XXII
What the Notebook Revealed
“Just—a—minute,” Nancy Drew stammered as she darted toward the roadster, blocking the marshal’s path. “There’s a package in the seat. I’ll put it in the back.”
Hastily, she picked up the clock which was covered with a blanket.
“Never mind that,” the marshal interposed. “I can hold it.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble to put it in the catchall at the back,” Nancy assured him. “Then it will be out of your way.”
Before the man could offer to do it for her, she had carried the clock to the rear of the car. Lifting the cover, she placed it on the floor.
During the ride back to town Nancy Drew was anything but easy in her mind, but she gave no indication that she was nervous. It was not until she had said goodbye to the marshal at the jail that she felt entirely safe.
“That was a narrow escape,” she laughed, as she drove away. “It might not have gone so well with me if the marshal had discovered stolen goods in my car. It certainly wouldn’t have been easy to explain how I came by that clock.”
Although it was late, Nancy was determined to return to River Heights that night. She was anxious to examine the notebook and learn whether or not it would disclose the hiding place of Josiah Crowley’s second will.
“Oh, I’m so eager to get home and have a chance to dig into the notebook!” she thought as she drove along the road. “I went through a lot to get it and I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t contain good news. It will mean so much to the Horner girls and poor old Abigail if the will is found.”
It was nearly ten o’clock that night when Nancy, tired and worn from the long automobile ride, reached her home in River Heights. As she drove into the double garage, she noticed that her father’s car was gone. A glance at the house disclosed that the windows were dark.
“I wonder where father can be?” she questioned herself. “I wanted to tell him about my discovery right away.”
She removed the Crowley clock from the back of the roadster and paused an instant to gloat over it. She was well satisfied with the result of her detective work.
Locking the garage door, she went inside and switched on the electric light. The house seemed deserted, for Hannah, the maid, had already retired.
“Father is probably working late at the office,” Nancy decided. “Oh, well, I may as well stay up. And while I’m waiting I’ll have a look at the notebook!”
During the long ride from Moon Lake she had been impatient for an opportunity to examine the Crowley notebook, and now she lost no time in finding a screwdriver. She took off the face of the clock, and from the hook removed the notebook.
“Now to find what became of the will,” she declared, as she curled up in a comfortable chair near a reading lamp. “Oh, I hope everything turns out right for Allie and Grace and for Abigail Rowen!”
Carefully, Nancy thumbed over the pages for they were yellowed with age and she was afraid they might tear. Evidently, Josiah Crowley had used the same notebook for many years.
Page after page the girl read, perusing inconsequential memoranda and numerous notations of property owned by Josiah Crowley, as well as various business transactions made by him. Nancy was surprised at the list of stocks, bonds, and notes which apparently belonged to the estate. The amount reached well over three hundred thousand dollars.
“I had no idea Josiah Crowley had that much money,” she murmured.
After a time she grew impatient of the seemingly endless list, and skipping many pages, turned ahead.
Suddenly, the phrase, “my will,” caught and held her attention. Eagerly, Nancy pounced upon it and began to read.
“I’ve found it at last!” she told herself in excitement.
The notation was brief and written in Josiah Crowley’s cramped hand.
“To whom it may concern: My last will and testament will be found in safety deposit box number 148 in the Masonville National Bank. The box is under the name of Josiah Harkston.”
The date of this entry was recent and the ink had not faded as in the earlier entries in the notebook.
“Then there was another will!” Nancy exclaimed aloud. “Oh, I’m sure it must be in favor of the Horner girls, too!”
She hurriedly read on, but although she carefully examined every page in the book, there was no other mention of the will.
“No wonder the will never came to light,” Nancy mused. “Who would have ever thought of looking for it in a safety deposit box under the name of Josiah Harkston? In his zest for safety, Josiah Crowley nearly defeated his own purpose.”
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard an automobile turning in at the drive. Rushing to the window, Nancy saw her father drive into the garage. As he opened the front door she ran to meet him.
“Why, hello, Nancy,” he greeted her in surprise. “If I had known you were here, I’d have come home sooner. I was doing some special work on a case. Back from Moon Lake early, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Nancy admitted, trying to hide her excitement. “But for a good reason.”
Before her father could remove his hat, she plunged into the story of her adventures and ended by showing him the notebook which she had found inside the mantel clock. When she had finished, Carson Drew stared at her with mingled pride and amusement.
“You’re a regular detective, Nancy.”
“You’re making fun of me.”
Carson Drew’s face sobered.
“No, I’m proud of what you’ve done, Nancy. I couldn’t have done better myself—perhaps not so well. You took a real risk when you encountered those robbers, but so long as you are back home safe and sound, it doesn’t matter.”
“The Tophams aren’t going to thank me when they find out what I have done.”
“Hardly. They may accuse you of stealing their clock, although so long as their house was open when you entered they can’t claim that you broke in. However, if we can manage to keep the knowledge from them, it will be just as well that they don’t learn the details of how the will was found.”
Carson Drew picked up the notebook and glanced through it with interest.
“The fortune will make a nice nest egg for someone,” he commented, as he looked over the lists of stocks and bonds owned by Crowley. “These securities are of the best, too. All gilt edge.”
“I hope the Tophams will be cut off without a cent,” Nancy declared.
“It’s likely they will be; but of course you never can be certain until the will is read. Unless I am mistaken, your discovery will strike the Tophams at an especially awkward time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s a rumor going the rounds to the effect that Richard Topham has been losing heavily in the stock market this last month. He has been getting credit at a number of the banks on the strength of the inheritance, and I suspect he is depending on Crowley’s money to pull him through a tight place. At least he has made every effort to speed up the settlement of the estate.”
“It would serve the Tophams right if they lose everything,” Nancy said decisively. “They never had a particle of charity for anyone. They would let their relatives starve before they would help them.”
Carson Drew glanced again at the notebook in his hand.
“Now that you have found this, the thing to do is locate the will at once before Richard Topham gets wind of what is up,” he advised. “We want to administer the coup de grâce before the Tophams have a chance to get the fortune into their hands. Once the estate is settled, it will not be easy to wrest it away from them.”
“I’d like to turn the matter over to you,” Nancy responded promptly, “I’m not familiar with legal procedure and you know exactly what should be done.”
“I’ll be glad to help you if I can, Nancy. The first thing of course is to get our hands on the will.”
“That should be easy. We can drive over to the Masonville National Bank the first thing in the morning.”
“Yes, but we haven’t authority to open the safety deposit box. It may be necessary to get a court order,” Carson Drew reminded his daughter.
“That’s so. I hadn’t thought of that. But you can manage it, can’t you?”
Carson Drew chuckled.
“Well, I know the judge. Yes, I think I can arrange it all right. I’ll tell him I am acting as counsel for the Horner girls. I really am, because I promised I’d help them if I could.”
“I’m sure everything is going to turn out just as I hoped!” Nancy cried enthusiastically. “The deserving relatives will get the money and the Tophams will be left out in the cold! Abigail Rowen will be able to have the medical attention she needs, and Allie and Grace will be fixed for life!”
“Don’t build your hopes too high,” Carson Drew advised her wisely. “There may be a slip, you know. We may fail to find the will in the deposit box, and of course there is a chance that Josiah Crowley didn’t dispose of the fortune as it was expected that he would. If I were you I wouldn’t say anything to the Horner girls until we are certain.”
“I won’t,” Nancy promised, as she turned toward the stairs. “But I can’t help hoping. I’m going to bed now and get a good night’s rest. Then tomorrow we’ll start off on the big adventure! Oh, I can scarcely wait to find out what the will contains!”
Halfway up the stairs, she hesitated and then returned to the living room and picked up the notebook which rested on the table.
“After all I’ve gone through to get my hands on this, I’m not going to take any chances!” she laughed. “Tonight I’m going to sleep with it under my pillow!”