The Eskimo's Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

is, don’t you?”
    “Of course.”
    “We could talk safely on one of those horse- drawn sightseeing rides,” Tod continued. He suggested they meet there in half an hour, then he hung up.
    Nancy replaced the receiver of the library telephone, then stood looking at nothing for a moment. What was Tod afraid of? Was he somehow involved in Alana’s disappearance? Or was it that he thought Mr. Steele was involved? She hadn’t a clue and it bothered her.
    Nancy slipped her hand into her pocket, her fingers lightly caressing the notebook. For a moment she wished she hadn’t called Tod, hadn’t agreed to meet him. She longed for time to look into the notebook to see what it was Alana had hidden so carefully. Then the memories of the panic in Alana’s voice swept over her and she knew she had to do more than read the notebook. Alana was in trouble or danger and she needed help!
    Mrs. Dentley was just coming out of the dining room when Nancy left the library. “Is everything satisfactory?” she asked with a smile.
    “Everything is fine, thank you,” Nancy assured her. “I’ll be going out for an hour or two now. If my father calls, tell him I’ll call him back as soon as I return.”
    “I’ll be happy to.” Mrs. Dentley’s smile faded. “I do hope you find Alana,” she said.
    “I’ll do my best,” Nancy assured her, feeling guilty about not telling her of the phone call she’d just received. She hurried up to the guest room to get her purse, taking time only to tuck the notebook into it before she left.
    The streets of Victoria were pretty but busy, and once she found the spot Tod had mentioned, she rather enjoyed the wait. Small flower baskets hung from old-fashioned lampposts, and clusters of geraniums and petunias added bright spots of color as she looked across the street to where the ivy-draped Empress Hotel stood. A tourist wagon passed and Nancy glanced at her watch. Tod was late. Frowning, she went to a telephone to call him.
    There was no answer at his apartment, so she returned to the meeting place. When a second horse-drawn wagon passed, Nancy felt an icy chill of premonition. Tod Harper tricked me, she thought angrily.
    She tried his apartment once more, then drove back to the Steele mansion. Her suspicions of trouble were confirmed when the front door was opened by a man in uniform.
    “Nancy, where in the world have you been?” Mr. Steele asked as he emerged from the library, his face dark with anger.
    “I went out to meet Tod Harper,” Nancy said, aware that she wasn’t going to make him any happier.
    “What did he want?” Mr. Steele demanded. “You should have known better than to trust him.”
    Nancy agreed, glumly. She looked around, noting more men moving purposefully through the halls of the mansion. “Did something happen here while I was away?”
    “I’m afraid so,” said the man who’d admitted her, before Mr. Steele could answer. “Are you Nancy Drew?”
    “Yes, I am,” Nancy said, her heart sinking.
    “Would you come upstairs, please, Miss Drew,” the man requested. “We’d like you to check your belongings and tell us if anything is missing.”
    "Missing?”
    “Someone broke in, Nancy,” Mr. Steele said.
    “You mean there was a burglary here?” Nancy asked, not sure she believed her own ears.
    “We’re not sure that anything was taken,” Mr. Steele said. “At least, nothing seems to be missing.”
    Nancy started to ask for more details, but her host had already turned away and disappeared back into the library, closing the door behind him. Frowning, Nancy followed the uniformed officer upstairs. Since her room was at the far end of the hall, they passed the door of Alana’s room on the way.
    “The maid said you were in here earlier,” the officer said. “Do you think you could tell if any-thing was missing?”
    “From Alana’s room?” Nancy began, then gasped as the man opened the door. The room was a shambles. Every drawer had been dumped out, every