“That’s what I figured,” Nancy replied. “But someone called Mrs. Marvin and soon afterwards a fire was set in the Vetters’ laundry room.”
Dave gasped. “I think we boys had better get to Los Angeles in a hurry. You need our protection!”
Nancy chuckled. “You may be right.”
When the rest of the group heard about her conversation with Dave, they were convinced that the call to Mrs. Marvin had, indeed, been a ploy of the arsonist.
Nancy then got in touch with Senora Mendez. The woman told her that a third ransom note had been mailed to her from Mexico City.
“It told me to leave more money on a bench at an intersection near my home and promised Dolores would be set free after the ransom was paid.”
“Did you comply with the request?”
“Yes. This time I hired a private detective, who carried a walkie-talkie so he could communicate with me. He dropped the package at the designated spot and walked away. He hid and kept watch from a distance.”
“What happened?” Nancy asked eagerly.
“Nothing,” Senora Mendez replied sadly. “No one picked up the money, and Dolores was not brought home. Oh, Nancy, what am I going to do?”
The girl took a deep breath. “Don’t lose faith,” she said. “I have a strong hunch that everything will turn out all right. Perhaps the kidnappers suspected that you had hired a detective and for that reason did not go through with the exchange. But I’m sure Dolores is fine.”
“I hope you’re right,” Senora Mendez replied. “I’m trying to keep calm, but my poor daughter is ill with worry.”
Then the Mexican woman changed the subject. “I have a message for you, Nancy. I had a phone call from Senor Pedroa. He is the one you went to see about his collection of poisons, isn’t he?”
“That’s right.”
“He said he couldn’t reach your dad, so he left a message with me. A man named Ozne has contacted him about selling the rare vial of poison from the fifteenth century.”
“Did Senor Pedroa say anything else?” Nancy asked.
“No. But I believe he made an appointment with Senor Ozne, who is to visit him soon.”
“Thank you very much for the message,” Nancy said. “I’ll follow it up, and I’ll let you know how we progress.”
After she finished talking, Nancy thought about the person who wanted to see Senor Pedroa. Suddenly an idea came to her. She jumped up and hurried to Bess and George.
“Listen to this!” she said. “A man named Ozne has contacted Senor Pedroa about a rare fifteenth-century vial of poison!”
“Ozne?” George asked, raising her eyebrows.
“You know what that means?” Nancy said excitedly.
“No, of course not.”
“It’s Enzo spelled backwards!”
Bess was startled. “You think he’s Enzo Scorpio?”
“I’m sure of it,” Nancy replied. “I’ll call Señor Pedroa immediately and suggest that when Ozne arrives, he have the police arrest him.”
15
The Watermark
Senor Pedroa was amazed by Nancy’s theory. “No doubt you are right,” he said. “I will do as you suggest and ask the police to be here when Senor Ozne comes with the poison. I am sure that with your description I will recognize him as well as the beautiful gold filigree covering on the vial.”
He said good-by but called Nancy back in half an hour. “Everything went as planned,” he reported. “Senor Ozne came to me and was apprehended by the police. The vial he was trying to sell me was not the one you described. It was a cheap one, not authentic and had no value!”
Nancy was surprised to hear this. “Are the police holding the man anyway?” she asked.
“Yes. He refuses to talk and they suspect that he is, indeed, Enzo Scorpio who is wanted by the New York authorities. They will investigate. But no one knows what he did with the genuine vial that was stolen from your friend.”
When Nancy repeated the conversation to her friends, the three speculated on where the valuable vial was.
“Maybe he lost it,” George suggested.
“Or he could have sold it to someone else,” Bess added.
“Too bad he won’t talk,” Nancy said. “But I’m glad he was caught anyway.”
“Right,” George said. “Now all we have to do is find Dolores and catch the Hoaxters!”
“Speaking of the Hoaxters,” Bess said, “I’d like to know why they bother with con games when they’re making a hit in the theater.”
“It could be greed,” Nancy said. “According to Dad there are people who are never satisfied with their money or position. They always want to be richer or greater. Often they’ll resort to illegal means to gain their ends.”
Bess giggled. “And that, my dear friends, is the lesson of the morning.”
The other two laughed and George asked what was next on the detectives’ agenda. Nancy told her that she wanted to study their copy of the first ransom note very carefully. She spread it out on a table and the girls went over it again and again.
Nancy always came back to the same conclusion. “The message has to be ‘$100,000 in sack to 8 by X,’ ” she said.
“We assumed that 8 stands for the letter H and means Howie,” George spoke up. “Could it be that H and X are street names and refer to a certain intersection in Los Angeles?”
“Possibly,” Nancy said. “Let me ask Mrs. Vetter if she has a map of the city.”
She returned a few minutes later with a map. It was old and torn but usable. Nancy spread it out on the table and the girls looked at the street index.
“Oh, no!” Bess frowned. “Everything from O on is missing, so we can’t determine whether there are any street names starting with X.”
“Yes, we can,” George said. “We’ll have to scrutinize every inch of the map, that’s all.”
Each girl concentrated on part of the map. After a while Bess said, “I’m getting cross-eyed. I really feel sorry for the printer who put this together.”
“And we’ve come up with a blank,” George added. “There’s no such intersection.”
“Wait a minute,” Nancy spoke up. “You just gave me an idea, Bess, when you mentioned the word printer. I’m going to call Senora Mendez and ask her to look for a watermark on the original ransom note.”
She hurried to the phone and was soon talking to their Mexican friend. “Please hold the paper to a strong light and see if you can make out a name or design,” Nancy requested.
“All right. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Senora Mendez was gone so long, however, that Nancy was afraid the woman had forgotten her. Finally she came back on the line.
“It was difficult to distinguish the watermark on the paper,” she said, “but I believe it’s a fern leaf.”
“Thank you,” Nancy said. “This might be a good clue. Let’s hope it leads somewhere.”
Senora Mendez’s voice, which had been strong up to now, wavered. “Nancy,” she said, “you are such a dear, and I’m putting a great deal of faith in you.”
“I’ll try to live up to it,” Nancy assured her.
The young sleuth said good-by, then looked through the advertising pages of the telephone book. There was a long list of stationers. She copied it and asked Bess and George to accompany her on a search for the fern marked paper.
The first shopkeeper they interviewed was very obliging. He had never heard of such a watermark but looked in his order catalog. No such design was listed.
“It may have been used some time ago and is no longer being made,” he said.
The girls thanked him and left. During the rest of the afternoon they visited one stationery store after another without learning anything. It was not until they inquired at the last one on their list that they had any luck.
The gray-haired manager looked thoughtful, then said, “Yes, I recall one company that used a fern design. But I don’t remember the name of it. I’m sorry. Would another type of paper suit your needs??
??
“I’m sure it would,” Nancy replied, not wishing to reveal the reason for their inquiry. She selected a box of pale blue paper with matching envelopes, and the girls left.
“What are you going to do now?” Bess asked.
“What I always do when I get stuck on a case,” Nancy replied. “Call my dad.”
The girls returned to the Vetters’ and Nancy phoned Mr. Drew.
“More trouble?” he asked.
“Not really,” she said. “Before I ask a favor of you, did you find out anything about the Maine hotel and Silk-O-Sheen?”
“Yes, I did,” Mr. Drew replied. “The hotel is legitimate. A large stack of prospectuses disappeared, however, as well as orders for stock certificates. Apparently they were stolen.”
“I’m convinced of it,” Nancy said. “Barker and his pals got hold of the documents and are trying to peddle them illegally!”
“Right,” her father agreed. “The other story about a Silk-O-Sheen fabric is fictitious. There is no such thing.”
“So it exists only in the minds of Cadwell and Barker!” Nancy exclaimed.
“That is true. As a matter of fact, you might say it was a complete fabrication.”
Nancy laughed. “Dad, did you mean to make that pun?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you fabricated the fabric-ation on purpose!”
Mr. Drew chuckled. “What’s the favor you wanted to ask me?”
“I’m trying to find a company that makes paper with a fern watermark. So far I haven’t had any luck.”
“I’ll work on it,” her father promised, “and start immediately.”
At dinner Mrs. Vetter suggested that the girls take some time off from their case and go to a comedy movie with her and her husband.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Bess said. “My brain’s whirling like the blades of a helicopter.”
“Yours could never go that fast,” George teased her cousin, and the others laughed.
As soon as the meal was finished, the group set off in Mr. Vetter’s big car. Five minutes later Nancy noticed that another automobile was following close behind them. She asked their host if he would mind taking a circuitous route to the theater in case they were being trailed for some sinister reason.
“I’ll be glad to,” he said. “Is this going to be another detective chase?”
“I hope not,” Nancy replied. “But we’ll soon find out if the intentions of that other driver are good or bad.”
Mr. Vetter turned left, then right a few times. For several blocks the pursuer did not leave them and Nancy was convinced that her enemies were on their trail.
Finally a break came. Mr. Vetter managed to scoot through an intersection just as the light turned red. The car behind them had to stop. By the time it was able to cross the street, Mr. Vetter had turned another corner and was out of sight.
“Oh, I’m so glad to be rid of him!” Bess exclaimed in relief.
“So am I,” George added. “I couldn’t have kept my mind on the movie, thinking our enemies were after us again, maybe to harm us!”
Mr. Vetter parked in the lot of the large motion picture theater and the group went inside. For two hours their minds focused on the delightful comedy that unraveled on the huge screen. When the show was over, they walked into the lobby, smiles on their faces.
“Didn’t you love the detective clown who always consulted his big, long necktie when he picked up a clue?” Bess asked.
The others laughed and George said, “I think he stole the show.”
Suddenly Nancy stopped short. Waiting in the long line for the next show were Cadwell and Barker!
“Look over there!” she whispered to her friends. “We must ....”
Just then the two con men realized that they had been spotted. Nimbly they stepped out of the line and rushed through the open front door!
16
Hijackers
The girls pushed through the crowd in the lobby, trying to reach the two con men.
“Hey, take it easy, girlie,” an annoyed man called out.
“Sorry,” Nancy replied and hurried on, brushing past another man.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “A fire?”
“Excuse us,” said Bess, who was right behind Nancy.
George was elbowing her way through the crowd ahead of the other two. When she reached the door, a guard grabbed her by the arm.
“Look, miss, you’re making a nuisance of yourself!” he scolded her.
“We just saw two con men the police are looking for,” George replied. “Please let me go! We want to stop them!”
“Who are you?” the guard demanded. “Plain-clothes detectives?”
“In a way,” George said, as Nancy and Bess caught up to her. By the time the girls convinced the guard that they were telling the truth and he agreed to let them go, it was too late. Barker and Cadwell were out of sight!
The girls separated and ran down the street a short distance, but it was no use. The con men had vanished. Disappointed, the young detectives met Mr. and Mrs. Vetter in the parking lot and explained why they had hurried away.
“Too bad you lost your suspects,” Mr. Vetter remarked. “Perhaps you should report the incident to the police.”
Nancy agreed. He drove to headquarters, where the girls gave a full account of what had happened.
“Even though the two con men got away,” George added, “we know for sure that they’re in Los Angeles.”
“Do you think they were the same people who followed you to the movies?” the sergeant on duty asked.
“Probably,” Nancy answered. “After they lost us, they might have stopped for dinner and then decided to see the show.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for them,” the sergeant promised.
When the group arrived home, the telephone was ringing. Nancy dashed to answer it and learned Ned Nickerson was calling.
“I’ve been trying for the past three hours to get you,” he said. “Burt, Dave, and I are leaving here tomorrow morning at nine on Continental Flight 388. Will you meet us at the airport in Los Angeles?”
“We sure will,” Nancy promised. “It will be wonderful to see you.”
Ten minutes before the plane was scheduled to land, the girls arrived at the airport. They found a large group of people near the Continental counter. Everyone seemed to be extremely agitated and worried. Nancy asked what the trouble was.
“Flight 388 has been hijacked!” a woman blurted out.
“Hijacked!” the three girls chorused. “Where? When?”
They were told that very little was known about the holdup at this time. The hijackers, who would not reveal their names, had not given any reason for taking over the plane.
Nancy, Bess, and George were too stunned to talk for a moment. They visualized all sorts of dreadful things happening to their friends.
Suddenly Bess spotted a familiar face among the crowd. She whispered to the others, “I see one of the Hoaxters—the sleight of hand performer. He’s over there!”
Nancy and George were startled. Why was he at the airport? Was he waiting for someone?
Bess had an idea. “Nancy, you were never on stage. Why don’t you find out what you can from him?”
“Like what?” Nancy asked.
“Like whom he’s expecting on this flight.”
Nancy hesitated. “Remember, he recognized George before she went on stage. I’m sure he’d recognize me. I’ll have to change my appearance a little if I want to talk to him. Bess, may I borrow your scarf?”
“Sure.”
Nancy took the scarf and disappeared into a rest room. When she came out, the girl detective had hidden her hair and put on a good deal of makeup, which changed her appearance considerably.
“This is terrific for an instant disguise!” George praised her.
“Let’s hope so,” Nancy said with a smile.
Casually she walked over to the magician, pretending to b
e nervous and in need of someone to talk to.
“I’m so worried about a friend who’s on board,” she said. “I hope he’s safe. Do you, too, have a friend or relative on the hijacked plane?”
“Yes, my wife,” the man replied. “She was coming here to help me with my work.”
Just then a voice sounded over the loudspeaker. “Attention, please! I have good news for people expecting passengers on Continental Flight 388. The hijackers have been overpowered and no one was hurt.”
A great cheer went up from the crowd and a voice called out, “Tell us more!”
The announcer, who stood at the airline counter, said that the plane would land in El Paso, Texas, where the hijackers would be turned over to the police.
“It will then refuel and continue nonstop to Los Angeles,” he concluded.
The sleight of hand man, like everyone else, looked relieved. He said to Nancy, “The plane won’t be here for a while. I’m going to leave and come back later.” He hurried away.
To pass the time, the girls walked around the airport, looking at shops and stopping to buy flowers for the Vetters. At last the flight was announced.
“Thank goodness!” said several of the people who had gathered to welcome passengers.
Ten minutes later Bess exclaimed, “I see them! I see the boys!”
The young sleuths rushed forward to greet their friends.
“We’re so glad you’re safe!” Nancy cried out. “What a frightful experience you must have had!”
Burt said, “It was hair-trigger going for a while. As far as we could learn, the hijackers wanted a free ride to South America. But we never did find out why.”
Ned took Nancy’s arm. “Now put us to work,” he said, grinning.
She laughed. “Oh, there’s plenty for you to do.” Quickly the girl detective outlined their case and mentioned the sleight of hand man as one of the suspects.
“His wife was aboard your flight,” she added.
“Wait a minute,” Ned said. “I bet I know who she is. When the hijacking was announced, she acted like a spoiled child. She made all kinds of demands, which, of course, nobody could meet, and insisted that it was extremely important for her to get to Los Angeles and help her actor husband on stage.”