The Mystery of the 99 Steps, Page 2

“The songs are beautiful,” Nancy said, clapping.

  Mrs. Gruen applauded loudly. “This is just like having a free ticket to a lovely concert,” she said, smiling.

  Before the group went to bed, Nancy invited the visitors to accompany her to the airport the next day. She told them about the helicopter that had buzzed the Drew home.

  The three girls arrived there in the middle of the morning. Nancy spoke to the man at the regular service counter and was directed to the office of a private helicopter company.

  A young man at a desk had to be prompted twice before replying to Nancy’s question. He kept staring with a smile at the two French girls.

  “Oh, yes,” he finally said to Nancy, “a man was up with me yesterday—the one who’s going to build the helipad on your roof.”

  Nancy stared at the young pilot, speechless. Then she said, “You’re kidding!”

  “Kidding, the girl says!” He rolled his eyes around and shrugged his shoulders. “No, this is for real.”

  Suddenly Nancy realized the pilot had been the victim of a hoax that perhaps tied in with Monsieur Neuf. She decided to be cagey in her questioning.

  “Who told you?” she asked.

  “Why, the man I took up. Guess you know him—James Chase.”

  “Was he from the—er—company that’s going to build the helipad on our roof?” Nancy asked.

  “Yes. He showed me a letter from the A B Heliport Construction Company signed by the president. I don’t remember his name. It said what they were going to do and asked if I’d fly him low over your house. I got permission to do it.”

  “Next time you fly low you’d better be more careful,” Nancy warned. “We had a fire going and you caused a downdraft that could have set our house on fire.”

  “Gosh, I’m sorry about that.”

  “I don’t know this James Chase,” Nancy said. “What does he look like?”

  The pilot grinned. “Queer-looking duck about fifty-five years old. Real long face and arms and feet. Limped a little.”

  “Anything else?” Nancy asked, her pulses quickening.

  “Well, he spoke with a French accent.”

  Nancy thanked the pilot for his information and left with her guests. When the three were out of earshot of his office, Nancy said excitedly, “James Chase is the masked man who came to my house!”

  Marie and her sister exchanged quick glances. “Nancy,” Marie burst out, “we think we know who this man is. His name is not James Chase!”

  CHAPTER III

  The Green Lion

  “You know who the masked man is?” Nancy cried out unbelievingly.

  “We are not acquainted with him,” Marie answered. “But I’m sure he was a gardener at the chateau of friends of ours. He was discharged for not being honest. In fact he was later suspected of stealing large sums of money from several shops.”

  Monique spoke up. “We remember him because he was so odd looking, although I don’t recall he limped. His first name was Claude. We don’t know the rest.”

  “And,” Nancy said, “he could be Monsieur Neuf! But if Neuf is trying to keep people away from the 99 steps, why would he leave France? Girls, you’ve given me a very valuable clue, anyway. Since you say Claude was not honest, and he’s using an assumed name and sent that warning note to Dad and me, I think our police should be alerted.”

  When they reached headquarters, Nancy took the Bardot sisters inside to have them meet Chief McGinnis. The middle-aged, rugged-looking officer, a good friend of the Drews, greeted them all with a warm smile.

  “I’m glad to meet your French visitors, Nancy,” he said.

  “You’ll be doubly glad,” said Nancy, “when they tell you about the man who is trying to keep me from going to Paris.”

  After Chief McGinnis had listened to the story, he nodded gravely and turned to the Bardots. “Will you young ladies compose a cable to your friends and ask for Claude’s last name and his address in France. I’ll send it, but the reply will come to your house, Nancy.”

  The officer winked, adding, “I wouldn’t want the Bardots’ friends to think Marie and Monique are having trouble with the River Heights’ police!”

  “Oh, no, no,” said Marie, and the sisters laughed.

  Everyone was pleased at the quick response that came from France. The three girls, after a sightseeing trip on the Muskoka River, arrived home at five o’clock. Hannah Gruen had just taken the message over the telephone. It said: Name Claude Aubert. Whereabouts unknown.

  “Good and bad news at the same time,” Nancy remarked. “Apparently Claude the gardener has disappeared from his home town. But won’t he be surprised when our River Heights police pick him up!”

  She dialed headquarters at once. Chief McGinnis was still there. Upon hearing Nancy’s report, he said, “I’ll get in touch with immigration authorities in Washington at once to check if Aubert entered this country legally. Most offices will be closing, but I’ll call anyhow.” He paused. “My men are out looking for this Frenchman. When do you leave, Nancy?”

  “At eight tomorrow morning.”

  “Well, if I have any news before then I’ll let you know. Good-by now.”

  “Good-by, and thanks!”

  Monique turned to Nancy. “Oh, I hope the police catch Claude! He may try to harm you again before you leave.”

  The telephone rang. Nancy answered. “Hi, Bess! What’s up?”

  “You must help us out—tonight.”

  “How?”

  “By performing anything you like. Play the piano, do tricks, tell a mystery story.”

  “Bess, what are you talking about? Is this some kind of gag?”

  “No, indeed, Nancy. This is the night the Teeners Club entertains the Towners Club, remember? You had to decline because of your trip.”

  “Sorry, Bess,” said Nancy. “I’m afraid I must decline again for the same reason. I haven’t finished packing yet, and I told Mrs. Blair I’d drop in to see her. She was trying to find some clues for me from old diaries of her mother’s.”

  “But, Nancy, we need one more number. We Teeners can’t disappoint the older folks. Couldn’t you just—?”

  “Bess,” Nancy said suddenly, “I just had a brainstorm. Maybe Marie and Monique will sing some madrigals.”

  “Marvelous!” Bess exclaimed. “Oh, Nancy, you’re a whiz. Hurry up and ask them.”

  At first the French girls demurred, feeling that they did not sing well enough to perform in public. When Nancy, backed by Mrs. Gruen, assured the sisters they sang beautifully, the girls consented.

  Monique said happily, “Marie and I brought old-time costumes used by singers in the Loire valley. We thought Tante Josette would like to see them.”

  “That’s great,” said Nancy, hugging the girls.

  When she told Bess the good news, there was a squeal of delight from the other end of the wire. “I’ll pick up Marie and Monique at seven-thirty,” said Bess.

  Nancy requested that the sisters come last on the program. “I’ll try to finish my visit with Mrs. Blair in time to hear them.”

  A little later when Marie and Monique came downstairs in their costumes, Nancy and Mrs. Gruen clapped in admiration. The long-skirted bouffant dresses with tight bodices were made of fine flowered silk. Marie’s was blue and trimmed with narrow strips of matching velvet. Her sister’s was rose color with festoons of shirred white lace.

  The girls’ hair was piled high on their heads and they had powdered it to look like the wigs worn by the elegant ladies of the eighteenth century. On one cheek of each singer was a tiny black patch, another custom of the day.

  “You will make a great hit,” Mrs. Gruen prophesied.

  “Merci beaucoup,” said Marie, her cheeks flushed with excitement. “Mrs. Gruen, are you not going?”

  “I hadn’t planned to, since Nancy was not performing,” the housekeeper replied.

  At once the three girls urged her to attend. Hannah beamed. “All right. It won’t take me long to change.
”

  She hurried to her room and soon returned in a becoming navy-blue dress. A few moments later Bess arrived for her passengers and they left. Nancy set off in her car for Mrs. Blair’s apartment.

  The attractive woman, about forty years old, opened the door and said eagerly, “I found some notes in Mother’s diary that may help us.”

  She sat down beside Nancy on a low couch in the living room and opened a small red-velvet-covered book. The writing was precise and quite faded in places.

  “I’ve had a hard time deciphering this,” said Mrs. Blair. “It tells mostly of my parents’ travels, and mentions that I went along sometimes. But I was always with my governess.”

  “Then the experience you dream about,” Nancy guessed, “could have included your governess. Is she still living in France?”

  “I really don’t know. To me she was just ‘Mademoiselle’ and that is what she’s called in the diary. She was very kind, I remember. I was only three years old at the time.”

  Mrs. Blair gave the names of several famous chateaux they had visited. Another was where Marie and Monique lived.

  Nancy’s eyes sparkled. “Now we have something to work on! We’ll go to each chateau and look for the 99 steps!”

  “Another place mentioned in the diary, Chateau Loire, was mostly in ruins,” Mrs. Blair went on. “It says the place was haunted by a ghostly alchemist who carried on his work there. You know, Nancy, in olden times people were superstitious about chemists and their experiments, and they were forbidden by law to work their ‘miracles.’ ”

  “But they did it in secret?” Nancy asked.

  “Oh, yes. They had all kinds of signs, and symbols and special words to indicate to other people in their group what they had accomplished.”

  “How clever—and daring!” said Nancy.

  Mrs. Blair arose and took a book from a shelf. It too was in French. She showed it to Nancy. “One of the interesting sets of symbols includes a Red King, White Queen, Gray Wolf, Black Crow, and Green Lion. The Red King stood for gold; the White Queen, for silver. I don’t understand the meaning of the crow, but the Green Lion-he’s a bad one. He devours the sun—or in other words, he’s acid making the silver or gold look green.”

  “That’s fascinating!” Nancy exclaimed.

  “Yes, it is,” the woman agreed. “And it’s hard to realize that the forbidden art of alchemy finally became the basis for our modern chemistry. In the sixteenth century alchemists believed that minerals grew, so certain mines were closed to give the metals a chance to rest and grow.”

  Nancy listened intently as Mrs. Blair went on, “For a long time people laughed at this idea. But today chemists have discovered that metals do literally grow and change, though very slowly. My goodness!” the woman exclaimed. “We have wandered off the subject of our mystery, Nancy. But actually I didn’t find any other clues to my dream or the 99 steps’ incident of my childhood.”

  Nancy glanced at her wrist watch. She was reluctant to leave, but would still have time to hear Marie and Monique perform. She invited Mrs. Blair to accompany her, but the woman declined because of her sprained ankle.

  Nancy arose, saying she must go. “You have given me a lot to work on, Mrs. Blair. I’ll certainly be busy in France! Au revoir, and I hope I’ll soon have good news for you.”

  Nancy hurried to the school auditorium where the Teeners were giving their show. She quietly slid into a rear seat in the dim light.

  The Bardot sisters had just been announced and came out before the footlights. Standing with their heads close together, they began to sing. At the end of the number the applause was terrific.

  As it died down, and the sisters started the second madrigal, Nancy’s eyes wandered over the audience. Suddenly she caught her breath. Directly across the aisle in the center of a row sat Claude Aubert!

  “I must get the police before he leaves!” Nancy thought. Quickly and unobtrusively she made her way outside.

  CHAPTER IV

  Backstage Scare

  WHEN Nancy reached the street she looked back to see if Claude Aubert were following, but evidently he had been unaware of her presence in the auditorium. She ran to a nearby street telephone and called police headquarters.

  The officer on duty promised to send two plain-clothes detectives to the school at once. Nancy said she would meet them in the lobby, and hurried back to the school. As she entered the lobby she heard enthusiastic clapping and assumed Marie and Monique had finished their act.

  “Oh, I hope Claude doesn’t come out here before those detectives arrive,” Nancy thought worriedly. She peered inside the auditorium. He was still in his seat.

  Fortunately the audience insisted upon encores. Just before the show ended, Detective Panzer and Detective Keely walked into the lobby.

  Nancy quickly led them inside and pointed out their quarry. Suddenly Claude Aubert arose, pushed into the side aisle, and, without limping, hurried toward the stage.

  “Come on!” Nancy urged the detectives. “He may be planning to harm the Bardots!”

  The three hurried after the French ex-gardener. He went through the door that led up a short flight of stairs to the stage. To the left of the steps was an exit to the parking lot. When the pursuers reached the spot, the suspect was not in sight.

  “Where did he go?” Nancy asked in dismay.

  Detective Panzer yanked open the exit door and reported, “I don’t see him.” He and Keely dashed outside.

  The next instant a scream came from somewhere backstage. Electrified, Nancy raced up the steps where a throng milled about on stage. Many persons were asking, “What happened?”

  A sob could be heard above the noise. Nancy went to investigate and found Monique in hysterics. Marie was trying to comfort her.

  Seeing Nancy, they cried out together, “He threatened us!”

  “Claude Aubert?”

  “Yes,” said Monique. “He grasped my arm so hard I screamed. Then Claude said in French, “ ‘If you sisters let Nancy Drew go to France, you will suffer and she will tool’”

  “He must be Monsieur Neuf!” Marie added fearfully.

  “Where did he go?” Nancy asked.

  Marie pointed to the opposite side of the stage from where Nancy had entered. When Nancy reached it, she found an exit to a walk that ran behind the building to the parking lot.

  Nancy was elated. Mr. Nine was trapped! The walk ran between the school and a high concrete wall. There was no way out except through the parking lot. By this time the detectives must have nabbed the suspect!

  Nancy dashed along the walk to the lot and stared ahead. A large crowd was making its way to the cars and some of the automobiles had already started to move out. The detectives were not in sight. Neither was Claude Aubert.

  “Oh great!” Nancy groaned in disgust. Then she took heart. “Maybe he’s already been captured and is on his way to jail!”

  Nevertheless, Nancy searched thoroughly among the cars, but saw neither Claude Aubert nor the detectives. She returned to the stage. By this time Monique had calmed down and was receiving congratulations with her sister from many persons for their excellent performance.

  “You certainly made a hit,” said Bess, coming up with George. “Just as Hannah said.”

  “Oh, thank you.” The Bardots smiled.

  George added, “Someone told us a fresh guy came up and bothered you. Who was he?”

  “A Frenchman who threatened Marie and me if we let Nancy make the trip.”

  “Such nerve!” George exclaimed. “What’s his name?”

  Nancy whispered it, then brought Bess and George up to date, telling of her suspicion that Aubert was Monsieur Neuf.

  “Wow!” said George. “Mr. Nine must be worried you’ll solve the mystery.”

  In a low tone Nancy said, “We’d better go home, and I’ll call headquarters to see what happened to the detectives.”

  They found Mrs. Gruen waiting in Nancy’s convertible. After bidding good night to Bess
and George, Nancy drove off. The housekeeper was astounded at the story of the threat.

  “Starting tonight, I’m going to keep the burglar alarm on all the time!” she declared. “I’m glad we had it put in.”

  Nancy grinned. “Marie and Monique, be careful not to come home unexpectedly. You may scare Hannah.”

  “Just the same,” said Mrs. Gruen, “I don’t like this whole thing. Nancy, perhaps you ought to postpone your trip for at least a few days.”

  “I can’t,” Nancy replied. “Dad and Mrs. Blair are counting on me. Let’s not worry until we find out if Claude Aubert has been captured.”

  As soon as she reached home Nancy telephoned the police. The suspect, she learned, had not been brought in. Furthermore, Detective Panzer and Detective Keely had neither returned nor phoned a report.

  “We assume they’re still tailing their man,” the desk sergeant added.

  Nancy hung up, her mind in a turmoil. How had Claude Aubert escaped? Where would he show up next?

  “I’ll bet,” she thought, “that it will be right here. I’m glad the burglar alarm is on.”

  After a pre-bedtime snack, Mrs. Gruen and the girls went upstairs. Nancy, who had some final packing to do, was the last one to retire. Some time later she was awakened abruptly by a loud ringing.

  The burglar alarm had gone off!

  Instantly the young detective was out of bed and pulling on her robe and slippers. She dashed to a window and leaned out, hoping to spot the intruder. Seeing no one, Nancy sped to her father’s room in the front of the house and peered below.

  “Oh, they’ve caught him!” she exulted.

  In the rays of a flashlight, the two plainclothesmen were holding a tall, long-faced man. Aubert? Just then Mrs. Gruen, Marie, and Monique rushed in.

  Nancy cried out, “The detectives got the burglar! Hurry! Let’s go down!”

  She quickly led the way, turning on lights as she went, and flung open the front door. The detectives marched their prisoner, now limping, into the hall. Claude Aubert!

  “Hello, Miss Drew,” said Detective Keely. “We saw your lights go on and thought you’d like to know we got this fellow.”