Confusion

THE Tombar car raced through a stoplight, skidding around a second corner.

“That fellow’s a lunatic! ” Nancy’s taxi driver muttered.

“Take it a little slower, ” she advised nervously. “It’s not worth a smash-up.”

As she spoke, they heard the shrill scream of brakes ahead. At a busy intersection, Tombar had sped through another red light. Oncoming traffic had halted barely in time to prevent a collision.

Unmindful, Tombar raced on. Nancy watched as he turned left at the first side street beyond the intersection.

Again the taxi driver was forced to wait for a traffic light to change. When he finally reached the side street, the green sedan had vanished.

“Never mind. It’s no use trying to pick up the trail now, ” Nancy told the driver after they had cruised around two blocks without seeing Tombar’s car. “He knew we were following him.”

“He sure tried hard to shake us, ” the taximan agreed.

Nancy told the driver to take her home and tipped him generously for the brief but speedy ride. She was convinced that Peter Tombar did not want her to know where he was going. She decided his movements would bear watching.

The following day Nancy went to the Lightner building and waited outside for Linda until she finished work. Nancy offered the girl a ride home, and during the drive asked her if she knew what Tombar had in the package he had taken away the previous noon. Linda said she had no idea, but that he was always carrying packages of one sort or another.

“In connection with his work? ”

“I imagine so, ” was Linda’s vague response.

Nancy inquired whether Lightner Entertainment Company had any big parties scheduled in the near future.

“Our business has fallen off a lot lately since the robberies have received so much publicity. There’s the Becker wedding, though, Tuesday night, at their home.”

“The Beckers are prominent socially, ” Nancy mused. “There will be a room full of expensive wedding presents. Just the sort of setup to tempt a thief.”

“Don’t suggest such a thing, ” Linda replied with a shiver. “One more robbery and our company may be ruined.”

“Then why not take special precautions? ”

“Oh, we have! Mr. Tombar has arranged for plainclothesmen to watch the guests. As an added safety measure, Mr. Lightner suggested that a reliable servant be assigned to guard the silver. Mr. Tombar thought that entirely unnecessary, but he was overruled.”

“Even so, there could be a slip-up, ” Nancy insisted. “Those thieves are clever.”

“How well I know! I wish you were going to be there! You caught a glimpse of the thieves at Gloria’s party and might recognize them if they dare to appear again.”

Nancy agreed, quickly seizing upon the suggestion. “Can you get me an invitation? ”

“No, but Mr. Lightner could, ” said Linda, “and I’m sure he’d be glad to do it. He’s very eager to have the thieves caught. I’ll call him about it tonight.”

“Thanks a lot, ” said Nancy. “Will you try to arrange it so that I can arrive early? I want to look over the house before any guests come.”

“That shouldn’t be hard, ” Linda replied. “Oh, Nancy, if you can prevent a robbery, Lightner’s will be so gratefull” Suddenly she frowned. “I’m afraid Mr. Tombar won’t like your being there. He hates to have anyone change his plans. But don’t worry, ” she added quickly. “I feel sure Mr. Lightner will approve.”

Linda kept her promise and the next day Nancy received a note from Mrs. Becker. Tuesday evening Nancy dressed and drove to the luxurious Becker home. She was met at the door by a pleasant butler.

“Your invitation, please, miss, ” he requested. Nancy showed him the note.

“Miss Seeley told us we might expect you, ” the butler said. “Come in, please.”

The Becker home had been beautifully decorated with palms and flowers screening every corner of the spacious house. Nancy reflected that they would offer perfect protection for any uninvited guest!

Wandering around the first floor, she noticed that men had been stationed at all outside doors. She was brought up short as she came face to face with Detective Ambrose.

“You here as a guest or to help us? ” he asked brusquely.

Nancy laughed. “Perhaps both.”

“Well, you may be sorry you showed up. I’m afraid there’ll be trouble.”

“You mean the party thieves might be here? ”

The detective straightened himself up confidently and replied, “I happen to know we should be on the lookout for a crook who’ll try to pass himself off as a highbrow Englishman.”

Nancy wondered from whom Detective Ambrose had received the tip. She did not wish to encourage his seeming arrogance, however, and said assuredly, “I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

Nancy moved away. Continuing her tour of the ground floor, she noted the location of various treasures.

“But I doubt that a thief would try to steal anything from the first floor, ” she reasoned. “It’s too well guarded.”

Learning from Linda Seeley, whom she met in the hall, that the wedding presents were displayed on the second floor, Nancy went upstairs. The gifts had been attractively arranged on long tables in a narrow room lined with mirrors.

Although Nancy had attended many fine weddings, this array of silver and crystal took her breath away. “They’re magnificent! ” she thought.

The only guard in evidence was an elderly servant. Beside him was a house telephone.

“Are you alone here? ” Nancy asked.

“Yes, miss, ” he responded. “Mrs. Becker instructed me not to leave this room until the reception is over and the last guest gone.”

Nancy supposed that the old man was a trusted and faithful servant. Nevertheless, it seemed to her that it would have been far wiser to have assigned a policeman to the upper floor.

She decided to ask Detective Ambrose about it. Nancy could not find him, for the bridal party had just returned from the church. Photographers flocked about them taking pictures and guests were arriving in large numbers.

Hearing a slight commotion at the front entrance, Nancy turned in that direction. Detective Ambrose was questioning a tall, white-mustached man. As she came closer, Nancy heard him speak with a pronounced English accent!

“But I mislaid the invitation, ” he said crisply.

Nancy guessed what had occurred. Since the man had appeared without an invitation, the butler had summoned Detective Ambrose.

The newcomer, indignant at being denied entrance, tapped his cane impatiently. “Dashed if I can understand all this fuss about an invitation. I have explained to the butler that I was detained at my hotel by Lord Atchfield. Hence the invitation was forgotten. Let me pass.”

“Don’t be in such a rush, ” Detective Ambrose advised him sharply. “Your getup and your speech don’t fool me.”

“My getup? I say, your words mystify me. Mrs. Becker certainly shall hear of this affront! ”

“You bet she will! ” Detective Ambrose replied firmly. “Come along. If a member of the family can identify you, fine. Otherwise, you’re going with me to headquarters.”

“Police headquarters! I say, old chap, you’re making a frightful mistake.”

Despite the Englishman’s protests, the detective ushered him inside. He asked the butler to bring Mr. Becker to the hall. In a moment the worried father of the bride stepped out of the receiving line.

“This man’s trying to get in without an invitation, ” the detective informed him. “Says his name is Earl Contrey.”

“The Earl of Contrey, Sussex, ” the guest corrected, bowing slightly. “Sorry to have caused all this trouble, but—”

“I never saw this man before, ” broke in Mr. Becker.

“Ha! ” chortled Detective Ambrose. He gripped the Englishman’s arm. “Just as I thought! I figured that brush of yours was a fake! ” he added.

“I say! ” the guest sputtered. “My mustache and I are quite real. I demand that you notify Mrs. Becker of my presence immediately.”

The bride’s father had already turned away.

“Okay, pal, ” Ambrose said. “Let’s just say you’ve been grooming your act for a long time. Come along peaceful-like or I’ll put handcuffs on you.”

Nancy vaguely recalled having read in the newspaper a few days previously of the arrival in New York of the Earl of Contrey. Suppose this man were he and not the thief in disguise!

Determined to check the matter herself, she quickly approached the receiving line and whispered to the bride’s mother.

“Do you know the Earl of Contrey? ”

“Indeed I do! ” exclaimed Mrs. Becker. “He’s an old friend of mine. Don’t tell me he flew from New York to attend our daughter’s reception! ”

Mr. Becker was horrified at the turn of events. Quickly his wife explained that she had read of the Earl’s arrival and had sent him a last-minute invitation.

Together she and her husband followed Nancy to where the detective’s car was parked. Mrs. Becker shook the Earl’s hand as her husband greeted him and apologized profusely for what had happened.

“We have this young lady to thank, ” Mrs. Becker said, turning to Nancy. “I presume you’re helping the Lightner people? ”

“Yes, Mrs. Becker, ” she replied.

Detective Ambrose glared at Nancy. Then he muttered, “I was only trying to do my duty, ma’am. We were tipped off to watch for an Englishman, and this guy—I mean the Earl—fit the bill. Your husband couldn’t identify him.”

“Of course not. They’ve never met. I hope you make no further mistakes of this nature.”

Suddenly Nancy realized that if the thief and his accomplices had been waiting for a chance to get into the house without showing invitations, they had had a golden opportunity. Both the detective and the butler had been away from the front door for several minutes and the elderly servant had been left alone to guard the valuable presents!

Worried, Nancy returned to the house and hastened to the second floor. The door to the room in which the wedding gifts were displayed now was closed. She gently twisted the knob and was startled to discover that the door was locked.

“Perhaps one of the plainclothesmen locked the door when the trouble started, ” she said to herself, trying not to think the worst.

Nancy noticed that a door to an adjoining bedroom stood ajar. She peered inside. Seeing no one there, she tiptoed in.

A velvet curtain screened the entranceway into the locked room. Moving noiselessly to the heavy drapery, Nancy cautiously parted it and stepped inside.

Involuntarily she drew back at the sight before her. The elderly servant lay sprawled on the floor, apparently unconscious.

In front of a table on which silver pieces were displayed stood a man in formal summer attire with gloves. He wore a velvet hooded mask over his head! The thief was putting the wedding gifts into a dark cloth, drawstring bag.

“I must get help! ” Nancy thought. She glanced at the nearby telephone.

The thief, sensing he was being watched, whirled. “So it’s the great girl detective! ” he hissed at Nancy.

His voice was that of the brusque man who had danced with her at the Hendricks’ masquerade! The one who had mistaken her for an assistant of his!

He yanked the long cord from the bag and stretched it taut between his fingers. Nancy stiffened as he stepped menacingly toward her.