Part 1 (2/2)
”When were you in this house last?” Nancy asked.
”About a week ago. I came here with one of the executors,” Mrs. Tenney explained. ”He gave me a key and said I might come back any time I wished.”
Mrs. Tenney went on to say that the executor had left and she had stayed behind to inspect some of the furnis.h.i.+ngs upstairs. But she had begun to feel uneasy alone in the old mansion and had decided to leave.
”Are you sure you locked the front door?” Nancy asked.
Mrs. Tenney thought for a few moments. She frowned and then said, ”I'm sure that man locked the door after us.”
”What man?” Nancy inquired. ”I thought you said the executor had already left.”
”Oh, it wasn't the executor,” Mrs. Tenney answered quickly. ”It was the antique dealer.”
Nancy sighed. The woman certainly was giving a confused account of things! But she patiently urged Mrs. Tenney to tell the whole story.
”Well, this is the way it happened that day,” the woman confided. ”I was just going to lock the door when a nice-looking man drove up. He said that he had heard about Mrs. Follett's collection. He was interested in buying any articles that her heirs did not want, so I took him into the library for a quick look. When we came out I gave him the key to lock the door.”
”I see,” Nancy said, thinking how easy it would have been for the man to pretend to lock it. ”Please go on.”
”The man said he had read about Aunt Sara's antiques in a newspaper. He was in River Heights on business and decided to drive over here to look at the pieces.”
”Then he wasn't a local dealer,” Nancy commented thoughtfully. ”Where did this man come from?”
”I don't know.” Mrs. Tenney shrugged. ”But he was staying at a hotel in town.”
Nancy pondered this information for a full minute. Then she said there was a good possibility this man might be the furniture thief and should be investigated at once.
”At which hotel was he staying?” she asked.
Mrs. Tenney flushed with embarra.s.sment, admitting that she could not remember, nor could she recall his name.
”It doesn't matter,” said Nancy. ”We can go to each hotel in town and inquire about guests interested in antique furniture.”
As Nancy finished speaking, she and Mrs. Tenney became aware of light footsteps overhead. Someone was on the second floor! Mrs. Tenney stood frozen to the spot, every bit of color drained from her face. But without a moment's hesitation Nancy dashed to the stairway.
”Oh, don't go up there!” Mrs. Tenney gasped. ”You might get hurt!”
Nancy stopped, not because of the warning, but because she heard stairs creaking. The intruder was probably trying to escape!
”Is there a back staircase?” Nancy asked Mrs. Tenney. As she received no answer, she whirled around.
To her dismay, Mrs. Tenney lay on the floor in a faint. Although Nancy realized that the intruder might escape, she rushed to give the woman first aid. A few moments later Mrs. Tenney's eyelids flickered open. Instantly Nancy dashed off in pursuit of the intruder.
But the pause had proved to be costly. When she reached the back of the old mansion, Nancy found the outside kitchen door open. Looking out, she saw a tall, slender man disappearing through a hedge at the rear of the property.
Nancy felt it would be useless to try to overtake him. She locked the back door and returned to Mrs. Tenney. The woman was sitting on the staircase.
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