The Broken Anchor

  Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #70

  The Broken Anchor

  Contents

  1. Contest Winner

  2. Mystery Boat

  3. An Ancient Clue

  4. Galleon Gold

  5. Vanished

  6. Missing!

  7. Anchor Island

  8. Search for Bess

  9. Phantom Intruders

  10. The Pirate Legend

  11. Blackout

  12. An Unexplained Break-in

  13. Polka Dot Sighting

  14. Fearful Discovery

  15. Kidnapped!

  16. Timely Escape

  17. Exploring for Answers

  18. Rescue in the Caves

  19. Smart Decoy

  20. Treasured Solution

  1. Contest Winner

  “Did you enter another contest, Nancy?” Hannah Gruen asked the pretty eighteen-year-old who was eating her lunch.

  “Not lately, why?” Nancy smiled up at the Drews’ housekeeper.

  “This came in the mail.” Hannah handed her a large brown envelope.

  Nancy stared at it for a moment, seeing the handwritten “Contest Winner” that had been scrawled above the typed name and address.

  “Sweet Springs Resort, Anchor Island, Bahamas?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. “I know I didn’t enter any contest there.”

  “Why don’t you open it and see what you’ve won?” Hannah said impatiently.

  “You should have been a detective,” Nancy teased as she followed her suggestion.

  The doorbell rang as she shook out the contents of the envelope, and in a moment Hannah admitted Bess Marvin and George Fayne, Nancy’s best friends. “What did you win, Nancy?” Bess asked, seating herself at the table. “Hannah told us about the letter.”

  “When did you enter a contest?” George asked. Tall and dark-haired, she was quieter than her blond, pretty cousin.

  Nancy giggled. “I think it must be a mistake,” she answered. “I didn’t enter any contest.” “What do they say?” Hannah asked.

  Nancy scanned the letter, then handed it to George so she could read it aloud.

  “Dear Miss Drew.”

  “You have been selected by the Sweet Springs Resort to receive a week-long holiday for two. Your reservations are waiting and airline tickets are enclosed. We can promise you an exotic and beautiful holiday on a very special island. We will look forward to welcoming you when you arrive in Nassau on Friday.

  “Till then, our congratulations, Miss Drew.”

  George studied it for a moment, then shrugged. “It’s signed the owners and staff of Sweet Springs Resort, but no specific names.”

  “Oh, how exciting,” Bess gasped. “When do you leave?”

  Nancy handed her the plane tickets. “These are for tomorrow,” she answered.

  “Do you think it’s a legitimate offer, Nancy?” Hannah asked as she brought glasses of iced tea and a plate of sandwiches for the other two girls.

  “It could be an advertising gimmick,” George suggested. “After all, you and your father are quite well known, Nancy. And this announcement is a bit of a mystery.”

  “Oh, you must go and see, Nancy,” Bess said, giggling. “It would be so romantic to vacation on an island in the Bahamas.”

  “Well, I don’t know,” Nancy mused, intrigued by the prospect, yet skeptical of the way it had come about. “I’ll have to check into it more carefully, and with Dad gone. . .”

  “Where is your father?” George asked, taking the brochure that had come with the letter.

  "He was called to Miami early this morning,” Nancy answered, leaning over to look at the bright pictures. “I don’t know what it was all about.”

  “This certainly looks like a wonderful place,” Hannah observed, studying the brochure. “If the offer is genuine, Nancy, it would be a shame to let it pass.”

  “How could I find out?” Nancy asked, her gaze on the picture of the elegant pink building with its burgundy tile roof.

  “You could call your travel agent and see if the place is for real,” George suggested.

  “And I suppose the airline could tell me about the tickets,” Nancy agreed, getting to her feet, lunch now forgotten.

  “I don’t know how she can bear to even ask questions,” Bess said, munching a sandwich as she studied the photograph of a white sand beach dotted with sunbathers. “I’d just start packing and worry about the details later.”

  George shook her head. “This is the offseason down there, isn’t it?” she asked no one in particular. “I thought most of these places closed at the end of May.” She scanned the descriptive paragraphs quickly.

  “Does it say they’re closed?” Bess asked. “No dates at all,” George reported, her fingers ruffling her hair. “Just a lot of words about beautiful beaches, boat trips, swimming, fishing, things like that.”

  Bess moaned. “Why don’t we ever get wonderful surprises like this?”

  “I guess. . George stopped as Nancy came back into the kitchen. “What did you find out?” Nancy kept her expression solemn for a moment, but then she could bear it no longer and grinned at her two friends. “It seems to be genuine,” she answered. “The plane tickets are confirmed all the way to Nassau, and though this is a bit late for a vacation in the Bahamas, the travel agent says the Sweet Springs Resort has a good reputation. He suggested that it might be a promotional offer.”

  “So are you going?” Bess asked eagerly.

  “I won’t know till I talk to Dad,” Nancy replied.

  “Can’t you call him?” Hannah asked.

  Nancy shook her head. “He didn’t know where he could be reached when he left. He should be calling me pretty soon, though.” The girls returned their attention to the luncheon that Hannah had provided, discussing the clothes that Nancy should take and the possibilities of her finding a mystery to solve once she arrived on Anchor Island. They’d progressed to ice cream and brownies when the telephone rang.

  “I’ll get it, Hannah,” Nancy called, leaping to her feet and hurrying into the office.

  “Hi, honey,” her father replied to her greeting. “How are things on the home front?” “Busy and confusing,” Nancy answered. “Oh, has something happened?” There was concern in Carson Drew’s tone.

  “Something nice, I think,” Nancy replied, then explained about the holiday she’d been offered, finishing, “The only bad part about it is that the plane tickets are for tomorrow and I don’t suppose they can be changed.”

  “How do Bess and George feel about the trip?” Carson asked, surprising her.

  “They think we should go.” Nancy hesitated, then continued, “What do you think, Dad? Will your business allow you to leave tomorrow?” “I’m afraid neither one of us can leave that soon, honey. I’m going to need you here,” her father said. “However, I do have a suggestion.

  “Why don’t you let Bess and George take the plane tickets and the reservations for the resort?

  You can all fly to Miami tomorrow, and they can go on to the island and make reservations for us to join them as soon as we’re finished here.” “Oh, Dad, that would be wonderful,” Nancy gasped. “I know they’d love the chance to visit the island—but do you think it will be all right with the resort people?”

  Her father laughed. “Since they offered the reservation free, I’m sure they will be happy to have two paying guests in addition. However, if there is any problem, George or Bess can call us when they get to the resort.”

  “Now tell me about the case you’re on,” Nancy said, her curiosity aroused as she realized that her father hadn’t mentioned anything beyond the fact that he wanted her to come to Miami. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “There certainly is,�
€ he replied. “In fact, that’s why I’m calling. I’ve been summoned down here to investigate a real mystery.” “What kind of mystery?” Nancy was intrigued.

  “Well, when the authorities contacted me, they said that it was about an abandoned boat. They think I can identify the owners.”

  “Can you?” Nancy asked when he hesitated for several seconds.

  “I haven’t actually seen the boat yet,” he continued. “It’s up the coast from Miami, and this morning they seemed more anxious to ask me questions about my background and about you. In fact, they’d like you to join me.”

  “Me, why?”

  “Well, according to the sheriff, the boat had been stripped of any identification before it was abandoned. In fact, the only clue that they found on board was a file of newspaper clippings.”

  “Newspaper clippings?”

  “All concerning cases where you’ve helped me solve mysteries,” her father explained.

  “Then the owners of the boat were interested in us?” Nancy frowned. “That makes two mysteries today.”

  “Two?”

  “Well, I don’t know how I could win a contest that I didn’t enter, and now we seem to have fans who’ve disappeared off their boat.” “Do you think you can arrange to get down here tomorrow morning?” her father asked.

  “What flight are those tickets for?”

  Nancy got the tickets and gave her father the information, adding that she’d already inquired about another seat being available, since she’d hoped that Bess and George would be able to accompany her, if her father couldn’t. He laughed at her words. “Always one step ahead of me, aren’t you?” he teased.

  “Just trying to be a good, efficient daughter,” Nancy answered with a giggle.

  “Efficient enough to locate the owners of the abandoned boat, I hope,” he told her. “We’ll have to solve that mystery before we can go on to the resort to find out why they’ve been so generous to you.” He hesitated, then added, “You are sure that you didn’t enter some contest or drawing or something?”

  Nancy laughed. “I’d never forget a contest that had a prize like this, Dad. Just wait till you see the brochure. It really looks like a fantastic place for a vacation. Our travel agent said that it’s normally booked full during the winter season, so I doubt that this is a promotion to get new customers or advertising.”

  “Then what is it?” her father asked.

  “A mystery,” was the only answer she could give him.

  2. Mystery Boat

  Bess and George were delighted with Carson Drew’s suggestion. After a series of phone calls and a busy planning session, the three girls split up to make their preparations for the next day’s early flight. Hannah came up to help Nancy with her packing.

  “Is something wrong, Nancy?” she asked as she folded an array of summer clothes.

  “I just keep wondering why my name was chosen for the holiday,” she admitted. “I know it wasn’t a contest and I don’t think it was advertising, so why?”

  “People have heard of you,” Hannah reminded her. “It’s like that file on the boat that your father told you about. Maybe the people at the resort just wanted to meet you and thought that this was a good way to extend an invitation.”

  Nancy smiled. “Won’t they be surprised when they meet Bess and George instead?” “Perhaps you and your father will be able to solve the mystery in Florida very quickly,” Hannah said. “Then you can ask the owners of the resort for an explanation.”

  “I certainly intend to do that,” Nancy stated firmly as she added a beach coverup and thongs to the pile of things to be packed.

  The flight to Miami proved smooth and uneventful, though Nancy felt a pang of regret as she bid George and Bess farewell. “Now you call us at the hotel after you reach the resort,” she told them, giving George the number her father had provided the day before.

  “just get the mystery here solved quickly, so you can join us,” Bess said. “It really won’t be the same without you, you know.” Her pretty face showed her apprehension.

  Nancy laughed fondly. “You can still stroll on the moonlit beach and swim in that lovely water,” she reminded her.

  Carson Drew and Nancy watched till the flight for Nassau took off. Then he took her arm.

  “I guess we’d better be on our way, Nancy,” he said, his pleasant expression changing to one of concern. “The sheriff is an impatient and unreasonable man, and he is most anxious to have you examine this boat.”

  “Is there more to this than you’ve told me, Dad?” Nancy asked, her own mystery forgotten now. “You seem troubled.”

  “I just don’t like being suspected of something,” her father replied. “The sheriff hasn’t been able to find out anything about the boat, and he seems to think that I’m hiding something from him.”

  “Well, maybe we can find a clue today,” Nancy consoled him. “Something the sheriff has missed. Where exactly did they find the boat?”

  “It was located by a couple of young boys fishing along a deserted inlet,” her father explained as they got into the rental car. “It’s a big powerboat, the kind that does quite well on the ocean traveling between islands. That’s why the sheriff is having so much difficulty finding the owners Many of the people on the islands seem to have similar boats, and with all the identification removed, he’s having to wade through all the missing-boat reports from the United States and various island groups.”

  “You mean it could have come here from somewhere else?” Nancy asked.

  Her father nodded. “From a Caribbean Island or from the Bahamas—or from anywhere in this area.”

  “Where are we going now?” Nancy inquired, enjoying the passing scene.

  “I thought we’d drop your luggage off at the hotel, then drive up to Palm Cove. That’s the town closest to the inlet. We went in by helicopter yesterday, so the sheriff said he’d leave a map with his deputy and meet us on the boat. How does that sound?”

  “Lovely,” Nancy answered. “How far is it?” “Should be about an hour’s drive to Palm Cove. Beyond that, I’m not sure.”

  Since most of the highway took them along the coast, the drive proved to be very beautiful, giving views of the beaches and the water as it washed sand or rocks. June had brought to the area a richness of flowers and thick-growing plants that made it a tropical paradise quite different from River Heights.

  It was nearing noon by the time they reached Palm Cove, so they stopped for lunch at an old- fashioned seafood restaurant before going to the sheriff s office.

  “Doesn’t look like a very lively town, does it,” Carson Drew observed as they watched three sleepy-looking dogs make their way across the nearly deserted main street.

  Nancy giggled. “I’m sure any strangers would be noticed.” They ordered their food, then looked out over the little cove that had given the town its name.

  Nancy’s observation proved quite correct, for a uniformed young man came up to their table before they’d finished their meal. “Mr. Carson Drew?” he asked politely.

  Mr. Drew nodded. “May I help you?”

  “The sheriff asked me to give this to you,” the deputy said. “I saw you drive up over here, so I thought I’d save you the trip to the office.” His admiring gaze touched Nancy, then dropped. “The sheriff is anxious to have your daughter look at the boat.”

  “Has there been any progress in locating the owners?” Mr. Drew asked, inviting the young man to join them.

  “You’ll have to ask Sheriff Boyd about that* sir,” the deputy replied, then began to explain the rough map he’d brought. Nancy and her father finished eating while he spoke, then they all left.

  Though the last few miles of the trip were made over back roads that were still rutted from the spring rains, Nancy and her father had no difficulty following the map to the tree-draped inlet. Once there, they found the sheriff s dusty cruiser parked beside an age-grayed, half-rotted dock. The boat had been neatly tied to the strongest of the dock post
s.

  Sheriff Boyd, a beefy man in his forties with dark brown hair and angry brown eyes, came out on the deck as soon as he heard their car. “It’s about time you got here,” he greeted them, his expression reflecting his frustration. “Do you recognize the boat, girl?”

  Nancy looked at her father but could read nothing in his handsome face, so she joined him as they walked out on the dock and stepped aboard. The boat deck showed excellent care, but it was already spotted with fallen leaves from the trees that sheltered it.

  “Well?” the sheriff prompted after Carson introduced Nancy.

  “I’ve never seen this boat, Sheriff,” Nancy stated firmly.

  “Nor have I,” Carson Drew echoed her. “As I told you yesterday.”

  The sheriff s frown deepened as he led them into the cabin that opened off the deck. “Then how do you explain this?” he asked, handing Nancy a manila folder.

  She opened it. There were a half-dozen clippings in a variety of newsprints, indicating that they had come from at least two or possibly three different newspapers. They covered cases from the past year and were all glowing reports of Nancy’s exploits as a detective.

  “Anything occur to you, Nancy?” her father asked as he scanned the reports.

  Nancy shook her head. “I don’t see any connection between the cases,” she answered. “And they are all from different areas, so it can’t have anything to do with this or any other particular location.”

  “But they were found on this boat,” Sheriff Boyd protested.

  Nancy handed the file back to the sheriff. “The people who own it must have been interested in my father’s career or mine, but that doesn’t mean that we know them. These could have been clipped from any newspapers that carried the stories. Unless they contacted us about something . ..” She let it trail off.

  Sheriff Boyd sighed. “That’s exactly what your father said,” he admitted.

  “You’ve learned nothing more about the boat?” Carson Drew asked.

  “We do have a tentative name,” the sheriff answered. “I traced one of the appliances in the galley to a Miami store. The names of the purchasers were Jeff and Lena DeFoe. Do those names mean anything to you?”