancy hedged. She said, “No reason at all,” and smiled. “I don’t look dangerous, do I?”

  “Oh no”

  Nancy asked, “Didn’t Arik tell you why he wanted you to run away?”

  “No.”

  Ned spoke up, saying he thought this was rather strange. “And he hasn’t phoned you since?”

  Aisha said her aunt had taken a call from him while the girl was out, but she had not returned it.

  She suddenly set her jaw and said, “I don’t like Tunay Arik. I never have liked him but he keeps bothering me to date him. I never will.”

  “But you did meet him on the street,” Nancy reminded her.

  “Yes, I admit it. He phoned that he had received a very important letter from Istanbul which I must read at once. He said that since I would not let him come here, would I please meet him on that corner where you saw us.” Tears came into Aisha’s eyes.

  Nancy and Ned looked at each other, wondering just how to proceed with the interview. Ned decided to be straightforward about it.

  He asked, “Did the letter say that Farouk Tahmasp was dead?”

  At the question Aisha burst into tears, raising one arm to her face to hide her emotions from the visitors. She got up, turned her back, and continued to sob.

  But finally she spoke, looking straight at Nancy and Ned. “But how do you know this?”

  Nancy did not answer the question direct. She walked over to the distraught girl, “Aisha, my father is a lawyer. He and I suspect that the letter Arik showed you is a forgery!”

  “I do not understand,” Aisha said. “A forgery?”

  Nancy nodded. “We think Arik wrote that letter himself right here in River Heights. The paper was made in the United States and it’s most unlikely that kind is sold in Turkey.”

  Aisha, who had pulled a handkerchief from a pocket, dried her eyes. “Tell me more of what you think. Tunay said a Greek friend named Seli sent it.”

  Nancy walked back to her chair and sat down. “Aisha,” she said slowly, “we think there’s a good possibility that Farouk Tahmasp is still alive!”

  The Turkish girl looked into space for a moment, then cried out, “How wonderful! Oh, you think this is true?”

  Ned answered. “We all do.”

  Aisha’s whole attitude changed. Color came back into her face and she smiled happily.

  “Where is Farouk now?”

  “We think,” said Nancy, “that he’s in Istanbul.”

  “Istanbul!” Aisha exclaimed. “So that’s where he went.”

  She stared out the window. When her gaze returned to the callers, the sad look had come back into her face.

  “I will tell you the whole story,” she said, and sat down. “Farouk and I were in love and very happy. Then suddenly he got into some kind of trouble about smuggling. He never explained it to me but insisted he was innocent. Finally he ran away. I had a letter from him mailed in Paris explaining that he had decided to move out one night. After that I never heard from him again.”

  “When was that?” Ned asked.

  “About two years ago. For months I waited for another letter but nothing came. I didn’t try to trace him because I thought he had found someone else.”

  On a hunch Nancy said, “Was it at that time Arik began trying to be friendly with you?”

  Aisha nodded and said he was very persistent. “He sent me many gifts and would hide nearby so that when I came from the house he would catch up and walk along the street with me. But I would never go anywhere with him.”

  The girl paused for several seconds before going on. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I may as well tell you more. That day you saw me reading the letter, Tunay said, ‘Now that Farouk is dead, there is no reason for you not to marry me.’ ”

  At once Nancy recalled that she was looking for Arik because he was the one who tried to burglarize the Drew home!

  She said, “Aisha, I think there’s a very good reason why you shouldn’t marry Arik. For one thing, your friend Farouk was proved innocent. My father, who handled his case, would like very much to find him and tell him so.”

  Aisha suddenly clapped her hands. “That is thrilling! Oh, he just has to be alive!”

  Nancy and Ned assured her that they and Mr. Drew would do all they could to prove this.

  “Here is my name and address,” Nancy said, taking a card from her purse. “Now please do the following. Don’t talk to Arik. In the meantime we’ll try to find out if that letter he showed you was definitely a fake.”

  Aisha took the card and glanced at it. “I’ll call you if I hear anything,” she promised.

  She looked so weary that Nancy decided they had better not talk any more. After all, the Turkish girl had been under a great emotional strain.

  Nancy rose and said they must go. She put an arm around Aisha as they walked to the door. Impulsively the Turkish girl kissed her.

  “You are a wonderful person,” Aisha said. Casting her big eyes on Ned, she added, “And you too. Nancy is lucky to have you for a friend.”

  Ned grinned. “I think so.”

  Nancy gave him a sideways look and laughed softly. He opened the front door and waited for her to step outside. Then he followed.

  Before they had a chance to say good-by to Aisha, she said, “Oh, wait a minute! I forgot. When you first came you said you were hunting for something and thought I might be able to help you.”

  “That’s right,” Nancy replied. “It’s about the mannequin in Farouk’s window. Do you know where she is?”

  To the surprise of Nancy and Ned a look of utter fright came over Aisha’s face. Instead of answering, she quickly said good-by and shut the door.

  CHAPTER XIII

  Mistaken Identity?

  NED began to laugh. “I don’t often have doors shut in my face,” he said.

  Nancy was puzzled. Why had Aisha looked frightened? Apparently she knew something
about the mannequin which she did not dare reveal.

  Had George’s guess been right that something valuable—and perhaps illegal—had been hidden inside the figure? She reminded Ned of this.

  He did not think that the incident of Aisha shutting the door on them had any important significance. “Maybe she decided we were getting too nosy,” he said. “Or—and here’s a whole new idea for you, Miss Detective—if Aisha knows Farouk loves the mannequin, maybe she’s jealous!”

  This remark made Nancy laugh. “Well, I suppose our next move is to find out from Arik if that note was a fake.”

  “Where do you plan to start?” Ned queried.

  Nancy said she thought they should go back to Tunay’s rooming house and ask the owner where he worked. She grinned at Ned. “Suppose you talk to the suspect. He may recognize me and run off again.”

  “Okay,” he agreed.

  They set off for Arik’s street, wondering if the two little girls would be around and might give them any further information about him. But they were not in sight. Nancy rang the bell of the rooming house. The same pleasant woman came to the door and without hesitation told the couple they would find Arik at the Bedford Carpet Factory.

  “I don’t know the street name, but it’s somewhere along the river.”

  “I know where it is,” said Nancy. “It has nice grounds and it’s opposite a park.”

  “That’s right,” the woman said. “I always fix a lunch for Arik. He says he eats it in the park.”

  Nancy thanked her and the couple went off. They were delighted with this latest information. Now it would be fairly easy to spot Arik!

  Since it was nearing lunchtime, Ned drove directly to the factory. For a long area in front of it there were “no parking” signs so he had to drive to the next side street to leave the car. He and Nancy walked back along a high iron picket fence to the main entrance.

  Suddenly Nancy grabbed Ned’s arm. “Look!” she exclaimed. “Up by the office door!”

  Ned glanced in that direction just in time to see a man who had run out of the office whip a black kerchief from his face. In his other hand he was carrying a bulging money sack.

  “I’ll bet he robbed the place!” Nancy cried out. Nearby was a street telephone booth. “Ned, I’ll call the police.”

  “And I’ll try to stop that man!” he said.

  Nancy had just closed herself inside the glass booth when Ned noticed a car coming at a swift pace up the street. It was probably a getaway car!

  By this time the robber was almost at the entrance to the grounds. Ned turned quickly onto the path. The next second he grabbed the man in a crunching football tackle.

  The fellow went down and the money sack flew from his hand. Instantly Ned dashed to pick up the sack and threw it as far and hard as he could toward the office door.

  In that split second the man rushed to the sidewalk and jumped into the car which had stopped. Ned was tempted to follow, but realized that both the robber and the driver might be armed. He did manage, however, to get the license number.

  Before the car was out of sight, four policemen roared up in a sedan. Nancy dashed over to them and told what had happened, while Ned gave the license number. In a flash two of the officers took off after the robbers’ car. The other two started up the walk toward the factory.

  Ned looked at his companion. “This is one time the police must take over.”

  Nancy and Ned followed them, however. Ned pointed to the money sack and one of the officers picked it up. They all walked inside.

  “Oh!” Nancy gasped.

  On the floor near a desk lay a girl not much older than herself. She was unconscious but beginning to stir. One of the officers pulled a small vial of ammonia salts from his pocket and waved it under the girl’s nostrils.

  As her eyelids fluttered open, a door at the rear of the office opened and a heavy-set balding man entered. He looked in astonishment at the scene before him.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  The officer holding the bag of money raised it. “Is this yours?” he asked.

  “My payroll!” the man shouted. “What happened? Where did you get this?”

  The officer responded, “This couple here can give you more details than I can.”

  As the young woman on the floor was helped to her feet and seated in a chair, Nancy and Ned told of coming along just in time to see the robber. They were reluctant to give details of their own part in the recovery of the payroll, but the policemen insisted upon a full report. The balding man who said he was Mr. Bedford, the factory owner, thanked them profusely.

  “I’ll bet he robbed the place!” Nancy cried out

  By this time his secretary was able to tell her part of the story. The bookkeeper had already gone out to lunch and she was in the office alone.

  “A man came in wearing a black kerchief across his face. He pointed a gun at me and told me to lie down on the floor and not to make a sound. I was so scared I fainted.”

  “What did the fellow look like?” the policeman asked.

  The girl said he had blond hair but that’s all she could tell about him. Nancy and Ned gave a description. He was of medium height and clean-shaven.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy noticed the workers coming from a side door. If she and Ned were to find Arik, they should leave at once.

  “I think we’ve given you all the information we can,” Nancy said. “Now if you’ll please excuse us—”

  “I will be in touch with you,” said Mr. Bedford. “You have saved me thousands of dollars.”

  Nancy and Ned said good-by and went out the door. They hurried down the walk and crossed over to the park. Nancy half hid behind a tree and watched the oncoming workers. A few minutes later she saw Tunay Arik.

  “There he is!” she whispered to Ned.

  The young man walked on past other workers and chose an empty bench at the far side of the park. As he opened his lunch box and took out a sandwich, Ned sidled onto the bench beside him. Nancy, partly covering her face with one hand, sat down next to Ned. She leaned back slightly, half hiding herself.

  Presently Ned said, “Excuse me, but aren’t you Tunay Arik?”

  The young man gave a start and rose from the bench. Ned pulled him back. “Don’t try to run away again. I want answers to three questions. First, that letter you showed Aisha was a forgery, wasn’t it?”

  Arik looked frightened and did not answer.

  Ned went on, “Farouk Tahmasp is alive, isn’t he?”

  Finally Arik, like someone trapped, said, “Why —why yes, but that is a personal matter. I meant no harm by having someone write that letter for me.”

  Ned looked at Arik in disgust. He now said, “Why did you try to steal the Turkish rug from the Drew home?”

  Arik turned ash white. Now he tried once more to get up. Ned yanked him back.

  “Answer me!” he said severely.

  “I’m not bad! I’m not a burglar!” Arik said in a hoarse whisper. “I didn’t try to steal anything. Say, who are you, anyway? A cop?”

  “No, I’m not a policeman,” Ned replied.

  Arik had eaten nothing. Now he closed his lunch box and insisted he must get back to work. “I haven’t done anything wrong,” he insisted.

  Nancy spoke up. She was not convinced that he was telling the truth. Trying to take him by surprise, she said, “Where did you get the super-duper master key that opened the kitchen door to our house?”

  Arik looked totally blank. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied.

  The girl detective went on, “I see you don’t wear your fancy gold filigree bracelet to work.”

  Arik stood up, his eyes flashing angrily. “I don’t own a bracelet and I think you two are crazy. Now don’t try to stop me again or you will be in trouble.”

  Nancy looked the man straight in the eyes. “If it wasn’t you who came to my house, then you have a double. Do you know who he is?”

  “No.?
?? Arik strode across the park and went straight back to the factory.

  After he had gone, Nancy and Ned began to discuss whether or not he was guilty.

  “He certainly acted innocent enough,” Ned remarked.

  Nancy said she was beginning to doubt herself. “After all, the first time I saw him, when he was trying to steal the rug, it was only by lamplight. I could be mistaken.”

  “Anything’s possible,” Ned said, “but on second thought that guy admitted knowing Farouk.” He frowned, adding, “Nothing makes sense.”

  Nancy did not reply. She had another hunch and decided to telephone her father at once and tell him what had happened. She crossed the street and once more closed herself in the telephone booth and gave him a full report. Mr. Drew said he was glad she had called him. He would have a tail put on Arik at once.

  “And I’ll keep my eyes open for a double,” Nancy told him.

  When she rejoined Ned, he declared he was starving. “Want to go back to that Greek restaurant?” he teased.

  Nancy laughed. “I guess we’d better not. How about a nice unmysterious luncheonette?”

  As soon as they finished eating, Ned glanced at his watch to see how much time he had left before his appointment.

  “I can spend exactly one more hour with you,” he said. “Where would you like to go?”

  “Home,” Nancy replied promptly. “I haven’t worked on the Turkish rug for some time. Let’s see if we can find more words in the border. I still think there are further directions in it.”

  “Okay,” said Ned.

  When they reached the Drew house, Hannah Gruen was not there and Nancy was surprised to find the Turkish rug rolled up on the floor of the front hall. Why was it there? Surely Mrs. Gruen would not have brought it downstairs since she felt so strongly that it should be kept hidden in Nancy’s closet.

  As Ned closed the front door and turned toward her, Nancy picked up the rug and began to unroll it quickly. The next moment a small scimitar flew from the inside and headed straight for Ned!

  CHAPTER XIV

  Well-Kept Secret