by Bill Doyle
It wasn't until later that I realized Mang was an anagram for G-man, which is a nickname for “Government man.”
Ness showed me the badge he had taken from beneath his cape. “I've been working undercover as Mang the Magnifico to break the smuggling ring.”
Seeing I still wasn't convinced, Judge put a hand on my shoulder. “Mr. Ness is the one who was following us in the parlor's passage–“ Miss Pinkerton might be meeting John in there. When I saw it was you, G. Codd, I turned back.”
Eliot Ness
“After we left you handcuffed in my room,” Judge said to me, “I convinced Mr. Ness that we were on the side of the good guys. He told me that he wasn't really Mang, but a federal agent. So I came up with this plan. We but a federal agent. So I came up with this plan. We would get John to confess in front of hidden witnesses what he's been up to all these months–“
I guess John was convinced of Mr. Ness's true identity. Because he turned and started to run toward the nearby woods before Mr. Ness could handcuff him. But John was stopped dead in his tracks by yet another figure who stepped out of the shadows.
“Pop,” John said, skittering to a stop in the wet grass. “Pop…”
It was Hiram Hatherford. John stood before his father, and now the guilty boy routine didn't look like an act.
“You heard me? You heard what I said, Pop?” John pleaded with his father. “I did this…I did this because I love you…”
Mr. Hatherford looked like this ordeal had stolen the remains of his youth. With tears in eyes, he spoke quietly. “John. Shhh. Please. Don't say anything more.” He shook his white head. “You betrayed me. You betrayed our family. I tried to give you everything in the world, but the one thing that I don't seem to have given you is a sense of right and wrong.”
Mr. Hatherford took a deep breath and stepped away from his son. “Well, I have the feeling you're about to have plenty of time to learn that lesson. Arrest him!”
His father's words must have frozen John with shame. He remained unmoving as Mr. Ness placed the handcuffs on him.
With a wink at me, Mr. Ness said, “Let's hope these handcuffs work a little better on the real bad guys.”
Judge moved quickly to Mr. Hatherford, who was trembling violently, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. She signaled to the nurse who had been standing nearby to join us. I over Judge ask the nurse to take Mr. Hatherford to his room.
Eliot Ness started to lead John back to the mansion. Questions whirled in my head. I called, “Mr. Ness, how did you know about John? Why were you working here?”
Holding tightly to one of John's arms, Mr. Ness paused and turned to me. “Eight months ago, crates of liquor were found washed up along the coast–near the spot where John's first plane crashed.” He tapped his forehead. “I put two and tow together. The crates came from John's plane. No one else would come after a man with so much wealth and power, but what do I have to lose? Sorry about scaring you before in Miss Pinkerton's room, Kid. I didn't want to blow my cover until I was sure I had the real bad guys.” Mr. Ness waited a second and then added with a gleam in his eyes. “I came here seeking spirits as Mang ze Magnifico and I found them as Eliot Ness.”
Crates of liquor washed up on the shore.
There was no sound. Only crickets.
“Okay, bad joke,” Mr. Ness said quickly. “Anyway, John here can join his good pal Virgil Gates, who is already cuffed inside the mansion. They can wait for the local authorities to arrive togeter.”
“What about Virgil's girlfriend, Asyla Notabe?” I asked.
Mr. Ness shrugged. “Interesting woman. I'd love to talk to her, but she's gone.”
This caught me by surprise. “Gone? You mean vanished?”
“Not exactly,” Mr. Ness said. “There was a dinghy at the dock. It's not there anymore. I don't know if Asyla had enough of this party or smelled trouble brewing.
Either way, she's left the island.”
“Are you going to send police after her?”
“Why? I have no evidence that she was involved in the bootlegging operation,” Mr. Ness said.
Just then Judge walked over. “Can I have a moment with John, Mr. Ness?”
After a second's hesitation, Mr. Ness let go of John's arm and stepped a few feet away. For a long moment, Judge just stared at John. Finally, she said, “John, you cannot bend the law for your own enjoyment or personal gain. It doesn't bend, it only breaks. The same is true of a relationship. There are laws that must be obeyed in love–or it shatters. And then it's gone forever.”
Judge turned away and walked over to the plane.
John's face cleared, and it was as if I were seeing him for the first time. There were no more masks. “Goodbye, Justine,” he said quietly. But I don't know if she heard him. Then Ness was pulling him away, back toward the mansion.
Judge stood alone next to John's aircraft. She traced her fingers along the side, as if dreaming of where the future might have taken her.
I walked slowly over to her. “You know, I've changed my mind,” I said after a few moments of silence. “I think people can see the future. You want to know what I see?”
Judge didn't answer me. I knew she was struggling with her emotions.
I looked directly at her. “I see a woman who's going to get what she wants out of life.”
Judge let out a small sob. “Thank you, my friend,” she whispered.
Judge looped an arm around my shoulders and we headed back to the house. The first rays of the sun were breaking over the horizon, casting our long shadows across the wet green grass and spreading bright light across the crystal-clear sky.
WARNING: This letter reveals the story's ending!
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
One of the best parts about reading a good mystery is that you're never sure what's going to happen next. You get to imagine different paths the story might take. Will the hero dive into the pool of alligators or swing over them on a vine?
When I write, I do kind of the same thing. No, I don't swoop over a pool filled with snapping gators. But I do dream up new, imagined paths for people and events from history.
For example, Eliot Ness appears in NABBED! Ness was a famous crime fighter who brought down Al Capone, one of the biggest gangsters. But did Ness dress UP like Mang ze Magnifico and crack a rum-smuggling ring in North Carolina right after college as he did in this story? Probably not.
While I tried to be true to the investigative techniques of 1925, my main goal was to write an exciting mystery. The mansion, Judge, even the island—they all seem real to me and, hopefully, to you. But remember, they're inventions of my imagination.
I hope you had fun reading NABBED!—just don't use G. Codd's journal as study material for your next history test! or that pool of gators might look pretty good compared to your teacher's reaction.
Yours in time,
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Doyle was born in Lansing, Michigan, and wrote his first mystery when he was eight. He loved seeing the shock on people’s faces when they discovered the identity of the story’s villain–and knew then that he was hooked on writing. Bill has written for Sesame workshop, LeapFrog, Scholastic, ROLLING STONE, TIME FOR KIDS, AND HE Museum of Natural History. He lives in New York City with a mysterious dachshund named Esme.
Check out these other gripping Crime through Time® Books!
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Coming in July 2006!
Coming in July 2006!
And watch out for ICED! and TRAPPED!, coming in Fall2006!
1925 Edition
THE INSPECTOR
5c We Have an “EYE” for News
CAPONE IS NOW KING OF CRIME
CHICAGO, Ill.: After nearly being killed by rival gangster, John Torrio has ceded control of the country's largest illegal bootlegging operation to Al Capone (center left), putting him in charge of countless speakeasies that rake in about a hundred million dollars a year. Prohibition is the law of the land—and that means n
o trading, purchasing, making, or drinking liquor. The government has vowed to catch Capone in the act—but so far he has remained untouchable!
With orders from the new head of the FBI, J. Edger Hoover, agents confiscate and destroy all the liquor they can track down—but criminals are getting better at hiding it.
NEWS
HOUDINI'S MAGIC CAUSES PANIC
NEW YORK, N.Y.: Mrs. Ida H. Ubrusk succumbed to terror last nigh while watching the illusionist Harry Houdini perform his famous escape act, The Water Torture Cell. Mr. Houdini's feet were licked in stocks and he was lowered headfirst into a glass box filled with water. The top of the box was shut and padlocked. No sooner was the curtain drawn between the audience and Mr. Houdini, than Mrs. Ubrusk screamed and fainted dead away. Just moments later, the curtain was pulled back, and the audience could see Mr. Houdini. He had escaped and was safe and sound!
SCIENCE
MONKEYS ON TRIAL
DAYTON, Tenn.: The famous lawyer Clarence Darrow (left) defended John Scopes, a science teacher from Tennessee, in what has become known as the Scopes “Monkey” Trial. Scopes was charged with breaking the law when he taught the theory of evolution to his students. Many predict that the state supreme court will release Scopes.
HUBBA HUBBLE!
MOUNT WILSON, Calif.: Scientist Edwin P. Hubble recently made a startling discovery. While working at the Mount Wilson Observatory, Hubble proved that there are countless galaxies other than our own Milky Way out there in space—and many of them are millions of light-years away!
PEOPLE
FIRST IN WYOMING
CHEYENNE, Wyo.: It's only been five years since women were given the right to vote by the Nineteenth Amendment. However, they are already making great strides in politics. Voters have just elected Nellie Tayloe Ross to be the governor of Wyoming, making her the first female governor in the United States. Women voters and politicians are working hard to make sure that their voices are heard as they help to shape the future of our country!
BOOKS
TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR SHELF REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This rollicking story about a fast-times-loving bootlegger living in New York isn't selling so well. Maybe people are too busy cracking open illegal champagne to crack a book.
In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
This collection of stories is Hemingway's first book published in the United States. Short sentences, small vocabulary—but very powerful! We predict this author will write a very bright future for himself.
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Hitler should have stuck with his original title—Four and a Half Years Against Lew, Stupidity, and Cowardice. The last four words sum up this overly complicated, poorly written work.
FASHION
WELL.SUITED!
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Colonel Sherrell, Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, has issued and order that women at Washington bathing beaches may not wear bathing suits that are more than six inches above the knee. Here, Bill Norton, the bathing beach policeman, is measuring an unnamed woman's suit to make sure she is in compliance with the new rule.
EDITORIAL
“SHOULD I BECOME A SPIRITUALIST?”
Our editors have put together the pros and cons for you!
PRO: people should definitely convert to Spiritualism. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (right), author and creator of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, is a Spiritualist. He believes that there is no heaven and hell, that a person's soul or spirit survives death, and that we can contact these spirits. And Doyle is not alone. Today, there are hundreds of spiritualists across the country.
CON: Spiritualism is one big fake. Doyle is a great writer, but he's blinded by his desire to contact his son, who died in the Great War, and desperately wants to believe there's a way to talk to him. The famous medium Margaret Fox admitted that she and her sister were fakes. At séances, they cracked their toes to make raping sounds. Houdini continues to unmask fakes at séances, but Doyle refuses to see the truth.
ENTERTAINMENT
JAZZ GETS HOT!
The latest music craze is jazz—and no one is more responsible than Louis Armstrong. He's currently leading two bands, the Hot Five and the Hot Seven.
ASK DR. NOITALL
Dear Dr. Noitall,
How can I give my words some zip?
Signed,
Dull at Parties
Dear Dull,
All the fun people are using the latest 1920s code! Just add -ski or -avouz to any word in a sentence. For example, “Would you like to order the squid-avouz?” When answering a question, be sure to use the same form, such as “Not on your life-avouz!”
Looking to roar some more?
Give this Roaring Twenties lingo a try!
Darb: Great
Flyboy: An airplane pilot
Let's ankle: Let's walk
Swanky: Good or elegant
You're the cat's pajamas: You're terrific
SPORTS
WHAT A PIP!
New York, N.Y.: In June, Walter Pipp, who played first base for the New York Yankees, took a day off because he had a headache— and one can only imagine that his headache has got-ten a lot worse! Pipp was replaced in the lineup by Lou Gehrig, who has not missed a game since.
DOGS TO THE RESCUE
NOME, Alaska: In late January, diphtheria struck the children of this small town of 1,500. The hospital in Anchorage had the medicine that could save their lives, but it was almost 900 miles away. A train could transport the medicine to Nenana, but that left 674 miles to go. The rivers were frozen, the snow-covered road was impassable, and the only two airplanes in Alaska were in storage for the winter.
It was decided that dogsled teams would relay the medicine from Nenana to Nome. With gale-force winds and temperatures reaching 40 degrees below zero, the mission seemed to be doomed. But after 127.5 hours, a 13-dog sled team led by canine Balto reached Nome with the life-saving medicine. Now, thereis talk that teams will gather in years to come to honor this feat, per-haps with an annual dogsled race to be called the Iditarod.
BOOKS
...QUICK REVIEWS BY PAIGE TURNER...
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has written sir Nigel too bad Dyle's best creation,Sherlock Holmes,doesn't appear in the book!
Reading Upton Sinclair's the jungle may make you lose your lunch,but the new york times called this expose of Chicago's meatpacking industry “brilliant.“
Mark Twain's latest story,“The $30,000 Bequest,“oozes with the charm and humor that are the teademarks of the author of tom Sawyer.
ASK DR.NOITALL
“What should one do if trapped in the wildrness with nothing but a telegrab device and an empty canteen?“
You will be glad that you live in these modern times.Just this year,the distress signal SAVE OUR SOULS,or SOS for short,has been introduced.SOS was chosen because it is easy to tap out in morse code(just three dots,three dashes,and three dots).Tap it out,take a seat on your canteen,and wait for help.
FASHION
FOR THE LADIES...
Want to look like a well-to-do lady? then be sure to cover every-thing but your face and hands!
Dont that long skirt,pull that corser tight arount your waist,and pile that hair on top of your head!
FOR THE GENTLEMEN…
Men who want to dress down can leave the top hats at home.A brown business suit and tie is good for just about any occasion.But don't forget your soft felt or straw hat!
CLASSIFIED SECTION
Traveling to san Francisco?
Check into a first class hotel in the center of the city!
Hotel Salmona
Rates:$1.50 per day Special attention given to investigators!
Photographs for Undercover Agents
Vincent, Allegen & Co.
Mott Street,New York City phone East 756
Honest Values in Detective Disguises
Men's Wigs $2.00
> Elevating Shoes $1.35
Nurse Uniforms $2.25
Schoenfield's on Southfield Detroit,Michigan
Automobiles
RAMBLER Model 15,
4-cylinder verticial motor,
35-40 H.p.$2,500
REO Runabout $700
M.S.Busque & Company
223 Deming Street
Chicago,Illinois
SPORTS
FULL OF BALLON JUICE?
LONDON—American Frank Lahm wom the world's first international balloon race.Lahm flew 402.2 miles from paris,France,to Flying Dales,England,beating out fifteen competitors from six different countries.
WORLD SERIES PREDIOTIONS
CHICAGO—Our sports reporter in the field predicts that teams from the same city will take part in the third world series.According to this prediction,the Chicago White Sox of the American League willdo battle with the Chicago Cubs of the National League.
ENTERTAINMENT
DO NOT PANIC
When you go to the movie theater to see the very first animated flim, remember that the rolling eyes and the cigar smoke are cartoons—not real. Recently when people visited the nickelodeons to see the Great Train Robbery,many thought the bullets were real.Well,just as no bullets were flying off the screen then,no eyes will roll into the audience now. So stay seated and enjoy the show.
THANKS, TEDDY!
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Good news for nature lovers!President Theodore Roosevelt—the rugged outdoorsman who inspired a toymaker to create the teddy bear—is currently inspiring campers and sightseers acrossthe country.On june 8,he will sign the national Monuments Act to establish the first 18National Monuments,including the Grand Canyon!
