Part 14 (1/2)
”Was the old man at the Church of Eternal Harmony your brother Joe?”
”Yes, in disguise. The whole family's in the racket. John's wife has been helping us, and her friend, too.”
”The friend is the one who drives the car, isn't she?” Nancy queried.
”Wouldn't you like to know?” John sneered.
”And she hypnotizes people?”
”No!” growled Howard. ”She just gives them a whiff that makes them drowsy. I do the hypnotizing. Whenever any of my clients get out of line, I produce the beckoning hand.”
”One of your luminous wax hands,” declared Nancy. ”And you must be a ventriloquist as well. Lola White nearly lost her life walking into the river because you hypnotized her,” she accused him.
”That was your fault,” the man replied. ”You came snooping around here before I had a chance to get her out of it.”
”Did you do your hypnotizing near the walnut trees that were used as hiding places for money and letters?” Nancy asked. ”Or at the cabin where you held the fake seances?”
”Both places.”
”I imagine the Three Branch symbol represented you three clever brothers.”
”That'll be enough from you, young lady,” snarled John. ”I'm getting fed up with this dame's wisecracks, Howie!”
”You even played the organ,” Nancy said coolly, turning to Howard. ”And when you didn't have to use the dummy ghost, you dressed like one yourself.”
John interrupted roughly, ”This has gone far enough.”
Before Nancy could ask another question, the men thrust her into the elevator. Her flashlight and car tools were taken from her.
”Nancy Drew, you're about to take your last ride!” Howard told her brutally. ”In a few moments, young lady, you will join the ghost of Blackwood Hall!”
CHAPTER XX.
A Hidden Discovery THE secret panel dosed in Nancy's face. A few moments later she felt the rope beside her moving and the lift began to rise slowly upward with a creaking, groaning sound.
What were John and Howard Brex going to do now? Move out their loot? Capture Ned?
With a jerk, the elevator suddenly halted. Nancy tugged at the rope. It would not move!
At the same moment, Nancy saw a faint, greenish glow arising from one corner of her prison. Presently she became aware of an unpleasant odor rapidly growing stronger. Then Nancy understood.
”Those fiends uncorked a bottle of phosphorus and oil in this elevator, and they've probably added a deadly sleeping potion for me to inhale,” she thought, breaking out in cold perspiration. ”That's what they meant by saying that in a few moments I would join the ghost of Blackwood Hall. They meant Jonathan Humphrey, who died in the duel. I'll die at Blackwood Hall too!”
For an instant Nancy nearly gave way to panic. Then reason rea.s.serted itself.
From her pocket she took a handkerchief. Covering her nose and mouth with it, she groped about frantically on the floor of the dark elevator. Guided by the greenish glow, she found a small bottle in one corner.
Already weak and dizzy, Nancy had no time to search further for the stopper. Instead, she pulled off her suit jacket and jammed part of the sleeve into the opening of the bottle.
Immediately the light was extinguished. But Nancy by now felt so drowsy that she was forced to sit down.
Sleep overcame her. She had no idea of how much later it was when she awoke. But now she felt stronger. The sickening odor was gone. She could think clearly.
She pounded against the wooden sides of the elevator shaft. Three of the walls seemed to be as solid as stone. Only the fourth seemed thin. Could this be the panel of the third-floor hallway?
The old house was as still as death itself. Nancy was certain Howard and John Brex had fled, and no doubt they had captured Ned too. As time dragged on and still no one came, she became convinced that her friend had met with disaster.
”I told Hannah that Ned and I were coming here,” Nancy thought. ”She'll be worried about our long absence and send help.”
Then a harrowing thought came to her. Maybe her friends had come and gone while she was asleep! By the luminous hands of her wrist watch, Nancy knew she had been in the elevator over two hours ”It's no use!” she despaired. Then instantly she added, ”I mustn't give up hope!”
Nancy sat down again on the floor, trying to figure out some means of escape. But scarcely had she closed her eyes to concentrate than she became aware of sounds.
Pressing an ear against the crack between the elevator floor and the wall, Nancy listened intently. With a thrill of joy she recognized Bess's high-pitched voice. Then she heard others speaking: her father, Hannah Gruen, and George Fayne.
Nancy began to shout and pound on the elevator door. Attracted by the noise, her friends came running up the stairway. Nancy kept shouting directions, until finally they were able to locate the wall panel behind which she was imprisoned.
”Nancy!” her father called. ”Are you all right?”
”Yes, Dad, but I'm in an elevator and can't get out. I can't even move it.”
”We'll soon find a way. If we can't open this panel, we'll tear the wall down!”
”Is Ned safe?” Nancy asked anxiously.
”Haven't seen him,” her father replied. ”Hannah got worried after you'd been gone so long, and told us you had come here. Ned isn't with you?”
”No,” Nancy replied in a discouraged voice, then added, ”Please go down to the ghost room and see if you can find out how to move this elevator.”
Several minutes pa.s.sed, then Mr. Drew reported no success.
”It's a very old-fas.h.i.+oned hand type and works by pulling a rope,” he said. ”Evidently they have locked the wheel over which the rope pa.s.ses at the top. Well, here goes the wall!”
Nancy heard a thud, then the sound of splintering wood. A moment later light beamed through a small hole.
”Hand me the flashlight,” said Nancy. ”Maybe I can find out how the panel opens.”
In a few moments Nancy located a lock. Releasing it, she pushed up the section of wall and tumbled into her father's arms.
”Thank goodness you're safe!” Hannah cried, hugging her in turn. ”When you didn't come home, I knew something had happened!”
”Bless you, Hannah, for bringing help!” Nancy exclaimed.