The Clue Of The Velvet Mask Part 24

Mrs. Dwight hastened to explain about the invitation to the woman she had never seen.

"Help!" cried Nancy, trying to hold the thief

"It was this way," she said apologetically. "Miss Wilkins, one of the invited guests, called me early this morning to ask if she could bring her elderly aunt and uncle. I told her yes, but explained the necessity for them to have properly marked invitations."

"You sent the extra ones?" Nancy asked.

"Yes, by special messenger. I marked the invitations myself," Mrs. Dwight admitted. "It was a mistake, I realize now, but I know Miss Wilkins well. I had no reason to distrust her."

Mrs. Dwight at once sought Miss Wilkins among the guests. The young woman immediately denied knowing the prisoner. Furthermore, she a.s.serted she had no aunt nor uncle who had requested invitations.

"Just as I suspected," Ambrose declared. "This woman is a smart cooky. She used Miss Wilkins's name to get marked invitations."

During the questioning of the prisoner, plainclothesmen had been searching the grounds. Now one of them reported to the detective that none of the gang had been found.

Nancy spoke up. "This woman wasn't working alone. A man was with her. He was probably the 'uncle.' I talked to him. Oh, where did he go?"

Suddenly the group was startled by the unexpected appearance in the hallway of a disheveled Ned Nickerson. His uniform was torn, his face bruised, and his hair mussed.

"Ned!" Nancy cried in dismay. "You've been in a fight!"

"And how! That fellow you a.s.signed me to follow proved to be a tough customer."

"He got away?"

"Yes," Ned admitted. "I could have held him, but I had a choice between turning the lights on or letting him go. I thought by switching them on I might stop a robbery up here."

"And you did," Nancy informed him. "If the lights hadn't gone on just when they did, I'm sure this woman would have escaped."

Ned told of the fight in the bas.e.m.e.nt. His story was interrupted by Detective Ambrose.

"That's funny! We had a man posted down there to watch the lights. What became of him? Mack wouldn't leave his job."

Alarmed, Detective Ambrose turned his prisoner over to a plainclothesman and dashed to the bas.e.m.e.nt. Nancy, Ned, Mr. Lightner, and Mrs. Dwight followed him.

The detective entered every room. As he opened the door of the cold-storage section, he uttered a startled exclamation. On the floor, unconscious, lay the missing Mack.

Though apparently the man had not been struck on the head, it took the detective a long while to revive him. When the plainclothesman recovered his senses, he said he had been attacked from the rear. Before Mack could fight off his a.s.sailant he had been drugged. Evidently this had been some time before Ned's arrival.

"That's the Velvet Gang's method," Nancy said to Mrs. Dwight.

"It's perfectly dreadful!" the woman said.

While waiting for the police car to arrive, Detective Ambrose said to his prisoner, "You're ent.i.tled to a lawyer, of course, while being questioned, but you may as well come clean and tell us how many are in the gang."

The woman's lips curled insolently. "Try and find out."

After she had been taken away, both Mrs. Dwight and Mr. Lightner complimented Nancy for her quick thinking and prompt action. They also thanked Ned for his part in the affair. Due to the efficient work of the young couple, not a single valuable object had been stolen.

"I only wish I'd caught that man," Ned said ruefully.

He and Nancy remained at the party another hour, thoroughly enjoying themselves as guests this time. But the mystery was their chief topic of conversation.

Ned declared with satisfaction, "Well, we've made a start toward clipping the wings of that gang!"

"Maybe. Friday is the test."

"Why Friday, Nancy?"

"It's the final date that was marked on the lining of the hooded mask."

"But after tonight you don't think the Velvet Gang will dare-"

"They'd dare anything, Ned! But what really bothers me is that so far as I know no important party is scheduled for that night."

"Then you haven't a single clue as to where something may happen?"

"Not one, Ned. And I'm afraid that the gang has set Friday as the day for a big robbery. Oh, if I only knew some way to stop it!"

CHAPTER XVI.

Important Identification

As Nancy and Ned were saying good night later, he laughed. "You'll make a detective out of me yet, Nancy Drew." Then he became serious. "Here's an idea. Who is it that the gang is afraid of?"

"The police, of course."

"That's where you're wrong," Ned said. "It was Nancy Drew they tried to kidnap, not Chief McGinnis."

Nancy smiled. "Yes. Go on."

"It was you who caught that woman this evening. The gang will lie low for a while if you're around. But if you disappear they'll come out of hiding and the police can capture them." Ned grinned from ear to ear. "Which will leave you free for the big evening-to give me your entire attention."

Nancy laughed. "To think I fell for that! You win, Ned. Only-"

"No if's or but's. I have tickets for a picnic and dance some of my local fraternity brothers are giving."

Nancy a.s.sured Ned that she wanted to attend the party. "But if I should run into a clue that I had to follow up, you wouldn't mind, would you?"

"You're a hound for punishment," Ned teased. "Oh, well, if you do get a chance to crack the case, count me in. Another black eye won't matter. And something else. No work Wednesday or Thursday. Wednesday we go to the yacht club races and Fourth of July belongs to your dad, he told me."

"I'll remember."

Early the next morning Nancy telephoned the police captain and learned that the prisoner still refused to talk. She suggested bringing Linda Seeley to headquarters to see if the girl could identify her. It was possible that at some time the woman might have called at the Lightner Entertainment Company or attended one of the parties they had arranged.