“Sure I saw her,” a little girl spoke up. “She got in a taxi and went off.”
“Was anybody with her?” Nancy asked.
The little girl said that a woman with curly blond hair and very red cheeks had come from the apartment house with the woman and they had gone off together.
“Did you happen to hear them say where they were going?”
“No, I didn’t,” the child replied.
Nancy’s first thought was the Hotel Coles. She wanted to go there at once, but recalling Captain Smith’s advice, decided to phone him and ask the police to make the investigation.
A few moments later the police captain called and reported that the young dancer who called herself Lola Flanders had not been at the hotel since she had registered.
Suddenly an idea occurred to Nancy. Consulting the classified telephone directory, she made a series of calls to theater booking agents and restaurants that employed dancers. The list was long and she was kept busy for an hour and a half. At last she was rewarded, however. Millie Francine was employed at the Bon Ton Night Club.
Nancy wondered how she could get in touch with the dancer. Even if she knew nothing about Lolita’s mother and her possible kidnaping, she might be able to give her a lead to the guilty party.
As the girl detective sat thinking, the bell rang. She ran to the door, hopeful that Lola Flanders had returned. Ned Nickerson stood there, grinning.
“I know you didn’t expect me,” he said, stepping into the apartment. “I hadn’t left New York yet, and when I telephoned earlier to find out if by any chance you were back, I was certainly delighted to hear that you had returned. So here I am!”
Nancy stared at him in surprise. The strange look on her face made Ned ask:
“Aren’t you glad to see me?”
“Oh, yes, Ned,” Nancy said hurriedly. “But we’re in the middle of a new mystery. Who answered the phone here when you called?”
“I don’t know. Whoever she was told me that you and your aunt had gone out for a few hours.”
“Ned, that was Lolita Flanders’ mother! At least, I think it was,” she said, upon second thought. “What else did she say?”
“That if I wanted to see you, not to come for a while, because nobody would be here.”
“She said that?” Nancy asked in surprise. “Go on, Ned,” she urged.
“There isn’t any more to tell. Well, wait a minute,” he said suddenly. “It seems to me she did say that she was going out, too.”
“Did she say why?” Nancy asked quickly.
Ned said the woman had mumbled something. It could have been that she was going to meet her daughter.
“Oh, Ned,” said Nancy, “it’s just as I feared. Lola Flanders has been kidnaped!”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
Nancy told him the whole story and then said, “Ned, you and I are going to the Bon Ton as fast as we can get there.”
“Well, I’m glad to have a date,” Ned said. “But would you mind telling me why you’ve picked out that second-rate place? Besides, it doesn’t open until evening.”
Nancy was disappointed. Valuable hours would be lost in her search for Lola Flanders. Presently she said hopefully, “Ned, often the girls who perform in those places have afternoon rehearsals. Let’s go over there, anyway.”
On the way, another idea came to Nancy. She told her companion that should it be difficult to get into the place at this hour she was going to ask for an interview as if she wished to obtain a job there. This seemed the most feasible way of getting in to talk to Millie Francine.
Ned scowled at this proposal. Nancy laughed and said, “Oh, Ned, do stop worrying!”
To Nancy’s delight, there was no doorman on duty and the Bon Ton was open. As she had predicted, a rehearsal was going on. She sat down at a table in an obscure, dark corner and watched.
It was not difficult to identify Millie Francine because presently a director called out, “Millie, what’s the matter with you? Your voice sounds as if you’d been eating gravel!”