A Precious Secret

The next morning, the girls were up early. “What’s our program for today? ” Bess asked when they all were seated around the breakfast table.

“I think we should go the police station and take a look at the mug shots. Perhaps we can find a lead to the identity of the fake Russell Kaiser, ” Nancy declared.

“Good idea, ” George declared.

“I also want to call Jackie, just to make sure that neither of the two men we saw last night was Ted.”

As soon as Nancy swallowed her last mouthful of scrambled eggs, she contacted the model. Jacqueline confirmed that her brother did not have a bulbous nose or any pock marks under his eyes.

“I’m sorry you weren’t successful, ” she added.

“Well, we’ve come upon another interesting mystery in the interim, ” Nancy said, and told the young woman about the medallion with the lion’s head on top and the two Russell Kaisers. “I don’t know if there’s a connection between the symbol on your brother’s note and the figure on the medallion, but we’re following it all up. I am leaving for the police station now.”

“My, you are a busy detective.” The model laughed into the phone.

Nancy smiled. “My stockpile of mysteries is getting a little heavy, ” she admitted. “After we finish talking to the police, I’ll have to stop by Mr. Reese’s office.”

“He happens to be near a wonderful little dress shop, which you all must see, ” Jackie said. “Promise me you’ll go.” She gave Nancy the address.

The girl detective chuckled, secretly wondering if the dresses would be as outlandish as the makeup results on Bess.

“We’ll let you know if we buy anything, ” she concluded the conversation.

Bess and George had already slipped into their coats and waited impatiently for Nancy to put hers on. Then they said good-bye to Aunt Eloise, who was also preparing to leave.

“Marjorie and I have to tally the proceeds of the show this morning, ” she informed her niece.

“Well, I hope you made a whole bucket full of money and—” Nancy said when the ring of the telephone interrupted her.

“You take it, dear, ” Aunt Eloise said.

To Nancy’s surprise, it was a telegram from her father! She listened intently to the message which the operator read:

COULD NOT REACH YOU BY PHONE. SENDING IMPORTANT PAPERS TODAY. PLEASE WAIT FOR THEM.

“How strange! ” Nancy said to her friends as she hung up the receiver.

“Who was it? ” Bess asked.

“Dad—I mean a telegram from Dad.”

“That is odd, ” George remarked. “Of course, we came in late last night, but he could have called this morning. Maybe you ought to try phoning him.”

The same thought had occurred to Nancy. She made two telephone calls, one to the house where Hannah told her that her father had already left for the office, and the other to the office where his secretary informed her that Mr. Drew was off on an all-day business appointment.

“Well, I can’t chance it, ” Nancy told the other girls. “If Dad wants me to wait for documents, I’d better do it.”

She took off the coat that hung loosely on her shoulders and returned it to the closet.

“Of course, this doesn’t mean you girls have to stick around, ” she added.

Bess and George looked at each other unde cidedly. George finally suggested that they could save some time if she and Bess checked out the police mug shots.

“Good idea, ” Nancy concurred. “By the time you get back, I ought to have the papers, and then we can head for Mr. Reese’s.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind? ” Bess said, knowing that Nancy would have liked to review the police pictures herself.

“I’m positive, ” Nancy said. “You saw the same man I did at the auction.”

That was reassurance enough to send the girls on their way.

“Oh, wait a minute, ” Nancy said. “Here, take this. It’s the address of a dress shop Jacqueline told me about. Since we’re running short on time, maybe you ought to stop there before you come back.”

“Great! ” Bess exclaimed.

Nancy handed each of the girls an umbrella from the closet. To Bess she said, “It’s supposed to rain today. I’m sure you don’t want those new curls to come undone.” The tiny curls that had framed her face the day before had begun to sag a bit, but Bess was determined to keep the hairdo.

In reply, Bess merely rolled her eyes and said, “Be back soon.”

Leaving Nancy to wait for the mysterious documents, Aunt Eloise followed the cousins out the door. When they arrived at the police station after a circuitous ride in a taxicab that had deposited Eloise Drew en route, George introduced herself and Bess.

“We’re friends of Nancy Drew, the amateur detective.”

The sergeant on duty had heard of Nancy and smiled. “Are you helping her on a case? ” he inquired.

George nodded. “That’s why we’re here. We’d like to take a look at mug shots, if you don’t mind. We’re searching for a man whose name we don’t know.”

“What’d he do? ” the sergeant asked.

“Impersonated a client of ours who doesn’t want any publicity about it. We promised to try finding the man on our own.”

“I see. Well, go ahead. Take a look at our file.”

He led them into a room and provided the photographs they had requested.

“Thanks, ” the girls chorused almost in unison.

“Let me know if you recognize the guy! ” The sergeant grinned.

For several minutes, the young detectives pored over the pictures, stopping once in a while to stare at a face that seemed familiar. A couple of the men bore similar features to the impostor—a bald head, for instance, but the shape of the eyes or nose was different.

“Hey! ” Bess said suddenly as they reached the bottom of the pile. “Look at this! ”

The girls stared at a photograph of a man in his late thirties, maybe early forties, whose eyes were pinched together under thick, straight brows. His nose was long and slim, the mouth full, and the face was framed by blondish hair.

“It’s Russell Kaiser! ” George gasped. “Not the bald man who bought the medallion and who we assumed to be the impostor. It’s the man who approached Nancy and asked us to help him! ”

“His real name is Pete Grover, and he’s wanted for check forgery in the State of California, ” Bess added. “It says so right here under the picture.”

“Maybe the sergeant has more information about him: Let’s ask, ” George suggested.

The officer was very interested when he heard that they found a man in the mug shots who resembled someone they had met the night before.

“Now, you say you saw him at an auction, ” the sergeant asked. “Did he buy anything? ”

“No, ” George replied, “but he bid on a medallion. He didn’t get it, though.”

The policeman nodded. “We’ll look into it.”

“What do you think is going on? ” Bess asked her cousin on the way out.

“Beats me, but I have a hunch we’ll have to do a little more investigating before we find out. Pete Grover’s hair was a little different, but I’m sure he was the man we met last night.”

The girls headed for the dress shop on East 67th Street. It was small and stocked with expensive, imported clothes.

“No wonder Jacqueline comes here, ” Bess commented. She thumbed through the hangers, pausing to look at a gold lamé jumpsuit. “These pants are meant for sticks to wear.”

George laughed. “Well, that lets you out! ”

“Very funny, ” said Bess, who was used to being teased by George about her waistline. She shoved the suit along the rack. “Now, here’s something. Oh, I want to try it on.”

Before George could get a close look at what it was, Bess dashed into a dressing room in the back of the store. Within a few minutes, a clerk went after her, then returned to the rack for a larger size.

George sat down on a velvet cushion, preparing for Bess’s entrance. She heard peculiar noises from the dressing room—sighs, and then giggles.

“Ready or not, ” Bess called out at last.

She stepped into view, watching the frozen look in her cousin’s eyes.

“Like it? ” she asked gaily.

George gulped.

The one-piece pants suit was a shimmer of silver and black that ballooned over Bess’s figure, ending in a tight hug over her ankles. Bess turned in front of a mirror and grinned at George.

“Cat got your tongue? ” she asked.

“Mm-hmm, ” George said. “You’re a true vision.”

“Thanks, ” Bess replied, evidently pleased. “How much is it? ” she asked the clerk.

“Only four twenty-five.”

“Four hundred and twenty-five dollars? ” Bess gasped. “Oh, and I do love it! ”

“Well, maybe you can find a dressmaker in River Heights to sew something like it, ” George consoled her.

“These are one of a kind, ” the clerk insisted haughtily.

“I’m sure, ” George replied. “Let’s go.”

“I’m so disappointed, ” Bess said when they were outside again.

“Just think of it this way. If you had bought that outfit, Dave would have thought something had happened to the good old Bess he once knew! Besides, it would have looked better on a thinner girl.”

“Good old Bess. That’s me, ” Bess sighed. “I guess I’m just never going to be very sophisticated.”

When they reached the apartment again, they were still talking about their excursion. George described the silver-black creation Bess had wanted to purchase, then they discussed the visit to the police station. Nancy was flabbergasted when she heard about the photograph they had seen.

George mentioned something that had been on her mind. “If Pete Grover is the impostor, though, why would he have deliberately introduced himself to you? ” she asked Nancy.

“I have no idea.”

“What about the papers your father sent? Did they come? ” Bess inquired.

“No. A few letters arrived for Aunt Eloise. That was all. But I figure Dad must’ve mailed everything by special delivery, which means it could turn up here almost any time today.”

The girls prepared a light lunch, and when they were done, it was almost two o‘clock.

“I really ought to go to Mr. Reese’s office, ” Nancy decided.

“If you want us to wait here, we will, ” George offered.

“But suppose the papers come and Nancy has to do something with them right away? ” Bess objected. “No, I think she’d better stick around.”

“I agree, ” Nancy said, “but I’d hate to spend the entire day cooped up in Aunt Eloise’s apartment waiting for something that might never arrive. Maybe Dad’s secretary can tell me where he is. I don’t like to disturb him during a business meeting, but what else can I do? ”

She called the attorney’s office once more and, to her delight, discovered that her father had returned earlier than expected.

“What’s up, dear? ” Carson Drew asked pleasantly.

“Did you send me a telegram today? ”

“No.”

“And some important papers? ”

“Papers? Why, no! ”

As quickly as she could, Nancy gave an account of recent events, ending with the mysterious message.

“It was a phony, Nancy, ” her father said gravely. “Someone obviously didn’t want you to leave the apartment for a reason! ”