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Suspect?






 

“Nancy, I don’t want you to worry about me or the festival, ” Mr. Drew said.

“But Dad—”

He raised his hand as if he didn’t want to hear another word.

“I have two complimentary tickets to the festival tomorrow evening. Perhaps you’d like to take Ned.”

Nancy’s face lit up into a smile immediately.

“Promise me, though, you’ll just enjoy the performance. No investigating, okay? ”

“Whatever you say, Dad.”

She leaped out of her chair to call her friend, Ned Nickerson, who was home on vacation from Emerson College. At first Nancy was tempted to mention her father’s predicament, but she refrained as Mr. Drew strode past her.

Instead, she conveyed the invitation, adding in a whisper, “I have a lot to tell you, too.”

“In that case, ” Ned said, “how can I resist? ”

It was decided that he would stop by for Nancy at seven-thirty the next evening. In the meantime, she had several things to discuss with Bess and George.

“Hello. Is George there? ” Nancy said, after dialing the number of the Fayne household.

To her surprise, the girl was not home.

Maybe she went to see Bess, Nancy surmised. She was about to call the Marvin number when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it, ” Nancy announced, dropping the receiver.

It was the two cousins.

“When we didn’t hear from you, we figured something must’ve happened, ” Bess said.

“Right? ” George asked.

“Right, ” Nancy said. “Come on in.”

While she cut pieces of Hannah’s peach pie for each girl, she told them everything that had occurred after they left Rosemont Hospital.

“Fortunately, I still have Cliffs ring, ” Nancy concluded, excusing herself to get it.

When she returned to the kitchen, she was also holding her magnifying glass. The trio took turns examining the ring. On close inspection, they saw that the intricate design consisted of finely intertwined water lilies. Inside the band was a well-worn initial, together with an indistinct figure standing on a flower. To the untrained eye, they could pass for mere scratches.

“I can’t figure out what the letter is, ” Bess said. “Can you? ”

“I’m not sure, but it looks like ‘P, ’ ” Nancy said. “Lisa said Mr. Jhaveri was about to show her a book when the businessman took the ring.”

“Maybe we should go to the store tomorrow, ” George suggested.

“I was just thinking the same thing, ” Nancy said.

That night, Nancy slept uneasily as the ring tossed through her dreams. Someone on the stage of the River Heights Theater was throwing it toward her, but she couldn’t catch it because of an imaginary rope that held her arms back.

“Nancy... Nancy, ” a voice was calling.

The girl mumbled back into her pillow as the shade on her window snapped open and sunlight poured across the room.

“Nancy, dear, it’s after nine.”

The young detective pulled the bedsheet over her head while Hannah tickled her foot.

“Time to rise and shine. Bess and George are waiting for you downstairs.”

“Oh, my goodness, ” Nancy cried, bolting out of bed. “They’re here already? ”

After a quick shower, she slipped into a skirt and blouse, put Cliff’s ring in her shoulder bag, and hurried to the dining room, where a glass of orange juice awaited her.

“Didn’t we say nine o‘clock? ” George asked.

Nancy nodded. “I overslept, ” she said, gulping down the juice.

“Don’t drink so fast, Nancy, ” Hannah scolded. “You’ll get indigestion.”

Despite the warning, Nancy hurried through breakfast, explaining that she had several things to do.

“I promised to be at the hospital for a couple of hours at least, ” she said. “Now that I’m running so late, maybe you ought to see Mr. Jhaveri without me.”

“Are you sure? ” Bess asked.

“Yes. Besides, I want to check on how Tommy is and make a few inquiries at the hospital.”

“What about the ring? ” George replied. “Shall we take it with us? ”

“Definitely, ” Nancy said. “When you’re done at the store, then please bring it to Rosemont.”

While Nancy headed for the hospital, Bess and George went downtown. To their delight, Mr. Jhaveri remembered the unusual ring and was more than willing to discuss it.

“I didn’t have a chance to show my book to your friend, ” he said, “but I will show it to you. Do you have time? ”

“Oh yes, ” George replied eagerly.

“I will only be a moment, ” the proprietor said, disappearing into the anteroom behind the main counter.

For an instant, the cousins sensed that someone was watching them, but when they glanced toward the front window, no one was there.

“We’re just being overly suspicious, ” Bess whispered.

Mr. Jhaveri returned holding a large book. “There are many wonderful stories in here about unusual pieces of jewelry and their owners.” He leafed through the pages, stopping now and then to show photographs of fantastic jewels—rubies, diamonds, and emeralds cut in various shapes.

“Ah, here it is, ” he said at last. “The Maharajah Prithviraj of Lakshmipur.”

Bess and George giggled as they looked at the roly-poly man whose face was as round as Hannah’s peach pie. He wore a loose-fitting robe that concealed his rotund figure, and on every finger except one was an exquisite ring.

“It seems that the maharajah had a passion for water lilies, ” Mr. Jhaveri said. “They grew profusely in his garden pool—”

“And decorated his linen, silver, and jewelry, ” Bess said, reading the caption under the picture.

Was it possible that Cliffs ring had once belonged to the maharajah? the girls wondered. But, if so, how had it traveled from India to the United States?

The bell on the front door jingled suddenly, and the girls stared at the bearded man who entered. Was he the same person Nancy had chased out of Rosemont Hospital?

George quickly dropped the ring into her purse and shut the book.

“Are you finished with it? ” Mr. Jhaveri asked politely.

“Yes, thank you, ” George said, trying to conceal her nervousness. She nudged Bess to leave. “We must be on our way, but I’m sure we’ll be back.”

“Don’t hurry on my account, ” the bearded customer said. “I’m just browsing.”

The girls did not bother to reply, but hurried to their car.

“Maybe we should’ve stayed around to check that guy out, ” Bess said.

“And risk having him hear something about the ring? ” George replied. “No, ma‘am.”

She started the car, then noticed that the jeweler had emerged from his store. The bearded man was with him.

“Don’t go yet, miss! ” Mr. Jhaveri was shouting at the girls. “Please—come back! ”

“What should we do? ” Bess gasped. Her heart pounded nervously as the stranger raced toward them.

 






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