(#26) The Clue of the Leaning Chimney Read Online Free PDF

wasn’t in that attic.”
    “But it would have reached there eventually if you hadn’t spoiled Manning’s plans,” said George. “I wonder where Mr. Soong’s vase is.”
    Nancy was about to reply when suddenly both girls were blinded by a stabbing glare. Nancy threw up her left hand to shield her eyes. Then, as quickly as the glare had come, it disappeared.
    “What was that?” George asked.
    Nancy stopped and got out. “I don’t know,” she said. “But I intend to find out.”
    “Not without me,” George declared.
    Together the girls walked to the sparse woods from which the flash had come. In a few seconds Nancy and George came upon a car. It was a maroon coupé with a badly dented right rear fender. The car was empty.
    Attached to the outside frame was a side-view mirror. It had been tilted, possibly by the jarring trip off the road. On a hunch, Nancy adjusted the mirror. As she did so, she was struck by the same stabbing glare that had blinded her in the convertible. A ray of sunlight had been reflected from it to the road!
    “Funny place to leave a car,” George commented.
    “This may be a meeting place for Manning and his friends.” Nancy circled the coupe, then jotted down the license number in her notebook.
    As if confirming her deduction, Nancy and George heard the murmur of men’s voices deeper in the woods. The girls started forward.
    Taking care not to make a sound, they stepped cautiously as the voices grew more distinct. Presently the girls saw two men. Their backs were turned, and they seemed to be bending over something on a log. Unable to hear what they were saying, Nancy and George crept forward.
    Nancy’s attention was so fixed on the men that she did not notice a dry twig in her path. The next moment, there was a sharp crack as she stepped on the twig.
    The girls heard a startled exclamation, followed by a hollow crash, as if something had dropped and broken. Without looking back, the men scooted into the brush and disappeared.
    “George, I’ll see what they dropped,” Nancy whispered, running quickly toward the log.
    “Be right back!” called George, and raced off in the direction of the disappearing men.
    Hoping that they would be heading for their car, George plunged into the dense underbrush. She had to get a look at them!
    Beside the log, Nancy found part of a wrinkled newspaper. On it lay fragments of what had been a small Oriental bowl. Nancy glanced at the newspaper. It was Chinese!
    She bent over to pick up the paper and the broken pieces. They might prove to be a valuable clue. But hardly had she put the last fragment in her bag when a bloodcurdling scream rent the woods.
    It came from George!
    Nancy raced pell-mell toward the sound, which had come from the direction of the car. Her worst fears aroused, she fairly flew, heedless of the brambles that tore at her dress. Finally she came in sight of the coupé standing exactly where she had seen it.
    George was not there!
    As Nancy stood uncertain under a low-hanging limb, a shadowy figure suddenly leaped at her. She felt a stinging pain and collapsed to the ground!

CHAPTER V
    A Chinese Puzzle
    NANCY recovered her senses in a few minutes and got up. There was a dull throbbing in her forehead, but her memory cleared at once.
    Her first thought was of George. There was no sign of her. The maroon coupé was gone, and for an instant Nancy was fearful her friend might have been kidnapped. But she discarded the horrible thought at once.
    “More than likely George was knocked out too,” she reasoned.
    Picking up her handbag, which lay on the ground, she began calling George’s name. To Nancy’s relief, the shout was answered.
    “I’m over here! Blindfolded! My hands are tied!”
    Nancy traced the sound. George stood with her back to a tree, rubbing her wrists against the bark to tear off the belt of her dress with which they were bound. Nancy quickly freed her and removed the blindfold. George’s story differed only slightly