Part 3 (2/2)
She glanced at her wrist watch. ”It's only four o'clock. I'll pick up my friends and drive out now to see if the crossed twigs are still there.”
When the girls reached the clearing in the woods, there lay the three crossed twigs. The position seemed too perfect for Nature to have placed them there. Yet Nancy doubted that they were the same ones which Mrs. Putney had seen. Rain and wind would have displaced the others.
”The thief may use this method to communicate with his confederates,” Nancy mused. ”But why would-”
Her voice trailed off. Through the trees Nancy had seen a flash of white.
”Someone's over there,” Bess whispered uneasily.
”Let's try to get closer without being seen!” George urged.
Taking care not to step on dry twigs, the girls entered the woods. Through the bushes, they could see the back of a young woman with long blond hair.
”That almost looks like Lola White!” Nancy exclaimed.
The girl appeared to be reaching high into the crotch of a black walnut tree.
”She's hiding something there!” Nancy whispered excitedly.
The girl suddenly moved off in the opposite direction. Soon she disappeared.
Nancy went quickly to the big walnut. Standing on tiptoe, she reached into a hollow in the trunk of the tree. Triumphantly she pulled out a sealed envelope. The others crowded around her.
The envelope bore no name or address, but on its face was a crude drawing of three crossed twigs!
”Wow!” said George. ”The mystery deepens!”
”What's inside?” Bess asked in awe.
”If I had one guess, I'd say money,” Nancy replied. ”I feel justified in opening it, too, for I'm sure it was meant for the person who stole Mrs. Putney's jewelry.”
The other girls agreed. Carefully Nancy slipped her thumb under the flap, gradually peeling it free. Inside was a sheet of paper and ten five-dollar bills.
There was no message but the name ”Sadie.” So the girl had not been Lola!
”I wonder who the girl was,” said George.
”What I want to know is why she left the money here,” said Nancy. ”We must overtake her and find out!” On second thought she added, ”Maybe the thief will come to the tree to get the envelope. I'll stay here. You two go.”
”She's hiding something!” Nancy whispered The cousins darted off, leaving Nancy alone beside the black walnut tree. Carefully Nancy put the envelope back in the hollow, and sat down a little distance away to watch.
As Nancy sat with her back to a tree trunk, she thought she heard the soft pad of steps. She straightened up, listening intently, but heard nothing.
”Probably some animal,” Nancy decided.
Nevertheless, she glanced about carefully. Her skin p.r.i.c.kled, as if in warning that some stranger might be nearby.
”Nerves!” she told herself.
At that moment Bess and George, unsuccessful in their pursuit of the blond girl, were returning. Coming within view of the big walnut tree, George was astonished to see a strange sight. Though no wind was blowing, a leafless branch of a tree behind the walnut seemed to bend slowly downward.
”Bess, look-” she began, then ended lamely, ”Never mind! It's gone now.”
”What's gone?” Bess demanded.
”A branch. I guess my eyes tricked me,” George admitted.
Hearing the voices of her friends, Nancy quickly arose and came to meet them. Seeing that they were alone, she said in disappointment: ”You weren't able to overtake her?”
”We had miserable luck,” Bess admitted. ”We didn't even get close enough to see her face.”
”We trailed her to the main highway, where she must have hopped a bus,” George added.
”I think we should take the money with us,” Nancy said. ”I'll ask Dad what to do about it.”
On tiptoe, Nancy reached into the hollow of the tree. A puzzled expression came over her face.
”The envelope's gone!” she exclaimed.
”It can't be!” insisted Bess.
Nancy groped again and shook her head. ”The envelope is gone! But no one was here!”
”I've got an idea,” said George. ”Maybe someone climbed another tree, crossed over into the big walnut, and then s.n.a.t.c.hed the letter from above!”
”The trees are so close together I suppose it could be done,” Nancy admitted doubtfully.
”Wait a minute,” George cried out excitedly. Then she told about the slowly bending, leafless branch.
Nancy peered intently up into the old walnut and the maple next to it. ”No one there,” she observed. ”George, you're sure it was a branch and not a fish pole with a hook on the end that was used?” she asked.
”It could have been a pole.”
”I understand several things now!” Nancy exclaimed, thinking aloud. ”That metal object I saw near here the other day must have been part of a collapsible pole! I'll bet it belonged to the same person who was here today!”
”And the same one who robbed Mrs. Putney!” added Bess.
”George, did the stick bend down out of the tree, or did it come from the direction of the bushes?” Nancy asked.
”I couldn't see well enough to be sure,” George replied. ”But from where I stood, it appeared to bend down out of a tree behind the walnut.”
The three went back to the convertible, agreeing that it might be a good idea to keep a lookout for visitors to the walnut tree. Obviously it was being used as a collection station by someone extracting money from gullible people.
Later, as she drove homeward, Nancy began to wonder whether this might not tie in with Lola White's peculiar actions.
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