Nancy Clue Mysteries 3 - A Ghost in the Closet

by Mabel Maney

  "This way," Myra said as she pushed open a door marked Private-Dr. Fraud Only. "This is a short cut and I've got the key," Myra smiled. "You see, I'm a special friend of Dr. Fraud's. I want you to get a shot of me next to his new shock machine. It's the modern way to cheer up people. Have I mentioned that I'm a Friend of the Insane? I come here once a month to comfort disturbed souls amid the Gothic Revival splendor of the River Depths Sanitarium. I think the shock machine will make a dramatic background for our photograph. It's got all these wires and blinking lights and-oh, I hope it's in use today. It will make for such an exciting, lifelike photograph!"

  * * *

  CHAPTER 54

  * * *

  What a Shock!

  Cherry gulped as Nurse Cramp applied cold gelatinous matter to her forehead. She knew from experience that it was the material that would conduct the electricity from the electric shock machine to her brain. She squirmed about trying to get out of her wrist-restraints, but it was no use. There she was, naked as the day she was born, except for a thin sheet covering her body and her nurse's cap proudly pinned to her curls.

  "You have one last chance to tell us everything you know," Dr. Fraud said with a sinister smile. "I'll give you ten seconds to start talking. Ten-nine-eight-seven-"

  "I'll never tell you I found your stash of experimental medication in the basement! " Cherry cried.

  An alarmed expression shot over Dr. Fraud's face. "This little nurse knows even more than I suspected," he cried. "We must make sure when we're through with her she doesn't remember a thing! That government contract I have to develop mind-controlling new drugs will be lost! Turn the machine up to full power!"

  Nurse Cramp did as she was told, then picked up the countdown, her hand on the switch. "Six-five-four-three-"

  Cherry stiffened as she readied herself for the shock of her life.

  "Two-o-„

  Suddenly the door burst open and the biggest gun-toting candy-stripper Cherry had ever seen raced in and yelled,

  "Stop! "

  "Too late!" Nurse Cramp cried as she hit the switch. The wires hummed as a double jolt of electricity headed straight for Cherry's brain!

  Jackie took quick aim and with one shot destroyed the machine, which sizzled and came to a whining halt just in the nick of time. Cherry had received no more than a slight shock!

  "Oh, Jackie!" Cherry sobbed. She writhed under her restraining straps, tears of joy coursing down her cheeks. While Midge rushed in to take care of Dr. Fraud with one good blow to the jaw, Jackie unstrapped Cherry and gathered the girl up in her arms.

  Cherry lay limply against Jackie's strong chest. She could hear Jackie's heart pounding in concert with her own beneath the thin cotton-blend sheet. Although Cherry's head was still tingling, her mind had never been clearer.

  "Oh, Jackie," she cried as she flung her arms around her rescuer. "I love you with all my heart!" Then she kissed Jackie with a fervor and sincerity of purpose she had never known before.

  "We've got to save Nancy," Cherry then remembered. "She's up to her neck in hot water!"

  "Midge rescued her-she's probably getting dressed," Jackie assured her. "Come here!" she said in a husky voice. She pulled Cherry close for another kiss.

  A few minutes later, Myra Meeks strolled into the room. "Oh, no!" she cried when she got a look at the scene. Midge was buckling Dr. Fraud into a straitjacket; Nancy had arrived and was wrestling Nurse Cramp to the ground; and Cherry and Jackie were locked in each others' arms in the middle of a long-lasting kiss.

  Uncle Nelly smiled happily, and delighted by the romantic moment, snapped a few pictures for Cherry and Jackie's album.

  "What is going on here?" Myra Meeks demanded to know. "Dr. Fraud-get out of that straitjacket. And, you, Miss Candy-striper! You know very well you're not supposed to socialize with the patients!" No one paid Myra Meeks the least bit of attention.

  "This place really is a madhouse!" Myra Meeks declared as she turned on the heels of her alligator pumps and raced out of the room.

  * * *

  CHAPTER 55

  * * *

  "Take Them Away!"

  "Take them away, boys," Chief Mike O'Malley ordered. Two lads in crisp blue uniforms grabbed Dr. Fraud and Nurse Cramp by the back straps of their straitjackets and led them through the lobby of the sanitarium. Nurses did their best to keep patients calm while the evil doctor and his nefarious assistant were locked in the back of the waiting paddy wagon. "Frank-Joe-what can I say?" the chief turned to the well-known boy detectives with a look of genuine chagrin on his chiseled features. "If Milton Meeks hadn't insisted that I hold off on interrogating that prisoner and follow the lead on Mad Dog MacDougal, I could have been tracking the real criminals.

  "Never in a million years could I have guessed that Milton was capable of such a devious plot as the one you've just outlined, boys," the chief then shook his head. "Myra, maybe."

  "I think you'll find both Meekses equally guilty," Frank said. "Myra must have known all along that innocent dogs were being put in peril."

  "Mother and Father are free, and we've disarmed the bomb that was set to go off, pulled the plug on that defective rocket, and saved the good Hardly name!" Joe crowed happily. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, leaned against the Receptionist Nurse's desk and looked around with a satisfied smile on his face. "With the door open and sunlight streaming in, this place doesn't look half-bad," he declared.

  "Now that Nurse Fiscus is in charge, this place will change for the better," Cherry piped up. She was curled up in Jackie's lap at the far end of the reception-room sofa. Nurse Fiscus had already offered her the prestigious job of Nursein-Charge of Hairdo Therapy, but Cherry had more important things in mind! "Everything's turned out for the best!" she murmured happily as she cuddled close to Jackie.

  "Almost everything," Nancy muttered.

  Cherry felt a small pang that was barely soothed by the reassuring warmth of Jackie's arms.

  Frank and Joe exchanged regretful glances. "I'm awfully sorry you've lost the love of your life," Frank said in a sympathetic tone.

  Nancy shrugged. "I'll get over it," she said bravely. "It's just that without someone by my side, I feel so alone in the world!" Nancy buried her head in a hankie and started to cry.

  "You'll always have us," Frank gulped.

  "We couldn't love you any more if you were our own daughter," Mrs. Hardly comforted the weeping girl.

  "And we love you like a nephew!" Uncle Nelly assured her.

  "But you're not really my family," Nancy pointed out through her tears.

  Frank jumped to his feet and turned a critical eye Nancy's way. "What is a family, anyway?" he cried. "It's a group of people who love you through thick and thin. They're always there for you no matter what! Who comes to the rescue when devious criminals carry you off? Who's there when you stand accused of murder? Who gives you fashion advice whether you need it or not?

  "Nancy, your family's been right by your side all along, only you didn't know it. There's one thing I've learned in solving this case: it's not blood but fellowship between people that makes a real family," Frank admonished her.

  Nancy dried her eyes. Why, Frank was right! She had Frank and Joe and Mr. and Mrs. Hardly, Uncle Nelly and Willy, and Hannah, too! And even if she didn't have a girlfriend, well, in time she would!

  A relieved look spread over Fennel P. Hardly's handsome face. "I'm sure glad to hear you say that, Frank, for I've something along those very lines to discuss with you."

  At this Uncle Nelly burst into tears. "Oh, Fennel, when I feared you weren't coming back, I told your boys all about you being a girl and I'm afraid I've made a mess of things," he wailed.

  "No you didn't, Uncle," Frank jumped in. "Father," he started, "we do know the truth about you, but we don't care one fig. Nothing will ever change the way we feel about you!"

  "You'll always be Dad to us," Joe assured him.

  Mr. Hardly took a fresh hankie from the inside breast pocke
t of his natty, box-cut wool-blend jacket and blew his nose. He appeared to be overcome with emotion.

  Mrs. Hardly put her arm around her husband's waist. "When your father and I were first married, we had little hope of having the kind of family we dreamt of. But then one day, your father came home from investigating a corrupt Chicago orphanage run by the cold-hearted Newton Gangrene. In your father's arms were two little boys-one fair-haired with a serious expression in his hazel eyes, the other with curly brown locks and a sunny smile. They had been abandoned and ill-treated."

  Joe gasped. "She means us, Frank!"

  Mrs. Hardly nodded. "Fennel said he knew the moment he laid eyes on you two that he would raise you as his own-that you would never know the horror of your early years, never want for anything.

  "We kept meaning to tell you boys the truth-the whole truth-about your origins and who Fennel really is-but somehow the years kept slipping past and we were all so happy.

  "All these years, your father's lived in fear that you'd find out his secrets and wouldn't understand," she explained. "That you'd be ashamed to be his sons."

  "We'll always be proud to be the Hardly boys," Frank cried out, "only now we're men, too. Father, we're just sorry you had to carry the burden of these secrets for so long."

  "People can be awfully queer about the truth," Nancy piped up.

  "It's true. People are often afraid of what they don't understand," Mr. Hardly said knowingly.

  Joe nodded. "It's just like that movie, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. A young widow goes to live in a lighthouse home of a long-dead sailor, setting the stage for a heartwarming romance."

  Frank looked queerly at his brother.

  "Everyone else was afraid of the ghost except for Mrs. Muir who took the time to listen," Joe blushingly explained.

  "That makes sense to me," Cherry said. Then she gasped. "Speaking of ghosts, I just remembered something! There's a patient in one of the towers, a lonely woman whom no one ever visits. I met her earlier today; her name is Nancy and she suffers from paramnesia, and she's all alone in the world. I'm the first person to visit her in years and before I left, she made me swear I'd come back. I can't go without at least saying good-bye," Cherry said. "She has no friends, no family, nobody but me. Does anyone want to go along?"

  "I do need to get my luggage," Nancy realized.

  "I'm too tired to even think of going anywhere right now," Midge admitted. She was sitting cross-legged on the tile floor, her head on Velma's knees. "You sure missed a show, honey," she told her girlfriend. Midge was still chuckling at the sight of Myra Meeks racing from the shock treatment room with her arms flung up in alarm.

  "I took pictures of the whole thing," Uncle Nelly assured them.

  Midge looked alarmed. "Not of me in my-er-costume?" she fretted.

  "You mean the candy-striper's uniform you were wearing when you rescued us?" Cherry wondered innocently. "You didn't look half bad, but really, Midge, I'd stay away from Peter Pan collars if I were you," she advised helpfully before hopping on the elevator to the top floor, Nancy by her side.

  Midge blushed and buried her face in Velma's lap.

  Velma grinned and ran her hands through Midge's closecropped hair, "Take me home, honey," she sighed. "It's been an awfully long day in awfully high heels."

  "It's been a long month," Midge replied. She got up and held out her arms. Velma fell into them. "Do you want to go home? Really go home, I mean?" Midge murmured.

  Velma nodded. "I miss our old boring life," she admitted. "Promise me something, Midge. No more chasing after cunning crooks, evil priests, mad scientists or power-mad matrons. Promise?"

  "Promise," Midge said softly. They headed for the door.

  "I'd better go see if Agent Andy needs me," Frank cried. The secret agent was in Dr. Fraud's office gathering evidence sure to keep the evil doctor behind bars for years to come. Frank first checked his reflection in the washroom mirror. He smoothed his crew cut and brushed the wrinkles from his slacks.

  "Oh, brother," Joe said as he sank into a chair. "Love!"

  He turned to Mrs. Hardly. "Don't worry, Mother. I won't ever go running off all starry-eyed like Frank."

  "It's true," Mrs. Hardly thought. "Frank is the image of his father, but Joe, well, Joe will always be my boy!"

  * * *

  CHAPTER 56

  * * *

  A Tearful Reunion

  When Cherry flung open the door to the private room, she got a pleasant surprise. The patient seemed happier and more relaxed than when Cherry, had visited her last. "Nurse, you forgot to give me my pills," the woman scolded when she saw Cherry. She laughed when Cherry blushed with alarm. "And I'm feeling better than I have in years!" the patient cried happily. "I'm going to ask Dr. Fraud to change my medication."

  Cherry gasped. "You remember Dr. Fraud's name?" she cried. "You are getting better. Before I leave, I'll speak to Nurse Fiscus and have her schedule you for the various therapies sure to set your mind working again," she promised. She decided not to tell the woman about Dr. Fraud's arrest until she was sure she could handle the shock.

  Cherry hoped she could get the woman an appointment in Hairdo Therapy that very day, for if she were going to rejoin the general population, she would need an updated look.

  Cherry took a few hairpins from her own coiffure and twisted the woman's thick reddish-gold hair into a simple upswept hairdo. "There. With your hair off your face, I can really see your distinctively charming features. And the fog has disappeared from your lovely blue eyes. Why, with a fashionable suit, a set of pearls and a new hairdo, you'll look just as well put together as any of the River Depths smart set!"

  The woman flushed with pleasure. "Oh, Nurse," she cried happily.

  "Oh, Nancy!" Cherry cried back clapping her hands in glee. This was her most successful case ever!

  "Yes?" Nancy asked as she stuck her head through the door. She had gotten her suitcases, slipped into a fresh travel suit, and was engrossed in juggling all thirteen-pieces of her matching grosgrain leather luggage set. "Guess what!" she cried as she clung precariously to her cosmetics travel case. "I can laugh about it now, but we were doomed from the start! I forgot to scrape my monogram off my luggage!"

  "Oh, I wasn't calling you," Cherry told her. "I was exclaiming over my patient, whose name also happens to be Nancy."

  The woman tugged at Cherry's uniform. "My name's not Nancy," she said. "I remembered right after you left. My name is-"

  At the sound of the soft, lilting voice, Nancy looked up, gasped and lost her grip on her bags. A hat box spun crazily out of control. A shoe case burst open and a pair of baby alligator sling-back pumps skittered across the floor. But Nancy didn't notice her wardrobe had run amok, for she was fixated on the sweet-faced woman at Cherry's side.

  "Mother?" Nancy cried in wonderment. For a split-second, she stood frozen in the doorway. Then she raced across the room, dropped to her knees and buried her head in the woman's lap. She began to sob.

  "Mother, it's you, isn't it? It's really you!"

  "Yes, Nancy," the woman murmured as she stroked her daughter's soft shiny hair. "It's Mother."

  * * *

  CHAPTER 57

  * * *

  "Shall We Dance?"

  "Another canape?" Willy offered the handsome young secret agent seated on the Hardly davenport. As soon as Willy had heard the news that the whole family was safe and sound, he had started whipping up an array of delicious treats for the hungry detectives.

  "These are d-e-licious!" Agent Andy cried as he took a bite of a yummy creamed-crab puff. He delighted Willy by asking for the recipe.

  "Oh, it's a family secret," Uncle Nelly said.

  "There will be no more secrets in this family," Mr. Hardly warned with a good-humored tone.

  Uncle Nelly gave Willy a happy hug. "Everyone's safe, the bad guys have gone to jail, and Mrs. Hardly likes what I did to the guest washroom," he sighed.

  "I never liked that Carson Clue," Fennel shudde
red. "But to think he staged a fake car accident and put his wife away in a sanitarium all these years, not to mention the reprehensible manner in which he treated his own daughter-" His voice broke off.

  "That's all over," Midge assured him. "Nancy's made remarkable progress just this week, and seems happier than ever now that she's got her mother back. Plus the poodles are on their way home!"

  "Case closed," Joe cried.

  "Except for Myra and Milton Meeks, that is," Chief O'Malley grinned. They had decided that that evening's annual Wives of the Atomic Age Dress-up Ball was the perfect place to arrest the Meekses. While the detectives sat in the living room discussing their strategy and snacking on tasty treats, their dates were upstairs changing into party outfits.

  "So this is the plan. We'll get into the dance and wait for just the right moment, then slap the cuffs on the Meekses," Jackie schemed.

  "Maybe we can goad Judge Meeks into publicly admitting his plot to blow up a rocket ship and ruin Father's good name," Joe added.

  "I can't wait to see the expression on Myra's face when she finds out the jig is up," Midge grinned.

  Just then Cherry came running downstairs in her stocking feet, clad in an off-the-shoulder evening dress of rich crimson that left bare her creamy white shoulders. "Velma needs her lipstick," she told Midge.

  Midge blushed and fumbled in her pocket for the tube. "It's a spare," she explained.

  "Cherry, that color is you!" Uncle Nelly exclaimed.

  "It may be too revealing," Cherry confessed. But from the look on Jackie's face, Cherry knew that the risk was well worth taking.