“It’s the truth!” Nancy insisted, and the others backed up her story.
“Well, you can tell them down at headquarters,” the officer said. To Burt and George he added, “Get out and come aboard the launch.”
Angry but obedient, the pair climbed into the police launch. Another officer jumped aboard the stolen speedboat and sat down behind the wheel.
“All set?” the chief officer asked him.
“Yes, sir.”
The commander of the launch now turned to Ned and ordered, “You all come along with us, too!”
CHAPTER XIII
Bats!
GEORGE and Burt continued to argue with the river police but to no avail. Finally George said, “The boat our friends are in is being rented by the hour. Please, can’t we return it before going to headquarters?”
The chief officer consented.
“Thank you,” said George. She hoped that by contacting the man from whom they had rented the boat, the group of young people would be exonerated.
Her hopes were in vain. Although the man did identify them as the group who had rented one of his boats, he said he had no idea where they were going. For all he knew they might have rented his boat to steal the other one. Ned paid him for the use of the Water Witch, then he, Nancy, Bess, and Dave climbed aboard the officers’ launch.
It proceeded to the police dock. Here the six friends were ushered into a building which was a branch of the main police headquarters. All of them were questioned. Finally Nancy said, “I’m the Nancy Drew whose car was stolen.”
“Yes, we know,” the officer in charge said. “It hasn’t been found yet.”
“Now that you know who we are, and that we’re not boat thieves, may we please go?”
“Not yet. You haven’t proved that you didn’t take the boat we found two of you in.”
“We have no proof,” Nancy replied. “But also you have no proof we stole the boat.”
The officer looked searchingly at her. “You sound like a lawyer.”
“Probably I’ve learned that from my father. He’s Carson Drew of River Heights—an attorney.”
Suddenly the officer’s face broke into a wide grin. “Carson Drew? Everybody knows him. So you’re his daughter? Why didn’t you tell the river police that in the first place?”
Nancy did not answer. She merely smiled, and the officer said with a wink, “Case dismissed.”
When the young people reached the sidewalk outside, Dave came alongside Nancy and rubbed his arm against hers. “Boy, am I glad to be a friend of such a famous person!”
Everyone laughed and the gay mood of the group was restored. When they sobered again, George said, “That fellow who tried to ram us must have stolen the boat just for that reason.”
“I wonder who he is,” Bess mused.
The following morning Nancy and her friends went to church, then drove in Ned’s car to the castle. As they went down the tree-shaded lane, Nancy and George were delighted to discover that the drawbridge was still down. Even the stones they had heaped on it were in place.
“Just the same, I’m going to leave my car on this side,” said Ned.
Burt chuckled. “Now we won’t have to use those swim trunks we brought.”
“And I was planning on being a gallant knight and letting the drawbridge down for miladies to cross!” said Dave.
Nancy and George grinned and showed how they had anchored the bridge so it could not be raised from inside the castle.
“Clever,” said Ned.
The visitors hurried across and walked into the cobblestoned courtyard which was filled with tufts of grass and weeds that even grew through cracks in the porticoes. Nancy and Ned decided to start their search at the tower end of the castle. They found that on the first floor, directly below the tower, was a mammoth baronial hall. There was nothing in it but a collection of many years of dust and cobwebs.
“This must have been gorgeous,” said George, as she and Burt joined the others in the great room.
In order not to miss finding anyone who might be hiding out in the castle, the young people separated into three pairs, each taking a section. They walked through room after room, some of which opened off adjoining suites and others only off the porticoes. Finally the six friends met back in the great hall.
“Did you find anything?” each excitedly asked the other. But none of them had.
George added, “No cot, stove, food, or clothing to indicate anyone is living here.”
The searchers had noticed three stairways leading to the floor above—a wide one from the baronial hall, and two narrow ones in other sections. Each couple took one of them to the second floor. Here they found a series of rooms, some with doors, many with them missing.
“I presume lots of things have been stolen from here by souvenir hunters and vandals,” Nancy surmised.
“I’m afraid so,” said Ned. “It’s a shame this beautiful place is being allowed to go to ruin.”
When the other two couples joined them, George reported that she and Burt had come upon a locked door. They did not know whether it opened into a room or possibly to a stairway leading to the tower.
Nancy was excited. “Maybe someone is living in the tower!” she suggested. “Our whiskered friend!”
George led the way to the heavy oak door. There was a wooden slide bolt on it, but this was open. Still the door would not give.
Ned and Burt took hold of the enormous knob on it and gave a tremendous heave. This time the door opened, but the young people fell back in dismay from a dark stairway ahead of them.
They were about to be attacked by a flock of bats!
The group took to their heels. Nancy, at the end of the line, kept pace with Ned. Presently she turned around to see what had become of the bats. To her amazement, she saw a man come from the tower stairway and run down the hall in the opposite direction.
“Ned!” she cried, grabbing his arm and stopping short. “I saw that tower signaler! Let’s chase him!”
She called to the rest of her friends to turn back and follow them, but they did not hear her. She and Ned started running down the hall after the man.
As they turned a corner, Nancy saw him reach one of the smaller stairways and start downward.
“Stop!” she cried out. “We’re not going to harm you! We just want to talk to you!”
The stranger paid no attention and disappeared. Nancy and Ned raced after him, but by the time they reached the first floor he was out of sight.
“We’d better separate if we hope to find him,” said Nancy.
“All right, but be careful,” Ned agreed.
The two hurried off in opposite directions. In a few moments Nancy came to an open doorway. Before her was a circular, enclosed stairway leading to the cellar. The steps were of stone, but the walls were oak paneled.
“That man must have gone down to the cellar,” Nancy decided. “This door wasn’t open the first time we examined this floor.” She glanced at the door. It matched the paneling of the hallway exactly and at first glance might not have been noticed. Apparently the searchers had missed it.
As Nancy listened, she was sure she heard a creaking noise below her. Was the bewhiskered man just reaching the cellar, or was he hiding some place and causing a door to creak?
At that moment Ned joined her and she pointed below. In a whisper she said, “I think he’s down there. Let’s go!”
Ned laid a restraining hand on her arm. “Not you. I’ll go.”
It was only then that Nancy realized how dark it was below. “You couldn’t find your way,” she said.
Ned grinned. From his trouser pocket he pulled a flashlight. “You’ve taught me this much about sleuthing. Never go on a search in dark places without a light. I’ll go first. If everything’s okay, you follow,” he said.
Ned went slowly down the winding stairway. Presently he was out of sight. Nancy waited anxiously, hoping there would be no attack by the bewhiskered man or other persons.
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“Okay,” he called up a moment later. “Come ahead!”
As Nancy started down, Ned began a search for the man. Suddenly he realized that Nancy was taking a very long time to descend the stairway.
“Nancy!” he called. “What’s wrong?”
There was no answer. Worried, Ned hurried up the stairway. Not only was Nancy not on it, but when he reached the first floor he discovered that she was not in sight.
Bess and George and the boys hurried toward him. “Where’s Nancy?” they asked in one breath.
“I don’t know,” Ned said fearfully, then told them where he had left her.
“How long ago was that?” Bess asked quickly.
“Why, just a few minutes.”
“Then she didn’t come up the stairway, nor was she anywhere near it,” said Bess. “Otherwise, we would have seen her.”
The five young people looked at one another. Panic seized them. What had happened to Nancy?
CHAPTER XIV
The Castle Captive
“I SHOULDN’T have left Nancy alone!” Ned declared, blaming himself for her disappearance.
“Let’s talk about this sensibly,” said George.
The group discussed the situation for several minutes and concluded that Nancy could not have left the castle.
“Since she didn’t go upstairs,” said George, “that leaves only one place she could be—the cellar.”
“But why didn’t I see her?” Ned argued. “I suggest you girls wait here. Burt and Dave and I will go downstairs with a flashlight and see what we can find out.”
Ned tried to keep his voice calm but the others knew he was greatly upset. He led the way and presently the boys vanished into the darkness of the castle basement.
Bess and George stood at the top of the stairway looking up and down the long corridor and hoping Nancy would reappear. George strode back and forth nervously. Bess was dabbing her tear-filled eyes with a handkerchief.
Finally George said, “I can’t stand this any longer. The boys should have been back by this time. Maybe something has happened to them too!”
She started down the cellar stairway. Bess went after her and grabbed her arm. “If we all get captured, who’s going to go for help?” she asked.
“You’re right,” George agreed. “But what in the world happened to Nancy? It seems as if she just vanished into thin air.”
Bess gave a tremendous sigh. “That moonstone somebody sent her certainly didn’t help Nancy. I’d say it brought her bad luck.”
As Bess stopped speaking, both girls heard a startled mutter. It seemed to be coming out of the wall!
The cousins huddled together. Who had made the sound? The two girls gazed at the paneled beams beside them. Was it possible someone was hidden behind the wooden wall?
George decided someone was there. Could the person be Nancy—trapped, injured, or a prisoner? Was someone with her, keeping the young sleuth from crying out? The girls must find the answer!
Motioning with her hands, George indicated a plan to Bess, who nodded. George would go down to the cellar, try to find the boys, and get them to help break down the wall. Although Bess was fearful of being left alone, she consented. Her heart was pounding like a triphammer.
On tiptoe George went down the rest of the flight. When her eyes became accustomed to the dimness, she started walking ahead. To her relief, she saw the three boys coming back. They had not been harmed!
Burt said in a scolding tone, “It’s dangerous down here! Why didn’t you stay upstairs?”
George paid no attention to the question, but quickly whispered what she and Bess had heard. “I suggest we tiptoe back up and you boys examine the wall where the muttering came from. There’s something creepy going on there.”
Cautiously the four ascended the steps. Ned beamed his flashlight over the paneled wall. Suddenly he pointed to the well-concealed latch of a two-paneled door.
He motioned for Bess and George to go to the top of the stairway. As he held the flashlight on the door, Burt and Dave silently moved the latch and yanked the door open.
Out tumbled Nancy!
She fell limply into Ned’s arms. For a few seconds all eyes were on Nancy, then Burt looked again at the door from which Nancy had emerged. A closet-type room was revealed. In it stood a bewhiskered man, stunned by the sudden turn of events, and unable to escape from his captors.
“Just who are you?” Burt cried, grabbing the man’s arm.
As he yanked him from the closet, both of them lost their balance and went rolling down the stairway. Dave went flying after the tumbling figures. Bess and George could hear a scuffle going on below.
Meanwhile, Ned had picked Nancy up and now carried her outdoors. The fresh air quickly revived her.
“Oh, Nancy,” said Bess, coming outside, “what happened?”
Between long breaths of air, Nancy explained that as she was descending the cellar stairway, suddenly the secret door had burst open, startling her. The bewhiskered man had grabbed her and held a vial under her nose. The fumes from the vial had made her dizzy and she was unable to flee. “Then he yanked me into the closet and closed the door.”
“Oh, you poor thing!” said Bess.
Presently Burt and Dave arrived with their captive. He glowered at the young people. “Now tell your story,” Ned ordered him.
The prisoner only glared. They asked him his name, but he refused to give it. He would not say whether or not he was living at the castle.
Ned put his hand into the man’s pocket and brought out a vial. He read the label and gave a sigh of relief. “This stuff is perfectly harmless,” he said. “It’ll just make a person sleepy.” Turning to the prisoner, he asked, “Are you in the habit of carrying this with you?”
“A guy’s got a right to some protection,” the man grumbled, then he ignored further questions put to him as to why he was living there.
Nancy, who now felt quite like herself, said, “I’m rather glad this man abducted me. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have any excuse for taking him to the police.”
“Police!” the man shrieked. “You ain’t goin’ to take me to the police! I ain’t done nothin’! This girl was too snoopy. I had to keep her quiet.”
This time he was ignored by the young people. Burt and Dave offered to drive the prisoner to town and turn him over to the authorities, then come back for the others.
“Fine,” said Nancy. “I’d like to investigate that tower.”
“No! No! You mustn’t do that!” the prisoner cried out. “You can’t go up there!”
“Why not?” Nancy asked.
“It’s dangerous! You’ll get into trouble!” the man replied.
“Come on!” Burt urged the man. He and Dave took their captive by his arms and hurried him toward Ned’s car.
“Oh, here are the car keys,” said Ned, running forward to hand them to Dave.
When he returned, Ned asked Nancy if she really felt well enough to make the ascent to the turret. She insisted that she did, so Ned and the three girls returned to the castle and climbed to the second floor.
“I hope we don’t meet those bats again,” said Bess fearfully. “If this turret is their home, they may come back before we leave.”
“We’ll have to take that chance,” George told her.
Bess said no more. The door to the tower was still open and the young people climbed the stairs. Above was a stone-walled circular room. It contained a bed, a small kerosene stove, a table, and a chair.
“That old man has been living here all right,” Ned remarked.
Nancy had been casting her eyes around, looking for an opening to the roof of the turret. On one wall, in a corner, was an iron ladder. Above it, she could discern a trap door. Nancy pointed it out to the others, and Ned started up the ladder.
“Nothing out here but a space to stand on,” he called down.
“Any clues?” Nancy asked.
Ned looked around and reported that he could find not
hing. As he descended, Nancy began a search of the room. Under the cot she saw a piece of paper and reached down to pick it up. On it were typed the words:
Our password will be Moonstone Valley.
When the others saw it, Bess gave a start. “Moonstone Valley again!” she exclaimed. “Nancy, that man wasn’t fooling when he told you it was dangerous to come up here. This must be the hideout of some gang.”
“You’re right,” George added. “And they know the old name for this area.”
Nancy was thoughtful. Now she was sure that the castle, the bewhiskered man, the moonstone she had received, and some nefarious gang were all connected somehow. But who were the gang members? Mr. Seaman and friends of his?
She and the others searched the room thoroughly but could find no other clue. In the distance they heard a car and assumed the boys were returning.
“Let’s go!” Bess said nervously.
The group trudged back to the drawbridge, where Burt and Dave met them. The boys reported that the prisoner was behind bars.
“The chief wants to talk to you, Nancy, after lunch,” said Burt.
At the mention of the word “lunch,” the young people realized how hungry they were. George, who at once suggested the Brass Kettle, told Burt and Dave that she would introduce them to a gossipy but nice old lady. At first the girls’ escorts frowned, but when they heard that Mrs. Hemstead had really helped in advancing the solution of the mystery, the boys relented.
To the girls’ amazement, the elderly woman was not in her usual place. The rocking chair was empty and Mrs. Hemstead’s daughter said that her mother was not feeling well and had remained in her room.
Nancy expressed her sympathy and led the way into the tearoom. As soon as luncheon was over, the six friends walked to the police station. Chief Burke asked Nancy to prefer charges against her assailant.
“He still won’t give his name and he has no money on him,” the official said.
Nancy consented, and signed the prescribed form.
“Oh, dear!” said Bess. “I wish it hadn’t been necessary for you to do that. I’m sure now the Moonstone Valley gang will be after you!”