The Second Girl Detective Megapack: 23 Classic Mystery Novels for Girls

by Julia K. Duncan

  Gale turned and fled down the hall. Outside she waited. Miss Horton came out. With a glance about she hurried down the steps and set off in the direction of the Dean’s office. Gale followed, hurrying her steps to keep the girl in sight. At the corner of the building Gale bumped into Valerie.

  “Going to a fire?” Valerie asked. “Say, Gale, do you know where I can find——”

  “Can’t stop now,” Gale said. “Val, something is going to happen. Find Doctor Norcot. Bring her to the Dean’s office right away. Hurry!” Gale urged when Valerie hesitated.

  Valerie broke into a run. Gale hurried on her way. Miss Horton was disappearing into the building. Gale followed and it was not until she was in the building that she realized she had no definite idea at all why she was so alarmed. True, it was strange that Miss Horton should break into the Chemistry cabinet and take something—Gale wasn’t sure what. Could it have been Miss Horton who hurled that acid out the window at the Dean so many weeks ago? Could it have been Miss Horton who wrote that mysterious note to the girls? Could she have cut the rope to set Dean Travis’ canoe afloat?

  Yes, all those things were quite possible. But what was she up to now? There were a lot of things in that Chemistry cabinet—things which in the wrong hands could cause a lot of damage.

  On tiptoe Gale approached the door to the outer office. Miss Horton was stirring a white liquid in a glass. On her desk was the discarded vial from the Chemistry laboratory—empty! The contents had been put into the glass with something else. Gale watched the silent actions of the girl within the room. Miss Horton was nervous, erratic, in her movements. She appeared slightly crazed with an inner obsession. The telephone rang, the bell startling both Gale and the girl inside.

  Miss Horton stared at the instrument for a moment then picked up the receiver. She sank into her desk chair.

  “Sarah! Why did you call? Of course I’m all right. Don’t worry. Do you understand? Don’t worry! And Sarah—you will be Dean of Briarhurst someday.”

  With those words Miss Horton replaced the receiver. She looked about the room and stood up. Grasping the glass again she walked toward the Dean’s office. She opened the door and spoke. Gale could clearly hear her words.

  “This will help your headache, Dean Travis.”

  Gale lost no time. She dashed wildly into the office, knocking the glass from the Dean’s upraised hand, thinking at the same time what would happen if she was wrong in her suspicions!

  “Don’t drink it!” she cried.

  The glass crashed to the floor and made a dark stain on the carpet. Miss Horton gazed at Gale in horror, shrinking toward the door.

  “Gale! What does this mean?” the Dean gasped.

  “It means Miss Horton broke into the Chemistry laboratory and took a vial—poison probably. She mixed it in that glass,” Gale continued accusingly.

  “Is this true?” the Dean asked, looking from Gale to her now sobbing secretary.

  The girl did not answer. Doctor Norcot and Valerie appeared in the doorway.

  “What is going on?” the Doctor demanded breathlessly. She held up the empty vial which had been on the secretary’s desk. “Whom does this belong to?”

  “Gale——” Valerie said in mystification.

  “It is all right now,” Gale said, “Miss Horton almost poisoned the Dean. I followed her here from the Chemistry laboratory.”

  “Yes, I meant to poison her,” Miss Horton said desperately, hysterically. “If it hadn’t been for her my sister would be Dean of Briarhurst. She worked years to have the position, she studied in Europe, everything to fit herself for this. Then you came along,” the girl said to Dean Travis, “and were appointed. It nearly broke my sister’s heart.”

  “You thought if you could get rid of me your sister would still have a chance,” Dean Travis said slowly. “Is that it?”

  “Yes. Now I’ve failed. You might as well know, I took the money from your safe, too. I meant to put it back—but I couldn’t right away. Now you will probably send me to prison.”

  The Dean smiled in sympathetic understanding. “No, but if you return the money, pack your things and leave tonight, we will forget the whole incident.”

  “Now,” Valerie pounced upon Gale when they were outside. “Tell me what happened? It was all a mystery to me yet you seemed to know all about things.”

  “Simple,” Gale grinned. “Miss Horton’s sister wanted to be Dean at the same time as Dean Travis. You know who won. Miss Horton evidently sought revenge for her sister. She was doing these things to frighten Dean Travis into leaving. Once she left, Miss Horton’s sister stood a good chance of being appointed in her place.”

  “But Dean Travis didn’t scare so easily, is that it?” Valerie asked.

  “Right,” Gale agreed.

  “So Miss Horton was going to murder the Dean,” Valerie shivered. “How horrible!”

  “She didn’t really know what she was doing,” Gale said.

  “And the Dean forgave her as if it were nothing at all,” Valerie said. “Attempted murder is a criminal offense.”

  “Miss Horton was too scared to ever do anything like it again,” Gale said. “There was no use punishing her farther. After all, no harm was actually done.”

  “You forget the note and the mysterious man that night back of the Chemistry Hall,” Valerie reminded her. “And what of Phyl’s accident? Did someone push the lumber that day?”

  “That we will probably never know—about the man I mean,” Gale said. “She must have had someone with her. But I think she wrote the note. As for the lumber that caught Phyllis, I believe that really was an accident.”

  “Will the girls be surprised!” Valerie said. “Anyway, I’m glad I was in at the finish.”

  The girls were gathered in the living room of the sorority house. One of the Seniors had a small radio and she was fussing with it while the rest listened and idled away the time until dinner. Just as Gale entered and joined Phyllis and Ricky a voice from the radio proclaimed:

  “Flash! An unconfirmed report has just been received that Doctor Philip Elton, the world renowned surgeon, is lost in the jungles of Brazil. Doctor Elton sailed from Liverpool, England, a month ago for a vacation cruise on his yacht, the Tornado.”

  “Some fun,” Ricky commented. “I’ve heard all sorts of things about those jungles.”

  “Is he any relation to you?” Valerie asked of Phyllis smilingly. “Same name.”

  Gale held her breath until Phyllis had replied.

  “Not that I know of,” Phyllis laughed. “No relation of mine is fortunate enough to own a yacht.”

  Gale moved away. If she stayed with the girls another minute she would tell them the truth or burst!

  “Hi, Gale!” A voice called. “Telephone!”

  Gale shut the door to the small closet-like room which the girls had converted into a telephone booth.

  “Hello? Yes.”

  It was Brent.

  “Oh, Brent, I just heard the news about Doctor Elton. Phyllis heard it, too, and she doesn’t suspect a thing.”

  “I called to tell you,” Brent said. “David and I are flying down tonight. The South American government is sending out a searching party and we want to help.”

  “Take care,” Gale pleaded. “The jungle is so dangerous.”

  “Who was it?” Ricky demanded, when Gale emerged.

  Luckily the dinner summons saved Gale the necessity of an explanation. After dinner the girls retreated to their rooms to devote much needed time to their studies.

  Gale looked up from her books to Phyllis. Phyllis was bent over a mathematics problem; her cane lay beside her chair and she looked very tired.

  “Do you ever hear from Miss Fields, Phyllis?” Gale asked suddenly.

  Phyllis looked up in surprise. “She sends me a monthly allowance. That is all, why?”

  “I wondered. Did you always live with her, Phyl?” Gale continued slowly.

  “I can’t remember anyone else,” Phyllis
said. “Very faintly I recall a big house and a dog. We used to have grand times together. But I never had a dog in Marchton,” she said, “so perhaps it is all a dream.”

  “Is Miss Fields your mother’s or your father’s sister?” Gale asked next. She knew the woman was neither, but she wanted to have Phyllis’ thought on the subject.

  Phyllis twirled her pencil between her fingers. “Perhaps you will think I’m funny, but sometimes I think she isn’t even my Aunt.”

  “Why?” Gale asked intently.

  Phyllis shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t explain it. The feeling is just there. She never speaks about any of those things.”

  “Hmmm,” Gale said.

  “But this isn’t getting my mathematics done,” Phyllis sighed.

  “Nor my Latin,” Gale agreed.

  The girls resumed their studies, but Gale’s mind insisted on wandering off to picture an airplane bearing two young men toward South America. David and Brent were off to aid in the search for the famous surgeon—Phyllis’ father! What if the Doctor wasn’t found? Gale looked across at Phyllis. Practically all of Phyllis’ future hinged on the news announcement they had heard downstairs and the girl did not know it!

  “What are you going to do after college, Phyl?” Gale asked dreamily.

  Phyllis laughed. “What’s the matter, isn’t the Latin interesting?”

  “Terribly,” Gale smiled. “But what are you?”

  “I haven’t the faintest idea,” Phyllis confessed.

  “Neither have I,” Gale admitted, “unless it is to be a doctor. Anyway, you can go back to your mathematics.” She turned her attention to her book again, but she couldn’t concentrate on it. She wandered out of their room and downstairs. She found the Senior still at her radio listening to a popular comedian.

  “Any more news flashes?” she asked.

  “Nope.”

  Gale went back upstairs. She was restless. She wished she was with Brent and David. It was hard to wait for news. It was so much better to be in the center of the activity. But now it was doubly hard for her because she was the only one here who knew about Phyllis’ father. If there was only someone she could talk it over with! But it was to be a secret and she would keep it. Still, sometimes she felt she must tell Phyllis that things would be brighter for her.

  For days Gale’s suspense continued. She attended classes, basketball games, club meetings, and every afternoon walked to the little village for an evening paper. There was very little news printed about Doctor Elton and his trip into the Brazilian jungle. Neither did Gale receive any word from Brent. She had not heard a thing since the night he telephoned her. Now she had an additional worry. Not only was she concerned about Doctor Elton, but more so about Brent’s safety.

  Day after day she scanned the newspapers, listened to news reports on the Seniors’ radio and looked for a letter, but none of them yielded the news she hoped for. She tried to conceal all anxiety from Phyllis and the other Adventure Girls, but she wasn’t very successful. They could not help but notice her sudden absorptions in newspapers and the radio. However, try as they would, they could not drag forth any explanation. Gale laughed all their questions aside.

  Then one day came a thick letter from Brent. Gale received it in the living room and raced to the privacy of the girls’ sanctum to read it. Lying on the bed, her chin propped on her hands, the letter against the pillow, Gale read it through once and then again. She rolled over on her back and stared at the ceiling.

  Doctor Elton was found and Brent and David were flying him to Briarhurst. They would arrive on the seventeenth. This was already the fifteenth! They had told the Doctor Phyllis’ story—also that she was his daughter. Brent said very little of what a revelation it must have been to the Doctor. She searched out a particular paragraph again.

  “‘Doctor Elton is willing to perform Phyllis’ operation himself, but she is not to know until afterward that he is her father. Why he makes that reservation I do not know—unless it would be more of a trial and an ordeal for her knowing who he was. So, Gale, dear, it is up to you to get Phyllis ready to meet the Doctor. He wants to do things right away.’”

  “Why so deep in thought?” Phyllis asked, when she entered.

  “Phyllis——” Gale sat up. “Phyl, suppose you had the chance to have the operation that might make you all right again, would you go through with it?”

  Phyllis grew a little pale.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just that,” Gale pursued. “Suppose the biggest doctor in the country said you had a chance—a very good chance, if your leg was operated on and reset, of walking again as you used to. Would you take it?”

  “Would I take it?” Phyllis gasped incredulously. “Oh, Gale, need you ask? I’d take any sort of chance—even the slimmest.”

  “It means weeks again of convalescence—time in the hospital,” Gale reminded her gently.

  “But it would be worth it,” Phyllis said. “Gale, tell me what you mean!”

  Gale hugged Phyllis rapturously. “It means, Phyl, that Doctor Elton, the surgeon, is coming to Briarhurst to see you. He is going to perform it.”

  “When?”

  “He arrives day after tomorrow.”

  “But the money?”

  That momentarily stumped Gale.

  “He is interested in you,” Gale explained lamely. “Brent met him and was telling him about you and he——”

  “An experiment, is that it?” Phyllis asked.

  “Um—ah—sort of,” Gale agreed. “But think what it will mean, Phyl! You’ll even be back on the hockey team next year,” she added gayly.

  “Who will be on what hockey team?” Valerie asked, entering. “Greetings, Madam President and Madam Pro Tem. What did I interrupt?”

  Phyllis breathlessly told her and went off happily to tell Ricky.

  “How come, Gale?” Valerie asked, mystified. “To have Doctor Elton, THE Doctor Elton——”

  “It is a long story,” Gale said, swallowing a lump in her throat. “I’ll tell you sometime, Val, but the main thing now is Phyllis—she is so happy.”

  “It is going to take a lot of courage to go through it all again,” Val said. “I suppose there is no doubt about the success of the operation?”

  “If Doctor Elton can’t do it, it can’t be done,” Gale said firmly. “He is the best, Val. Besides that, he is her——”

  “Her what?” Valerie asked interestedly.

  “Nothing,” Gale said hastily. “Here comes Phyl. Let’s go tell Doctor Norcot and Dean Travis now,” she proposed.

  CHAPTER XV

  Phyllis’ Story

  Gale leaned her hot cheek against the coolness of the window pane.

  The rain beating against the outside tinkled in her ear. She closed her eyes and swallowed a big yawn. From her position she could see the small town of Weston spread out before her. Lamps gleamed yellow gold, reflected on the shining wetness of the streets. Automobiles crawled past like bugs on a sheet of black paper.

  “Do you suppose he will ever come out?” Gale asked wearily.

  “It has been three hours,” Valerie sighed. “It will scarcely be much longer.”

  David paced up and down the waiting room while Brent sprawled lazily in a leather chair and stared at the ceiling. The girls turned from the window and contemplated the room. They had come there early in the afternoon with Phyllis and Brent and David. At the hospital, for the first time they met Doctor Elton. He was a middle-aged man, good looking and dignified. Gale could see a strong resemblance between Phyllis and her father. The Doctor had immediately taken Phyllis away with him, being professionally kind, but not at all fatherish as Gale had remarked to Brent.

  “That will come later,” Brent told her.

  The four of them had elected to wait until the operation was over. They had not seen Phyllis again. Now it was long past their dinner time and they were waiting for Doctor Elton to tell them of the success or failure of his work.


  Gale argued with herself that there could be no thought of failure. Doctor Elton was skillful, the most marvelous surgeon of his kind in the world. But a little demon of pessimism reminded her that any operation could fail—no matter how skillful the physician. But not to Phyl! Not to Phyl! she repeated over and over. Phyllis certainly deserved a reward for all her bravery and courage.

  The minutes dragged away into hours. The grayness of the world outside was seeping into the room. A nurse came in and quietly, efficiently lighted the lamps, straightened a group of magazines, and disappeared again.

  “If somebody doesn’t come to us soon,” Valerie threatened, “I’m going hunting for Doctor Elton. Do you suppose he could have forgotten about us?”

  Gale shook her head and turned again to the window. She did not relish the ride home to the college in the rain. They had been forced to bring Phyllis to Weston because it was the nearest town with a modern, sufficiently equipped hospital for Doctor Elton. Doctor Norcot was here, so Phyllis’ father said. The girls had not seen her as yet, but Gale wished she would bring them some kind of news now.

  “We better go out and get our dinner,” Brent said finally. “We may have to wait quite a while yet.”

  “I couldn’t eat anything,” David said decisively, flinging himself into a chair, only to get up and walk restlessly about again.

  “Nor I,” Gale said.

  She wondered if Doctor Elton proposed to tell Phyllis who he was tonight. Hardly, she decided later; this was scarcely an opportune moment. It would be a bit of a shock to find after all this time that Phyllis had a father, and that it should be Doctor Elton would be more stupendous still.

  There were footsteps in the hall. All of them came to attention. Doctor Elton entered. His face was grave and pale. He looked more tired than anyone Gale had ever seen. It was as if all the cares in the world were on his shoulders. He seated himself in a chair and looked at them.

  “Well?” David said impatiently.

  “She will be well again,” the Doctor pronounced. “Two months should see her back on her feet as before her accident. She is wonderfully brave,” he murmured. “I have never seen such gay courage. I have just left her. She wants to see you,” he added to the girls. “But only for a moment,” he added warningly, “she must not be excited. The nurse will take you.”