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Inquiries






 

" Who—who was that in there? ” Nancy asked the glassmaker.

“Nothing in there—storeroom, ” he replied in _ casual tone. “No one there.”

Instantly, Nancy ran to the door and tried to open it, but to her dismay, it was locked.

“Duchessa! It’s me, Nancy Drew! ” she called out, “and I brought my friends with me! ”

The girl stopped, however, when she realized that there was no one behind the window, only sacks of supplies.

“She’s gone! ” Nancy said, concluding there must be another door to the storage room although it was not immediately visible.

For a moment, she glanced back at the glassmaker whose concentration on his work had begun to falter. He volleyed a warning in Italian, telling the visitors to leave or else. Nancy, however, was determined to pursue her investigation.

“Is there a showroom? ” she asked the man, undaunted by his blazing eyes.

“Si, but it is closed.”

Despite the pronouncement, the young detectives hurried out of the factory and down the pavement once more, quickly discovering an adjoining building. To their delight, the entrance was open and they sped up the carpeted stairway with its steel railing glistening brightly under a magnificent handcrafted chandelier.

“Someone has to be here, ” Nancy said, darting into a room filled with shelves of stemware.

The lights were on and a recent order lay next to a pen on a table that Nancy focused on briefly. She was struck by the design on the paper. It was Filippo’s well-known signature, the lion of Venice!

“Look, everybody! ” she exclaimed, pointing to it as someone paused behind them in the doorway.

“May I help you? ” the man inquired.

“I hope so, ” Nancy said. “Are you Signore Dandolo, by any chance? ” she asked.

The man pressed his lips into a broad smile, showing an overlap of teeth that detracted from his otherwise rugged face. “No, I am not Signore Dandolo. I am Mr. Chiais, the new manager here, ” he said. “The signore has retired.” “He has? ” Ned spoke up.

“Yes, now, may I show you something? Some fine glasses like these perhaps.” He took a pair of exquisite goblets from a shelf and held them toward the light, revealing tiny flecks of gold leaf in the ball of the stem. “These are the most beautiful of all.”

“Oh, they are, ” Bess commented.

But Nancy still had her thoughts on the storeroom. “Of course, you know the duchessa” she went on.

“Of course, ” the manager said.

“Well, have you seen her recently? ” Nancy asked coyly, watching his eyes roam from the shelf to the table, where he had placed the two glasses.

“No, she never comes here.”

“Nancy thinks she saw her, though, ” Bess challenged in reply.

“Oh, really. Not around here, I don’t imagine, " Mr. Chiais answered, as the girl fell silent under her cousin’s gaze of warning.

“As a matter of fact, I did, ” Nancy admitted. The manager let out a nervous laugh, saying, “I’m sure it is a case of mistaken identity. She is too old to take boat trips to Murano.”

“Mr. Chiais, ” Nancy interposed, “how long have you been in charge here? ”

“A few weeks or so. Now—are you interested in any of these glasses? ” he continued, taking two more off the shelf.

“Not really, ” the girl replied, “but I would like to see the factory storage room.”

“That is out of the question, ” the man said. “Only the Dandolo family is permitted inside.” “Even though Signore Dandolo is retired and the duchessa never comes here? ” Nancy asked.

“Look, signorina” he went on, fiercely defensive, “I cannot—it is not within my power to show you something that is quite frankly none of your business.”

Nancy stiffened, feeling Ned’s consoling hand on her shoulder. “I suppose we ought to be going then, ” she said, much to the surprise of her friends, who deduced she was already on the verge of a new plan.

She turned on her heel, letting George march out first. But as they stood at the edge of the stairway ready to descend, Nancy’s eyes fastened on the crystal pieces in the opposite room. They included sculptures and glass etchings, all of them exquisite.

“You take the same door to leave please, ” Mr. Chiais called as the group stepped into the second room. “We are closing now, ” he noted sternly, but not before Nancy had observed Filippo’s distinctive signature on several pieces.

“We’ll be back, ” the young detective said with a courteous smile and followed her companions outside.

“Let’s pretend we’re leaving and go to the landing stage, ” she said. “Then we’ll circle back and watch the factory. It should be shutting down soon, and I want to see if the duchessa comes out.”

“Good idea, ” Dave said. “We can hide behind the bushes across the way.”

Within a few minutes, everyone had stationed themselves accordingly. The wait, however, proved longer than they anticipated. It was almost an hour before the last workman left.

Then, suddenly, a gray-haired woman in a fashionable suit emerged. She walked out of sight with almost imperious steps.

“Nancy, maybe that’s the person you saw, ” George remarked under her breath. “She could pass for the duchessa from a distance. Only this woman’s a lot younger.”

Ruefully, Nancy had to admit George was right. Still, the young detectives waited for the manager to leave as well.

As soon as he locked the door behind him, Burt said, “I guess that’s it for tonight. Everybody has gone home.”

Nancy agreed. “Let’s go, too.”

“What’s next on the agenda? ” Ned asked.

“How about dinner? ” Bess declared, suggesting the girls return to the Gritti to freshen up first. “We can meet at the belltower again.”

Everyone adopted the idea instantly. But when Nancy, Bess, and George arrived in their hotel room, the phone was already ringing. “Maybe it’s your father, Nancy, ” George said. The look on Nancy’s face as she answered it suggested otherwise.

“Oh—Duchessa, I’m so glad you called! ” she exclaimed. “Are you home now? ”

There was a long pause, increasing the cousins’ suspense and prompting them to gaze searchingly at their companion.

“What is she saying? ” Bess whispered eagerly as the conversation continued.

“Oh, I see, ” Nancy said into the receiver. “Well—perhaps. Just a minute.” She held the phone away, pondering her reply, then spoke to the woman again. “Yes, I’ll be glad to come. Besides, I have a lot to report. Yes, I will. Arrivederci!

“The duchessa wants to see me, ” the girl went on after she hung up. “At the showroom in Murano.”

“So she is there, ” George murmured, overlooking the perplexity in her friend’s voice.

“Then why didn’t she speak to you when you saw her? ” Bess inquired.

“It was probably the other woman I saw, ” Nancy replied. “The duchessa didn’t mention knowing we were there—if in fact that really was the duchessa who called.”

“So are you going back to Murano? ” George asked tensely.

“Tonight at ten.”

“Not alone I hope.”

“Well, she stressed that I ought to.”

“Uh-uh, ” Bess commented. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You could be sailing right into a big Venetian trap! ”

The identical thought had occurred to Nancy, and she dived into her closet, removing a dark, ankle-length skirt from a hanger along with a high-collared silk blouse. Then she hunted for her small disguise kit that she always carried when she traveled.

Realizing what their detective friend was up to, Bess puffed her cheeks anxiously. “George and I absolutely refuse to allow you to do this, ” she declared. “It’s too dangerous! ”

“Not if she has her own personal chauffeur and judo expert! ” George exclaimed, donning the souvenir gondolier’s hat she had purchased earlier. “At your service, Duchessa! ’

 


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