Nancy's Mysterious Letter Part 28

"No, not yet. He wanted to marry me right away and take me to England for a honeymoon, but I told him we would have to wait until we get to London. Even though I have no near relatives, I thought it would seem more like home to marry there."

Nancy took hold of one of Miss Drew's hands and looked straight into her eyes. "I'm dreadfully sorry to have to tell you this. You must not marry Edgar Nixon. He's wanted by the police for robbery and using the mails to defraud victims in a phony Lonely Hearts Club."

The actress gasped "I don't believe it!"

Nancy glanced up toward Bess and George. Both were holding up their handbags and looking toward the counter. Two men had approached Edgar Nixon.

"Look over there, Miss Drew," Nancy said. "Those are plainclothesmen arresting Edgar Nixon."

All the color drained from the actress's face, but she got up when Nancy did and walked with her to the counter.

They were just in time to hear one of the policemen say, "You're under arrest!"

As Edgar Nixon loudly protested, Nancy stepped forward.

"I'm Nancy Drew from River Heights," she introduced herself. Bess and George came up and confirmed the statement. Nancy went on, "I also accuse this man. He tried to harm me so that I could not frustrate his plans."

The other plainclothesman said that he had arranged for the use of an office in the airport so that they might talk in private. The two policemen marched Edgar Nixon toward it and the others followed. Miss Nancy Smith Drew, trembling, clung to Nancy.

"I know this is dreadful for you," the young detective told her, "but as soon as the shock is over, you will be grateful that you were saved from a very unhappy marriage."

During the conference that followed, all of Edgar Nixon's unsavory schemes were brought out. He admitted having had two men to help him and a girl who had become a friend through his Lonely Hearts Club.

"Why did you steal the letters from your brother's mailbag?" Nancy asked him.

A sneer came over the prisoner's face. He gave a little laugh as he answered. "Tell your father his Mrs. Quigley is a gabby client. She joined my Lonely Hearts Club. The old gal sent me letters five pages long and told me all her business. So I knew exactly when the money was being mailed to Mr. Drew, and-well, I figured I needed it more than she did.

"I was hiding and waiting for a chance to take the letter from Ira, when you stopped in your car and told him you'd give him cocoa at your house. That was my chance."

Edgar said that getting the Nancy Smith Drew letter was pure accident, but he had instantly planned to benefit by it. One of his club members had sent him an Emerson newspaper. In it was an item that the actress was coaching a play at the college. When he read Mr. Bates-Jones's letter, Edgar had hurried to Emerson to make her acquaintance and a couple of days later asked her to marry him.

All this time, Nixon had not looked at his fiancee who was on the verge of tears. He made no apologies to her, and when questioned by Nancy, he said he had intended to keep the knowledge of her inheritance from Miss Drew until after they were married.

"Do you have the thousand dollars with you that you took from your brother?" Nancy asked the prisoner suddenly.

Taken off guard, Edgar Nixon whipped out his wallet and threw it at the girl. "Take this to the old miser," he shouted hysterically. "He never did treat me like a brother."

Nancy looked in the wallet. Besides the money, there were two plane tickets to London.

As Edgar was led away, Nancy Smith Drew burst into tears. "What a fool I've been!" she sobbed. "First I walked out on those fine boys in the Drama Club because of Edgar. But I did peek in at their show before taking the things in my locker. And I never said good-by properly to Mrs. Roderick.

"Edgar kept urging me to hurry with my packing and wouldn't let me write a thank-you note. But while he was carrying my bags down, I managed to scribble a few verses that had a message in them. Edgar didn't know what they meant."

"Nancy figured them out," Bess said proudly.

Miss Drew turned her tear-stained face toward Nancy. "You've been so wonderful. But," she added sadly, "there'll be no wedding bells for me and I had counted on my marriage so much. Oh dear, I don't know what to do!"

As Nancy thought of an appropriate answer, she suddenly realized that this mystery which she had enjoyed so much was coming to a close. The young detective always felt a vacuum in her life when this happened. But the feeling was not to last long. In a short time she would be working on another case, Sign of the Twisted Candles.

Nancy put an arm around the actress. "I'll tell you what you should do, Miss Drew," she said, smiling. "Take one of these plane tickets and go to England tonight!"

"Oh, do you think I should?"

Bess and George backed Nancy up in urging the actress to go. "You can have a wonderful time," Bess said, "and forget all your troubles."

Finally Nancy Smith Drew said, "You dear girls, I can never thank you enough." Then she began to quote from Shakespeare:" 'But love is blind, and lovers

cannot see

The pretty follies that themselves

commit.' "

end.