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The Mysterious Intruder






 

The door next to Nancy’s room opened, and George and Bes peered out anxiously, both pulling on robes. “What’s going on? ” George exclaimed.

Even as she spoke, another cry for help sounded from Eugene Horvath’s room down the hall!

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out! ” Nancy declared.

Snatching up a slender metal figurine from its display stand to use as a makeshift weapon, Nancy dashed through the corridor toward their host’s room. She rapped loudly on the door.

“Mr. Horvath! Are you all right? ” she called. “Y – Y – Yes!... One moment, please! ” In a few seconds, the mustached businessman looked out at Nancy, followed by her two friends. He was hastily belting a robe over his striped silk pajamas, and his usually suave face looked pale and haggard.

“What happened? ” Nancy inquired.

“Someone attempted to climb into my room, ” Horvath replied, gesturing toward a pair of French windows which opened on to a balcony. “Because of those menacing phone calls I told you about, I recently has a security system installed. When the intruder climbed over the balcony rail, he tripped the burglar alarm! ”

“Did he try to attack you, Mr. Horvath? ” put in Bess Marvin, her plump face wide-eyed with fright.

“No, thank heavens – though I’m sure he intended to! He lingered on the balcony for a while, trying to make up his mind what to do, but the alarm bell and my calls for help finally frightened him off.” Their host heaved a gusty sigh of relief. He now seemed to be recovering his poise, and his color was returning.

“Did you get a good look at him? ” asked Nancy.

“I’m afraid not, ” Horvath confessed a bit sheepishly. “Besides the fact that I was upset, the fellow had his back to the moonlight, so all I could see, really, was this dark form.” He dabbed perspiration from his brow with a silk handkerchief.

“Should we searched for him or call the police? ” Nancy went on.

Horvath gave a nervous shudder. “There is no need for us to search. Sandor will have heard the alarm, just as you girls did. He is a trained body-guard, by the way. He is probably out searching the grounds at this very moment! ”

Half an hour later, while the group waited in the downstairs sitting room, sipping hot chocolate served by Elena, the chauffeur returned to report.

Sandor told Mr. Horvath that the intruder had been lurking in a clump of trees and had struck him from behind. “I managed to grab his leg as I went down, but he kicked me away and ran toward the dock.”

“Did he have a boat? ” asked George.

“A sports minisub, ” the chauffeur replied. “He got aboard and submerged before I could reach the motor cruiser.”

“What about his appearance? ” said Nancy. “Could you see his face? ”

Sandor nodded grimly. “Well enough to remember it if I ever see him again! He had a big crooked nose, and there was something wrong with the left side of his face. I mean it was clenched up, as if he couldn’t see properly on that side.”

The squint-eyed thief again! Could he also be the threatening caller, Sweeney Flint? If so, Nancy realized the name might provide an important lead in tracking him down.

All three girls slept late the next morning, due to their interrupted night’s rest. After a swim in the tiny cove and a hearty breakfast, they returned to the mainland aboard Horvath’s motor cruiser, with Sandor at the wheel. Their host came along for the brief trip and delivered the girls in his limousine to the amphitheater parking lot, where Nancy had left her blue sports car overnight.

Sandor transferred their luggage to Nancy’s car, and the girls made their farewells to the suave, charming Eugene Horvath.

“You must all come and visit me again! ” he said with a wave as his limousine moved off.

After dropping George and Bess at their homes, Nancy drove to her house. Her thoughts were filled with the puzzling pieces of the mystery.

“Oh, Hannah, it’s good to be home again! ” she cried as the housekeeper opened the screen door.

“I hope that doesn’t mean you had a bad time? ” Hannah said, greeting Nancy with a hug.

“Oh, no. The play was a big hit. And afterward, George and Bess and I were invited out to a beautiful island with a luxurious house on it. It belonged to Madame Arachne Onides, but now her husband lives there with just a servant.”

“Oh, my! ” Hannah exclaimed. “You’ll have to tell me all about it over lunch.”

“Golly, I’m sorry. We stopped to eat on our way home. But I’ll sit and have a cup of tea while you eat lunch, ” Nancy said.

While Hannah ate and Nancy sipped her tea, she described the exciting events that had taken place on the island last night.

“Oh, my goodness, Nancy, that sounds dangerous, ” Hannah fretted.

“It just means I have another mystery to solve. Who’s threatening Mr. Horvath and why” Nancy paused and smiled. “But now you can understand how good it is to be home. It’s so peaceful here! ”

Later, as she helped Hannah clear the table, Nancy said, “I’m going t pay Brett Hulme a visit this afternoon.”

After unpacking her overnight bag, Nancy brushed her hair and freshened up, then set out to question the young jewelry designer. She felt sure he was the designer of the beautiful spider ornament stolen from Madame Onides.

As Nancy turned up the gravel drive to Brett Hulme’s workshop, she saw him come out the door carrying an attaché case. He was dressed in a dark business suit, white shirt, and tie. Depositing the case in his own car, he turned to greet his visitor pleasantly.

“I’m sorry, Nancy, but as you see, I must leave. I have a number of appointments this afternoon. And also I’m delivering several orders.”

“This won’t take long, ” Nancy smiled.

“In that case, would you like to come inside? ”

“Oh no, why don’t we talk here? ” Nancy pointed to some white painted garden chairs set out near a flower bed.

When Nancy told him about the ruby-and-diamond spider brooch that had been stolen from Madame Onides and asked if he had designed it, Brett’s lips tightened.

“I’m sorry. I don’t like to seem stubborn, but that’s something I’d rather not discuss with you.”

“I’m also wondering if there’s any connection between the jeweled spider and that beautiful silver cobweb necklace I saw you working on, ” she persisted.

“That necklace was commissioned by someone who has since cancelled the order. I just don’t feel free, Nancy, to tell you any more than that. And, no, I cannot reveal who my customer was, ” Brett ended on a note of finality.

Realizing that any further questions would be useless, Nancy stood up. “I’m sorry too, Brett. I think you’d really be helping Kim if you told me, but… if that’s how you feel, I shan’t keep you any longer.”

With a smile and a wave, Nancy got into her car and turned back down the drive. In her rearview mirror, she could see Brett Hulme standing and watching her drive away. His expression looked anything but happy.

That night after dinner, Nancy set out to keep her rendezvous with Jack Vernon. The evening had turned cool and she was glad to have the warmth of a sweater as she drove through River Heights toward Riverside Park.

Spot, but after parking her car outside the Park drive entrance, she saw that the cool, overcast weather had left the area deserted.

Glancing at her watch, Nancy said to herself, “Well, I’m on time. Now where is Jack Vernon? ”

She walked slowly down the graveled path well into the park without seeing anyone on any of the park benches. There seemed to be no one within sight or sound. It was growing darker as Nancy turned and headed back toward the park entrance.

“Oh! ” Suddenly she stopped short with a horrified gasp. Her sharp eyes had just glimpsed a sprawled form behind one of the benches, almost hidden by the shrubbery.

She ran quickly to the unconscious man and, taking a flashlight from her purse, shone it on his face. It was Jack Vernon, badly bruised!

 






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