Тайна загадочной лестницы [with w_cat] - [33]

[992] Aunt Rosemary sank into the chair by the telephone and began to cry. Nancy and Helen put their arms around her, but before either could say a word of comfort, they heard a car drive up in front of the mansion. At once Mrs. Hayes dried her eyes and said, "It must be Dr. Morrison."

[993] Nancy opened the door and admitted the physician. The whole group went upstairs where Miss Flora lay staring at the ceiling like someone in a trance. She was murmuring:

[994] "I shouldn't have signed! I shouldn't have sold Twin Elms!"

[995] Dr. Morrison took the patient's pulse and listened to her heartbeat with a stethoscope. A few moments later he said, "Mrs. Turnbull, won't you please let me take you to the hospital?"

[996] "Not yet," said Miss Flora stubbornly. She smiled wanly. "I know I'm ill. But I'm not going to get better any quicker in the hospital than I am right here. I'll be moving out of Twin Elms soon enough and I want to stay here as long as I can. Oh, why did I ever sign my name to that paper?"

[997] As an expression of defeat came over the physician's face, Nancy moved to the bedside. "Miss Flora," she said gently, "maybe the deal will never go through. In the first place, perhaps we can prove that you signed under coercion. If that doesn't work, you know it takes a long time to have a title search made on property. By then, maybe Comber will change his mind."

[998] "Oh, I hope you're right," the elderly woman replied, squeezing Nancy's hand affectionately.

[999] The girls left the room, so that Dr. Morrison could examine the patient further and prescribe for her. They decided to say nothing of their morning's adventure to Miss Flora, but at luncheon they gave Aunt Rosemary a full account.

[1000] "I'm almost glad you didn't catch Comber." Mrs. Hayes exclaimed. "He might have harmed you both."

[1001] Nancy said she felt sure that the police of one town or the other would soon capture him, and then perhaps many things could be explained. "For one, we can find out why he was turning his lights off and on. I have a hunch he was signaling to someone and that the person was hidden in Riverview Manor!"

[1002] "You may be right," Aunt Rosemary replied.

[1003] Helen suddenly leaned across the table. "Do you suppose our ghost thief hides out there?"

[1004] "I think it's very probable," Nancy answered. "I'd like to do some sleuthing in that old mansion."

[1005] "You're not going to break in?" Helen asked, horrified.

[1006]    Her friend smiled. "No, Helen, I'm not going to evade the law. I'll go to the realtor who is handling the property and ask him to show me the place. Want to come along?"

[1007] Helen shivered a little but said she was game. "Let's do it this afternoon."

[1008] "Oh dear." Aunt Rosemary gave an anxious sigh. "I don't know whether or not I should let you. It sounds very dangerous to me."

[1009] "If the realtor is with us, we should be safe," Helen spoke up. Her aunt then gave her consent, and added that the realtor, Mr. Dodd, had an office on Main Street.

[1010] Conversation ceased for a few moments as the threesome finished luncheon. They had just left the table when they heard a loud thump upstairs.

[1011] "Oh, goodness!" Aunt Rosemary cried out. "I hope Mother hasn't fallen!"

[1012] She and the girls dashed up the stairs. Miss Flora was in bed, but she was trembling like a leaf in the wind. She pointed a thin, white hand toward the ceiling.

[1013] "It was up in the attic!  Somebody’s there!"

[ 1014 ] CHAPTER XVII. Through the Trap Door.

[1015] "LET'S find out who's in the attic!" Nancy urged as she ran from the room, Helen at her heels.

[1016] "Mother, will you be all right if I leave you a few moments?" Aunt Rosemary asked. "I'd like to go with the girls."

[1017] "Of course. Run along."

[1018] Nancy and Helen were already on their way to the third floor. They did not bother to go noiselessly, but raced up the center of the creaking stairs. Reaching the attic, they lighted two of the candles and looked around. They saw no one, and began to look behind trunks and pieces of furniture. Nobody was hiding.

[1019] "And there's no evidence," said Nancy, "that the alarming thump was caused by a falling box or carton."

[1020] "There's only one answer," Helen decided. "The ghost was here. But how did he get in?"

[1021] The words were scarcely out of her mouth when the group heard a man's spine-chilling laugh. It had not come from downstairs.

[1022] "He—he's back of the wall!" Helen gasped fearfully. Nancy agreed, but Aunt Rosemary said, "That laugh could have come from the roof."

[1023] Helen looked at her aunt questioningly. "You —you mean that the ghost swings onto the roof from a tree and climbs in here somehow?"

[1024] "I think it very likely," her aunt replied. "My father once told, my mother that there's a trap door to the roof. I never saw it and I forgot having heard of it until this minute."

[1025] Holding their candles high, the girls examined every inch of the peaked, beamed ceiling. The rafters were set close together with wood panels between them.