The Clue of the Broken Locket Read Online Free PDF Page B

detective. I’m Henry Winch. I mailed the cottage key to your father so I suppose he sent you here with it.”
    “That’s right.” Just then the young sleuth noticed the tall, thin man gazing at her with narrowed eyes. He turned abruptly and left the shop.
    “Who was that man?” Nancy asked.
    Both the proprietor and Henry Winch said they did not know. It was the first time he had been in the store.
    The girls asked Mr. Winch about the phantom launch. He proved to be talkative, and vividly described the ghostly craft.
    “The old boat drifts along in the mist,” Winch went on, “and then when it reaches the spot where it’s supposed to have gone down, it vanishes.” The caretaker shuddered. “Started a couple o’ weeks ago. Summer folks began leavin’ earlier than usual. If they’re scared to come back next season I’ll lose business. I’m thinkin’ of sellin’ out and goin’ back to my brother’s—to stay.”
    Nancy and Bess, although sympathetic, did not comment. They quickly purchased the items they needed, then said good-by and left.
    They met George and Cecily at the car. George announced the bottled gas would be delivered soon. Also, she had stopped at Mrs. Hosking’s to inquire about Pudding Stone Lodge. She learned that it belonged to the Kenneth Wayne family of Baltimore, who had rented the house early in the summer to two brothers named Driscoll.
    “Oh, I must telephone the Waynes right away!” said Cecily. She told the others she had not been able to get hold of Niko either at his hotel or the theater where he was playing. “I did leave word I was at the cottage with friends,” she said, and sighed. “Oh, I just hope he isn’t too upset!”
    Cecily hurried off to telephone the Waynes, and Nancy went to call her father. She learned that he would be away on a business trip for a couple of weeks and wished her luck in the mysteries.
    “But don’t take unnecessary chances,” Mr. Drew cautioned.
    “I’ll do my best not to,” Nancy replied. “Good-by, Dad, and lots of luck to you too.”
    Cecily reported that she had been unable to get an answer to her phone call. The girls climbed into Nancy’s convertible and headed back to the cottage. As they reached the end of the lane a man suddenly stepped into the road, directly in their path. He was the tall, thin man from the general store!
    He held up his hand and ordered, “Stop!”
    Nancy had no choice but to obey. To the girls’ surprise, the thin man smiled at them and came up to the car. “Don’t be worried,” he said. “I’m Karl Driscoll. I heard my brother Vince ordered you off our property and I came to apologize. There’s no reason why you girls shouldn’t look around the grounds. You’re welcome any time.”
    He smirked and went on, “I have a hunch you’re not just sightseers. You looking for something?”
    Nancy would have preferred that the girls say nothing, but Cecily spoke up eagerly. “Yes, I’m looking for an iron bird. I have no idea what it looks like, and I’m not sure whether the lodge is the place for me to search. My ancestors once lived in a similar house, though, and I’m curious to find out if this is the one.”
    Karl Driscoll showed great interest. “An iron bird, eh? Sounds unusual,” he said. “I wish I could help you, but I haven’t seen any such bird around since we rented the place. I’ll keep a look-out, though.”
    He said he must be leaving and walked off toward Pudding Stone Lodge. Nancy had a sudden hunch that he would search for the iron bird himself—that he probably suspected there was more to the whole story than Cecily had revealed.
    “What do you make of all that?” George asked with suspicion in her tone. “One brother is surly and the other goes out of his way to apologize.”
    “It is strange,” Nancy admitted. “I think we should take advantage of Karl Driscoll’s offer and inspect the grounds very soon.”
    Cecily was eager to do so and it was decided that they