“Mrs. Fenimore called this morning and
wanted to see you.”
“Mrs. Fenimore?” Nancy echoed in curiosity.
“Did she say why she called?”
“She wouldn’t tell me over the phone,” Han-
nah resumed. “When I told her you weren’t
home, she said you had to be warned to be care-
ful.”
“Careful of what?”
“She thinks you’re in danger. Oh, Nancy, I’ll
be so relieved when you’re home again safe and
unharmed.”
“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Nancy assured her.
“Don’t worry.”
After completing the call Nancy speculated on
why Mrs. Fenimore thought the young detective
was in danger. Could the woman have learned
that Nancy was to be shadowed? It was too late,
she decided, to call Mrs. Fenimore. “I’ll see her
tomorrow.”
Nancy and her father waited until midnight to
hear from the plainclothesman. When he failed
to return to the hotel, they telephoned head-
quarters. The officer had not checked in yet.
In the morning there was no word either, so
Mr. Drew requested that a full report be sent to
him in River Heights.
After Nancy arrived home in the afternoon, she
lost no time calling on Mrs. Fenimore. The
woman was reclining on a couch. She was ex-
hausted from strain and worry.
“I shouldn’t have become so upset,” she said.
“But Mr. Hector’s attitude always disturbs me.”
“He came to see you?”
“Yes. I had a dreadful session with him. He
asked me so many questions.”
“About your sister?”
The woman nodded. “He wanted to know it I
had hired someone to search tor Julie.”
“Did you mention my name?”
“Well, I did say you had offered to help me,”
Mrs. Fenimore admitted, “though I feel unhappy
about having told him. From the way he behaved,
I’m sure he intends to make trouble tor you.”
“I’m not afraid of Daniel Hector,” Nancy said.
“Oh, but you should have heard him talk! He
said he wouldn’t let anyone meddle in his affairs.
He acted as if Heath Castle belongs to him!”
“Mr. Hector is worried,” Nancy commented,
frowning. “His remarks and the fact that he came
to talk to you regarding your sister indicate a
guilty conscience.”
“Would you risk going to Heath Castle again,
Nancy?”
“I would if I could accomplish something,” the
young detective said. “But I believe the mystery
may be solved in another way.”
She thought it best not to tell Mrs. Fenimore
about the possibility that her sister might have
been crippled as a result of an automobile acci-
dent. She merely said there was an interesting
new lead to follow, one which would not involve
her coming in contact with Daniel Hector.
Later, at home. Nancy reviewed the develop-
ments in the mystery. Intruders prowling around
the Heath estate were looking for something im-
portant. She had heard them mention the clue in
a stone wall and unnamed items they had already
found. Where did Hector fit in? Were they all
working together? What-if anything-did the
search have to do with Juliana’s disappearance?
“And then there’s the man who was eavesdrop-
ping,” Nancy thought as she opened the top
drawer of her dresser to get a handkerchief. There
lay the torn note she had found in the debris at
the Heath factory. In the recent excitement she
had forgotten about it,
“This may be my most valuable clue,” she
chided herself. “I must try to figure it out.”
She sat down to piece out the message. Just
then the telephone rang. The caller was George
who wanted to know how the detective work was
progressing.
“I have a clue to your stolen clothes,” Nancy
said, and told of the shirt at Mrs. Hooper’s.
“Why, the nerve of that woman!” George cried
indignantly “I’m going there at once and demand
that she return my property!”
“You can’t prove anything, George,” Nancy
said. “Better forget the matter for the time being,
and come over here. I have lots to tell you. Bring
Bess along.”
“Be there pronto,” George replied and hung
up.
“If it was really Teddy who took those clothes,”
Nancy reasoned, “what was he doing in the Heath
gardens?” She was still trying to figure this out
when her friends arrived. Nancy told them every-