Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Clue of the Black Keys

Author:The Clue of the Black Keys [Keys, The Clue of the Black]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Women Detectives, Detective and Mystery Stories, Girls & Women, Adventure and Adventurers, Juvenile Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Fiction, Women Sleuths, Drew; Nancy (Fictitious Character), General, Mystery and Detective Stories, Adventure Stories, Archaeological Expeditions, Buried Treasure, Treasure Troves
ISBN: 9780448095288
Publisher: Collins
Published: 1972-01-02T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XI

A Grim Story

NANCY was the first one up the narrow stairway to the attic. At her heels was Sergeant Malloy, his flashlight beaming the way ahead. The attic seemed to consist of a single storage room, low-roofed and windowless.

But among the shadows Nancy noticed a small door, the key still in the lock. While the police searched behind trunks and dust-covered chests, Nancy went toward the door and unlocked it.

As she did, there came a tap from the inside. Quickly she pulled the door open. A figure, bent over, stumbled toward her.

Terry Scott!

“Terry! Are you hurt?” Nancy gasped.

Though he shook his head, his face was deathly pale and his eyes looked dull and sunken. He tried to smile. One hand wandered feebly to his throat.

“You’re ill!” Nancy cried.

The policemen carried him to a chair. Sergeant Malloy reached into a pocket and brought out a tiny glass vial. Nipping off the end with his thumbnail, he held the vial under Terry’s nostrils and ordered him to take a deep breath.

Soon the color flooded back into Terry’s face. His eyes brightened. He moved one hand to his throat.

“Lost my voice yelling,” he whispered. “Thanks. You saved me from starving to death.”

“Let’s get him out of here,” Sergeant Malloy ordered.

“I’ll take him to my house,” Nancy offered quickly as they assisted Terry downstairs.

“All right. Then I’ll stick around here for a while,” Malloy said. Turning to Terry, he added, “I’ll get your full story later. Anything special you can tell us now?”

“Look for an old diary,” the young scientist managed to say.

Nancy and George drove Terry to the Drew home. Hannah Gruen was concerned when she saw him. After learning that he had been without food for two days, she announced firmly:

“You leave him to me. I know what he needs.”

Hannah insisted that Terry lie down on the living-room sofa. She put some chicken broth on the stove and made toast.

“How can I ever repay you, Nancy?” the young professor murmured over and over after George had gone home.

“By resting and getting your voice back, so you can tell me what happened.” Nancy smiled.

When Hannah returned with the food, Nancy announced that she had an errand downtown but would be back as soon as she could.

Nancy hurried out to her car and drove once more to the office of the Winfield Taxi Company. This time the blond girl at the desk was cooperative. She said to Nancy:

“Our driver Johnson just phoned in. He’s at a farmhouse a couple of miles this side of Kirkland.”

The driver had told her his two passengers from Fairview Avenue had forbidden him at gun-point to turn on the car radio. They had ordered him to drive to Kirkland.

When they reached a lonely stretch of wood-land, about three miles from Kirkland, Wangell had forced Johnson to stop, get out, and walk in the opposite direction.

“We’re going to use your cab for a while, buddy,” Wangell had said. “If you want it back, you’ll find it parked in Kirkland.”

Nancy asked the girl if the driver had notified the police.

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