The Strange Message in the Parchment

by Carolyn G. Keene

  The woman said she had been told that upon several occasions when there had been a theft in town, young Sid Zikes had suddenly disappeared. “But the funny thing is that after a while he comes back and nothing ever happens to him. I guess he has been suspected many times but never arrested.”

  Nancy asked the woman if Sid Zikes ever wore gloves. She said she did not know. “But it wouldn’t surprise me. Sid, in his own flashy way, can be quite a dude.”

  Both girls thanked the woman for her helpful information. Then they bought some powder and perfume. Nancy decided that hers would go to Hannah Gruen.

  A few minutes later, as the young detectives were driving off, Nancy said, “Junie, I think we should report our suspicions to Officer Browning. Let’s stop at State Police headquarters and tell him or at least leave a message for him.” He was not there, so Nancy wrote a note to the absent officer.

  When she and Junie finally reached home, Mrs. Flockhart met them. After she had kissed the two girls, she said, “Nancy, you are to call home at once. Your father phoned and said he has some very special news for you!”

  CHAPTER XII

  Telltale Glove

  WHEN Mr. Drew answered the phone, he asked how Nancy was, and how she was progressing with the mystery. Hearing that she was very enthusiastic about her work, he added, “Hannah Gruen and I are both very busy and we keep well, but I must say we miss you very much.”

  He now began to tell her about his interview with the United States Immigration Department. He said they had made a thorough search and could not find a Salvatore Rocco who had come into the United States from Italy about ten years before, with or without the baby he claimed was his nephew. The lawyer said he was sorry he did not have better news for his daughter.

  “Oh, I’m not discouraged,” Nancy assured him quickly. “I assume that Mr. Rocco either sneaked into the country with the baby, or came here under an assumed name.”

  “No doubt you’re right,” her father agreed, “and it would be almost hopeless to track down this man under such circumstances. But let me know if you get any more clues I can help with,” he added.

  Nancy now brought him up-to-date on the mystery and ended by telling him about Diana Bolardo. “Do you think it would be a good idea to find out if anyone by that name entered this country either to stay or to visit during the past ten years?”

  The lawyer thought it was a good idea. “However, if the woman is living in Rome, it won’t be necessary.”

  Nancy said she would let her father know the instant Mr. Caspari told her what his grandparents had found out.

  “And now,” Mr. Drew said, “I have a surprise for you. The police caught the girl who stole your jacket.”

  “Really? How wonderful! What did she say?”

  The lawyer reported that the girl had noticed Junie carrying the coat in a see-through bag and felt she had to have it. She followed Junie from the station, found the Drews’ door open and tiptoed in. “Her case comes up in two weeks. I guess you’ll have to testify against her. Incidentally, she’s a known petty thief and hitchhiker. She wasn’t acquainted with the man in whose car you saw her.”

  “Too bad,” Nancy said with a sigh.

  By the time she had finished her call, Junie had gone outdoors to visit the barn where the newborn lambs were kept. As Nancy sat thinking about the case and what to do next, Mr. Flockhart came in.

  “Why so pensive?” he teased. “Did the phone call upset you?”

  Nancy told him about the conversation, and then changed the subject. “I was thinking about something else. Would it be possible for me to obtain a piece of parchment the size of the one that was stolen? I’d like to try painting on it to see how close I can come to imitating the four original paintings.”

  The owner of Triple Creek Farm said he would be glad to let Nancy have a piece of his finest parchment. With a twinkle in his eyes he added, “If you make a really good duplicate of the stolen picture, I’ll have it framed and hang it up!”

  Nancy grinned. “I don’t expect to do anything so wonderful as the original artist did, but I’d like to try. It’s just possible it might help us solve the mystery.”

  Mr. Flockhart said he would take her to the factory at once and choose exactly the right piece. He escorted her outside to his car and they drove off. Since Nancy had never tried painting on parchment, she did not know what to choose, but Mr. Flockhart showed her the different grades of parchment and told her which was the best variety for what she wanted to do.

  Nancy thanked him and said she could hardly wait to get started on the painting. She had expected to return home at once, but Mr. Flockhart wanted to speak to Eezy, so they rode back to the house the longer way.

  He parked the car where Junie had on previous occasions and walked up the hillside with Nancy. Eezy greeted them with a big grin. The shepherd did not wait to hear any message that might be brought to him.

  At once he said, “Howdy, boss! Howdy, Nancy Drew!” Then as he picked up his Irish harp, he quoted from the Bible, “‘Now I can make a joyful noise unto the Lord.”’ 5

  At once he began to accompany himself in a song telling about a lamb that had wandered far from home. Finally though, the little sheep had become so lonesome he could not stand it and turned around and went back. Eventually he rejoined his flock and the ditty ended with a series of baas in various pitches.

  Nancy and Mr. Flockhart laughed and clapped appreciatively. Nancy now went to pat her favorite lamb, who nudged her affectionately. She noticed that he was growing stronger daily. She had to brace herself to avoid being shoved over.

  In a few minutes Mr. Flockhart finished talking with his herdsman and called to Nancy that he was ready to leave.

  “What’s the rush?” Eezy asked. “I got somethin’ in the cabin I want to show Nancy.”

  He disappeared inside his shack but soon returned, holding up a glove. The girl detective was amazed. The glove looked exactly like the one she had torn from the hand of the thief who had stolen the parchment painting.

  Excited, she asked Eezy, “Where did you get this?”

  As the shepherd slipped the glove onto one hand, he said, “You know, this fits perfectly. Rover brought it to me. You’re a good detective, Nancy. Do you think you could find me the mate to this?” He began to sing loudly.

  Before the callers could answer the question, one of the nearby sheep, apparently unused to his singing, gave a loud baa, which made everyone laugh.

  It was Nancy’s turn to surprise the shepherd. “I think maybe I know where the mate to this glove is. If I’m right, I’ll tell you.”

  Eezy wagged his head from side to side. “You’re the most amazing girl I ever met! You take this glove and see if it matches the one you know about.”

  Nancy now changed the subject and asked Eezy if the two men who had attacked him had ever returned. “I was afraid they might attempt to attack you again.”

  “Oh, no, nothing like that,” the shepherd said emphatically. “I’m keeping that mean ram penned up behind my cabin. If there is any disturbance around here, I’ll just turn the old fellow loose on anybody who bothers me!”

  “That’s a good idea,” Mr. Flockhart said.

  Nancy was thinking of the walkie-talkie that she and Junie had brought to the shepherd. Apparently he thought the ram would be a quicker and more effective means of warding off an attack!

  “And after what happened to me,” she thought, “I guess he’s right!”

  In the meantime Eezy had picked up his harp and began playing a pretty little tune on it. He finished in a few minutes, then Nancy and Mr. Flockhart said good-by and trudged down the hill. When they got into the car, he drove at once to State Police headquarters and turned over the glove Rover had brought to Eezy.

  Officer Browning was there and was thunder-struck to see Nancy holding the matching glove.

  “There is no question but that this is the mate,” he said. “Where did you find it?”

  Nancy told him
how Rover had picked it up on the Triple Creek property and brought the glove to his master, Eezy.

  “I have a strong feeling,” Nancy said, “that the thief wanted to get rid of the mate of the telltale glove. He deliberately planted it on Mr. Flockhart’s farm to throw suspicion on Eezy or some of the other shepherds or helpers. What do you think, Officer Browning?”

  “That you have made a reasonable deduction,” he said. “Of course it would be hard to prove, but we may get some other evidence to support your theory.”

  Mr. Flockhart spoke. “It didn’t do that thief a bit of good to try making any of my men look guilty. I trust every one of them, and I am sure all are innocent of any wrongdoing.”

  The officer nodded. “I would certainly take your word against any other person’s,” he said. “The police are convinced that the intruder in your home was a stranger, and the theft of the parchment picture was an outside job. Don’t worry, there will never be any charge against your men, I’m sure.”

  After a little more conversation about the mystery, the phone rang, so the visitors stood up to leave.

  “Don’t go yet,” Browning said. “I’ve been expecting a call. I think it may be of great interest to you.”

  Nancy and Mr. Flockhart stood still while the officer answered the phone. He said, “Very good. Bring him in here. I have two visitors who would be glad to see him.”

  The officer put down his phone, but gave no explanation of the conversation. Nancy and Mr. Flockhart looked at each other, puzzled.

  A full minute went by, then the door opened. Two policemen walked in with a handcuffed prisoner. A sullen-looking youth glanced at the visitors, then his eyes dropped.

  Officer Browning said, “Mr. Flockhart, Miss Nancy Drew, I want you to meet Sid Zikes!”

  CHAPTER XIII

  A Paint Disaster

  Sm Zikes! The young man they had been trying to find! His right hand was still bandaged.

  Officer Browning said, “Sid is being charged with petty larceny and will be booked on that count.”

  Sid Zikes spoke up. “I got a right to bail!”

  He was told that this was a judge’s decision and he would have to remain behind bars until the amount was decided upon.

  The prisoner’s eyes roamed from one person to another in the room. Finally they rested on Nancy. The girl detective felt uncomfortable. Was he blaming her for his arrest?

  Officer Browning asked Nancy and Mr. Flockhart if they would like to question the prisoner. The sheep-farm owner said he would defer to Nancy. “She knows better than I do what to ask.”

  Addressing Sid Zikes, the girl detective began. “Why did you steal the parchment picture from Mr. Flockhart’s home?”

  Sid looked at the floor and replied, “I didn’t.”

  Nancy told him that she knew he had purchased a new piece of glass exactly the right size to replace the one that had been smashed when he had thrown the picture. The young man made no comment, and looked out a window.

  Nancy decided to change her line of questioning. She said, “Did you threaten the shepherd Eezy and knock him out?”

  The prisoner shouted, “No!”

  “When you went up the hillside to his cabin, who was the person with you? A buddy or a stranger?”

  Sid Zikes said definitely, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t have to listen to this kind of questioning. Officer, take me away. But I warn every one of you, I won’t be in jail long! I’ll prove my innocence!”

  As Mr. Flockhart and Nancy left State Police headquarters, he said to her, “Do you think Sid Zikes is guilty?”

  Nancy replied that she was sure he was the burglar who had taken the parchment picture. “He was about the size and build of the person I caught a glimpse of in your house. But I think it may be true that he had nothing to do with the attack on Eezy.”

  Mr. Flockhart was inclined to agree. “But I doubt that Sid Zikes wanted the picture for himself. I believe he was paid by somebody to sneak in and get it.”

  Nancy asked the Triple Creek owner if he had any guesses about who that person might be. Mr. Flockhart shook his head. “Unfortunately I understand there is a gang in town that will do such jobs for people who would not think of committing the act themselves. So far the police haven’t been able to apprehend them.”

  Nancy remarked, “The person who puts any one up to stealing to gain something for himself is even worse than the thief, don’t you think?”

  “I agree,” Mr. Flockhart said.

  He and Nancy went to his car and drove off. She asked him if he would mind going into town so she could purchase some fine colored pencils to make sketches on the parchment.

  “I’ll be glad to,” he said, “but don’t ask my advice on the best colors. The truth is, I’m color-blind.”

  “That’s too bad,” Nancy said.

  The farmer laughed. “It doesn’t bother me. So far all my customers who plan to paint on parchment seem to know everything about colors.”

  After the purchases had been made, Nancy and Mr. Flockhart rode home. He dropped her at the front door of the house, then drove off to his factory.

  Junie and her mother were there and were amazed to hear the story of Sid Zikes’s capture and imprisonment.

  “I’d say the police are very efficient,” Mrs. Flockhart remarked.

  Junie spoke up. “But Nancy had some excellent information to give them.”

  Nancy brushed aside the compliment and asked where she might work on the parchment. “I’m eager to get started,” she said.

  Junie’s mother said she knew the perfect spot. “At the rear of the garden behind the farmhouse there’s a lovely summer house. It’s an attractive little place. I think you’ll like the nice, shady spot. It’s quiet and nobody will disturb you.”

  Junie offered to get an easel from the attic and bring it downstairs. The two girls walked out to the summer house and set up the easel. Nancy got out her colored pencils. Next she stretched the parchment across a frame and pinned it tightly. Then she set it on the easel and said, “I guess I’m ready to start.”

  Junie watched as her friend meticulously began her work.

  The girl artist thought, “I’ll do the hardest thing first. That will be the sketch of the beautiful young woman.”

  She closed her eyes for several seconds, so that she might recall the original picture exactly. Finally she opened them and began to paint.

  Junie watched Nancy for several minutes, fascinated, then said she must do her own chores. “I’ll be back as soon as possible,” she told Nancy.

  The young sleuth worked diligently for some time. Secretly she was pleased with the result of her work. “It really does look like the original,” she thought.

  Nancy had told no one, but what she had in mind was making a parchment picture resembling the original so closely that Mr. Flockhart would indeed want to hang it over the fireplace in the living room.

  She smiled to herself. “Maybe I have nerve even to try to do this, but I’ll attempt it anyway.”

  By the time Junie returned, Nancy had almost completed the entire group of pictures. She was working on the sketch of the collision between the sailing ship and the steamer.

  Junie was astounded. “Nancy, that’s simply marvelous!” she exclaimed.

  The words were hardly out of her mouth when the girls became aware of something sailing through the air behind them. The next instant their heads and the parchment were covered with paint!

  Nancy and Junie had turned quickly. They were just in time to see two shadowy figures throw down cans of paint and run away. All thought of trying to follow the two men vanished from the girls’ minds. The paint was running down from their hair, and they did not dare let it get into their eyes.

  Both of them picked up pieces of cloth, which Nancy had handy to use for her work. They wiped off their spattered faces as best they could and then tried to remove the paint from their hair. In seconds they had used up all the available c
loths and decided they had better hurry into the house to finish the job.

  Nancy paused a moment, however, to look at the parchment. It was ruined! She was on the verge of tears as she picked up the parchment and colored pencils, and followed Junie to the house.

  Mrs. Flockhart was near the door when the girls rushed in. She cried out, “What in the world happened to you?”

  Junie explained and together they opened a kitchen drawer and took out a roll of cheesecloth. Mrs. Flockhart quickly cut it into sections and handed pieces to the girls. While they worked on their hair, she mopped the paint off their clothing.

  “We’d better shampoo right away,” Junie advised.

  “That won’t get off all the paint,” her mother said. “It has an oil base. What you should use is paint thinner. Wait here while I run out to the garage for some. I know there’s a large can of it there.”

  She was gone only a couple of minutes. When she returned, Mrs. Flockhart told the two girls to lean their foreheads against the rim of the sink and let their hair fall inside. Then she poured out the paint thinner, and in a little while the combination of the red and blue splotches had vanished.

  The girls’ heads were covered with paint!

  “Now go upstairs and take hot showers and shampoos,” she said.

  The girls went to the second floor and reappeared an hour later, looking as if nothing had happened to them. Meanwhile Mrs. Flockhart had tried to remove the paint from the parchment, but had found it impossible. The blue and red liquids had mingled with Nancy’s sketches to such an extent that there was no chance of separating them.

  “I’m dreadfully sorry this happened,” the distressed woman said. “Did you girls see who threw the paint?”

  Nancy replied that they had had a glimpse of two figures, but did not see the intruders clearly enough to identify them.

  Suddenly she had an idea. “Junie, do you recall that those men threw down their cans of paint?”

  “No, all I remember is wanting to get away from them as fast as possible.”