The Whispering Statue Read Online Free PDF

telltale clues to the thief or thieves. Presently Bess came across part of a torn letter under a stone, but it proved to be only an advertisement. Neither Nancy nor George found any clues. Finally the searchers met in the flower garden.
    “I wonder who owns that land on the other side of the hedge,” Nancy remarked. “Let’s take a look over there.”
    The girls walked to the far side of the garden and pushed their way through the tightly grown hedge. Just beyond stood a small building which they surmised had been used as a tool house. They headed for it. Finding the door unlocked, Nancy pulled it open. The hinges squeaked loudly.
    “Ugh, cobwebs!” said Bess.
    The place was cluttered with broken tools and garden equipment, some of it piled on top of other broken pieces.
    “Surely,” Bess remarked, “you don’t expect to find a clue here.”
    Nancy did not reply. Her keen eyes had detected something long and white propped in one corner and almost hidden by the debris. Pushing objects aside, Nancy made her way toward the corner.
    “Girls, this looks like a statue!” she exclaimed.
    Bess and George stepped forward and uncovered a dusty marble figure. Hardly daring to believe they had found the missing statue, they carefully turned the sculpture around. It was the life-size figure of a young woman.
    “It looks like you, Nancy!” Bess cried out.
    Nancy pulled off her wig and the cousins stared first at her, then at the statue. “It certainly does!” Bess added.
    “This must be the whispering statue!” George added. “Only it isn’t whispering.”
    “Maybe,” said Bess, “if we clean off all this dust, it will whisper!”
    After staring at the marble piece, Nancy put her wig back on and said, “We are just guessing this is the stolen statue. The only person we know who can identify it is Mrs. Merriam. Let’s go tell Mr. Ayer about our discovery and then phone Mrs. Merriam to come over and look at the statue.”
    On the way to the yacht club the girls excitedly discussed their amazing find. “So it wasn’t really stolen, after all,” Bess remarked. “But why would anybody hide the statue in that shed? And why didn’t the police find it?”
    George suggested that possibly the thieves had not been able to sell the piece and had returned it rather than be caught with stolen property.
    “If so,” said Nancy, “that must have happened after the police searched the area. The thieves probably were nearly caught when returning the statue and hid it in the shed.”
    Mr. Ayer was astounded at the girls’ news and immediately went with them to the shed. The manager said he would telephone Mrs. Merriam and ask her to come over. Fortunately he found her at home with her husband and the woman promised to drive to the club at once. Nancy suggested that she, Bess, and George go out on the beach during the woman’s visit, since they were not supposed to be seen in her company.
    “I understand,” the manager said. “After she eaves, I’ll come to the beach and tell you what she had to say.”

    “It looks like you, Nancy!” Bess cried out
    The girls took a long walk along the sandy shore. As they returned to the area where the boats were docked, they saw Mr. Ayer coming in their direction. He was smiling.
    “Good news for you young detectives,” he said. “Mrs. Merriam positively identified the marble piece in the shed as the whispering statue. I’ve already ordered workmen to give it a thorough cleaning, then to bring it over to the club. The big flower urn on the front lawn will be removed and the statue set in its original place.”
    “Well, I’m glad that mystery is solved,” said Bess. “Aren’t you, Nancy?”
    Her friend did not reply at once. Finally she said, “I wonder if it really has been solved.”
    “What do you mean?” Bess asked.
    Nancy said, “I won’t be satisfied until I hear the statue whisper.”
    By the time the girls reached the shed, two workmen had brought the marble