Carolyn Keene - The Ringmasters Secret

"Where is the circus playing?" Nancy asked.

"It's moving to Melville tonight. They'll be there for three days. That's why Erika called me. She wanted to know if there was any news of Pietro."

Quickly Nancy gave Bess the other details of the trip and concluded by saying that Pietro wanted to return to the circus as soon as possible and marry Lolita.

"When Erika calls again, will you please give Lolita his message."

Returning to her father, who had just received their baggage, Nancy told him the latest turn of events. Mr. Drew became grave.

"One thing is sure. We are being spied upon. We'll probably be followed. I suggest that we lead our pursuers a merry chase and throw them off the track."

Nancy was agreeable to the suggestion. Suddenly an idea came to her. "I heard an announcement a few minutes ago that a helicopter's taking off for Newark. Suppose we fly over there and then drive back to New York? Anybody who might be following us could never get there in time."

Mr. Drew smiled. "That's an excellent plan," he praised his daughter.

He went to buy the tickets, while Nancy hurried to the women's lounge for Lola Flanders and then led the way to the helicopter.

The trip was made in an hour. When they arrived at Eloise Drew's apartment, the lawyer took his sister aside to ask if Lola Flanders might stay at her apartment temporarily. Under the circumstances, it seemed best to keep her in hiding until the riddle of the strange telegram had been solved.

Eloise Drew was delighted with the arrangement. Nancy was to stay there also. Mr. Drew said that he had to return to his office at once and would catch an afternoon plane to River Heights.

After luncheon, Nancy said she would like to do an errand. Actually she wanted to talk to Captain Smith and tell him what she had found out in England. Miss Drew also said that she had an errand which must be taken care of.

"Do you mind staying alone?" Nancy asked Mrs. Flanders.

The woman laughed. It was the first time Nancy had heard her laugh and it reassured the girl as to Lola Flanders' condition.

"Go ahead," Mrs. Flanders said. "You know, I feel like a new person. I have no more fears."

Nancy and her aunt left the apartment together. Miss Drew said that she would not be gone more than twenty minutes, and Nancy could take all the time she needed. They separated, and Nancy went at once to call on Captain Smith.

"You back so soon?" the officer shook his head. "Well, what's the news?"

After hearing Nancy's story, Captain Smith looked at her in admiration. He said no detective or police officer could have done the job better and probably not so fast.

"There's still a great deal to be done," Nancy said. "Have you found out any more about the Tristam Booking Agency or Lola Flanders' dividend checks?"

"I have some news that will amaze you," the officer said. "The Tristam Booking Agency has gone out of business!"

"It has?" Nancy exclaimed.

The police officer said that the firm had folded up overnight. It had left no forwarding address.

"There has been no mail for Lola Flanders for two days," the captain stated. "I was just about to telephone one of the companies from which the dividend checks come to find out if they had been notified of any change of address. I'll do it now."

He put in a call to an oil company. Presently he received the information he wanted. Hanging up, he turned to Nancy and said:

"Well, that's a break. The new address is the Hotel Coles in this city!"

Before Nancy could do any more than show her surprise, the captain was placing another call. This time it was to the hotel desk. He learned that a young dancer named Lola Flanders had registered there the day before.

Nancy told Captain Smith about the fake telegram, directing her to go to the Hotel Coles.

"But you didn't do it?" the man asked, a look of disapproval crossing his face.

"No."

"I'm glad," the officer said. "It's a low-class place."

Captain Smith said he would send a detective to the hotel at once to check on Lola Flanders. He would have another man check to find out who had sent the telegram.

"Please call me at my aunt's home if you find out anything," Nancy requested.

The officer promised to do so and Nancy returned to the Drew apartment. She rang the bell and instantly the door was opened by her Aunt Eloise. The woman's eyes had a frightened look in them.

"Nancy! Lola Flanders is gone!" she cried.

CHAPTER XXIV Terror at the Circus

Miss Eloise Drew began pacing the floor. She was convinced that Lola Flanders had suffered another attack of amnesia and wandered off.

Nancy was even more alarmed than her aunt. She was fearful that one of her enemies had enticed Mrs. Flanders away.

Hastening to the street, she asked a group of children she saw playing there if they had seen a woman come from the apartment house.

"A thin, small woman with graying hair," she added.

"Sure I saw her," a little girl spoke up. "She got in a taxi and went off."

"Was anybody with her?" Nancy asked.

The little girl said that a woman with curly blond hair and very red cheeks had come from the apartment house with the woman and they had gone off together.

"Did you happen to hear them say where they were going?"

"No, I didn't," the child replied.

Nancy's first thought was the Hotel Coles. She wanted to go there at once, but recalling Captain Smith's advice, decided to phone him and ask the police to make the investigation.

A few moments later the police captain called and reported that the young dancer who called herself Lola Flanders had not been at the hotel since she had registered.

Suddenly an idea occurred to Nancy. Consulting the classified telephone directory, she made a series of calls to theater booking agents and restaurants that employed dancers. The list was long and she was kept busy for an hour and a half. At last she was rewarded, however. Millie Francine was employed at the Bon Ton Night Club.

Nancy wondered how she could get in touch with the dancer. Even if she knew nothing about Lolita's mother and her possible kidnapping, she might be able to give her a lead to the guilty party.

As the girl detective sat thinking, the bell rang. She ran to the door, hopeful that Lola Flanders had returned. Ned Nickerson stood there, grinning.

"I know you didn't expect me," he said, stepping into the apartment. "I hadn't left New York yet, and when I telephoned earlier to find out if by any chance you were back, I was certainly delighted to hear that you had returned. So here I am!"

Nancy stared at him in surprise. The strange look on her face made Ned ask:

"Aren't you glad to see me?"

"Oh, yes, Ned," Nancy said hurriedly. "But we're in the middle of a new mystery. Who answered the phone here when you called?"

"I don't know. Whoever she was told me that you and your aunt had gone out for a few hours."

"Ned, that was Lolita Flanders' mother! At least, I think it was," she said, upon second thought. "What else did she say?"

"That if I wanted to see you, not to come for a while, because nobody would be here."

"She said that?" Nancy asked in surprise. "Go on, Ned," she urged.

"There isn't any more to tell. Well, wait a minute," he said suddenly. "It seems to me she did say that she was going out, too."

"Did she say why?" Nancy asked quickly.

Ned said the woman had mumbled something. It could have been that she was going to meet her daughter.

"Oh, Ned," said Nancy, "it's just as I feared. Lola Flanders has been kidnapped!"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Nancy told him the whole story and then said, "Ned, you and I are going to the Bon Ton as fast as we can get there."

"Well, I'm glad to have a date," Ned said. "But would you mind telling me why you've picked out that second-rate place? Besides, it doesn't open until evening."