at her!”
“Oh, yes, I can prove it,” Juliana retorted with
spirit. “The imprint of my dancing shoe is em-
bedded in a wall at Heath Castle. Furthermore, I
still have the slipper that made the imprint!”
“What’s that got to do with it? The real Juliana
is at the Riverview Hotel!” the lawyer blustered.
“She has a note to prove her identity. A note
signed Walt.”
“Don’t you mean half a note?” Nancy asked.
“I have the rest!”
Cobb and Biggs looked startled. “You?” Biggs
cried. “Where did you find it?”
“At the factory after the explosion.”
The three men hung their heads guiltily, ad-
mitting they had been there. Biggs added,
“Hooper here found the note in a desk Hector
sold. He tore it in two pieces, expecting the law-
yer to put up more money for the second half.
When one piece was lost, we thought Hector had
found it.”
In answer to Nancy’s question if he were Ted-
dy’s father, the man nodded sullenly.
Nancy explained to Juliana that Teddy had
learned about the estate from Joan. Teddy had
told his father that Juliana was missing. Cobb and
Biggs got together. Biggs suspected his former em-
ployer had hidden some valuable things in the
estate walls and the two men convinced Hector he
ought to hire them to look for the treasure. When
they found a few items, the men kept them.
“You guessed right, but I can’t figure out how,”
said Biggs.
“I know nothing about all this!” shouted the
lawyer.
“Yes, you do,” Cobb Hooper said bitterly.
“You were behind the whole thing. You brought
the dogs to guard the estate, but later I kept ’em
tied up and then took ’em back to the kennel.”
“We were afraid of them ourselves,” Biggs
added.
“Mr. Hector,” said Lieutenant Masters, “it
looks as if the case against you is pretty serious.”
“I tell you I never saw these men before,” the
lawyer insisted. “Nor that crippled woman,
either. Now all of you get out of here!”
For a long second there was silence. Then Juli-
ana slowly got to her feet. Her eyes ablaze, she
pointed a finger at Hector and exclaimed:
“Arrest that man! Arrest him for kidnapping!”
The wily lawyer’s jaw dropped. Then he re-
covered. “The woman is crazy!” he shouted.
“The night you came to my farm and brought
me here you wore a disguise,” Juliana said ac-
cusingly. “At first I didn’t recognize you. But
your voice-I know your voice.” Her eyes
snapped with anger as she added, “I will bring
charges against you to the fullest extent of the law
for Walter Heath’s sake!”
Daniel Hector knew he was beaten. But he
would not give up yet. He glared at Nancy and
cried out:
“If you had minded your own business, there
wouldn’t have been all this trouble! But don’t
be so smug. You think there are treasures and
money for Juliana. You’re wrong. There’s noth-
ing in the estate but debts. She has inherited a
wreck!”
CHAPTER XX
A Last Surprise
“Nothing in the estate!” Nancy exclaimed.
“What do you mean?”
The angry lawyer refused to reply. He and the
other prisoners were led away by the police.
Nancy,-Miss Masters, and Juliana headed for the
Fenimore home. When they arrived, Juliana
asked Nancy to go in first and break the news.
“Oh, you’ve found my sister!” Mrs. Fenimore
cried, after Nancy had told her. “You wonderful
girl! I don’t care if we never have Heath Castle.
To think Juliana is alive, and we can be together
again!”
Gently Nancy warned her about Juliana’s con-
dition. The news was a shock, but Mrs. Fenimore
took it bravely as Juliana was brought in. The
sisters embraced and both cried a little. Then
over and over the joyful women expressed their
gratitude to Nancy.
The young sleuth said she was glad to have ac-
complished what she had, but was not satisfied to
leave the case yet. For days afterward she was
tormented by all the distressing angles of the af-
fair.
In the meantime, Juliana had claimed her in-
heritance and had requested that all legal matters
be attended to by Mr. Drew. The lawyer had lost