CHAPTER II. A Plaid Clue

CHAPTER II

A Plaid Clue

When Nancy and Ned reached the smashed-in cab of the old truck, both closed their eyes for a second before getting up enough courage to look at a sight they dreaded to see. A light on the Drew grounds illuminated the twisted wreckage enough for them to view it clearly.

An expression of amazement came over Ned’s face. “No one’s in the cab!” he exclaimed.

Instantly Nancy realized that the door had been forced open. Perhaps the driver had been thrown clear! She quickly searched the street and around the truck, but no one was in sight.

“Ned, did you see anyone running away?” Nancy asked. Ned shook his head.

The couple examined the wreckage further. It was evident that no one was wedged between the pieces of crumpled metal and upholstery.

“Nancy, how could anyone have been in a smashup like this and not been injured?” Ned asked.

“I’m sure no one could have,” Nancy replied. “It’s my guess that the truck driver jumped out before the crash and ran away.”

Ned set his jaw. “This could even have been done on purpose!” he exclaimed.

“But why?” Nancy asked. “Why would anyone want to wreck my car?”

Now that she knew there was no injured person involved, she too became angry. Her beautiful convertible was ruined! She turned aside so that Ned could not see she was biting her lips to fight back tears.

While she was regaining control of her emotions, Ned dashed to the rear of the truck. “No license plate!” he fumed. “This proves the crash was caused deliberately!”

“Maybe we can trace the person by the engine number,” Nancy suggested. “I’ll get a flashlight.”

As Nancy started up the driveway, she met Hannah Gruen and her father. Mr. Drew carried a flashlight in his hand. A moment later neighbors began to arrive. Everyone was amazed to learn that apparently the truck had run itself into Nancy’s car.

Meanwhile, Nancy and Ned were searching the wreckage for the engine number. Finally they found the place where it had been, but the figures had been cleverly scratched so as to be illegible!

“Now we have proof this whole thing was done on purpose!” Nancy told her father. “What I can’t understand is why.”

The lawyer frowned. “What did the person hope to accomplish?” he asked. “Obviously, he wasn’t trying to injure you or Ned. And you hadn’t planned any particular trip in your car, nor were you using it on any mystery.”

Hannah Gruen offered to notify the police, while the others continued their investigation. First, they looked at Ned’s car. Fortunately, there was no damage other than broken headlights and two bent fenders.

Next, they began searching the truck for clues to the owner or driver. There was no name or initials, but Nancy remarked that the police laboratory would be able to detect any lettering which might have been painted over.

“Have you looked inside the truck?” Mr. Drew asked his daughter.

“Not yet,” Nancy answered.

She climbed into the back and beamed the flashlight around. There was nothing on the floor or sides. The person or persons who had caused the crash had removed every kind of identification.

In a few minutes a police car and two wreckers arrived. Flashlight photographs were taken and a fingerprint expert went to work on the wheel and door handles. The man reported that too many people had handled them to make a positive identification of any one set of prints.

“We’re getting nowhere!” Nancy whispered to her father and Ned.

Presently the officers came over and queried the Drews, asking who they suspected might have perpetrated the incident.

“We have no idea,” the lawyer replied.

As soon as the wreckers had hauled off Nancy’s car and the truck, Ned taped Mr. Drew’s flashlight and one of Nancy’s onto the front of his car.

“I’d better get to a garage and have new headlights put in,” he said. Before leaving, he added cheerily, “Nancy, if the police don’t solve this mystery right away, suppose I try my hand at it while you’re in Scotland?”

“That’s a good idea,” she agreed.

“I’ll call you tomorrow to see if the police have found out anything,” Ned said. He drove off, and one by one the neighbors sauntered back to their homes.

The Drews and Hannah Gruen went into the house and sat down to discuss the whole affair. But suddenly Nancy jumped up. “Bess!” she exclaimed. “I forgot that I promised to phone her back!”

When the connection was made, Bess complained, “What happened to you? I’ve been waiting here for ages!”

When Nancy told her what had caused the delay, Bess burst out, “How perfectly dreadful! And what an awful person to do such a thing! Well, I certainly hope the police find him!”

“I do too,” said Nancy. “But now, tell me more about this trip you won.”

Bess revealed that the trip could be made to any place in Europe. By the time she finished speaking, Nancy had an idea.

“Why don’t you take your cousin George? Then we three girls can go with my dad.”

“Do you mean it?” Bess asked.

“Of course I mean it.”

“Where is your father going, by the way?”

“To Scotland. There are two mysteries waiting to be solved. Wouldn’t you and George like to help tackle them?”

Bess’s cousin, George Fayne, had been invaluable to Nancy in her detective work. She was level-headed and very courageous. She liked her name George, and tried to live up to it by wearing boyish haircuts and plain-tailored clothes. She was dark-haired, slender, and athletic.

“I’ll phone George right away and let you know,” Bess offered.

Within ten minutes she called back excitedly. “Everything’s arranged! When do we leave? And will your dad make the reservations?”

Nancy hurried to ask her father. “We’ll start three days from now,” he told her. “I’m glad the girls are coming along.”

When Nancy relayed the news, Bess gasped. “Three days! We’ll make it, but my goodness what a rush! I’m glad we have our old passports.”

Nancy soon said good night to her father and Hannah Gruen and went to her room to start her packing. When she finally went to bed, the weary girl drifted off to sleep immediately. She was awake early, and helped prepare a breakfast of fresh strawberries, bacon and eggs, and muffins.

Not long after Mr. Drew had left the house, the postman arrived with a handful of letters. One, which was printed and bore no return address, was for Nancy. Curious, she opened it quickly. As she read the note inside, she gave a gasp of amazement. “Bad news. Nancy?” Mrs. Gruen asked.

“Yes, in a way. This is a threat!”

“Oh, my goodness!” the woman exclaimed, and took the letter. Aloud she read: “‘Your wrecked convertible is just the first of a series of accidents that will befall you and any car you ride in.’“ The note was unsigned.

Nancy, fingering the envelope, thought she felt something inside it. She reached in and drew out a tiny square of plaid cloth.

“It’s a piece of Douglas tartan!” she cried out.

Hannah Gruen looked perturbed. “What does this all mean?” she asked worriedly.

Nancy was silent for several seconds. Finally she said, “My guess is that the writer of this note is warning me that the accident is connected with my trip to Scotland. I wonder if it could have anything to do with the missing heirloom. Hannah, maybe whoever wrote this message is the thief and he doesn’t want me to try finding it.”

“But this letter was postmarked here in River Heights!” the housekeeper objected.

Nancy’s forehead wrinkled in deep thought. “Maybe the valuable heirloom was shipped to this country. Anyway, I’m going to turn the note over to the police.”

Nancy went off to do this, then spent the rest of the day shopping and talking to the garage repairman and to an agent of her automobile insurance company. Nancy was thankful that the convertible could be repaired, although the job would take some time. So far, the police had uncovered nothing regarding the owner of the truck or the person who had caused the wreck.

That evening Nancy and Hannah decided to take their terrier, Togo, for a little run. Mr. Drew was working in his study.

Half an hour later Nancy, after a long sprint, said, “Togo, you have me out of breath! I think you’ve had enough fresh air for tonight. Home we go!”

With the peppy terrier pulling on the leash, Nancy and Mrs. Gruen hurried home. Just as they started up the driveway, they saw a figure slip furtively away from the front of the house and go off toward the rear of the property. At once Nancy and the dog went after him, but by the time they reached the backyard, the man had disappeared.

At last they returned to the housekeeper, who declared, “Whoever that person is, his business wasn’t honest or he wouldn’t have sneaked away.”

“I agree,” said Nancy. “Let’s see if we can find any clues to his identity.”

She put Togo in the house, then took a flashlight from a drawer in the hall table. Nancy began looking for footprints and found some faint dirty marks coming up the steps to the front porch. Another set led away. Before Nancy had a chance to try following them, Hannah cried out, “Something just started ticking in the mailbox!”

Nancy turned quickly and looked at the wrought-iron mailbox which was fastened to a hook alongside the front door. An expression of horror came over her face.

“It’s a bomb!” she cried out.

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