The Clue Of The Tapping Heels Part 13

Bess gave Nancy a long look and shook her head. "Everywhere you go there's excitement."

Nancy laughed. "This may not end up being exciting at all. Here come two men now. I wonder if they're plainclothesmen from the police department, or potential customers."

The men stopped at the booth.

"Miss Drew?" one of them asked.

When Nancy acknowledged her ident.i.ty, the two men opened their coats and showed police detective badges. They requested her to point out the suspect to them. Bess asked to go along.

"George, see if you can sell a cat while I'm gone," she teased.

Nancy led the way toward booth thirty. As they approached it, she gasped. The man and all the cats were gone!

"He isn't here!" she exclaimed, embarra.s.sed.

The group stood in front of the empty booth, mystified. Nancy was sure that the detectives felt that a hoax had been pulled on them.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" one of them asked Nancy.

"Oh, yes."

"Now listen, young lady!" the other officer said. "Don't you know it's a serious offense to bring out the police on a wild-goose chase like this?"

Bess was aghast. She said quickly, "Nancy has done nothing wrong. She's an amateur detective and we've been trying to trace cats that were stolen from a woman we know. Her name's Carter."

The taller of the two men looked at Nancy. "Amateur detective, eh?" He scoffed. "Well, if there's one thing in this world I have no use for it's an amateur detective."

Nancy was stung by the remark. Somehow she must prove to these men that she was not faking. She saw a woman in booth thirty-one who was busy grooming some Maltese cats. She dashed over and touched her arm.

"Pardon me, but could you tell us where the man went who had the cats in booth thirty?"

"I can't tell you where he went," the woman answered, "but I can tell you this: after you and the other young lady left here, he began to act strange. He mumbled to himself and then called out to pa.s.sers-by:

" 'Want to buy a cat cheap?' The price was so ridiculous, he sold them all in a couple of minutes. Then he rushed out of here as if a cyclone were chasing him."

Nancy was so appreciative of the woman's a.s.sistance she could have kissed her. But she merely said:

"I suspect that the cats the man was selling had been stolen from a home where I'm staying. I called the police and here are two detectives. They doubted my story, so I am very grateful to you for helping me out."

The woman turned to the detectives. "Everything I've just said is true. Besides, I can easily believe that the man is a thief. He acted very odd right from the beginning-shifty-eyed and sort of scared-and wouldn't let the judges look at his Persians. Even the cats didn't seem to like him. He was having a hard time with them."

The taller detective turned to Nancy. "I'm sorry I thought you were kidding us." Then he quickly defended himself. "The police get so many phony calls I guess we're kind of rough on people sometimes."

He then asked for a full description of the suspect. The woman in booth thirty-one gave a clear picture of the man.

"Short and kind of stocky. He walked with quick steps. As I said he was shifty-eyed and acted nervous. He had dark hair and eyes. I guess that's all I can tell you about him."

The detective said she had been a great help and they would try to locate the man. The detectives said good-by to everyone and left. After Nancy had thanked the woman again, she and Bess hurried back to their own booth.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a look at that man's Persian cats," Bess said. "He probably took the list of the purchasers so there's no chance of tracing him or the cats."

"I'm afraid not," Nancy agreed. "Let's just hope they found good homes."

The girls were delighted that George had sold two cats and within a few minutes Nancy sold one. By now the crowd had dwindled and it was approaching closing time.

"Oh dear!" said Bess. "Do you suppose we'll have to take Abatha back home? Miss Carter needs the money and will be disappointed that we didn't sell all the Persians. Should we lower the price?"

"I don't want to do that," said Nancy.

She took the Persian from its cage and fondled the fluffy animal. Maybe her gesture would appeal to some prospective buyer!

Among the people who stopped at the booth was a little boy. His pockets were stuffed with boxes of popcorn and candy. In one hand he carried a curled-up paper whistle.

He walked close to the cat and gave a great blow on the whistle. Not only did it make a loud noise but the curled-up section flew out at the little animal and hit it in the face.

"Oh, you naughty boy!" Nancy cried as the cat leaped from her arms.

To her dismay, it scooted up a post and onto a crossbeam. She turned toward the cat and held up one hand.

"Don't be frightened," she said soothingly. "I won't let him do it again. Please come down."

The cat paid no attention, so Nancy climbed up on a chair and reached for it. But the cat scooted farther away and climbed high onto a rafter of the auditorium.

"Oh dear!" said Bess. "What are we going to do now?"

Nancy continued to cajole the Persian to climb down, but without success. Bess and George tried persuading the cat to come back, but they had no luck either.

"There's only one thing left to do," said Nancy. "I'm glad I wore pants."

She caught the beam above, hoisted herself onto it, and walked along it to the rafter. Then she began climbing toward the cat.

"Oh, Nancy," Bess wailed, "please come back!"

"Oh, Nancy," wailed Bess, "that's too dangerous! The cat isn't worth it. Please come back."

Nancy a.s.sured Bess she would be all right and continued to climb. Onlookers began to gather and offer all kinds of advice. Most of the men urged Nancy to go on but to be careful. The women begged her to come down.

Bess had turned her back on the scene. She was ashen. Her lips were moving and George a.s.sumed she was praying for Nancy's safe return.

The cat watched Nancy from a high beam. As the girl finally reached the beam on which the animal stood, she straddled it and started to inch her way along.

"Come, p.u.s.s.y," she coaxed. "n.o.body's going to hurt you."

The cat waited a moment. Then, instead of coming toward Nancy, it went the other way.

"Oh, you meanie!" Nancy exclaimed.