Drew 17 - The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk (12 page)

She quickened her step. The man glanced over his shoulder in her direction, then walked away in a hurry. Nancy followed, and as he turned a corner she began to run. But when she reached the cross corridor where the man had turned, no one was in sight!

“I wonder if it was August,” Nancy thought and returned to her cabin. “Perhaps he was trying to get into our room again!”

She found one twenty-eight locked. She opened it and went in. No one was there, but Bess had left a note for her. It said:

Nelda, George, and I are going up to the Ping-Pong tables. George is going to play in the tournament. When you have a chance, come and join us.

But first go down and see Lou, the locksmith. He came up to the cabin and is eager to see you. He has something that will interest you very much.

Nancy folded the telltale newspaper and put it in a bureau drawer, then she locked the cabin again and hurried off to the locksmith’s shop.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked the pleasant man.

“Yes, I do,” Lou replied.

“Do you have another interesting lock to show me?” Nancy went on.

“No. But one of the passengers came to me with a briefcase that wouldn’t open. It had a most unusual lock on it. This is what I wanted to tell you. The lock was the same kind as the one on the brass-bound trunk you asked me to open for you!”

CHAPTER XVI

Figuring Out a Capture

“WHAT a great clue!” Nancy thought upon hearing that a man had asked Lou to open a briefcase that had the same type of lock as the one on the mystery trunk!

She asked the locksmith, “What was the passenger’s name?”

“I don’t know,” Lou said, shaking his head. “He didn’t tell me.”

Nancy was crestfallen. She had come so close to making a great discovery!

Lou must have noticed her disappointment. He smiled. “But I did see two initials inside the briefcase. They were O.A.”

Nancy felt like exclaiming over this exciting bit of evidence, but she said nothing. The girl detective thought, “Those are the initials of Otto August!”

She asked Lou, “What did the man look like?”

The locksmith gave a description that in no way matched that of Otto August. It did, however, fit his companion perfectly!

She assumed that August had asked his friend to take the briefcase to Lou so he could not be traced. She smiled. “Even a thief can make a mistake,” she thought. “He forgot about his initials.”

The girl detective asked Lou what the man who had brought the briefcase had talked about while he was there. She expected the reply to be about locks and keys. But she was wrong.

“Besides asking for a new key, the man talked about the weather and the speed of the
Winschoten.
You know, Miss Drew, that we dock in New York the day after tomorrow!”

“I’d forgotten about that. Time has flown,” Nancy admitted. To herself she said, “I’d better get this mystery solved in a hurry.” She thanked Lou and left his shop.

Before lunch Nancy went back to the purser’s desk. Rod was on duty and not particularly busy, so she could confide her latest findings to him without being overheard.

The young man shook his head. “You are something, Nancy Drew!”

The girl told him that she had had another hunch and would like to visit the hold again. “When you’re off duty, Rod, would you take me down there?”

“I’ll be glad to,” Rod replied and grinned. “The man who takes my place at the counter for the next shift will be here in five minutes. Can you wait that long?”

“I won’t move,” Nancy replied.

The replacement officer arrived on time, and Nancy and Rod set off.

On the way she asked, “Would you please ask Pieter if anyone has ever inquired about the trunk with the initials N.D. on it?”

“Sure,” Rod replied.

After going down the narrow iron stairway and past the boiler room, the couple finally came to the door of the hold. Nancy rang the bell. No answer. Rod pushed the button again.

It was several minutes before the door was opened. Pieter stood there. “Hello,” he said with a friendly grin.

“Hi, Pieter,” Havelock said. “I’m glad to see you’re well again.” Then he proceeded to speak to him in his native language. Nancy, of course, could not understand a word.

Pieter replied in the same language. Finally Rod turned to Nancy and said, “He says that to his knowledge no one has ever inquired about the mystery trunk.”

“I wish I knew what Otto August was thinking,” Nancy said. “Does he believe his trunk is in the hold? He knows it’s not in our cabin, because I’m sure he was the one who ransacked it.”

“I’m inclined to believe that August must be convinced it was taken to the hold,” Rod said. “He doesn’t know about the empty room next to yours.”

“Perhaps we should take the trunk into the hold late tonight,” Nancy suggested. “Then it will be unloaded with the other baggage and he’ll claim it when we arrive. If he should see it being carried out of our cabin, though, he might be afraid we found his jewels!”

Rod asked her if she had examined it any further. “Or are you satisfied that you’ve taken out everything that was hidden inside?”

Nancy said that she had thoroughly felt all the other parts of the trunk. “I’m positive there’s nothing else in it,” she told him.

“I’ll be off duty this evening,” Rod said. “Suppose we make a date for two A.M. to carry it down to the hold.”

“I’ll be ready,” Nancy said. “See you then.”

“By the way,” Rod said, “I asked about the crewman named Dan. He has a fine reputation and in no way could be connected with your mystery of stolen jewels.”

Nancy nodded. “Thanks for checking. I wonder whom Otto August was referring to.”

Before returning to her cabin, the young sleuth decided to see Captain Detweiler and tell him about the latest developments. Fortunately, the officer was in his quarters and welcomed his caller.

“More news?” he asked.

“Perhaps,” Nancy replied and told him everything she had learned since last talking to him.

The captain remarked, “There’s an old saying about a person who doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet. I’d apply this to you, except there isn’t a blade of grass on this ship!”

Nancy laughed. “What I came to ask you,” she said, “is about having August arrested when we arrive in New York. If you have not already done so, would you mind asking the authorities to be sure that customs men are alerted and waiting on the pier in the section where the two N.D. trunks will be placed.”

“I certainly will,” the captain replied.

“You might tell them that the gang of jewel thieves uses the finger language to communicate,” Nancy went on. “One of their buddies might be on the pier to meet and signal them. In that case, he should be arrested, too.”

The captain nodded.

“I’ll ask Bess and George to follow August,” Nancy went on. “Nelda and I plan to be the first ones off the ship so that we can be at the place where his trunk will be put.”

Captain Detweiler thought her whole plan was good. “You certainly worked this out well, Nancy.

I will also inform them that the State Department should be called in on this with reference to the stolen documents.”

“Did you talk to the government in Johannesburg about that yet?” Nancy inquired.

“Indeed, I did,” the captain replied. “The papers were stolen some time ago, and the government suspects an official in the commerce department. However, so far they have not been able to gather enough evidence against him. You have given them their best clue yet!”

“I have?” Nancy asked. “How?”

“The suspect’s name is Hans August!”

Wow! You mean he’s related to Otto?”

“Johannesburg ran a check on him and they found he’s Otto’s brother. They suspect Hans works with an underground group in New York that is extremely interested in these papers. Since his brother is evidently an accomplished smuggler, he must have given Otto the papers to transport secretly to the United States.”

Nancy was elated. “So we might have accidentally uncovered an industrial espionage ring of international dimensions?”

“That’s right. As long as Otto August goes ahead and claims his trunk, we can nail him and his brother, too!”

“There’s one more person who should be arrested,” Nancy went on. “Remember the woman who we believe planted the diamond bracelet on Nelda in Johannesburg?”

“Yes. Evidently she’s August’s wife. I found out he is married.”

Nancy finally got back to her cabin just as the other girls were arriving.

They were amazed about the documents and the espionage ring. Nelda marveled at how Nancy was drawing the net closer around the suspected jewel robber and his brother. “Perhaps August will admit that the bracelet was planted on me,” she said hopefully. “This way I would be vindicated. Oh, Nancy, you all have been so wonderful to me!”

George, who did not like obvious compliments, immediately changed the subject. “Isn’t anyone hungry except me?” she asked. “I could eat three lunches right now.”

Bess giggled. “I’m with you.”

“Then let’s go,” George urged. “I hope they have roast beef sandwiches on the menu.”

Later that afternoon Nancy and Nelda went to one of the lower decks to listen to an orchestra concert in one of the lounges. They were standing outside, peering through a window and oblivious to what was going on behind them. They did not notice that Bobby was whizzing toward them on a skateboard.

The little fellow seemed to be manipulating his plaything very well. As he neared the girls, however, he deliberately turned and ran into both of them!

Nancy and Nelda were knocked off their feet, and sat down hard on the deck. They looked around to see what had hit them. Bobby stood off at a distance, grinning and holding his skateboard in one hand.

“You bad boy!” Nelda scolded angrily. “If you can’t use that thing properly, you shouldn’t be racing around the deck on it!”

“I’m sorry I knocked you over,” Bobby said contritely. “I only meant to hit you a little bit. Real easy like.”

By this time the two girls were on their feet and looking hard at the boy.

Nancy said, “Bobby, there is a big difference between playing a joke and doing something that hurts people.”

Bobby hung his head. “I said I was sorry.”

“That’s not enough!” Nancy replied. “I want to know why you did it.”

For a few seconds Bobby did not answer. He looked a bit frightened, but finally said, “Those funny men made me do it!”

“What funny men?”

“Oh, you know, those two guys that do silly things with their fingers.”

Nancy was startled. She wondered if the little boy meant Otto August and his companion. She put up her own right hand and began to spell out her name. “Like this?” she asked.

Bobby looked amazed. “You know how to do that, too?”

“Yes,” she answered, “but I don’t know the whole alphabet. This is the kind of sign language deaf people use to talk to one another.”

Nancy now quizzed the boy about the two men who had urged him to run into the girls.

“Who were they, Bobby?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Bobby replied and ran off.

CHAPTER XVII

Overboard!

BOBBY fled down the hall. Nancy hesitated, then said to Nelda, “I think we should make him identify the men and go talk to them.”

Nelda agreed, and the two girls sped off in the direction the little boy had taken. It was not hard to locate Bobby and tell him what they wanted him to do.

At first he refused to go. “The men might hurt me and think I’m a tattletale!” he cried out, hanging back.

Nancy said she and Nelda were sure they knew who the men were. Bobby need not talk to them if he did not wish to do so. All he had to do was identify them. Finally he agreed to go along.

On a hunch, Nancy headed for the secluded corner of the top deck. Her guess had been right. Otto August and his companion were seated there. At the moment they were not talking or using the finger language.

“Bobby, are they the two men?” Nelda asked.

The little boy nodded. “I didn’t tell you something else about them. They gave me a quarter to run into you.”

Nelda frowned. “That sounds like them. It was a mean thing to do.”

She, Nancy, and Bobby walked up to the men. Nancy spoke first. “We want to know why you put this little boy up to running into us on his skateboard!” she demanded.

Nelda added at once, “He hit us so hard that he knocked us down. We might have been badly hurt.”

Otto August looked at Bobby and said, “Why did you do that?”

The boy answered promptly, “Because you told me to and paid me to do it.”

“I never told you to hurt the girls, just to tease them,” Otto August went on, glaring at the small boy angrily.

Bobby looked a little frightened, but said, “You didn’t say anything about teasing. You told me to run into them!”

Otto August turned to Nancy and Nelda. “I hope you don’t believe what he’s been telling you. My friend and I were trying to have a private conversation, but couldn’t because this child came up and kept talking and talking. We wanted to get rid of him, so all I said was, ‘Why don’t you go find Nancy Drew and her friends and tease them?’ ”

Bobby’s eyes flashed. “You did not! You never said anything like that! You told me to run into them!”

“That’s not true!” Otto August shouted. “You are a wicked little liar!”

The girls were amazed at Bobby’s defiance. Instead of being frightened any longer, he was defending himself very well. He looked at the two men in disgust. “You know what you are?” he asked. “You’re just like the bad men on TV!”

Mr. August blinked at this accusation but flared back, “And you know what I think about you? You’re a fresh little kid who talks entirely too much!”

The two men rose from their chairs and hurried off. Nancy and Nelda were puzzled.

“Who was telling the truth, August or Bobby?” Nelda asked.

The girls were inclined to believe the boy was.