Carolyn Keene - The Clue in the Jewel Box

“Ah, it will set off the Renaissance costume!” the designer approved in delight. “I ask Jim to put the ornament in his safe!”

“Fine. See you at the picnic this afternoon.”

“It is sweet of Helen to give it for me,” Katherine said with a smile.

After picking up her car at the service station, she dropped Bess and George at their homes, then stopped at police headquarters to find out if there was any news of the pickpocket. Chief McGinnis said that a suspect had just been brought in for questioning.

“May I see him?” Nancy requested.

“Certainly,” the officer replied.

Well acquainted with both Nancy and her father, he frequently received useful clues and tips from them. In fact, Nancy had solved so many cases that the chief jokingly declared Nancy to be an unofficial member of his staff!

The man who had been captured was placed in a line-up with other suspects. Nancy studied each person as he stood on a platform under a powerful light. The wiry built pickpocket she had hoped to identify was not in the group.

“Sorry,” she said regretfully. “I’ve never seen any of these people before.”

As Nancy was about to leave the building, an irate man burst in.

“You policemen!” he fairly shouted. “I’ve been paying taxes here for twelve years, and what do I get in return? Nothing! When I need a policeman, I can’t find one! And when I finally get one, he arrests the wrong man!”

“If you have a complaint to make, the lieutenant will take it-over at that desk,” a sergeant told the complaining man.

He calmed down a bit and directed his remarks to the chief. In a bitter voice he revealed that his wallet had been snatched while he was standing in front of a store.

He had shouted for a policeman. The officer had arrested a man, who immediately established his innocence. Shortly afterward the wallet, empty, had been found in an alley.

“You can bet the thief had an accomplice,” the angry victim declared. “When the policeman came on the run, I heard someone in the crowd whistle as if in warning.”

“You did not see the person who whistled?”

“No, I didn’t.”

The lieutenant promised he would do what he could, and made a routine report. After the indignant man had left headquarters, the officer gazed rather apologetically at Nancy.

“What can we do?” he asked with a shrug. “Money can’t be traced, unless the bills were marked or the serial numbers recorded.”

Chief McGinnis said, “Nancy, I believe you’ll have to turn your talents to this case.” There was a twinkle in the eyes of the good-natured officer.

“Too busy today,” she joked in return.

Homeward bound, Nancy began to wonder whether this latest theft had been committed by the same man who had stolen her father’s wallet, and who was also responsible for the purse snatchings in River Heights.

“Somehow I must recover the money for the Boys Club, and the valuable papers Dad lost!” she thought resolutely. “This afternoon, I’ll be at Helen’s picnic for Katherine. Maybe tomorrow a new clue will come my way!”

The young people were to go by motorboat far up the river to Star Island. The outing promised to be an especially enjoyable one.

Ned Nickerson came for Nancy in his car. Upon reaching the dock, the couple found that the other picnickers had arrived ahead of them. Ned’s college friend Bob Dutton escorted Katherine. George Fayne and an athletic young man, Burt Eddleton, had come together, and Bess had brought her favorite date, Dave Evans.

“Everyone is here,” Helen declared, counting all of her guests, who numbered twelve.

Two motorboats, to be operated by Jim Archer and Ned, had been rented for the outing. The passengers were divided between the crafts, and Jim started off. The ropes of Ned’s craft were about to be cast off when a shout came from shore.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Francis Baum ran to the dock, followed by his dog. Thinking that he might have a message for her from his grandmother, Nancy asked Ned to wait. In a low voice she told him that the newcomer was Mrs. Alexandra’s grandson.

“What’s up? A boat trip?” the prince demanded as he reached the group.

“You guessed it,” Ned answered shortly.

“How about taking me along?”

“The boats are filled now. Otherwise-” Dave started to say.

“Oh, you can make room for me,” Michael insisted, jumping aboard and squeezing in between Nancy and Bess.

The dog also leaped into the craft. Before he could be made to lie down, he had put his dirty paws on Bess’s beige slacks, soiling them badly.

“Oh!” she cried out.

“Hey, pitch that beast out on the dock!” Ned ordered. “We’re not going to take him.”

Nancy was concerned that Mrs. Alexandra might be hurt if the prince told her about the boys’ attitude. She nudged Ned, and he became silent. She now presented Michael to the group, being careful not to reveal the identity of Mrs. Alexandra.

“Why don’t you tell your friends I’m really Prince Michael?” he urged. “It’s not everybody who has a queen for a grandmother.”

Those in the group who did not know the story looked at him in amusement. They thought he was joking, and Nancy made no comment.

“How did you know about our picnic?” she asked quietly.

“I didn’t,” he said with a grin. “I just happened to be walking my dog down here. Lucky, wasn’t it?” No one replied.

As they edged away from the dock, a sleek speedboat cruised past. Beside its driver, who was a sad-faced young man, sat a little boy. Michael ducked low.

“Is he afraid of being seen by that other man?” Nancy asked herself.

As the trip proceeded, Bess, Ned, and their friends paid little attention to Michael. They had started singing. Nancy, crowded by the dog, presently climbed over the seat, and perched herself on the afterdeck of the boat.

“Lots of room back here!” she shouted.

The others continued to sing and did not join her. She became interested in watching the speedboat, which was about to pass them again.

It was not until the channel buoy had been rounded that Bess glanced over her shoulder. Then she screamed.

“Stop the boat, Ned! Quickly! Nancy’s gone! She must have fallen overboard!

Ned swung the motorboat in a wide arc, while the worried young people looked across the water. They saw a figure swimming some distance away.

“It’s Nancy!” cried Bess, pointing. “She’s holding up a little boy!”

Another boat also was speeding toward the scene. Ned, however, was the first to reach Nancy. Many hands pulled her and the little boy aboard. Immediately he began to cry.

“You’re all right,” Nancy said, putting her arms around him and hugging him dose to her.

Between sobs the boy said, “Mr. Ellington’s going to scold me for falling off his boat.”

Both Nancy and Ned hastened to console the boy. “Oh no! He knows it was just an accident that could happen to anybody.”

“Look, here is your boat now,” Nancy said as it drew alongside.

“That’s Mr. Ellington,” the boy said, pointing to the handsome man at the wheeL

The man looked frightened as he realized by what a narrow margin a tragedy had been averted.

“You had him before I knew he was overboard,” he said shakily. “If anything had happened to Buddy Farrell, I couldn’t have faced his parents,” he declared. “He’s the son of the superintendent of the apartment house where I live.”

Buddy was handed over to Mr. Ellington. As the two boats separated, Nancy remarked that the sad-faced young man seemed very nice.

“Too stiff to suit me,” cut in MichaeL