Part 6 (1/2)
”Is Mr. Peterson in?” Nancy asked the girl in charge.
The young woman shook her head. ”He's in bed upstairs, ill.”
”Oh, I'm so sorry,” said Nancy. ”Give him our best wishes, and tell him we hope he'll be well soon.”
”Oh, Mr. Peterson expects he'll feel good enough to come down to the shop this afternoon,” the girl told her.
”Fine,” Nancy replied. ”I'll be back.”
After Mrs. Gruen had bought some rolls, she and Nancy left the shop with the diary still in Nancy's big purse.
Although disappointed, Nancy said, ”Oh, well, I'll see Mr. Peterson later in the day.”
Back home, Nancy again looked through the diary, hopeful of learning something from it. As she was puzzling over the blurred, cramped English, a word suddenly caught her eye.
”It's part of an address!” Nancy cried, highly elated. ”I'm certain of it!”
Getting her father's magnifying gla.s.s from the desk, Nancy held it above the blurred writing, then read the words:
Riverwood Cottage, Sandy Creek.
Nancy stared at the address. ”The Swensons!” she thought excitedly.
The young detective telephoned George and Bess and asked them to come over. When the cousins arrived, she rushed them into the living room and showed them the address.
”Riverwood Cottage, Sandy Creek!” Bess exclaimed. ”That's where the Swensons live!”
”Boy, this certainly complicates matters,” George declared.
Nancy nodded, knowing she had stumbled on a valuable, yet disturbing clue. Could it be that Honey's father was the man who had set fire to the Raybolt home? If so, what motive could he have had? Intuition warned Nancy that the clue might lead to heartbreak for Honey and her mother.
Nancy's face was so troubled that Bess and George begged her to tell them what she was thinking. Nancy revealed her concern for the Swensons, and also told about the ring Ned had left with her. She then pointed to the Sandy Creek notation.
”So far, this is the only clear-cut clue the diary has yielded.” Nancy sighed. ”But I hate to think what it may mean.”
Bess and George nodded soberly.
”I can't imagine what Honey's father could have to do with the fire,” Bess declared. ”Yet everything fits in. The strange man you saw running away-the finding of the ring with the Swedish inscription near the hedge-”
”We don't know if it belongs to him,” Nancy said quickly. ”Remember, there's a 'D' on it, and his initials are J and S.”
”Well, the diary must belong to Mr. Swenson, or someone who knows him,” George said. ”Otherwise, his address wouldn't be in it. I wonder what he's like.”
”I wish we could meet him,” Nancy returned gravely. She mentioned her futile phone call to the Swenson home.
”What are you going to do about the diary?” Bess questioned curiously. ”Turn it over to the police?”
”No, I'll keep it until I can get a translation, and find out whether or not it means trouble for the Swensons.”
”Of course this is all only circ.u.mstantial evidence,” George reflected. ”We're not certain the man you saw is Swedish. Although, according to your description, he could be.”