Mystery of Crocodile Island - Carolyn Keene [13]
“Oh, no!” Nancy cried out. “Please, Dad, we’ll manage. We have Danny to help us, and even though the crooks know who we are and why we’re here, we’ll figure out something to outsmart them. Besides, I have to keep my date with Mr. Gonzales tomorrow, so I can warn him.”
“True,” her father agreed. “If the Crocodile Ecology people overheard my conversation with Roger today, they’ll probably try to follow you and prevent you from reaching the club. Keep that in mind.”
“I will,” Nancy promised. “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”
“All right. And good luck!”
When Nancy told the others about the new developments, they agreed that she should meet Mr. Gonzales the following day.
“I suggest,” Mrs. Cosgrove said, “that when you leave here you go shopping. Then take a cab to the club from a store. This way you won’t be followed.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nancy agreed. The next day Mr. Cosgrove drove her to a department store, where she made a few purchases, then went out a side door and took a taxi. When Nancy arrived at the club, she went to the desk and asked for Mr. Gonzales. “I’m Miss Boonton,” she added.
The clerk looked at her searchingly. “There must be some mistake,” he said slowly. “Miss Boonton is already here.”
“What!” Nancy was stunned by the announcement. So that’s how her enemies had double-crossed her!
She asked the man for a piece of paper and a pencil, and quickly scribbled a note to Mr. Gonzales. Nancy explained the situation and asked if he would come to the lobby. Then she handed the note to the clerk.
“Would you please send this to Mr. Gonzales,” she requested.
The clerk summoned a boy and within a few minutes, Nancy saw a handsome, dark-haired man of about fifty, wearing a white suit, approach the desk. The clerk motioned to the girl.
“This is Mr. Gonzales,” he said.
Nancy nodded, then asked her father’s friend to move a little distance away so they would not be overheard.
“I’m Nancy Drew,” she whispered. “The Miss Boonton you’re entertaining is an impostor.”
Nancy opened her purse and showed Mr. Gonzales her driver’s license. He looked at it, then at her, in amazement.
“How do you do,” he said in a low voice. “I’m dreadfully sorry about this. Do you know who the other girl is?”
“No,” Nancy replied. “Let’s go inside and find out.”
Quickly the two went to the dining room, and Mr. Gonzales led the way toward a table at the window. Suddenly he stopped short. “She’s gone!” he exclaimed. “The other Miss Boonton is gone!”
Nancy was not surprised to hear it. She deduced that when Mr. Gonzales had received the note and gone to the desk, the girl realized that her trick had been discovered and she decided to disappear at once!
“She had a good head start!” the girl detective thought.
Nancy suggested that they give an alarm to the man at the main desk so he could ask the clubhouse guard and various workers on the grounds and golf course to look for the impostor.
Mr. Gonzales went to the headwaiter’s desk and picked up the phone. Nancy heard him tell the story to the man in charge of the club and ask that a search be made for a tall, slender young woman with a lot of blond hair.
“She was wearing a white skirt and blouse, with a red-and-white sleeveless vest,” he said.
The message was passed along at once. Nancy, impatient to find out where the girl had gone, told Mr. Gonzales she wanted to do a little hunting on her own account. He offered to go with her.
“Where do you want to look first?” he asked.
“How about inspecting all the cars parked on the grounds? She might be hiding in one.”
Mr. Gonzales led the way to the far side of the dining room and out a sliding glass door. A caddy came by, and Mr. Gonzales asked him if he had seen the girl. The answer was no, and the search went on. They checked every car in the area. All they found inside them was a sleeping dog in one with an open window, and a large teddy bear in another.
“Of course there’s a third possibility,” Nancy said. “The phony Miss Boonton could have been brought to the club by a friend, who