Nancy's Mysterious Letter Read Online Free PDF

before leaving the house, Mrs. Gruen came in, holding a long evening dress over one arm.
    “You haven’t forgotten you’re going to wear this Saturday evening, have you?” she teased.
    “I’m afraid I had.”
    The housekeeper reminded her that the dress had to be shortened. “You’d break your neck in it at this length,” she said. “Please put it on now and let me pin up the hem. Then I’ll sew it while you’re gone.”
    Nancy took off her skirt and sweater and slipped on the pale-blue evening dress. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she realized something was missing. Nancy studied herself as Hannah pinned up the skirt and kept telling her to turn a little at a time.
    Suddenly Nancy realized what the costume needed—the lovely pearl necklace Mr. Drew had given her on her last birthday.
    “The clasp is loose,” she thought. “Before I go to Mrs. Skeets’s house, I’ll run down to the jeweler’s with the necklace and have it fixed.”
    As soon as the housekeeper had finished pinning the hem, Nancy took off the dress. She put on her sports clothes once more, took the necklace from a drawer, and grabbed a coat.
    “Wish me luck,” she said, kissing Mrs. Gruen good-by. “I hope to bring home lots of news.”
    She drove directly to the center of town and parked. Mr. Whittier’s jewelry shop was a block away. Nancy hurried down the street and entered the store.
    “Good morning, Mr. Whittier,” she said to the elderly man behind the counter. “I think the clasp on my pearl necklace needs tightening.”
    She took it from her purse.
    The jeweler looked at it closely. “It certainly does,” he said. “Are you in a hurry for it?”
    Nancy told him she planned to take the necklace with her on Friday. “I’m going to Emerson for the weekend.”
    “Then I’ll fix this right away.”
    As Mr. Whittier went to a room at the rear of the shop, he called out, “You caught me at a good time. I’m not particularly busy now. Make yourself comfortable.”
    While waiting, Nancy looked at the large assortment of rings, bracelets, pins, and other bits of jewelry in the display cases. How beautiful they all were!
    Time passed quickly and soon the jeweler returned. He showed Nancy that the clasp worked perfectly now.
    As he was wrapping it for her, Mr. Whittier said, “How did you like your beautiful new pin?”
    “Pin?” Nancy repeated. “What pin?”
    “The one that man got for you yesterday. He said he was going to give it to you right away.”
    Nancy was puzzled. What man was going to give her a pin?

CHATTER. VI
    A Good Lead
    “You look surprised,” said Mr. Whittier. “I guess I gave away a secret.”
    “Oh, it’s all right,” Nancy assured him without divulging what was racing through her mind. The pin might be going to Nancy Smith Drew and here was her chance to find the heiress!
    Nancy did not reveal her thoughts, however. Smiling, she said, “I must confess I haven’t the least idea who might be giving me a pin, but it sounds exciting. I don’t suppose you want to tell me who he is?”
    The jeweler sighed. “I’ve told so much already I guess it won’t matter. He said his name was Mr. Nixon and that he is from out of town.”
    Nancy was startled. Was he Edgar Nixon? Was he a friend of the heiress or of some other Nancy Drew?
    “Maybe Edgar Nixon is going to give the pin to me, but there’ll be some trick to it if he does,” Nancy decided.
    Mr. Whittier looked at her quizzically. “You seem kind of worried,” he remarked. “I’m sorry I said anything. And please, when Mr. Nixon hands you the pin, don’t let on I gave away a secret.”
    Nancy assured him she would not.
    Suddenly she smiled. “If this man is the person I think he is, he’s related to someone I know very well. Would you mind telling me what he looks like?”
    “Well, he’s kind of handsome you might say,” Mr. Whittier replied. “Very thin and dark.”
    “What was he wearing?” Nancy asked.
    She was not surprised