river. I’ve never really had the nerve to visit the
place. Of course it you girls went along-”
“When can we go?” Nancy asked excitedly.
“I’ll speak to Gram,” Joanne offered.
“It’s odd you’ve never spoken to any of the
colony members,” Nancy remarked thoughtfully.
“Who pays the rent?”
“It’s sent by mail. They even leased the land
that way.”
“Didn’t it strike you as a peculiar way of doing
business?” Nancy asked.
“Yes,” Joanne admitted, “but I suppose it’s
part of their creed, or whatever you call it. They
probably don’t believe in mingling with people
outside the cult. That’s often the case.”
Directly after lunch the girls helped the Byrds
straighten and clean the rooms for the expected
boarders. They hung curtains, newly made by
Mrs. Byrd, and put fresh flowers in each room.
At the end of the afternoon they were very
pleased with the result.
“All you girls have worked hard enough,” Mrs.
Byrd said. “You go rest while I fix supper.”
She was insistent, so Joanne led her friends to
the porch. Bess stretched out in the hammock
and picked up the day’s newspaper. The others
chatted. Suddenly Bess gave an exclamation of
surprise.
“Nancy,” she asked tensely, “what was the
name of that girl who sold me the perfume?”
“Wong,” Nancy answered in amazement.
“Yvonne Wong. Why?”
“Because there’s an article in the paper that
mentions her name!” Bess thrust the newspaper
into Nancy’s hands, indicating the paragraph.
“Wow! This is something! Read it yourself!”
CHAPTER VIII
Hillside Ghosts
Nancy read aloud:
” ‘The Hale Syndicate, which has been en-
gaged in the illegal importation of Oriental arti-
cles, has been dissolved by court order.’ ” Nancy
looked up and said, “I don’t see what that has to
do with our perfume friend Yvonne Wong.”
“A great deal,” Bess declared. “Read on and
you’ll find out!”
“Oh!” Nancy exclaimed a few seconds later.
“Yvonne was employed by the syndicate as a clerk
in their shop. She hasn’t been indicted, because
of insufficient evidence, and the top men have
skipped!”
Bess nodded, realizing the impact of her im-
portant discovery. “That perfume store we
visited must have been owned by the syndicate!”
“How long ago was the fraud discovered?”
George asked.
“The article doesn’t say,” Nancy returned. “It
has just now been made public.”
“It doesn’t surprise me that the Wong girl was
mixed up in some underhanded affair,” George
remarked. “I didn’t like her attitude from the
beginning!”
“Nor did I,” Bess added. “And I liked her less
after Nancy found out she had received the job
Jo wanted.”
“I’m certainly glad I didn’t get that job.” Jo-
anne smiled. “I’d much rather be here.”
“Do you suppose Yvonne knew the work of
the syndicate was dishonest?” Bess asked with
concern.
“I’m sure of it,” George answered flatly. “But
it looks as if she and the others slipped out
quickly when the federal authorities became
aware of the racket.”
All this time Nancy had been staring into
space. It had occurred to her that Yvonne Wong
might still be employed by the syndicate. Un-
doubtedly the name and offices had been changed
to throw off the federal authorities. Was Room
305 now the syndicate’s headquarters?
Nancy immediately thought of the coded mes-
sage she had brought with her. “The third num-
ber in it, 5, was the letter H,” she told herself.
Then she reflected on the recent newspaper arti-
cle about the syndicate.
“This ‘H’ might stand for Hale!” she thought
excitedly. “And the line over it might mean that
someone by this name is important-the ring-
leader, perhaps! I must talk to Chief McGinnis
again. I may have stumbled onto a clue to those
missing Hale Syndicate men!”
After supper she phoned the chief and pro-
pounded her theory. “Well, Nancy,” he said, “it
sounds as if you might have picked up a clue,
sure enough. Send me a copy of that code and I’ll
get busy on it.”
After Nancy completed the call, she and the
other girls studied the code once more.
Gazing at the 16 and the 5, Nancy suddenly said,
“M-M-why that could stand for Maurice!
Maybe that man’s name is Maurice Hale!”