Suddenly the phone rang. Nancy picked it up.
“Hello,” said a man’s voice that she did not recognize. “Nancy Drew?”
“Who is this?” Nancy asked, instantly on her guard.
There was a pause. “Nancy, this is John Ford.”
For a moment, the girl’s heart leaped, then she grew cautious again. “How do I know you’re John Ford?”
“Can’t you tell by my voice?”
“It sounds familiar," the blonde sleuth admitted, “but I need more proof than that.”
“All right,” the man said. “Do you remember how I gave nicknames to all Nina’s friends when you and she were little? I called you Happy because you were always smiling. And the day you got your finger caught in the water sprinkler I told you I’d buy you a milkshake if you didn’t cry. And you didn’t?”
Nancy laughed. “And you bought me the milkshake. Oh, Mr. Ford—it’s you! But where are you, and how did you know where to find me?”
“I’ll explain all that when I see you. Can you meet me?"
“Yes. Where?”
Mr. Ford gave her the address of a hotel and Nancy told him they would leave immediately. She and Midge dashed out to the car. Within ten minutes, they pulled up in front of a rundown hotel.
“What do we do now?” Midge asked.
“We wait. I described the car. He said he’d meet us here.”
In a moment, a figure detached itself from the shadows at the side of the building. A man came into the light, and Midge and Nancy gasped. He was the black-bearded stranger they had seen in the library! Could this be John Ford? Suddenly Nancy realized from his walk and from the smile that broke out on his face that indeed it was!
She opened the back door and Mr. Ford got in. Joyously they shook hands over the front seat and Nancy introduced Midge.
“I’m grateful to you, Midge,” Mr. Ford said. “The only reason I was able to find you was because I remembered hearing you say something about the New Brighton Motor Lodge when you were in the library. And I’m grateful to you, Nancy, because when I saw your face, something clicked in my mind.”
“You mean your amnesia disappeared?”
Mr. Ford looked startled. “How did you know I had amnesia?”
Nancy told him of how Nina had enlisted her to find him and the safe, and about their rescue by Sam Jackson. Then a thought occurred to her.
“Why did you call me first?” she asked. “Why didn’t you get in touch with Nina?”
Mr. Ford frowned. “I was afraid to phone that number. The police might have tapped the line.”
Nancy looked at him with sympathy in her
eyes. “I understand,” she said softly. “But Mr. Ford, you can’t just wander around like this. Please let me contact my dad and you can meet him and turn yourself over to the authorities. I know he’ll persuade them to reopen the case as soon as we find the evidence.”
Mr. Ford shook his head. “I can’t,” he said. “I’m innocent and I’m not going to jail. If the evidence to prove I was framed has been destroyed there’s no hope of clearing me, and I refuse to go to prison for a crime I didn’t commit. Anyway, you and Sam Jackson are the only ones who know I’m alive, so I’m safe for now.” Despite Nancy’s pleadings, Mr. Ford would not change his mind. Instead, he got out of the car. Nancy gave him some money and he told her he would be in touch with her or her father within the next few days. Then, before she could stop him, he vanished into the night.
“What’s going to happen to him?” asked Midge.
Nancy shook her head. “I don’t know. This is really a mess, Watson. If I tell the police, he d be in danger. If I don’t, he could still get hurt somehow. And what do we tell Nina?” She sighed. “Well, at least he has his wits about him. He managed to dye his hair and beard black since he left Sam Jackson’s.”
“We’ve just got to find that safe,” Midge said. “And fast.”
The girls returned to the motel and went to bed, tired and disappointed. The next morning they were up early. Nancy had an idea. She remembered that in their search of the road the day before, she had seen a place where the old highway branched off from the new one. The fork was barely visible and was blocked by a barricade.
“I didn’t pay any attention to it then,” Nancy said. “But now I think we should investigate the closed part of the road.”
The girls drove to the office of the highway maintenance department. An elderly clerk shuffled up to the corner and peered at them over the top of his wire-rimmed glasses.
“Yep?” he said, making the word a question.
“Could you help us?” asked Nancy.
“Don’t know yet,” said the old man.
Nancy explained that she wanted to see the records on construction along the River Heights Road during the week the safe had been stolen. I The old fellow shuffled off, riffled through some files, then disappeared into an inner office. Finally he returned to the files and then, shaking his head, shuffled back to the counter.
“Can’t find ’em,” he said. “Had a fire. They got burned up. A lot of things got burned up; others were misplaced.” He stopped and waved his hands helplessly. “It’s just a mess. Why don’t you try the American Automobile Association? They keep better records than we do. And they don’t have fires.”
Nancy couldn’t suppress a smile. She thanked the old man politely and got Midge outside just before the youngster broke up with laughter. “That poor old guy,” Midge sputtered. “He’s so nice, but so mixed up!”
The girls drove to the AAA headquarters but, again, they ran into a frustrating roadblock. The man who took care of the records was on vacation and would not be back until the next day.
“This is maddening,” Midge declared as they climbed into the car again.
“What did I tell you about detective work?” said Nancy. “You need a lot of patience.”
“Are you going to tell Nina about her father?” Midge asked.
“I don’t know. If I do, she may tell the Calishers and then the secret would be out. If I don’t, it may not be fair to Nina.” Nancy frowned for a moment and thought hard. “I think I will tell her,” she finally decided. “Come on, let’s go over there.”
When the girls arrived at the Calisher house, Mr. Calisher was gulping pills for high-blood pressure, Mrs. Calisher was wringing her hands, and Nina was in tears. When the girl saw Nancy, she rushed to embrace her. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” she cried.
“What’s going on?” Nancy asked with concern.
“We found a threat on the mirror,” Nina said. Then she pointed to a short, lean man with stooped shoulders, who had just walked into the room. “This is Ivan Foster, a trusted employee of Uncle Aaron’s. He came here to guard US."
“Tell me about the threat,” Nancy urged.
“Someone wrote a message on the hall mirror with lipstick. It was there when we woke up this morning.”
Nancy went into the hall. Nina frowned.
“It’s not there anymore,” she said. “Uncle
Aaron was so upset he couldn’t stand it. So he scrubbed it clean and called Ivan.”
“That’s too bad,” Nancy said. “What did the threat say?”
“That I’d better start losing matches. Just like before.”
When the girls came back into the living room, Midge motioned to Nancy.
“What’s the matter?” Nancy asked.
“I have to talk to you,” Midge whispered.
“Outside.”
Nancy excused herself to Nina and followed her young assistant out the door. When they were far enough away from the house so no one could hear them, Midge almost exploded.
“Ivan Foster is the man who tried to fix your brakes!” she burst out. “He’s the man in the green Chevy. I know because of the anchor tattoo on his right hand!”
14. An Exciting Match
“Are you sure?” gasped Nancy.
“Positive! And it’s not just the tattoo. He has the same build,
same funny shoulders, same height and everything. I know I didn’t see his face, but I tell you, that’s him.”
Nancy leaned against the front fender of her car, quietly thinking.
“What are you going to do?” Midge asked. “Confront him,” Nancy decided. “We’re going to tell Mr. Calisher.”
Midge gulped. Nancy looked at her. “You’re sure, now. If we have the wrong man, it will be very embarrassing.”
Midge squared her shoulders. “Yes, sir,” she said firmly. “I know that’s the one.” “Okay, then, let’s go.” Nancy led Midge back into the house.
“Excuse me,” she said to the guard, as they came into the living room. “I have something to ask you.” Foster glanced uneasily at Mr. Calisher.
“Mr. Foster,” Nancy went on, “why did you tinker with my car’s brakes the first day I was in New Brighton?”
“What?” Mr. Calisher cried, jumping up from the couch.
“Midge saw Mr. Foster trying to disconnect my brakes. She identified him from the tattoo on his right hand.”
Involuntarily, Ivan Foster hid his hand behind his body. “That’s a lie,” he snarled.
“Nancy,” Mr. Calisher said, his voice trembling. “Ivan is one of my most trusted employees. This is impossible.”
“No, it isn’t,” said Nancy. “Doesn’t he drive a green Chevy sedan?”
Mr. Calisher hesitated and shot a look at Foster, whose face had turned into a thundercloud. “I tell you she’s crazy,” he snapped. “I don’t have to take this.”
“We’ll see about that,” Nancy said. “I’ll call the police.”
“Err, please don’t,” Mr. Calisher intervened.
“Ivan, you’re dismissed from my service. You may pick up your final check tomorrow. I m sorry, after all these years, but this is unforgivable!”
Foster, his face a mask of anger, started for the back door.
“Wait,” Nancy cried. “First I’d like you to tell us why you did these things. Why were you following us, Mr. Foster?”
She moved to block his path, but the man was too fast and too strong for her to stop him. He brushed her aside. “You’ll pay for this, Nancy Drew,” he hissed. “You too, Calisher!” With that, he rushed out the back door.
Nancy went after him and saw him jump into his green Chevy, which had been parked behind the house. A moment later, he almost ran her over as he shot down the driveway. Nancy hurried to her own car, which she had left in the street, and started the engine. But by the time she pulled away from the curb, Foster had vanished around the next corner.
Nancy drove up to the intersection. There was no sign of the fugitive. She drove to the next comer, but realized it was in vain. Foster had taken advantage of the many small side streets and disappeared.
Discouraged, Nancy returned to the house, where Mr. Calisher was beside himself. “I can’t even trust people I’ve known for ten years,” he wailed, as his wife hovered over him, fretting.
Nancy asked the couple if Foster had a criminal record.
“Not to my knowledge,” Mr. Calisher assured her. “The whole thing is just unbelievable.” He looked at Nina. “How I wish you wouldn’t play today. These people mean business and you might be hurt. What does one tennis match matter? Look at you, you’re trembling. And your Aunt Emily and I are nervous wrecks!”
“Ivan Foster may be connected with these threats,” Nancy pointed out.
“Why would he want to harm Nina or us?” Mr. Calisher asked, growing irritated. “You say he’s been following you and tried to damage your brakes? Well, perhaps he has something against you. You’ve made a lot of enemies, you know.”
“There’s no need to get upset, sir,” said Nancy.
“Isn’t there?” Mr. Calisher retorted. “You come to New Brighton and reopen John Ford’s case when I warned you it would only mean trouble. You advise Nina to go against my wishes. You accuse one of my best men of a crime and force me to fire him. What else are you going to do to disrupt my home, young woman?”
Nancy flushed. She knew that Mr. Calisher was partially right. Her investigation had caused disruption, yet it was bearing fruit. But she could not reveal what she knew until she found the safe.
“I’m sorry you feel this way, Mr. Calisher,’’ she said. “But I’m only trying to help Nina.” Mr. Calisher waved his hand helplessly. “Oh,” he said, “don’t pay attention to me. I’m sorry I got mad. But I promise you, if Nina plays today there will be trouble. I feel it.”
“Uncle Aaron, I will not give in to those people!” Nina declared with determination. “Don’t you see that’s exactly what they want? I am going to play. But perhaps Nancy and Midge will come along as my bodyguards?” With a grin, she turned to the two young detectives.
“Of course, we’ll be glad to,” Nancy answered her. “We’ll protect you from those people who are after you.”
Midge grinned. “We’ll play the enemy match,” she added.
Mr. Calisher threw up his hands. “Well, if you insist, there’s nothing I can do. I’m certainly in no shape to come along; neither is Emily.”
“I understand,” Nina said and kissed the " Calishers good-bye.
Once they were in the car, Nancy looked at Nina and smiled. “I know it’s been a rough day so far, but I have news that will wipe out all the bad things that happened.”
“What?” Nina cried, her eyes sparkling with hope.
Nancy had decided that it would be cruel not to tell Nina about seeing her father.
“Oh, how wonderful,” Nina sobbed. “But where on earth is he? Why didn’t he call me?”
“Well, that’s the bad part. He doesn’t want to turn himself in to the police until we have the evidence to clear him. And he’s afraid to call you because he thinks the Calishers’ phone may be tapped. He’s gone off again, but he promised to get in touch in the next day or two, In the meantime, you must not tell another soul!”
“I promise,” Nina said solemnly.
When they arrived at the tennis courts, she went to the dressing room humming happily. Nancy and Midge accompanied her and, when it was time for her match, they took seats in the stands.
The young tennis player had won her first two matches of the tournament easily, but now her opponent was the dark-haired, smoothly muscled Rumanian, Marie Jonescu, who had for some years been one of the top contenders in her class. Lately, however, some of the younger players had been pressing her hard, and the spectators were up for this match.
The play began and Nina served a smooth, powerful drive that the Rumanian returned with a weak shot. Nina closed rapidly in on it and volleyed back to her opponent’s left. Marie lunged and just barely managed to return the ball. Nina neatly put it out of Marie’s reach with a backhand smash.
Midge beamed at Nancy. “She won that one, huh?” she asked.
“Yes,”said Nancy, “that makes it fifteen - love.”
Midge looked puzzled.
Nancy grinned. “I see I’ll have to teach you tennis scoring,” she said, and for the rest of the match patiently explained the rules.
To the girls’ delight, Nina won the first two games handily. Then Marie Jonescu fought back to take the next three, and Midge found herself biting her nails.
But Nina rushing the net like a demon, took the next four games in succession, running her opponent from side to side and finishing her off with overhand smashes that the Rumanian girl could not handle.
“First Set, Ford, six-three,” the announcer said.
Nina trotted to the sidelines with a happy smile on her face; she looked up at Nancy and Midge and the two girls waved.
“Atta girl, Nina,” Midge called cheerfully.
But Marie Jonescu came out for the second set with fire in her eyes. Nina failed to return the first serve. Then she hit an easy lob that Marie disposed of with an overhand smash into the comer. It sent Nina sprawling as she tried to reach it. She lay there for a moment, and then got up, limping.
The audience stirred and m
urmured and both Nancy and Midge stood up in alarm. But Nina resumed the match. Her game was off, however, and her opponent pressed the attack relentlessly, winning the set. ^
When Nina came to the sidelines, she was obviously tired and still limping. The trainer took off her right shoe, examined the ankle, and wrapped it. Nancy saw Nina wince, but the girl held both hands in the air, thumbs up, and Midge broke into applause, which the crowd picked up.
“She won’t quit, Nancy,” Midge cried. “She’s got real courage and determination.”
Nancy rumpled Midge’s hair affectionately as they waited for the action to resume. Nina won the first point and went on to take the game.
When she took the second game, Midge bounced up and down in her seat. But Marie Jonescu was not a quitter, either. She began the third game by again charging the net, and the stadium came alive as Nina accepted the challenge. The two girls ran back and forth, less than fifteen feet apart until at last Nina dumped a weak shot far to the left that the Romanian could not reach.
They played on fiercely until Nina, by sheer force of will, won the set and the match. The audience roared, and Midge almost fell off the bleachers in her excitement.
Nancy was happy for her friend, but remembered Mr. Calisher’s ominous warning: “There will be trouble — I feel it!” Something told Nancy that he was right.
15. Eavesdroppers
Nancy and Midge pushed through the crowd around Nina’s dressing room and then rushed in to hug and congratulate her. “This will be something for Daddy to read about in the papers tomorrow,” was the first thing Nina whispered into Nancy’s ear.
As soon as the well-wishers and autograph seekers cleared away, Nancy and Midge took Nina home, accompanied by a policeman assigned to protect her if she won her match.
When the victorious player was safely inside, the two girls returned to their motel. As they crossed the lobby, they were stopped in their tracks by a threat from behind a pillar.
“Aha, Nanzy Drew! I ’av trap’ you at last! There eez no escape!”
Enemy Match Page 7
