[740] "Someone interested in River Heights has been here very recently!" the young sleuth said to herself excitedly.
Who was the person? Her father? Comber? Who?
Wondering if the paper might contain any clue, Nancy dashed around to pick up all the sheets. As she spread them out on the ground, she noticed a hole in the page where classified ads appeared.
[741] "This may be a very good clue!" Nancy thought. "As soon as I get back to the house, I'll call Hannah and have her look up Tuesday's paper to see what was in that ad."
[742] It suddenly occurred to Nancy that the person who had brought the paper to the cave might be inside at this very moment. She must watch her step; he might prove to be an enemy!
"This may be where Dad is being held a prisoner!" Nancy thought wildly.
[743] Flashlight in hand, and her eyes darting intently about, Nancy proceeded cautiously into the cave. Five feet, ten. She saw no one. Fifteen more. Twenty. Then Nancy met a dead end. The empty cave was almost completely round and had no other opening,
[744] "Oh dear, another failure," Nancy told herself disappointedly, as she retraced her steps. "My only hope now is to learn something important from the ad in the paper."
[745] Nancy walked back across the field. Her eyes were down, as she automatically looked for footprints. But presently she looked up and stared in disbelief.
[746] A man was standing alongside her car, examining it. His back was half turned toward Nancy, so she could not see his face very well. But he had an athletic build and his left ear was definitely crinkly!
[747] CHAPTER XIII. The Cash.
[748] THE STRANGER inspecting Nancy's car must have heard her coming. Without turning around, he dodged back of the automobile and started off across the field in the opposite direction.
[749] "He certainly acts suspiciously. He must be the man with the crinkly ear who helped abduct my father!" Nancy thought excitedly.
[750] Quickly she crossed the road and ran after him as fast as she could, hoping to overtake him. But the man had had a good head start. Also, his stride was longer than Nancy's and he could cover more ground in the same amount of time.
The far corner of the irregular-shaped field ended at the road on which Riverview Manor stood. When Nancy reached the highway, she was just in time to see the stranger leap into a parked car and drive off.
[751] The young detective was exasperated. She had had only a glimpse of the man's profile. If only she could have seen him full face or caught the license number of his car!
[752] "I wonder if he's the one who dropped the newspaper?" she asked herself. "Maybe he's from River Heights!" She surmised that the man himself was not one of the property owners but he might have been hired by Willie Wharton or one of the owners to help abduct Mr. Drew.
[753] "I'd better hurry to a phone and report this," Nancy thought.
[754] She ran all the way back across the field, stepped into her own car, turned it around, and headed for Twin Elms. When Nancy arrived, she sped to the telephone in the hall and dialed Cliffwood Police Headquarters. In a moment she was talking to the captain and gave him her latest information.
[755] "It certainly looks as if you picked up a good clue, Miss Drew," the officer remarked. "I'll send out an alarm immediately to have this man picked up."
[756] "I suppose there is no news of my father," Nancy said.
[757] "I'm afraid not. But a couple of our men talked to the taxi driver Harry and he gave us a pretty good description of the man who came along the road while your father was lying unconscious on the grass—the one who offered to take him to the hospital."
[758] "What did he look, like?" Nancy asked.
[759] The officer described the man as being in his early fifties, short, and rather heavy-set. He had shifty pale-blue eyes.
[760] "Well," Nancy replied, "I can think of several men who would fit that description. Did he have any outstanding characteristics?"
[761] "Harry didn't notice anything, except that the fellow's hands didn't look as if he did any kind of physical work. The taximan said they were kind of soft and pudgy."
[762] "Well, that eliminates all the men I know who are short, heavy-set and have pale-blue eyes. None of them has hands like that."
[763] "It'll be a great identifying feature," the police officer remarked. "Well, I guess I'd better get that alarm out."
[764] Nancy said good-by and put down the phone. She waited several seconds for the line to clear, then picked up the instrument again and called Hannah Gruen. Before Nancy lay the sheet of newspaper from which the advertisement had been torn.
[765] "The Drew residence," said a voice on the phone.
[766] "Hello, Hannah. This is Nancy."
[767] "How are you, dear? Any news?" Mrs. Gruen asked quickly.
[768] "I haven't found Dad yet," the young detective replied. "And the police haven't either. But I've picked up a couple of clues."
[769] "Tell me about them," the housekeeper requested excitedly.
Nancy told her about the man with the crinkly ear and said she was sure that the police would soon capture him. "If he'll only talk, we may find out where Dad is being held."
[770] "Oh, I hope so!" Hannah sighed. "Don't get discouraged, Nancy."
[771] At this point Helen came into the hall, and as she passed Nancy on her way to the stairs, smiled at her friend. The young sleuth was about to ask Hannah to get the Drews' Tuesday copy of the River Heights Gazette when she heard a cracking noise overhead. Immediately she decided the ghost might be at work again.
[772] "Hannah, I'll call you back later," Nancy said and put down the phone.
[773] She had no sooner done this than Helen screamed, "Nancy, run! The ceiling!" She herself started for the front door.
[774] Nancy, looking up, saw a tremendous crack in the ceiling just above the girls' heads. The next instant the whole ceiling crashed down on them! They were thrown to the floor.
[775] "Oh!" Helen moaned. She was covered with lath and plaster, and had been hit hard on the head. But she managed to call out from under the debris, "Nancy, are you all right?" There was no answer.
[776] The tremendous noise had brought Miss Flora and Aunt Rosemary on a run from the kitchen. They stared in horror at the scene before them. Nancy lay unconscious and Helen seemed too dazed to move.
[777] "Oh my! Oh my!" Miss Flora exclaimed.
[778] She and Aunt Rosemary began stepping over the lath and plaster, which by now had filled the air with dust. They sneezed again and again but made their way forward nevertheless.
[779] Miss Flora, reaching Helen's side, started pulling aside chunks of broken plaster and lath. Finally, she helped her great-granddaughter to her feet.
[780] "Oh, my dear, you're hurt!" she said solicitously.
[781] "I'll—be—all right—in a minute," Helen insisted, choking with the dust. "But Nancy—"
[782] Aunt Rosemary had already reached the unconscious girl. With lightning speed, she threw aside the debris which almost covered Nancy. Whipping a handkerchief from her pocket, she gently laid it over Nancy's face, so that she would not breathe in any more of the dust.
[783] "Helen, do you feel strong enough to help me carry Nancy into the library?" she asked. "I'd like to lay her on the couch there."