The Hidden Door

As Nancy, her father, and two police officers stood behind a screen, other policemen escorted five women across a small stage which was brilliantly lighted.

All were heavy-set, dark-complexioned, and wore street clothing. Blinking under the bright lights, they stared straight ahead.

Nancy gazed at each woman in turn. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she said, “The one in the center is the perfume seller. She is known to me only as Madame.”

“Good! ” Mr. Drew praised her. “That makes the identification positive.”

After the prisoner had been led away, he told Nancy he previously had identified the same woman as the one who had accompanied him in the taxi to Fisher’s Cove.

“The woman who drugged you! ” Nancy cried out.

“I’m convinced of it. We’ll place charges against her.”

Nancy learned that Madame, who had been posing as a Spanish woman while in Yorktown, had been caught by the police as she sought to sell Sweet Chimes perfume to the proprietor of a beauty salon. She had denied knowing Mr. Drew or having anything to do with the Mon Coeur firm.

“She refuses to tell us anything about her confederates, ” the lawyer added. “Fortunately, a number of names and addresses were found in her pocketbook when it was searched. The police are checking them now.”

As Nancy and her father stepped into the corridor, they came face to face with Madame, who was being taken to her cell by two policewomen. Seeing the girl, she suddenly halted and glared at her.

“Your meddling did it! ” she cried furiously. “You’re responsible for my being held here! But just wait until I get free! Just wait! ”

Nancy made no reply, and the woman, still muttering threats, was led away.

“Madame speaks English without an accent, ” Mr. Drew observed. “The truth is, she hasn’t a drop of foreign blood. She was born in New York City and her name is Martha Stott.”

“Monsieur Pappier hasn’t been found yet? ”

“No, but the police are hard on his trail. They think he’s in hiding around here, but I can’t stay in Candleton to await his capture. I must fly back to River Heights tomorrow. Have an important case coming up in Federal Court.”

“Oh! ” murmured Nancy, unable to hide her disappointment. “Then that means we must leave the case entirely to the police.”

“Not unless you’ve lost interest.” He smiled and winked.

“Oh, Dad! You know how much solving the mystery means to me! I hope Tyrox and his pals are still around here.”

“I hope so, too, Nancy. We’re not letting it be known that Madame has been caught. In fact, we planted information that she went back to the vicinity of Candleton. I believe she and Harry Tyrox work hand in glove, and he’ll trail her there. I’d like to have you stay at Candleton a few days longer to keep in touch with the situation.”

The next morning Mr. Drew took an early plane for River Heights. He had barely left when Nancy asked Bess and George if they would go out to Bald Head Cliff with her again.

“And have you go to sleep? ” Bess exclaimed. “I should say not! Anyway I promised Mrs. Chantrey I’d help her unpack a lot of gifts which arrived yesterday.”

Nancy finally prevailed upon George to make the trip by promising to drive to the cliff and to keep away from the cave.

“But I thought you were supposed to stay around here to catch Harry Tyrox who is posing as Monsieur Pappier and Mr. James, ” George reminded her friend.

“I am. Dad and the police set a trap to get him back to Candleton to look up Madame, but they don’t think Tyrox will come out of hiding until nightfall. Meanwhile, I’d like to work on the mystery of the tolling bell.”

“How do you expect to accomplish that on top of the cliff? ”

“I think there may be some connection between the ghost in the cave and the disappearance of the Maguires. Another thing. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the queer dream I had while lying on the cliff. I’ve decided one of those little elves may have been Grumper—the very short man A. H. told me about. A. H. said he thought Grumper was around Candleton.”

“And you believe he’s the ghost and lives in the cave with a tolling bell and sends up fumes through the rocks! ” Bess exclaimed. “Really, Nancy, I think this time you’re going pretty far out with your ideas! ”

“Maybe, ” the young detective conceded.

She refused to say more, but could not get the strange happenings on the cliff out of her mind.

“The answer may lie in the Maguires’ deserted home, ” she decided. “Anyway, I’m going to look for a clue there.”

Nancy drove with George to the footpath which led to the cliff, and parked. The girls walked the rest of the way to the abandoned house, gazing about in all directions to find out if they had been seen. Apparently no one was nearby.

“This place does have a spooky look, ” George said uneasily as they went up to the door.

Nancy pushed it open. Everything appeared exactly as she had seen it before. The moldy, cobwebby food was on the dining-room table, and a dust-covered chair stood at each end.

“I never saw such thick cobwebs in all my life! ” George muttered.

A worn Bible on a marble-topped table caught Nancy’s attention. She blew off the dust, then slowly turned the pages until she came to the family birth and death records.

“This is what I had hoped to find! ” she exclaimed, and pointed to a notation in ink. “Amy’s marriage is recorded here. Oh! ”