When Nancy and her friends arrived at the Vetters’ house, the couple, who spoke Spanish, immediately made little Dolores feel welcome. Everyone played games with her and much to the child’s delight a meal was served consisting partly of Mexican dishes.
While they were eating, Dave asked, “Nancy, have you thought of a name for this mystery?”
The girl detective was silent for a few moments, then replied, “Yes. I’ll call it The Triple Hoax. The first one that the Hoaxters pulled was to defraud Mrs. Richards. The second one was to kidnap Dolores.”
“And the third?” Ned asked, puzzled.
Nancy grinned. “You perpetrated the third hoax when you went up on stage at the show and permitted your wallet to be taken. From the paper inside we obtained the fingerprints of the sleight of hand man which wound up the case.”
Secretly Nancy wondered if she would ever have another case to work on. But a new one, called The Flying Saucer Mystery, was soon to come her way.
That evening, Nancy received a surprise telephone call from the chairman of the convention of U.S. detectives.
“We understand that you and your friends are amateur sleuths,” he said. “We would like you to attend our banquet tomorrow evening.”
The young people were delighted with the invitation. “We have a little girl with us,” Nancy said. “Will it be all right to bring her along?”
“Indeed it will,” the chairman replied. “We’ll expect you all at seven o’clock.”
The next day Nancy, George, and Bess bought Dolores a complete new party outfit. At six thirty the group took a limousine taxi to the banquet hall.
The headwaiter checked the visitors’ names at the door, then led them through a maze of tables. Finally he pointed to where Nancy and her friends were to sit. They stopped short in amazement.
A large group was gathered at the table, including Mr. Drew, Hannah Gruen, Aunt Eloise, Mrs. Richards, the Vetters, Senora Mendez, and a couple who were introduced as Dolores’s parents. “Surprise!” they cried as the little girl rushed to her family.
Nancy’s face wore a broad grin. “How wonderful!” she said. “Who arranged this get-together?”
Her father said the chairman had learned from the police that Nancy and her friends had done a fine job solving the mystery, and the detectives wanted to show their admiration.
During dinner, everyone chatted gaily. Mr. Drew said that the two checks sent to the suspicious mail order houses had bounced as expected.
“Those companies were phony and their officers have been arrested. They were part of the widespread Hoaxter outfit.”
When the meal was over, the chairman stood up and gave a speech that made Nancy blush. He described the young sleuths’ work in uncovering the illegal schemes of the Hoaxters and the con men, all of whom had been apprehended. Then he mentioned the missing vial of poison that had been recovered and the arrest of Enzo Scorpio and his father, Alfredo.
Finally he asked Dolores to stand up. He told the audience how she had been kidnapped and that Nancy Drew, with the help of Bess, George, and their friends from Emerson College, had found the child and restored Dolores to her family.
“Nancy, we detectives want you to have something to show not only our admiration but our thanks for such a wonderful job,” he declared and reached down alongside his chair. He pulled up a framed award stating exactly what the girl detective had done.
“How marvelous! Thank you!” she exclaimed.
As he presented it to her, there was loud applause, a standing ovation, and wild cheering from Nancy’s many admirers.
The Triple Hoax Page 12
