Read Online (#39) The Clue of the Dancing Puppet by Carolyn Keene - Free Book Online Page B

aware of running footsteps.
    “Help at last!” thought Nancy. She tooted her horn a couple of times.
    She and George held their breaths, wondering what the men would do. To the girls’ relief, the two intruders suddenly took to their heels and dashed down the road in the direction of River Heights. The engine of a getaway car started with a roar just as Mr. Spencer, Emmet Calhoun, and Bess arrived on the run. Nancy and George rolled down the windows.
    “Why the roadblock?” George demanded, leaning out the window.
    “Who put these here? What’s going on? Where have you been?” Mr. Spencer cried excitedly. “You girls had us scared to death.”
    “Tell you later. We were stopped by two masked men who just left here,” Nancy replied.
    “What!” Bess cried. “How frightening!”
    “It was no joke,” Nancy agreed. Briefly, she explained what had happened. “Did you set up the roadblock, Mr. Spencer?”
    “No. The men must have taken these props from the theater.”
    Bess sagged limply against the side of the car. “Oh, Nancy, George, what a narrow escape you had!” she gasped.
    Mr. Spencer and Emmet Calhoun thought they should not let the two masked men get away. They started to climb into the convertible and Mr. Spencer said, “Nancy, we’ll chase them!”
    To his surprise, Nancy did not move. With a slight smile, she said, “This time I picked up a clue. I know who one of the men is.”
    The others looked at her in astonishment. George asked, “How could you? They were masked.”
    “Did you recognize his voice?” Mr. Spencer questioned.
    Nancy shook her head. “George and I had a little adventure up at the Green Acres Restaurant—tell you all about it later. But the important thing is, two men suspected of being thieves were stopped there and searched. They were allowed to go because a stolen necklace was not found on them.”
    “Yes, yes, go on,” Bess pleaded.
    “One of those men,” Nancy. continued, “had an unusual scar just above his right wrist.”
    George blinked and asked, “And you mean to say the masked man who was standing alongside you here had a peculiar scar above his right wrist?”
    “I certainly do,” Nancy answered. “His name is John Terrill. He’s from California and the police have this data.”
    “Nancy Drew, you’re an absolute whiz,” said Bess.
    The two men looked at her admiringly and praised her fine sleuthing. Nancy felt sure that in some way John Terrill was connected with the mystery at the Van Pelt estate. But she said nothing, not knowing whether or not Emmet Calhoun knew of the mystery of the dancing puppet.
    “I’d like to phone Chief McGinnis at once,” Nancy said.
    Mr. Spencer and Emmet Calhoun removed the sawhorses and carried them inside the theater. In the meantime, Nancy drove to the house. She asked George to park the car while she made the phone call.
    “Chief McGinnis,” she said, when he came on the line, “have you a few minutes to talk to me?”
    Receiving an affirmative reply, Nancy related the whole story—from the time she had seen Terrill and Longman run out of the restaurant to the moment the holdup men had dashed away in a car from the Van Pelt estate, On purpose, Nancy said nothing about Tammi or Chuck Grant, the singer. She would pursue that little mystery on her own!
    “It looks,” Chief McGinnis remarked, “as if those men were determined to keep you from interfering in anything further they may want to do. I’ll alert my men to keep an eye out for Terrill and Longman. They could possibly be the same elusive fellows who’ve pulled similar daring jewel thefts lately in this area. You say the local police searched the restaurant and grounds thoroughly?”
    Nancy said she did not know that exactly, but she was sure the men had not thrown the necklace any place outdoors. “I was watching from the instant they came out the door. The police had not yet searched the inside of the restaurant when I left. Maybe they found Mrs.