The happy couple on the thirty-foot-high trapeze swung themselves to the platform. As the clapping continued, Lolita suddenly looked in Nancy’s direction. Sweetly and daintily, she blew a kiss to her new friend. Nancy smiled and waved in return.
The sides of the gleaming coach and the two white steeds and Cinderella’s spangled dress were drawn up by pulleys. Lolita put on the beautiful white ball gown as the pumpkin and mice were covered by the stately carriage and horses. Then she and her prince stepped inside and were brought down to the ground. They stepped out, took bow after bow amid the thunderous applause, then hurried away.
“That was superb,” Ned remarked. “Anything else would seem tame. I’d just as soon go. How about you, Nancy?”
Nancy confessed that she was ready to leave, since she wanted to do some sleuthing. They hurried to the exit.
“Where do you suggest we start looking for that strangler?” Ned asked her.
“Suppose we find out about the box. The man must have had a ticket to it.”
The ticket booth was closed, but Nancy saw the attendant and asked him who owned Box AA.
“The house,” he said. “It’s always kept for special people, like the mayor. I understand some well-known couple used it tonight. The rest of the seats in the box were vacant.”
Nancy suppressed a smile at the words “some well-known couple,” and thanked the ticket seller for the information. She and Ned walked on.
“I’m more convinced than ever,” she said, “that my attacker was someone who works here.”
“But why?” Ned asked. “You haven’t any enemies in the circus. Or have you?”
“I must have, but I’m sure I don’t know why, Ned.”
“Then you’d better leave this place and never come back.”
“And leave the mystery unsolved?” Nancy objected.
As Ned shrugged resignedly, Nancy said she would like to find out why Pietro had not taken part in the evening performance. She wondered if it might have something to do with the mystery surrounding Lolita.
Nancy learned from one of the other clowns that Pietro had been taken suddenly ill. His friend thought it was nothing serious, and that Pietro would be able to perform the next day.
“Would you mind giving him a note?” Nancy asked, thinking there might be another reason for his skipping the performance and she could talk to him more freely at home about the mystery.
“Glad to,” the clown replied.
Taking paper and pencil from her bag, Nancy quickly scribbled a message. She asked Pietro to come to her house before nine o’clock the next morning, as she was leaving at nine thirty for a riding lesson. If he could not come then, she suggested that he make it between shows and bring Lolita if possible.
Ned now insisted that the rest of the evening be spent doing something that had no relation to the mystery. Nancy laughingly agreed, and they joined a group of friends at Bess Marvin’s home.
It was late when Nancy reached her own house and said good night to Ned. As soon as she was in her room, Nancy’s mind reverted to her harrowing experience with the whip.
“What could have been the reason for it?” she wondered, pulling her dress over her head. A wild thought struck Nancy. Had Kroon found out she was interested in helping Lolita, and therefore was afraid of some mysterious affairs of his own being uncovered? If so, he might very well have wanted to put a stop to her sleuthing.
As Nancy looked down at the floor, she noticed a small folded sheet of paper. It must have dropped from her dress, she thought. Puzzled, she picked it up and opened the sheet. Nancy stared at the ominous, crudely printed message.
Stay away from the circus and everybody in it!
CHAPTER VII
Stunt Riding
Dumfounded, Nancy reread the warning. It occurred to her that as the would-be strangler had pulled the whip around her neck he probably had slid the note into a pocket of her dress.
“Of course I shan’t pay any attention,” she resolved. “But I’d better be on my guard. Now I’m sure someone in the circus is my enemy.”