VII
Damaging Rumors
“Ho-hum, but I’m tired tonight. Hard day at the office.”
Carson Drew dropped his hat on the living room table and sank wearily on the davenport. “By the way, Nancy, I suppose you’ve heard the bad news by this time.”
“What news?” Nancy demanded anxiously. “Don’t dare tell me that Judge Graham isn’t coming after all the trouble I’ve had getting a satisfactory housekeeper.”
“Oh, Judge Graham will get here all right. I was referring to the news about your little friend, Emily Crandall.”
“Emily? Why, I saw her only this afternoon.”
“But you didn’t see the Crandall jewels.”
“Why, no, her guardian was to deliver them later in the day.”
“Read this!”
Mr. Drew spread out the front page of the evening paper before his daughter’s startled eyes.
“The Crandall jewels—stolen!” Nancy gasped. “Oh, how dreadful!”
“I can’t say that it surprises me much,” Mr. Drew commented dryly. “Mrs. Willoughby didn’t appear to have used an ounce of sense. She invited trouble by carrying forty thousand dollars’ worth of diamonds unguarded.”
“What a blow this will be to Emily, Dad. Why, she has counted on her inheritance for everything! Now, she won’t be able to help Dick.”
“It’s a shame, all right,” Mr. Drew agreed.
“Surely, she won’t lose her entire inheritance, Father. The jewels were never turned over to her. Couldn’t Mrs. Willoughby be held responsible?”
“That’s a legal question, Nancy.”
“But the loss was due to her carelessness.”
“Apparently so. But the court would demand absolute proof. Emily would have to bring suit against her guardian.”
“I suppose she’ll never do that,” Nancy said thoughtfully. “Emily told me that she is fond of her guardian.”
“Moreover, it’s very doubtful that she could collect a cent if she did bring suit. Even if she won the case I don’t see that she would gain much.”
“Why, I thought Mrs. Willoughby had a great deal of money.”
“She did at one time. But I’ve been told that most of it has slipped through her fingers. Mrs. Willoughby has lived a bit high, Nancy. She likes to move in gay society and associate with expensive friends.”
“Mrs. Potter for instance.”
“Yes. While her husband was alive, Mrs. Willoughby never had to think about money matters. Unfortunately, she is not a good business woman.”
“Are you certain she is in straitened circumstances?” Nancy inquired anxiously.
“I am sure of it. I was told that only last week she applied at the bank for a loan of five thousand dollars and was refused.”
“What an unfortunate time for her to lose Emily’s inheritance,” Nancy said significantly.
“Yes, it’s beginning to look bad for her. Rumors are circulating even now.”
“What are people saying?”
“It’s being hinted that Mrs. Willoughby had designs on Emily’s fortune herself.”
“But she was always so kind to Emily.”
“I know. Mind, I’m telling you only what others are saying.”
“What do you believe?”
“My dear child,” and Mr. Drew smiled, “I wouldn’t venture an opinion. I always reserve judgment until I have all of the facts.”
Nancy glanced thoughtfully at the account in the paper.
“It says here that she fainted when she learned that the bag had been stolen. That looks as though she felt the loss most keenly.”
“Unless she was acting.”
“You don’t think that the robbery was a frame-up, do you?” Nancy asked, in astonishment.
“You’re a regular detective when it comes to pinning a fellow down,” Mr. Drew complained good-naturedly. “I am merely considering the possibility. As I understand it, Mrs. Willoughby had access to the safety deposit box containing the jewels. It would not have been difficult for her to have pawned them weeks ago, perhaps substituting paste. Then the little scene at Lilac Inn could have been staged.”
“But this account says that Mrs. Willoughby actually carried a handbag into the inn,” Nancy reminded her father. “Several persons noticed it—it was conspicuous—and how uneasily she acted. There is no question that the purse mysteriously disappeared. What became of it?”
“That’s what the police would like to know,” Mr. Drew replied.
“Of course, if Mrs. Willoughby had been staging the whole scene, it might have been possible for her to have secreted the purse somewhere.”
“Or Mrs. Potter may have taken it.”
“That’s another angle to consider, all right. The paper says she wasn’t searched.”
“It’s a baffling mystery, Nancy. Perhaps you’d better take a hand in it.”
“Don’t make fun of me, Dad.”
“I’m not. I have great respect for your ability in tracking down a mystery. In fact, once or twice you’ve rather shown your old dad up.”
“You know I haven’t,” Nancy protested, highly pleased. “But there’s something about this mystery that catches my interest, and of course I’d give anything to help Emily Crandall regain her inheritance.”
“Unless I miss my guess, this Crandall affair will prove more baffling that any other case you ever attacked. You might try your teeth on it.”
Nancy Drew’s eyes began to sparkle, but she shook her head.
“I wouldn’t think of interfering—that is, unless Emily asked me to.”
“Perhaps it’s just as well that you shouldn’t get mixed up in it. This isn’t an ordinary robbery.”
“Haven’t the police any real clue?”
“They’re inclined to suspect Mrs. Willoughby.”
“The police have been known to blunder.”
“Yes. But sometimes, too, they are right, and this time they may not be far off the track. At least Mrs. Willoughby will bear watching. I wouldn’t enjoy being in her shoes.”
“Nor would I. I met her a number of months ago, but I haven’t a very vivid recollection of what she is like.”
“A charming woman, in appearance at least. However, you can’t tell to what lengths a person will go when in desperate need of money.”
“Emily will be crushed if she learns that her guardian is suspected. I have a notion to run out to the cottage and see her.”
“Why don’t you? I imagine she’s all broken up over the loss of the jewels.”
Nancy glanced at her watch.
“It’s getting late. Still, it won’t be dark for at least an hour. I’ll do it!”
Hurrying to her room, she snatched up her hat and came clattering down the stairs two at a time.
“Goodbye, Dad,” she called, as she started toward the back door. “I won’t be gone long.”
Mr. Drew did not reply, for just at that moment there was a step on the veranda. Nancy paused and glanced questioningly toward her father.
“I’ll wait and see who it is,” she decided. “It may be someone for me.”
The doorbell rang sharply, but before Nancy could retrace her steps the housekeeper opened the door. There was a murmur of voices in the outside hall and then Mrs. Carter appeared with a small calling card which she handed to Mr. Drew.
“She says it’s very important that she see you tonight,” the housekeeper reported.
Mr. Drew glanced carelessly at the card, and then his eyebrows lifted slightly. He turned to Nancy with a peculiar expression.
“It’s Mrs. Willoughby,” he said quietly. “I wonder what she wants of me.”
“Perhaps I’d better leave the room,” Nancy suggested. “Mrs. Willoughby may wish to talk with you privately.”
“Stay if you like and hear what she has to say,” Mr. Drew responded. “You’re as much interested in the case as I am.”
He turned to the housekeeper who was awaiting his decision.
“Kindly ask Mrs. Willoughby to come in.”