Release and Capture

Nancy darted up the stairway to try opening the trap door. As she had feared, it did not budge. George and Bess pushed with all their might.

«It's hopeless,» said Bess, panting. «We're all prisoners!» Juliana Johnson exclaimed.

Nancy was fearful this new shock might undermine Juliana's health completely, so she said, «I feel sure there's no cause for alarm. When we fail to show up, help will come. I left a note at home.» «But will the trap door be noticed by anyone?» Juliana asked dubiously.

«Perhaps I can find another exit,» Nancy said. While Bess remained with Juliana, Nancy and George, using flashlights, searched the various cells. They could find no exit. The only openings were the high grilled windows.

«Nancy,» George said suddenly, «I brought a police whistle. Suppose I blow it.» «Great!» said Nancy. «If you stand on my shoulders, you should be able to reach one of the windows and signal for help.»

George and Nancy stepped into the nearest cell and went to the window. With agility George climbed to Nancy's shoulders and clung to the iron grills of the window. She blew a dozen shrill blasts with her whistle.

«I hope it'll work,» she said, after dropping lightly to the floor.

She and Nancy wondered how long they might have to wait and how long Juliana could stand the added strain. They returned to the others and sat down on the steps.

Juliana had lapsed into silence, but Nancy gradually drew her out. One of the first questions Nancy asked was whether or not Walter Heath had given her a large pearl.

«No, but he was going to. It was being made into a ring when I went away.»

Nancy next inquired if Juliana's fiance had had a special name for her.

«Yes. He called me his little Cinderella,» she said, smiling at the recollection. «Once Walt asked me to put on one of my dancing slippers and make a print in a block of newly made cement. He said he was going to set it in the garden wall opposite Poet's Nook. I suppose it was a lover's foolish idea.»

«That wasn't foolish,» Nancy replied. «It was very sensible. That footprint clue in the crumbling wall will prove your right to the Heath fortune against any claim of an impostor!» Juliana said, «Please tell me the whole story. I am terribly confused.» As kindly as she could, Nancy related all she knew.

«How dreadful!» Juliana exclaimed. «And what harrowing experiences you have had!» «Tell me something,» said Nancy. «It was reported that the hospital found a lot of money on you. Did you plan to stay away a long time?» «Oh no. I was going to buy an expensive personal gift for Walt from a man who wanted cash. Also I planned to purchase something for our home.» The former dancer sighed deeply. Suddenly the woman slumped forward. In an instant Nancy caught her and placed the limp body on the floor.

«Juliana has fainted!» Bess cried out. Nancy was fearful that the woman was suffering from something more serious than a faint, because the former dancer's pulse was very weak. Under the flashlight her face looked chalk-white. «The poor woman!» Bess murmured. «She has been through so much!»

The girls tried to revive Juliana, and finally succeeded.

«We must get out of here!» said Nancy. At that moment they heard distant shouts outside.

«Listen!» George commanded.

The voices were coming closer. George blew several loud blasts on her whistle. «Where are you?» somebody called. «We're the police. There are four of us.»

Nancy shouted that they were below the trap door in the tower. She called out directions and in another five minutes the four prisoners were released.

«Lieutenant Masters!» exclaimed Nancy. «How glad I am to see you! Did my father get in touch with you?»

«No. Hannah Gruen did. And who is this?» she asked, smiling at the former dancer. Juliana herself replied to the question. When Nancy suggested that she ought not to expend her strength talking, the woman insisted she felt much better.

«Who shut you in here?» the policewoman demanded.

«I'm not sure,» Nancy answered. «The voice was disguised, I think. But it might have been Daniel Hector. He must have escaped.» «Oh, no, he didn't,» said a voice triumphantly. «We nabbed him climbing over a wall. Also these two birds.»

Two more policemen appeared. With them, handcuffed, were Cobb and Biggs. Behind the men was Daniel Hector.

«This is an outrage!» the lawyer snapped. «You can't arrest me. I have a perfect right to be on this property. The others are trespassing.» Coolly Nancy presented her evidence against the lawyer. She accused him of stealing jewelry from the estate, a claim that could be proved by photographs found in Walter Heath's box. «And that's not the worst,» she said to him. «You pretended to look for the woman who was to inherit the estate. But when you did locate her you kept it a secret so you could help yourself to the estate. When you found out I was on the trail of the real Juliana Johnson, you had her kidnapped and locked in the dungeon here! To protect yourself, you produced an impostor with whom you had made a bargain.» «Ridiculous!» Hector cried furiously. «Lies-lies! Nothing but lies!»

Hector had not seen Juliana yet. She was seated on the winding stairs in the tower behind Nancy. The young sleuth now stepped aside. Hector stared at the crippled dancer.

«So what?» he demanded after a moment. «I had nothing to do with bringing her here! And she can't prove she's the missing dancer. Just look at her!»

«Oh, yes, I can prove it,» Juliana retorted with spirit. «The imprint of my dancing shoe is embedded in a wall at Heath Castle. Furthermore, I still have the slipper that made the imprint!» «What's that got to do with it? The real Juliana is at the Riverview Hotel!» the lawyer blustered. «She has a note to prove her identity. A note signed Walt.»

«Don't you mean half a note?» Nancy asked. «I have the rest!»

Cobb and Biggs looked startled. «You?» Biggs cried. «Where did you find it?»

«At the factory after the explosion.» The three men hung their heads guiltily, admitting they had been there. Biggs added, «Hooper here found the note in a desk Hector sold. He tore it in two pieces, expecting the lawyer to put up more money for the second half. When one piece was lost, we thought Hector had found it.»

In answer to Nancy's question if he were Teddy's father, the man nodded sullenly. Nancy explained to Juliana that Teddy had learned about the estate from Joan. Teddy had told his father that Juliana was missing. Cobb and Biggs got together. Biggs suspected his former employer had hidden some valuable things in the estate walls and the two men convinced Hector he ought to hire them to look for the treasure. When they found a few items, the men kept them. «You guessed right, but I can't figure out how,» said Biggs.

«I know nothing about all this!» shouted the lawyer.

«Yes, you do,» Cobb Hooper said bitterly. «You were behind the whole thing. You brought the dogs to guard the estate, but later I kept 'em tied up and then took 'em back to the kennel.» «We were afraid of them ourselves,» Biggs added.

«Mr. Hector,» said Lieutenant Masters, «it looks as if the case against you is pretty serious.» «I tell you I never saw these men before,» the lawyer insisted. «Nor that crippled woman, either. Now all of you get out of here!» For a long second there was silence. Then Juliana slowly got to her feet. Her eyes ablaze, she pointed a finger at Hector and exclaimed:

«Arrest that man! Arrest him for kidnapping!» The wily lawyer's jaw dropped. Then he recovered. «The woman is crazy!» he shouted. «The night you came to my farm and brought me here you wore a disguise,» Juliana said accusingly. «At first I didn't recognize you. But your voice-I know your voice.» Her eyes snapped with anger as she added, «I will bring charges against you to the fullest extent of the law for Walter Heath's sake!»

Daniel Hector knew he was beaten. But he would not give up yet. He glared at Nancy and cried out:

«If you had minded your own business, there wouldn't have been all this trouble! But don't be so smug. You think there are treasures and money for Juliana. You're wrong. There's nothing in the estate but debts. She has inherited a wreck!»