The Clue In The Crumbling Wall Part 15

"I thought Cobb was a last name," she com- mented. "It never occurred to me that Biggs'

companion might be Teddy's father. The man I overheard in the cloister didn't act very paternally toward the boy."

"Maybe it's only a coincidence."

"Possibly. But Cobb is not a common name.

Shouldn't we talk to the police again?"

Mr. Drew glanced at his watch. "All right. But we haven't much time if we're to get to Hampton tonight."

At headquarters the sergeant on duty consulted the files and informed the Drews that Cobb Hooper had a prison record.

"Have you a mug shot of him?" Carson Drew asked.

"Sure."

The photograph was brought out. With only one glance Nancy knew that he was the same man she had seen in the castle garden.

"Cobb Hooper was one of the men who was hacking at the stone walls," she revealed. "He also rammed me with his boat."

"I'll try to get a warrant for his arrest," the of- ficer said.

Nancy and her father thanked him and left for Hampton. They arrived at ten o'clock, and the next morning waited in the motel lobby to meet Emily Foster. She was fifteen minutes late.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it on time," she said as she rushed in breathlessly. "You are Mr.

and Miss Drew, aren't you?"

As the two nodded she went on, "The nurse who was to relieve me was late."

Nancy and her father liked Miss Foster at once.

She was in her early forties, brisk and efficient, with a friendly smile.

After some polite conversation, she came right to the point. "Mr. Drew, you said over the tele- phone that you wanted to ask me about a former patient of mine. I'll be glad to help you if I can."

"The information we are seeking concerns Juliana Johnson," Mr. Drew began, "but I be- lieve she gave the name Julia Flower at the hos- pital. She was injured in a hit-and-run accident."

He showed Emily Foster Juliana's photograph.

"Yes, I knew her as Miss Flower," the nurse said.

"Tell us about her," Mr. Drew urged. "What- ever you can remember."

"Well, I had a hunch right away that Miss Flower gave us an a.s.sumed name," Emily Foster recalled. "For one thing, she never had any visi- tors. No messages came for her, no letters. She would not allow the authorities to notify anyone of her accident. 'I don't want anyone to know,'

she would say. 'Not until I'm well.' "

"Did she believe she would recover?" Nancy asked quickly.

"Only in the beginning. Then the doctor told her the truth-that she'd be lame for the rest of her life.'

'How did she take it?" Mr. Drew questioned.

"Very hard. Miss Flower cried for days, saying the strangest things. One remark I recall was, 'His little Cinderella will never dance for him again.'

Oh, it was heartbreaking to listen to her."

Cinderella!

Nancy was so sure she was on the right track that her mind leaped from one possibility to an- other. She nearly missed hearing her father's next question.

"Where did Miss Flower go after she left the hospital?"

"I don't know," Miss Foster admitted regret- fully. "From her remarks, I surmised she in- tended to live in some secluded place near Hope- well."

"That name Flower," Nancy mused. "Juliana was interested in gardening," she added, recalling what Mrs. Fenimore had told her about the dancer. "She would pick a place with flowers and trees and vegetables, probably a farm."

"Miss Flower no doubt did," the nurse said.

"She was always asking me to buy her garden magazines. Why, the day before her release, I re- member she cut an advertis.e.m.e.nt from the local paper-"

"What was it?" Nancy asked eagerly.

"The ad offered a small fruit and vegetable farm for sale-a place known as Clover Farm."

"Where is it?"

"It seems to me there used to be a Clover Farm at Milton about ten miles from here. I don't know whether it's the same one, though."

Nancy turned to her father.

He sensed her thoughts and said, "Yes, we'll go there today. It may be a futile trip, but we must follow every lead."

"Oh, I hope it's the right place!" said Nancy.

"We must find Juliana soon. Time is getting short!"

CHAPTER XVII.

Kidnapped!

After the Drews had said good-by to Emily Fos- ter, they drove toward Milton. At a service station near the edge of town, they stopped and inquired where Clover Farm was.

"Never heard of it," was the attendant's disap- pointing reply. He also did not know of a Julia Flower or Juliana or Julie Johnson. The local telephone book had no listing for any of the names.

"Oh, Dad," Nancy said, "have we run into an- other dead end?"

She had never felt more frustrated. Her father went into two shops to make the same inquiry, but had no better luck. A distressing thought came to Nancy that maybe the former dancer had moved to another part of the country or was no longer alive. Mr. Drew, trying to cheer his daughter, suggested that the elusive woman might be living in the area under another name.

At once Nancy took heart. "Let's drive all over this place. Maybe we'll pick up a clue."

Silence followed as they rode up one road and down another. About a mile out of town Nancy suddenly exclaimed, "Look!"

On one side of the road was an attractive white arched arbor at the entrance to the grounds.

Fields of flowers, shrubs, and a nursery of trees lined either side. A neatly painted sign on the arbor read: Jardin des Fleurs Juliette Fleur, Prop.

"I'm sure this is the place!" Nancy cried ex- citedly. "Julia Flower translated her name into French, and calls her place Garden of Flowers."

It was a quarter of a mile to the house, which was surrounded by a high white picket fence with a locked gate. A terrier with a staccato bark raced from the building toward the callers.

"There's no bell or knocker," said Nancy.

"How does one get in?"

Her question was answered when two garden- ers hurried from the rear of the enclosure.

"No visitors allowed here!" one of them said curtly.

"We came to see Miss Fleur," Mr. Drew ex- plained, then introduced himself and his daugh- ter.

"Did she send for you?"

"No," Mr. Drew admitted, "but if she's the person we're looking for, we have important in- formation for her."

Nancy pulled out Juliana's photograph, and showed it to the men, who stared at it. Finally one of them said, "It's her, all right-when she was younger. But she's not here!"

"Where is she?" Nancy asked.

"Well, usually she never leaves the place on ac- count of being such a cripple. But when that gov- ernment man came for her last night, she had to go. He took her away in a car."

"What government man?" Mr. Drew asked quickly. "Did he give his name?"

"He probably told Miss Fleur. We didn't hear it."

"Did she say why she had to go with him?"

Nancy asked.

"It was something about income tax. Miss Fleur always thought she paid the government every penny she owed. She's very honest. But the man claimed she'd made a false report and might have to go to prison."

"This seems very irregular to me," Mr. Drew commented. "Even if Miss Fleur made a mistake in the amount of her tax, she would not be sen- tenced without a hearing. The usual procedure is to notify the accused by letter and have the person call at the tax office to explain his or her side of the matter."

"Dad," Nancy said, "it looks as if someone was very eager to get Miss Fleur away from here. We must End her!"

"First of all, we'll check with the Internal Rev- enue Service; that is, if I can use a telephone."

The two gardeners, sensing that Nancy and her father were sincere, invited them into the farm- house. Mr. Drew called. When he finished, he looked grim.

"Just as we feared," he revealed. "The Internal Revenue Service has no case pending against Juliette Fleur, Juliana Johnson, or Julia Flower."

"Then it was a hoax!" Nancy exclaimed.

Yes. The man who came here was an im- postor."

The gardeners suddenly looked alarmed. One of them said, "Are you saying Miss Fleur maybe was kidnapped?"

"Possibly," Mr. Drew replied.

The two workmen were speechless. "Oh, find her!" one said. "We think an awful lot of her."

"Have you any idea where she may have been taken?" Nancy asked. Both men said they had told her everything they knew.

They spread the news of the incident to Miss Fleur's other two employees who came in from the fields. Their faces became sad.

"Those kidnappers may hurt her!" one of the gardeners said.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Mr. Drew said to comfort the man. "Miss Fleur probably will receive good treatment. But unfortunately she will lose a fortune unless she can be found."

"But how? Shall we call the police?" the man asked.

"We'll stop at headquarters on the way home,"

Mr. Drew said, and promised the gardeners he would do everything he could to find Juliette Fleur.

"Tell me, what did the alleged government man look like?" he asked.

The gardeners' description was not very help- ful.

"He was tall and slender," one said, "and wore dark gla.s.ses. He had a beard and a mustache."

"Probably a disguise," Nancy concluded.

After the Drews had told their story to the local police, they returned to the Hampton Motel. On their way to the dining room, Carson Drew pur- chased a copy of the River Heights newspaper.

A startling headline caught his eyes: FAMOUS DANCER RETURNS IN.

TIME TO CLAIM HEATH FORTUNE.

The article stated that after a long search, Daniel Hector had found the missing Juliana, who now was staying at the Riverview Hotel in River Heights. For many years the famous dancer had been fulfilling professional engagements in South America under another name.