The Whispering Statue Read Online Free PDF Page B

figure outside and were now loading it into the back of the club truck onto an old mattress. The girls were invited to go along and help steady the statue. The marble figure was taken to the area where cars were washed and given a bath.
    “She looks much better,” George remarked, “but still she doesn’t whisper.”
    The sculpture was taken to the front lawn and set in place, so that the young woman looked directly out over the bay. Still there was not a sound from her.
    Bess asked, “Is she turned so she’s facing exactly toward Italy? I’m sure she did originally.”
    “I dunno,” said one of the workmen. “Which way is Italy?”
    No one in the group was quite sure so the statue was turned inch by inch. After a complete semicircle, there was still not a sound from the marble lady.
    “What difference does it make?” one of the workmen asked. “She’s a beauty and sure looks nice in front of the yacht club.”
    The girls agreed, then walked off slowly and went to their bedroom to change for dinner.
    “Nancy, you’ve been so quiet,” Bess remarked. “What’s on your mind? Do you suspect that someone has tampered with the statue and that’s why it no longer whispers?”

CHAPTER VI
    Thieves
    “IT’S very possible that someone tampered with the statue,” Nancy answered Bess’s query. “And now she won’t whisper. It’s up to us to find out what happened.”
    “Maybe,” George spoke up, “the statue never really whispered. The whole story could have been made up to scare people away from this place when it was an estate.”
    Nancy stood by the window staring down at the marble piece. “You girls are going to be shocked at my guess.”
    “Just the same I want to hear it,”. said George.
    She and Bess joined Nancy at the window and looked down at the statue. Nancy put an arm around each girl and said, “I have a strong hunch that the statue we’re looking at is a reproduction of the original.”
    “What!” Bess cried. “But why would the thief go to all that trouble?”
    “I see Nancy’s point,” said George. “The thief hoped to fool the police and keep them off his trail.”
    Bess stepped back and looked at Nancy admiringly. “Your hunches are so often right it startles me. How do you propose to go about proving this one?”
    Nancy said she would telephone her father and tell him her suspicions. “He’ll know an expert who can give the answer.”
    Bess and George were amazed at Nancy’s deduction. George said, “If you’re right, then the thief is a clever person.”
    Nancy nodded. “And he won’t be easy to catch. I believe that the person who made the mold for the reproduction accidentally covered whatever it was that caused the statue to whisper.”
    “I see what you mean,” Bess spoke up. “The police were looking for a statue that whispered.”
    “I suggest,” said Nancy, “that we say nothing about my hunch to anyone except Dad. The thief will think he’s safe.” She smiled. “He may just get careless and be more easily picked up.”
    The girls went down to dinner. Nancy telephoned home but no one answered.
    The next morning Bess went to their bedroom window to look at the view. Suddenly she cried out and pointed toward the statue. “Those men are moving the marble statue!”
    “I wonder if Mr. Ayer knows about this,” said George. “Let’s find out!”
    The girls rushed from the room and downstairs. The manager was not around, so Nancy asked the desk clerk, Mr. Carter, if he knew about it.
    “No,” he said, “but I can’t believe those three men would try to steal the statue in broad daylight.”
    He requested his assistant to take over and hurried outdoors with the girls. Mr. Carter asked the men why they were moving the piece.
    “We got orders to cart it away for cleaning,” one of them replied, and the men went on with their work.
    “Who at the club gave you permission to take it?” Nancy inquired.
    “Nobody. Here’s our orders.” The mover took