The Clue Of The Tapping Heels Part 22

Apparently the cat had been imprisoned for some time and refused to quiet down. Even though Nancy held out a friendly hand, the Persian would not come near her.

"How in the world did it get up here?" George asked. "Somebody must have deliberately locked it in the mummy case. But who?"

"It's a good thing that case isn't airtight," Nancy said.

"Do you suppose," George asked, "the tapper put the cat in there for spite?"

Nancy shook her head. "I'm sure he has nothing against Miss Carter or the cat. Possibly he has stolen some, but I think his main objective in coming here is to find valuable objects hidden in this house."

George wondered if Mr. and Mrs. Woonton, having such an unpredictable son, had secreted some of their valuables. "Gus may have figured his parents forgot to take them along when they moved, and he is now trying to locate the pieces and perhaps sell them. Or does he know his parents are dead and he has come to get the articles?"

"It's a good hunch," Nancy replied. "Here's another idea. Remember the threat in Gus's diary of getting square with his guardians? Maybe he managed to get out of the secret room at times and hid the articles to make the guardians seem like thieves. And now he's back to collect them."

All this time she had been coaxing the cat to come toward her. Finally it walked to where she was standing. Nancy picked up the Persian and the two girls went back to the second floor. When Miss Carter heard the story, she gasped.

"Every day this mystery becomes more of a puzzle," she said. "You girls are doing a good job, but I wish that the unwanted stranger would stop coming into the house." She took the cat on her lap. "You poor tabby," she said. "You might have been smothered. Oh, there are such wicked people in this world!"

Just then Mrs. Bealing appeared in the doorway. She had heard only part of the conversation and wanted to know what had happened. When Nancy explained, a look of dismay spread over the nurse's face.

"I'm afraid that I locked the cat inside the mummy case," she said. "I went upstairs to get some rags. The case was open so I locked it." She gave a great sigh. "Oh, I never would have forgiven myself if this beautiful animal had died because of me."

Miss Carter spoke up quickly. "How were you to know? What I want to find out is who brought the cat into the house."

No one had an answer. While they were still discussing the incident, Bess came into the driveway. She deposited her packages on the kitchen counter and went upstairs.

When she reached the second floor, Mrs. Bealing burst out with the story of the cat in the mummy case. "I'd certainly like to know who brought that Persian into the house!"

Bess was aghast and hung her head. "I did," she said. "The poor thing didn't seem very well, so I took it to my room. You were asleep, so I decided to tell you later. I guess the cat went up to the third floor by itself."

Miss Carter was relieved. "Such a simple explanation for what started out to be a big mystery," she remarked.

Bess said, "I stopped at the pet shop downtown and asked the man what to do for a sick cat. He gave me this special food." She held up the package.

By now the cat had gone into a deep sleep on Miss Carter's lap. For a moment everyone wondered if perhaps the Persian had been drugged like the others. But when the actress roused the cat, it stretched, yawned, then jumped from her lap.

"It seems to be all right," she remarked. "But go ahead and give my pet some of the special food you bought, Bess."

As Miss Carter watched the Persian daintily eating the tidbits, she said that the mummy case had been used in the play The Dancer and the Fool.

"I wonder if Toby Simpson might like to use it in his revival of the play. I think I'll phone him later today."

Just then the phone rang. Mr. Drew was calling Nancy. "I have some further information for you," he said. "It's rather startling."

"What is it?" Nancy asked quickly.

The lawyer said that something he had learned only complicated the case. "The license for the Bunces's car was issued in Pleasantville to a Gus Woonton."

"What!" Nancy exclaimed. "Dad, do you think that the Bunces and Gus Woonton are together?"

"Either that, or Bunce is using Woonton's name."

"I'd say," Nancy put in, "that whichever is true, it proves that the Fred Bunce we know is the administrator of the Woonton estate."

The lawyer said he had checked the Pleasantville address given to him by the license bureau but that neither Gus Woonton nor anyone named Bunce was known there.

"So it's apparent Bunce or Gus Woonton gave a phony address."

Mr. Drew also said that he planned to ask the St. Louis and Chicago authorities for further information on William Woonton's will.

"I'll start right away," he promised. "Take care. Good-by."

Nancy sat lost in thought for some time. There were many clues and many leads in this puzzling mystery, but at the moment they seemed to have led only to dead ends. She finally roused herself and went to report the latest findings to her friends.

Bess sensed at once that the girl detective was discouraged. "Nancy," she said, "a change from thinking about all this would do you good." She turned to Miss Carter. "Would you mind if we girls go to the attic and look over the rest of the props?"

The actress smiled. "I think that would be a splendid idea. But I want to go with you. I'd like to explain what some of the things are and in what plays they were used."

Nancy and George carried the frail woman to the third floor. There was an old, worn couch and she asked to be placed on it.

"This stood in the living room of a scene in the stage production of Three Votes for Mary. In that play I was trying to get a friend of mine elected. And oh the exaggerations I told about her!" The actress laughed gaily at the recollection.

She pointed to a large trunk. "That's full of costumes," she said.

"Oh, may I try on some of them?" Bess asked.

Miss Carter smiled and said, "No offense, dear, but all of them were worn by me. You will admit that our-our figures aren't exactly the same."

Bess admitted this but opened the trunk and took out the gowns one by one. There was such a variety that she remarked, "Miss Carter, you were a queen, a dairy maid, a soldier-"

"Yes, I even played the part of a boy soldier. I wasn't supposed to be in the play. The agency called me in a hurry because the actor became ill."

"How did you manage to talk like a young man?" George asked.

"I didn't. I merely moved my lips and a young man offstage said the lines."

Although Bess could not wear any of the gowns, she held them up in front of her and looked in a full-length mirror at herself.

"I'm Queen Elizabeth," she said. After putting the gorgeous white satin dress back in the trunk, she picked up a robe such as judges wear. "Who am I now?"

"Portia in The Merchant of Venice by Shake speare," Miss Carter replied.

Nancy had been listening, but all the time her eyes kept roaming around hunting for dues. Without disturbing the others, she began to move boxes and trunks quietly. There was no sign of a trap door in the floor.

As Nancy moved a chest aside which stood in front of a window, her attention was drawn to the sill. Although the window was closed, there were clear signs of hand- and footprints, indicating that someone had entered the attic this way. She opened the window which had no lock on it, and found more prints on the outside sill.

"Girls, come here!" she called out. "I think I've found something important!"

Bess and George rushed over and stared at the marks. Then Bess exclaimed, "If anybody climbed up here from the ground, he must be a monkey!"