Carolyn Keene - The Clue in the Crumbling Wall

"Nancy!" George called. "Are my clothes dry?"

Nancy rose and felt them. "Not yet."

"I'm getting hungry," George complained. "And Bess will have a fit if we don't go back soon."

At that moment Bess was fuming in Nancy's concealed car. As the sun climbed high overhead and the girls failed to return, she became hungry and annoyed.

"Guess they've forgotten me," she thought. To add to her irritation, the hounds would dash back to the gate whenever she walked over to look through it. They bayed savagely.

"Oh," Bess fretted, "wait until I see Nancy and George. I'll-"

Just then she heard a car coming up the road. Bess barely had time to hide herself in the bushes before it swung around the bend. She was glad that she had followed her instinct for she was sure from Nancy's description that the driver was Daniel Hector. He was alone.

The lawyer stopped in front of the gate but did not shut off the engine. He got out of his two- door car, leaving the door on his wide open.

"He's going to drive into the grounds!" Bess thought. "Nancy and George will be caught! I must warn them!"

Her anxiety mounting, Bess tried to think what to do. Mr. Hector still had his back turned toward her as he unlocked the big gates. The car was less than ten feet away from her hiding place. There was little time for Bess to think or plan. Impulsively she darted to the car. After climbing into the back, she crouched on the floor. Hector returned to the automobile. Unaware of his passenger, he drove through the opening into the estate grounds!

CHAPTER VIII Locked In!

"George, would you mind if I do a little exploring?" Nancy asked. "I'll be back by the time your clothes are dry."

"Okay," George called.

"I'm not going far. I've found some whelk shells, and I think they may indicate something important. Maybe dye made from them is hidden in containers nearby."

"They're not in here," George said.

Nancy moved off, looking about carefully for any possible place where dye might have been stored. She found none, and in her search wandered farther than she had intended.

Nancy paused abruptly as she became aware of a low rumble which shook the earth. "What's that?" she wondered.

She stood still and waited for more sounds, but there were none. In the distance, however, a cloud of white, powdery dust caught her attention.

"Another explosion!" she murmured excitedly.

Cautiously Nancy went toward the area, but soon her path was blocked by a high brier hedge. After following the bushes some distance to find an opening, the young detective was startled to hear a car.

"Somebody with a key to the gate padlock must have driven into the estate grounds!" she thought.

As the sound drew nearer, Nancy decided to find out who was coming. She plunged through the woodland and reached a weed-grown clearing just as Daniel Hector drove up and stopped. Nancy backed quickly into the shelter of the bushes. The lawyer did not see her. He parked his car under a gnarled maple, got out, and set off on foot.

"I'll follow him," Nancy decided.

Mr. Hector walked so fast that she could scarcely keep him in sight. He seemed thoroughly acquainted with the layout of the trails, for he never hesitated when he came to a turn. Before long the man vanished from view.

When Nancy came to a fork in the path, she wondered which way he had gone. Fearful she would lose track of him entirely. Nancy pressed her ear to the ground and very faintly could discern a steady beat to her right. She hastened on. Presently the trail branched off in three directions. Again Nancy was baffled. When she flattened herself on the ground this time, she could hear nothing.

"I've lost him!" she thought in dismay.

Nancy chose a path at random and went on doggedly. She was so intent on her sleuthing she completely forgot about George and Bess.

Meanwhile Bess, still hidden in Daniel Hector's car, was wondering what to do. "I'd better find George and Nancy," she decided. She cautiously climbed out and started up the trail the lawyer had taken. Bess had not gone far when the dogs began to bark. They were coming closer each moment!

"They've picked up my scent!" Bess was in a panic.

The hounds leaped into view. In terror, Bess shinned up a tree and hoped the dogs would pass by. Instead they took up a vigil at the base of the trunk.

By this time George had grown tired of waiting for Nancy to return to the tool house. From the window she could see her clothes, apparently dry, on the sunny bank of the pond.

"I can't wait another minute!" she thought impatiently. "I'll get them myself!"

George went to the door and stopped short. A boy in faded overalls had emerged from among the trees. He seemed to be eleven or twelve years old.

George slipped out of sight behind the door and watched him. He suddenly snatched up her clothes and hurried off.

"Hey, you! Those are mine!" George cried angrily from the window.

The boy paid no attention.

"Hypers!" George thought in despair. "Now what'll I do? Nancy's done a disappearing act, and I'm stranded here without any clothes!"

Nancy, unaware of her friends' problems, was intent on another subject. The trail she had chosen had not led her to Daniel Hector, but to Heath Castle. She could not resist the temptation to see the wonderful building at close range. Its beauty, even at a distance, awed her. It was constructed of massive gray stone covered with ivy. The roof line was broken by several turrets, a large one at each end of the residence, with smaller ones in between.

"It's a perfect copy of an old English castle," Nancy thought, "only smaller."

Curious, she began to circle the castle walls. "What a pity this stately home has to stand in the midst of ruined gardens!" she mused.

A massive side door of the big house stood ajar. Nancy wondered if Mr. Hector had opened it. Quietly she slipped inside. She found herself in a long corridor which twisted and turned crazily. Large rooms lined with beautiful paneled wood opened from it. Many were empty, others contained a few pieces of fine old mahogany furniture. At a glance it was apparent to Nancy that nearly everything of value had been removed from the place.

"Odd," she said to herself. "I thought the castle was left to Juliana intact. Did thieves break in or did Hector sell the furniture?"

The inside wooden shutters in the gloomy rooms were closed, lending a ghostly appearance to the few sheet-draped chairs. The unexpected sight of herself in a long mirror gave Nancy a start.

Before long she found steps leading to the second floor. A search of the rooms there, including the many closets, revealed nothing of special interest.

"The only places left to visit are the towers," Nancy thought. "But how do I get into them?"

She could locate no entrance. Then, glancing from a window, she realized that the castle was built around a hollow square which was another tangled garden. Nancy figured that some of the smaller turrets actually were bedrooms. The high towers must be separate, with doors opening from the courtyard.

Nancy hurried down the stairway to hunt for an exit to the inner garden. At length she found a door in the shadows of the corridor. After tripping the bolt so she would not lock herself out, Nancy stepped into the sunshine.

She glanced around and discovered that her guess had been right. There were entrance doors to the two high, round towers. She opened the one on her left. It held one room which had a low ceiling and contained nothing. The walls, however, had been chipped and damaged.

"Even the castle hasn't escaped the hackers!" Nancy mused. She turned her attention to the other tower, glad that the massive door to it was unlocked. It was hollow and only dimly lighted by a high window. A circular iron stairway led to a small balcony at the top.