New York Yields a Lead

AS NANCY quickly packed her bags in order to catch the afternoon plane to New York, she discussed further angles of the case with her father.

«Don't you think George ought to go away, too,» she asked.

«I think it would be a very good idea,» her father replied. «Why don't you take her with you?»

Nancy telephoned her friend and learned that the Fayne family already had planned for George to be out of town for a while. They were taking her on a motor trip.

Nancy's next call was to Bess. It had been she who had learned of the disappearance of Nancy and George from the circus. Bess had summoned Mr. Drew, who had gone at once to question Kroon. The ringmaster had told the lawyer he had discharged Nancy because she was not a regular member of the circus. He had assumed that Nancy, of course, had gone home.

«Kroon is a slick individual. There's no doubt about it,» Mr. Drew pointed out. «But I don't think he'll suspect, even iŁ he learns you were here for a while, that you have gone to New York.»

Mr. Drew drove his daughter to the airport and waved good-by as she boarded the plane. Nancy settled herself comfortably and soon fell asleep from exhaustion. By the time she reached New York, Nancy was refreshed and ready to continue work on the case.

Her father had given her a letter of introduction from Police Chief McGinnis in River Heights to Captain Smith of the New York Police Department, who had been assigned to the Tristam Booking Agency investigation.

Nancy toyed with the idea of going at once to call on the police captain. But she knew her aunt would be waiting, since Nancy's father had said he was telephoning to her from the airport. Nancy took a taxi to Eloise Drew's apartment and soon the two were embracing each other.

«How good it is to see you!» Miss Drew exclaimed.

«You're an old dear to let me barge in like this.» Nancy laughed. «Aunt Eloise, you look simply wonderful. A new hair-do?»

Miss Drew smiled. «Yes. Do you like it?»

«It's stunning. And, Aunt Eloise, how in the world did you get that picture of me?»

Nancy's eyes were focused on a large photograph of herself on a table. She was in her circus costume, standing on a horse.

Miss Drew laughed. «I asked a photographer at the circus to take it when I was there,» she said. «It came out very well, don't you think?»

When Nancy asked for a copy of the photograph, her aunt said she was saving it as a surprise for Mr. Drew's Christmas present.

«Your father is so hard to buy for,» she said. «I'm sure there's nothing he'd love better than a remembrance of his daughter appearing in the circus—especially since she was helping out other people.»

While they ate supper, the conversation turned to the mystery. Aunt Eloise begged her niece to be careful and not undertake any sleuthing alone. Nancy promised.

«First thing tomorrow morning I'm going down to talk to Police Captain Smith,» she said. «I wonder what he found out about Lola Flanders. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she really were Lolita's mother?»

Aunt Eloise was not so sure of this. Perhaps the woman had changed a great deal during a period of ten years. It seemed very strange that she had not been in touch with her daughter.

«At least Lolita knows nothing about this,» Nancy replied. «If it seems best not to tell her about Lola, I shall keep it a secret.»

The situation bothered Nancy. She tossed restlessly in bed for nearly an hour after turning out the light. But finally she dropped off to sleep. Directly after breakfast, however, she set off for Captain Smith's headquarters.

She presented the letter of introduction to the sergeant on duty and he took it to the captain. In a moment the sergeant returned, inviting Nancy to follow him. He showed her into the office, then closed the door and left.

«I'm glad to meet you, Miss Drew,» the officer said, smiling. «Chief McGinnis and I were buddies in the Army some years ago. He tells me that you're quite a detective.»

Nancy blushed slightly and admitted that she had solved some cases. Then she turned the conversation from herself and asked:

«Have you found Lola Flanders?»

«We don't know yet,» Captain Smith told her. «We're still checking.»

He went on to say that one of their detectives had called at the Tristam Booking Agency. He had been able to learn little from either the owner or his secretary.

«They're cagey people,» the officer said. «They told our detective that they never discuss their clients' private affairs.»

«But you did find out something about Lola Flanders?» Nancy asked.

«Yes. She's a young dancer and uses the stage name of Millie Francine.»

«A young dancer!» Nancy repeated. «Then this Lola Flanders is not the person I'm looking for.»

Nancy sat lost in thought for a few moments. This was a turn of events she had not expected. Who was this young Lola Flanders? Was she a relative of Lolita's, perhaps?

«Where is the dancer now?» Nancy asked the police captain.

«She's working on the West Coast,» he replied. «I've made a check. The story is correct—as far as it goes.»

The captain said that the police were watching the mails. The suspected package from Danford had not arrived yet. As soon as it did, it would be Impounded and x-rayed.

«Are you going back to River Heights at once?» Captain Smith asked.

Nancy replied that she was staying with her aunt and gave Miss Drew's address. The police captain said that he would call as soon as the package had been examined. She returned to the apartment and waited for the call.

Just before noon, Captain Smith telephoned.

«The package is here,» he told her. «Can you come right over to headquarters?»

«Indeed I can,» said Nancy. «I'll be there in a jiffy.»

When she reached Captain Smith's headquarters, he pointed to a bracelet lying on his desk.

«Is that yours?» he asked.

At first glance Nancy thought that it was, but when she picked it up, she changed her mind. Although it was very similar to hers, this bracelet had six horses on it. Furthermore, the bracelet was much darker in color and looked older.

«I'm afraid this isn't mine,» Nancy said, considerably embarrassed. She told him why.

Captain Smith took the bracelet from her. He walked to a window and looked at it in the strong light.

«I'm no expert at judging jewelry,» he said, «but I'd say this bracelet might have been tampered with to change its appearance.»

Nancy hurried to the window and examined the bracelet more closely herself. «It does look as if this one horse had been attached recently. It's in the place where the charm on my bracelet was missing.»

Captain Smith said that it was a trick among jewel thieves to change the appearance of jewelry by darkening or lightening the color of it. It was his guess that this had been done to the bracelet.

«May I use your telephone and call Chief McGinnis?» Nancy asked him. «I'd like him to check with the girl at the circus who has a necklace with a horse charm on it similar to these.»

«Go ahead,» the captain said.

He left Nancy and she put in a call to River Heights. After talking with Nancy a few minutes, Chief McGinnis promised to get in touch with the police in the town where the circus was now staying.

«I'll call Captain Smith as soon as I have the answer,» he said.

Nancy was sure that the reply would not come for several hours, so she went home to have luncheon with her aunt. They had just finished eating when the telephone rang. Captain Smith was reporting that Lolita still had her horse-charm necklace.

«Captain Smith,» Nancy said, «will you go with me and my aunt to the shop where she purchased the bracelet? I'm sure that the owner will be able to identify the one you're holding if it is the original.»

The officer said he would be glad to accompany them. He made arrangements to meet Nancy and her aunt in twenty minutes.

At the appointed time the three walked into the shop. After hearing their story, Mr. Abrams, the shop owner, made a quick examination of the bracelet and confirmed the captain's theory that it had been tampered with recently.

Using a special powder and a piece of chamois, he began to rub the bracelet. Presently the stain which had been used on it began to rub off. In a few minutes the bracelet looked exactly as Nancy remembered it, except for the addition of the sixth horse.

«Whoever put this one charm on,» said Mr. Abrams, «was an amateur. This was a hurried, clumsy job.»

Nancy's thoughts flew at once to Mr. and Mrs. Kroon. Had the woman attached it and wrapped the bracelet for mailing while George and Little Will had been acting as lookouts at the trailer? Had the Kroons stolen the original charm from Lolita's necklace some time ago and kept it, hoping to locate the valuable bracelet and attach the missing horse, and sell the jewelry at a high price?

«Mr. Abrams,» said Nancy, «would you mind looking in your records and telling me where you purchased the bracelet?»

«I'd be very glad to,» the shop owner said, smiling.

He disappeared into a back room and was gone for some time. Finally he returned and handed Nancy a piece of paper.

«I purchased the bracelet from a London pawnshop,» he said. «Here's the name and address.»

Nancy and the others thanked Mr. Abrams for his information and left the shop. When they reached the sidewalk, Captain Smith gave Nancy the bracelet. She thanked him and asked the captain if he would cable the shop in London and find out who had signed the pawn ticket.

«Certainly,» Captain Smith said, «only I believe I'll do it through the London police. But it will take hours.»

The following morning Nancy waited impatiently for a call from Captain Smith. He telephoned her about eleven o'clock.

«It begins to look as though you were getting somewhere in your mystery, Miss Drew,» he said. «The pawn ticket was signed with a nervous scrawl which was hardly legible. The pawnshop owner thought it looked something like Laura Flynn.»

«Oh, it could have been Lola Flanders!» Nancy cried excitedly.

«I believe you're right,» the captain agreed. «The ticket was signed three years ago. The shop keeps things for only two years. That's why they were able to sell it.»

After putting down the telephone receiver, Nancy continued to think about this latest news. Suddenly her eyes sparkled. She picked up the telephone and dialed long-distance. Nancy gave the operator the number of her father's office. When he answered, she told him what she had discovered since her arrival in New York. Then suddenly she said:

«Dad, will you fly to London with me right away?»