She tugged at one end, while the guard pulled the other. It occurred to Nancy that a person who moved it alone would have to be very strong.
"Do you think your ghost came up through a trap door or something?" the detective asked.
Neither of the girls replied. They had previously searched the area, and even now as they looked over every inch of the floor and the three walls surrounding the high sides of the couch, they could detect nothing that looked like an opening.
By this time Helen looked sheepish. "I—I guess I was wrong," she said finally. Turning to the police guard, she said, "I'm sorry to have taken you away from your work."
"Don't feel too badly about it. But I'd better get back to my guard duty," the man said, and left the house.
"Oh, Nancy!" Helen cried out. "I'm so sorry!"
She was about to say more but Nancy put a finger to her lips. They could use the same strategy for trapping the thief at another time. In case the thief might be listening, Nancy did not want to give away their secret.
Nancy felt that after all the uproar the ghost would not appear again that night. She motioned to Helen that they would go quietly upstairs and get some sleep. Hugging the walls of the stairway once more, they ascended noiselessly, tiptoed to their room, and got into bed.
"I'm certainly glad I didn't wake up Miss Flora and Aunt Rosemary," said Helen sleepily as she whispered good night.
Though Nancy had been sure the ghost would not enter the mansion again that night, she discovered in the morning that she had been mistaken. More food had been stolen sometime between midnight and eight o'clock when she and Helen started breakfast. Had the ghost taken it for personal use or only to worry the occupants of Twin Elms?
"I missed my chance this time," Nancy murmured to her friend. "After this, I'd better not trust what that ghost's next move may be!"
At nine o'clock Hannah Gruen telephoned the house. Nancy happened to answer the ring and after the usual greetings was amazed to hear Hannah say, "I'd like to speak to your father."
"Why, Dad isn't here!" Nancy told her. "Don't you remember—the telegram said he wasn't coming?"
"He's not there!" Hannah exclaimed. "Oh, this is bad, Nancy—very bad."
"What do you mean, Hannah?" Nancy asked fearfully.
The housekeeper explained that soon after receiving the telegram on Tuesday evening, Mr. Drew himself had phoned. "He wanted to know if you were still in Cliffwood, Nancy. When I told him yes, he said he would stop off there on his way home Wednesday."
Nancy was frightened, but she asked steadily, "Hannah, did you happen to mention the telegram to him?"
"No, I didn't," the housekeeper replied. "I didn't think it was necessary."
"Hannah darling," said Nancy, almost on the verge of tears, "I'm afraid that telegram was a hoax!"
"A hoax!" Mrs. Gruen cried out.
"Yes. Dad's enemies sent it to keep me from meeting him!"
"Oh, Nancy," Hannah wailed, "You don't suppose those enemies that Mr. Comber warned you about have waylaid your father and are keeping him prisoner?"
"I'm afraid so," said Nancy. Her knees began to quake and she sank into the chair alongside the telephone table.
"What'll we do?" Hannah asked. "Do you want me to notify the police?"
"Not yet. Let me do a little checking first."
"All right, Nancy. But let me know what happens."
"I will."
Nancy put the phone down, then looked at the various telephone directories which lay on the table. Finding one which contained River Heights numbers, she looked for the number of the telegraph office and put in a call. She asked the clerk who answered to verify that there had been a telegram from Mr. Drew on Tuesday.
After a few minutes wait, the reply came. "We have no record of such a telegram."
Nancy thanked the clerk and hung up. By this time her hands were shaking with fright. What had happened to her father?
Getting control of herself, Nancy telephoned in turn to the airport, the railroad station, and the bus lines which served Cliffwood. She inquired about any accidents which might have occurred on trips from Chicago the previous day or on Tuesday night. In each case she was told there had been none.
"Oh, what shall I do?" Nancy thought in dismay.
Immediately an idea came to her and she put in a call to the Chicago hotel where her father had registered. Although she thought it unlikely, it was just possible that he had changed his mind again and was still there. But a conversation with the desk clerk dashed this hope.
"No, Mr. Drew is not here. He checked out Tuesday evening. I don't know his plans, but I'll connect you with the head porter. He may be able to help you."
In a few seconds Nancy was asking the porter what he could tell her to help clear up the mystery of her father's disappearance. "All I know, miss, is that your father told me he was taking a sleeper train and getting off somewhere Wednesday morning to meet his daughter."
"Thank you. Oh, thank you very much," said Nancy. "You've helped me a great deal."
So her father had taken the train home and probably had reached the Cliffwood station! Next she must find out what had happened to him after that!
Nancy told Aunt Rosemary and Helen what she had learned, then got in her convertible and drove directly to the Cliffwood station. There she spoke to the ticket agent. Unfortunately, he could not identify Mr. Drew from Nancy's description as having been among the passengers who got off either of the two trains arriving from Chicago on Wednesday.
Nancy went to speak to the taximen. Judging by the line of cabs, she decided that all the drivers who served the station were on hand at the moment. There had been no outgoing trains for nearly an hour and an incoming express was due in about fifteen minutes.
"I'm in luck," the young detective told herself. "Surely one of these men must have driven Dad."
She went from one to another, but each of them denied having carried a passenger of Mr. Drew's description the day before.
By this time Nancy was in a panic. She hurried inside the station to a telephone booth and called the local police station. Nancy asked to speak to the captain and in a moment he came on the line.
"Captain Rossland speaking," he said crisply.
Nancy poured out her story. She told of the warning her father had received in River Heights and her fear that some enemy of his was now detaining the lawyer against his will.
"This is very serious, Miss Drew," Captain Rossland stated. "I will put men on the case at once," he said.
As Nancy left the phone booth, a large, gray-haired woman walked up to her. "Pardon me, miss, but I couldn't help overhearing what you said. I believe maybe I can help you."
Nancy was surprised and slightly suspicious. Maybe this woman was connected with the abductors and planned to make Nancy a prisoner too by promising to take her to her father!
"Don't look so frightened," the woman said, smiling. "All I wanted to tell you is that I'm down here at the station every day to take a train to the next town. I'm a nurse and I'm on a case over there right now."
"I see," Nancy said.
"Well, yesterday I was here when the Chicago train came in. I noticed a tall, handsome man—such as you describe your father to be—step off the train. He got into the taxi driven by a man named Harry. I have a feeling that for some reason the cabbie isn't telling the truth. Let's talk to him."