Nancy asked was whether or not Walter Heath
had given her a large pearl.
“No, but he was going to. It was being made
into a ring when I went away.”
Nancy next inquired if Juliana’s fiance had had
a special name for her.
“Yes. He called me his little Cinderella,” she
said, smiling at the recollection. “Once Walt
asked me to put on one of my dancing slippers
and make a print in a block of newly made ce-
ment. He said he was going to set it in the garden
wall opposite Poet’s Nook. I suppose it was a
lover’s foolish idea.”
“That wasn’t foolish,” Nancy replied. “It was
very sensible. That footprint clue in the crum-
bling wall will prove your right to the Heath
fortune against any claim of an impostor!”
Juliana said, “Please tell me the whole story.
I am terribly confused.” As kindly as she could,
Nancy related all she knew.
“How dreadful!” Juliana exclaimed. “And
what harrowing experiences you have had!”
“Tell me something,” said Nancy. “It was re-
ported that the hospital found a lot of money on
you. Did you plan to stay away a long time?”
“Oh no. I was going to buy an expensive per-
sonal gift for Walt from a man who wanted cash.
Also I planned to purchase something for our
home.” The former dancer sighed deeply.
Suddenly the woman slumped forward. In an
instant Nancy caught her and placed the limp
body on the floor.
“Juliana has fainted!” Bess cried out.
Nancy was fearful that the woman was suffering
from something more serious than a faint, because
the former dancer’s pulse was very weak. Under
the flashlight her face looked chalk-white.
“The poor woman!” Bess murmured. “She has
been through so much!”
The girls tried to revive Juliana, and finally
succeeded.
“We must get out of here!” said Nancy.
At that moment they heard distant shouts out-
side.
“Listen!” George commanded.
The voices were coming closer. George blew
several loud blasts on her whistle.
“Where are you?” somebody called. “We’re the
police. There are four of us.”
Nancy shouted that they were below the trap
door in the tower. She called out directions and
in another five minutes the four prisoners were re-
leased.
“Lieutenant Masters!” exclaimed Nancy.
“How glad I am to see you! Did my father get in
touch with you?”
“No. Hannah Gruen did. And who is this?”
she asked, smiling at the former dancer.
Juliana herself replied to the question. When
Nancy suggested that she ought not to expend her
strength talking, the woman insisted she felt much
better.
“Who shut you in here?” the policewoman de-
manded.
“I’m not sure,” Nancy answered. “The voice
was disguised, I think. But it might have been
Daniel Hector. He must have escaped.”
“Oh, no, he didn’t,” said a voice triumphantly.
“We nabbed him climbing over a wall. Also these
two birds.”
Two more policemen appeared. With them,
handcuffed, were Cobb and Biggs. Behind the
men was Daniel Hector.
“This is an outrage!” the lawyer snapped. “You
can’t arrest me. I have a perfect right to be on
this property. The others are trespassing.”
Coolly Nancy presented her evidence against
the lawyer. She accused him of stealing jewelry
from the estate, a claim that could be proved by
photographs found in Walter Heath’s box.
“And that’s not the worst,” she said to him.
“You pretended to look for the woman who was
to inherit the estate. But when you did locate her
you kept it a secret so you could help yourself to
the estate. When you found out I was on the trail
of the real Juliana Johnson, you had her kid-
napped and locked in the dungeon here! To pro-
tect yourself, you produced an impostor with
whom you had made a bargain.”
“Ridiculous!” Hector cried furiously. “Lies-
lies! Nothing but lies!”
Hector had not seen Juliana yet. She was seated
on the winding stairs in the tower behind Nancy.
The young sleuth now stepped aside. Hector
stared at the crippled dancer.
“So what?” he demanded after a moment. “I
had nothing to do with bringing her here! And
she can’t prove she’s the missing dancer. Just look