Emily"s eyes blazed. "If I want to see my aunt, Maud, I shall. I"m sick and tired of your meddling. d.i.c.k and I are paying you to be social director-and-and nothing else!"
There was dead silence at the girl"s outburst. Then Maud gasped. "Well! That"s all the thanks I get."
"Thanks for what!" Emily stormed. "Keeping Aunt Hazel under your thumb and being unpleasant to my guests?"
By now everyone in the dining room-waitresses and patrons-were staring in Emily"s direction. d.i.c.k tried to intervene. "Em, calm down," he begged. "We"ll discuss it later."
But Emily, overwrought, paid no attention. "I don"t care. I"ll give up Lilac Inn rather than see Aunt Hazel unhappy. I wouldn"t be surprised, Maud Potter, if you"re responsible for the awful things that have happened here!"
An almost bewildered look came over Maud"s flushed face. She started to protest, "I most certainly did not-"
Emily did not allow her to finish. "Furthermore," the girl went on, "I"m going to notify the police about all my suspicions regarding the diamonds immediately."
At this point Nancy happened to notice that Jean Holmes was taking in the scene with avid interest. For a fleeting moment the sleuth detected a hard, calculating look replacing Jean"s usually shy expression. But the next moment the waitress picked up a tray and went toward the kitchen.
In the meantime, Maud had also risen. "By all means call the police. It"s about time they learn the truth," she said, with a scornful glance at Nancy. Declaring she had lost her appet.i.te, the woman left the room.
Pale and trembling, Emily sat down. "I"m sorry," she said weakly. "I just couldn"t take Maud"s arrogance another minute."
"I don"t blame you," Helen spoke up sympathetically, then whispered, "At least Maud didn"t act as if she were mixed up with the theft of the diamonds."
"That"s right," d.i.c.k conceded. "But where do we go from here? Unless this mystery"s cleared up, we may not be able to open the inn in July. Also," he added glumly, "Emily and I might have to postpone our wedding."
"Oh, no!" Emily wailed.
d.i.c.k said he could foresee no other course of action. His funds were low, and if he and Emily were to make a success of the resort, the necessary outdoor work must be completed. A pool and tennis courts, yet to be built, had been especially featured in his publicity campaign.
"I"ve already mailed out thousands of brochures," he said.
"Yes, and we"re booked almost solid for summer reservations," Emily said unhappily. "Oh, Nancy, what shall we do? I hate to give up hope of getting my diamonds back."
Nancy replied firmly, "I"m not giving up. If you agree, Emily and d.i.c.k, there are a few more angles of this case I want to investigate. And if you don"t mind, I"d like to tell Lieutenant Brice the whole story."
The engaged couple readily consented. "Nothing matters now except finding out the truth," Emily said.
After lunch Nancy drove to Benton. For privacy, she telephoned the State Police officer from a booth in the drugstore there. When Nancy had finished her account, he a.s.sured her he would do all he could to turn up possible new leads to Nancy"s impersonator. Then Nancy called Chief McGinnis. The typed envelope, he said, had brought no results.
"I"ll confer with Lieutenant Brice about happenings at Lilac Inn. By the way, no luck yet in finding the stolen truck."
Nancy"s next call was to her father. Mr. Drew confessed alarm upon hearing the details of his daughter"s meeting with her double. "No telling what she and her accomplices may be up to," he warned. "But whatever you do, Nancy, don"t overstep anyone"s legal rights."
"I"ll remember."
By the time Nancy returned to the inn, it was late afternoon. The sky had filled with black clouds, and the air was close and oppressive. "There"s going to be a thunderstorm," Nancy thought as she entered the lobby.
No one was in sight. But just then Mr. Daly came from his office. He said that nothing had been found to account for the quakelike vibrations.
"I"m afraid, Mr. Daly," Nancy said, "that the cause is man-made. How, I don"t know yet."
The former owner of the inn was shocked. "To think this fine building must endure such treatment!" He told Nancy that the inn had been built in 1760 by an English family, and had catered to both stagecoach and river travelers. The inn had pa.s.sed from one generation of the original family to the next. "Some people said that Lilac Inn was a refuge for slaves who had escaped from the South."
"Maybe that"s why the secret room was built," Nancy remarked. "Who owned the inn previous to you?" she asked.
"A Spaniard named Ron Carioca who"d lived in the West Indies. It was he who planted the beautiful lilac tree-for good luck-outside the front entrance."
Just then Mr. Daly"s phone rang, and he excused himself to answer it. Nancy walked on into the dining room and looked out the bay window. The sky was getting darker each minute.
"Oh, h.e.l.lo, Miss Drew." The voice was Jean Holmes". She carried a large vase filled with yellow iris and reddish-purple lilacs, which she set on the window sill.
"You seem to like flowers, Jean," Nancy observed. "That"s a pretty combination: iris and "blue pipes." "
" "Blue pipes"?" Jean echoed. "What made you use that expression?"
"It"s different," Nancy said nonchalantly.
Did the waitress seem suddenly ill at ease, or was it Nancy"s imagination? Before the young sleuth could decide, there was a loud clap of thunder, followed by the banging of several shutters. As Jean and Mr. Daly hurried to shut the dining-room windows, Nancy saw John and d.i.c.k dash across the side lawn toward the inn.
Rain came pouring down in silvery sheets. There was another resounding thunderclap, then a vivid flash of lightning. A splintering, crashing sound followed.
"Oh!" Jean shrieked. "The inn"s been struck!"
CHAPTER XVI.
A Letter THE crash had come from the front of the inn. Everyone raced through the lobby to peer outside.
"Oh!" Nancy cried. "The historic lilac tree is down."
The lovely "tree of good fortune" had fallen onto the lawn, splintered and charred.
"More bad luck!" Emily said mournfully.
Suddenly Maud burst out, "This is the last straw! I"m fed up with a place full of thieves, weird noises, bombs, a trembling building-I quit."
She turned a scathing look on Mrs. Willoughby. "You got me into this. Thanks for nothing! I"ve found a better job on my own!"
Emily"s face was expressionless as Maud snapped open her purse and fumbled through its contents. She drew out a letter and flourished it.
"This is an offer of a position I received today from the Hotel Claymore in River Heights. I"ve already accepted it," Maud stated. "Emily, I didn"t go to the employment agency just to find you a waitress, but to find a decent job for myself. But I asked the manager not to say I had been there."
With dignity Emily said, "Maud, d.i.c.k will write a check for whatever salary we owe you."
With a triumphant air Maud marched upstairs. Emily looked around anxiously. The waitresses and cooks had gathered in a corner of the hall. Obviously they had not missed a word of what had been said.
Nancy sensed what her friend was thinking: that the employees were probably suspicious about the fire. Now that Maud had mentioned the bomb, all of them might become alarmed enough to give notice. Prospects for Lilac Inn"s success would indeed be dim.
"I must help Em and d.i.c.k before it"s too late," Nancy told herself determinedly.
As the rain abated and the sky began to brighten, the men went outside to examine the fallen lilac. Nancy now turned to Mrs. Willoughby, who seemed almost in a daze. "Perhaps you"d better sit down and rest," she said kindly.
Emily"s aunt gave a great sigh. "I will. Please come with me to Emily"s office," she asked the three girls.
When they were seated, Emily said, "Aunt Hazel, was Maud Potter threatening you in some way?"
"I"m afraid so," Mrs. Willoughby replied wearily. "Actually I believe she wouldn"t have carried it out. But I couldn"t be sure-"
To the girls" dismay, the woman broke down and sobbed. Nancy patted her shoulder. "Won"t you tell us about it?"
Regaining composure, Mrs. Willoughby nodded. "I feel terrible. When I brought Maud here, I thought I was helping Emily and d.i.c.k. But it"s turned out just the opposite.
"Anyhow," she went on, "I met Maud a year ago at a party in River Heights. We became friendly-attended the theater and so forth. Maud seemed very pleasant and good company at the time. And I also felt sorry for her."
"Sorry?" Helen echoed.
Mrs. Willoughby explained that Maud"s husband had died several years before, leaving her penniless. Since then, she had worked at various resorts, but not very long at any one.
"When Maud heard about Lilac Inn, she persuaded me that, with her experience, she"d be ideal as social director. But soon after her arrival here, she asked me to lend her a large sum of money-claimed to have a lot of unpaid bills which her salary wouldn"t cover. Maud became angry when I refused, but she continued her demands for money."
Emily interrupted, "Aunt Hazel, why didn"t you tell us she was bothering you? d.i.c.k would have asked her to leave."
"Maud insinuated that if I tried to force her to leave, she would say that-that I had stolen your diamonds, Emily, by getting them from the bank weeks ago, and subst.i.tuting the fake stones!"
"How dreadful!" Nancy cried out, and Emily added fiercely, "That awful woman! But, Aunt Hazel, we never would have believed her."
"I know," Mrs. Willoughby said ruefully. "But with so many strange things happening, I guess I wasn"t thinking logically."
Nancy had one more question to clear up regarding Maud Potter. She decided to mention Jean Holmes" warning about the woman.
"Did any of you notice Maud going into our cottage the day of the fire?" Nancy asked. "Or our room here?"
No one had. Furthermore, Mrs. Willoughby added, "I believe Jean must have been mistaken. When Maud wasn"t with us, she stayed in her room typing. She probably was writing letters of application."
Presently Nancy excused herself, saying she wanted to take a walk and do some thinking. Once outside, she took a trail toward the river. Drops of rain still sparkled on the foliage.
Nancy"s thoughts reverted to Jean"s story about Maud. "It sounds as though the waitress might not have been telling the truth. But why would she want to incriminate Maud? And why did Jean appear so uneasy when I mentioned "blue pipes"?"
The young sleuth suddenly roused from her concentration on the puzzle and became aware of an interesting, gnarled apple tree along the riverbank. Just then she noticed an envelope stuck in a crotch of the tree.
Nancy picked up the damp envelope, wondering if it had blown there during the storm or been placed in the crotch, perhaps for someone to find. There was no stamp or address on the envelope, only a name-Miss Lillie Merriweather.
Suddenly Nancy"s eye was caught by the fact that in the typed name the letter a was very faint. This, as well as the rest of the typing, reminded Nancy suddenly of the envelope found with her charge plate.
"I wonder if they were done on the same machine!" she thought excitedly.
The flap of the envelope had become unsealed from dampness and the girl slid the letter out easily. A pink lilac spray adorned the top left corner of the stationery. A message below it, all typed, read: Dear Lillie: I hope we can get together soon. I"ve been busy lining up an important job. Give my best to your dad. Tell him I have a beautiful blue pipe for him. Hope to see you soon.
Hastily, but with love, Gay Nancy"s heart was thumping with excitement. Lilacs-"blue pipes"-two envelopes bearing the same type-was someone named Gay her impersonator?
"The name Lillie Merriweather sounds vaguely familiar," the girl detective thought.
Hastily she slid the letter back into the envelope and put it in the tree. She would alert the police to watch for anyone returning to look for the letter.
As Nancy hurried back to the inn, she recalled Mrs. Willoughby saying that Maud Potter had been typing. By some chance was the director still a possible suspect in the mystery? Was she the person who had typed the envelope containing Nancy"s charge plate?
"I"ll check," Nancy determined. She went upstairs and knocked on Maud"s bedroom door. It was flung open by the director.
"Yes?" she snapped.
"May I come in?" Nancy asked.
Grudgingly, Maud allowed Nancy to enter and the detective saw that a suitcase was nearly packed. On a desk stood Maud"s typewriter, with a blank piece of paper in the roller.
"Well, Nancy, what do you want?" Maud asked.
Watching the woman closely, Nancy queried, "Have you heard from Gay or Lillie lately?"
"What?" Maud appeared flabbergasted. "I don"t know any Gay or Lillie. Now stop quizzing me as if I had done something criminal."
"I suppose," Nancy said icily, "that practically blackmailing Mrs. Willoughby isn"t?"
To her surprise, Maud burst into tears. Between sobs she told Nancy that she had never intended to carry out her threat. "I don"t know why I did it. Hazel has been very good to me. I guess I"ve just been upset and worried about money ever since my husband"s death."
Nancy could not help feeling a little sorry for the woman. Nevertheless, she asked, "Do you know anything about the time bomb that was set off in my cottage?"
"No!" Maud looked shocked. Nancy was sure she was telling the truth. "I"ve been jealous of you, Nancy," she admitted, "but I"d never do anyone physical harm."
As Maud dried her eyes, Nancy walked toward the desk. Nonchalantly she typed out her name on the typewriter. N-a-n-c-y. All the letters were clearly defined. The suspicious envelopes had definitely not been typed on this machine.
She turned to Maud, wished her good luck in her new position, and left. Then Nancy went downstairs and told Helen, d.i.c.k, and the Willoughbys about the letter and her interview with Maud. "I"m convinced that Maud won"t cause any more trouble," she stated. "And now, if you"ll keep everyone out of earshot of the phone, I"ll call the State Police and suggest they watch for Gay."
Nancy had just finished her conversation when Maud Potter came downstairs. She looked ashamed, and said she would not accept the check d.i.c.k offered her. She asked him to use the money for work on the resort. A few minutes later the ex-director left in a taxi.
Suddenly everyone was startled by Mr. Daly rushing frantically from his office.
"Gracious! What"s the matter?" Mrs. Willoughby asked him.
"My blue pipe"s missing! Has anyone seen it?"
"Do you mean the one you were carving from lilac wood?" Nancy asked.
Mr. Daly nodded, saying he had just completed work on the pipe a few hours ago. He had searched everywhere for it. Although. the pipe was of no great value, he had promised it to a friend. No one present had seen the hand-carved piece.
"Why would anyone take it?" Helen puzzled.