Студопедия

Главная страница Случайная страница

Разделы сайта

АвтомобилиАстрономияБиологияГеографияДом и садДругие языкиДругоеИнформатикаИсторияКультураЛитератураЛогикаМатематикаМедицинаМеталлургияМеханикаОбразованиеОхрана трудаПедагогикаПолитикаПравоПсихологияРелигияРиторикаСоциологияСпортСтроительствоТехнологияТуризмФизикаФилософияФинансыХимияЧерчениеЭкологияЭкономикаЭлектроника






Stroessner's Plan






 

" What! " Mrs. Palmer cried. " They want my grandfather's letters? What for? Blackmail? My grandparents have been dead for more than fifty years! "

" No, no! " Nancy said excitedly. " Not the letters. The envelopes, or rather the stamps on the envelopes. There must be some particularly valuable ones that they know were purchased in those days. And from the looks of that huge bundle of letters you have, there must be easily a couple of hundred stamps."

" Well, of all the silly—"

" Yes, silly perhaps, Mrs. Palmer. But please, let me check it out. Td like to show those envelopes to Señ or Segovia. He'll have the stamps evaluated and give you some idea of whether they were worth all this trouble to get them."

" I can't believe it. I think those people are mad, " Mrs. Palmer declared.

" Money mad, " Nancy added.

The woman agreed to remove the letters and give Nancy the envelopes. As she did, Nancy and Ned sorted them by stamps, putting all the unusual ones in one pile and the others, that appeared on many letters, in another. " This will save Señ or Segovia some work, " Nancy said as she combined the two bundles in the end, and put them in a shopping bag Susan gave her.

Then the young people caught a cab that was parked not far from the Palmer home.

" The driver must have let someone out just a second ago, " Nancy said. " Weren't we lucky! "

Somewhat tired after the excitement of their last discovery, they rode in silence for a time until Nancy said, " I don't think the driver has the right address." To be sure, she repeated it. The man nodded but did not turn around. Instead, he continued to drive in the wrong direction.

Ned tapped on the window. " Listen, " he said, " you're going the wrong way. You're heading west, taking us inland. We want to go to a house on the canal! "

The man turned his head slightly. " You may as well settle back and relax. You're going where Tve been told to take you. And, by the way, the boss says thanks for finding the stamps.''

''What! " Nancy cried, feeling her heart sinking. " What are you talking about? "

" We've got ways of finding out things. We keep a watch on the old lady's place. When she went to the bank and came back with the locksmith, we knew we were on the trail. We knew she was going to dig those letters out. And you have them right now, in that shopping bag. But you won't turn them over to Segovia. The Big Man will get them."

" Stroessner, " Ned said, disgusted.

" You said it, I didn't."

" Oh, come on, " Ned said. " Everybody knows Stroessner is the crime kingpin."

" Stroessner? Oh yeah, that's the gentleman who is a stamp dealer. The police and Segovia are saying he's the head of some criminal gang? I don't know anything about that." The driver laughed harshly.

Nancy sighed. " That's the way the big ones always protect themselves from justice. They pay you guys to do the dirty work and keep their names out of it."

Ned frowned. " What are we going to do?

Want me to try to break the glass and get at him? "

Nancy shook her head. " There is an easier way and no one will get hurt" She reached into the shopping bag and pulled out an envelope.

Then she tapped on the glass. " Sir. Oh, sir. Could I have your attention a moment? "

" What do you want? " came the irritated response. " I gotta watch the road! "

They came to a stop light and Ned tried opening both doors. They were locked and under the driver's control. So were the windows. They could not be rolled down.

Nancy shook her head. " That won't work. Even if we yell and scream nobody will notice. Let me try my approach." She tapped on the window again.

" Sir, " she said, " what would happen to you if you arrived at your headquarters and you told the boss that you had us but didn't have the stamps? "

" What are you talking about? I got you and the stamps, " came the sullen reply.

" Oh, no, " corrected Nancy. " You have us. And we have the stamps. But suppose I take the envelopes and as you're driving I tear up every stamp? "

Nancy and Ned went crashing against the front seat as the driver hit the brakes in a panic and then speeded up again. " Now don't go saying things like that, " he shouted. ''You wanna turn my hair white with worry? You just be good and leave those stamps alone. In fact, I better stop and take them."

''Better not, " said Nancy. " I have a lighter here that's full of fluid. I can douse them and set fire to them faster than you can turn around."

The driver hunched his shoulders and wiped his brow. " Wait a minute, " he said, slowing down, " let's talk this over."

" Don't slow down, " Nancy warned.

He ignored her.

" Okay, " the young sleuth cried, " here goes the first one." She tore an envelope right through the center of the stamp.

The driver almost went mad. " Don't do that! Lady, listen! Stop doing that! "

Nancy tore another one.

" All right! " he screamed. " What do you want? "

" Turn us loose in a well-populated area and I'll give you the letters, " Nancy said.

" Nancy! " Ned whispered. " You can't do that! "

Nancy nudged him with her foot and he realized that she had a plan. He lapsed into silence and waited to see what would happen next.

" How do you want to handle this? " the driver asked.

" Take us to downtown Fort Lauderdale."

" Nothing doing. The cops'll catch me. Too much traffic."

''Then go to North Federal Highway and Oakland Park Boulevard, " Nancy said, naming an intersection in the north of town where there were shopping centers. She knew she and Ned could easily slip away once they left the cab, and the driver would not be afraid because the traffic was not heavy enough to block his escape.

''All right, " he agreed.

''What are you doing? " Ned hissed.

''Trust me, " Nancy said softly.

When they reached the intersection, she had the driver pull up to the curb.

" Hand me the letters, " he demanded, reaching back to unlock the sliding partition.

" Not on your life. I’ll set fire to them."

''No! Okay. How do you want it? "

" I'll leave the letters on the back seat, see? " She pointed.

" No good, " he objected. " You throw them to me before you get out."

" Only if Ned leaves the car first and the door is open."

" Fine." The driver reached back. " Give me your hand."

Nancy hesitated, but then put her hand forward. She felt the man clamp his viselike fingers around her wrist. " Now, " he said, " tell your friend to get out."

Ned did and held the door open.

" Throw me the letters, " the driver commanded.

With her free hand, Nancy tossed the envelopes over the divide. With the light turning green, the man had no choice but to release her hand since there were cars in back of him. As he did, Nancy leaped out. Ned grabbed her, slammed the taxi door, and they started running toward the shopping center.

The driver took off with his tires squealing, and quickly disappeared into the distance.

" Well! " Ned gasped as they stopped running and hailed another taxi that was parked first in line near a large department store. " We're free, but they have the goodies."

" Only some, " Nancy said, reaching into her purse.

" What? "

" When we sorted the stamps, I put the envelopes with special ones on top, and the repeats on the bottom. I took everything out of the shopping bag, but only gave him the bottom pile. The rest I put in my purse."

Ned laughed. " Nancy, you're so clever. The guy never knew you had more envelopes! "

" Right! "

" Stroessner will have his head! "

" Those are the hazards that go with his profession, " Nancy said with a chuckle.

When they returned to the mansion, she gave the envelopes to Señ or Segovia, who promised to have them checked by an expert immediately.

Then Nancy and Ned got sodas for themselves and went out on the patio. Their friends were lounging in chairs, but the atmosphere was tense, and they kept taking turns looking through two pairs of binoculars.

" What's happening? " Nancy asked.

" We found out that good old Angie's house over there isn't just a simple home for the Campbells, " Ned replied. " It appears to be a meeting place for some really mean-looking characters. Here, take a look."

Nancy took the glasses and eagerly scanned the Campbell home and dock area.

The first thing that caused her to jump was the sight of a small boat docked next to The Flying Scot. It looked exactly like the hydrofoil she and Ned had tried to chase!

She asked her friend what he thought. Ned nodded.

" Exactly. If it isn't, it must be a twin. And look at the driveway! "

Nancy focused on the drive circling the main building. A truck stood near the gate and a piece of machinery, covered with tarpaulins, was being loaded. " It's a press of some kind! " the girl exclaimed.

" They already loaded other equipment, " Dave said.

" Oh, dear, " Nancy cried, " I have a hunch that this is the place Dad and Señ or Segovia are looking for! But the gang's moving out. Why? "

" You must have scared Angus when you talked with him on the yacht, " Ned suggested. " He probably figured you knew something, perhaps more than you really did."

Nancy bit her lip. " I guess that wasn't too smart. I shouldn't have let on I was suspicious. On the other hand, he certainly wasn't very bright coming over here and asking all those questions."

" I think, " Ned said, " he's the kind of guy who feels he has so much charm he can get away with anything. Only this time he overplayed his hand"

" His father must have been furious" Dave put in.

" I doubt that there is a father, " Nancy said. ''I have a feeling that Angus works alone. Somehow he got roped into the crime ring and made a lot of money, so he bought this house as a meeting place for the gang. The story about his rich dad is just that—a story.''

" You mean, you believe that everything is over there? " Ned asked. " The stolen stamps, including the Penny Black, the counterfeiting equipment—and now they're moving it? "

" That's the way it looks. Let's call Dad and Señ or Segovia and have them raid the place, " Nancy suggested and turned to walk into the house.

" No good, " George told her. " They left for Miami two hours ago because they were following up their hottest tip yet. They're closing in on what they believe is Stroessner's headquarters."

" I bet that tip is just another piece of misinformation that Stroessner leaked to them! " Nancy exclaimed. " Maybe he did it to distract everyone's attention from the Campbell place so he'll have time to move his stuff! "

" Why not just call the Fort Lauderdale police? " Bess spoke up.

''Right, " Nancy said and rushed for the phone. But it was dead! Quickly, the staff checked all the extensions in the house and found that everyone had been disconnected. Andre, the chauffeur, finally discovered that the outside line had been cut.

Worried, Nancy rushed to the patio and picked up the binoculars. She was angered to see Angus Campbell staring back at her, smiling and waving while he motioned two small cars in the driveway to move up behind the truck. Apparently, the crooks were about ready to take off!

''There's no time left! " Nancy cried. " If we can't get the police, we have to stop them ourselves! "

Just then, Albert appeared on the patio. " I'd like to help with this, " he offered.

" Thank you. Can we get a car? "

" Of course."

Without hesitating, he led them to the light blue limousine and the six friends piled in. After saying something to Andre, he took the wheel and expertly drove out of the driveway, heading straight for the Campbell mansion.

" I hope we make it. I hope we don't make it. I hope we make it. No, I don't hope we make it—'' Bess was crouching on one of the jump seats, eyes closed and all fingers crossed, worrying about what would happen if they confronted the crooks!

 






© 2023 :: MyLektsii.ru :: Мои Лекции
Все материалы представленные на сайте исключительно с целью ознакомления читателями и не преследуют коммерческих целей или нарушение авторских прав.
Копирование текстов разрешено только с указанием индексируемой ссылки на источник.