Mystery of the Glowing Eye - Carolyn Keene [3]
“Frankly, I have none yet,” she replied. “I’m too worried about Ned. Was he held up? Drugged? Or enticed away by a phony message?”
Chief McGinnis looked grave. “If no one gets word of him soon, I’ll report this to the FBI, unless the Emerson police have already done so. I’ll find out.”
Nancy spoke up. “May I keep the note?”
The officer smiled. “Since it is a personal message addressed to you and found on the premises of your home, which is private property, I guess the note belongs to you. But I’d like to have it for a while, at least.”
Mr. Drew put in, “Suppose I make a photostat in my office, then give you the original.”
“Oh, let me do it!” Nancy said quickly. She had a mental picture of Marty King seeing the note and asking Mr. Drew about it. If he told her of the strange events connected with it, she might try to involve herself in the case. Nancy’s father looked surprised, but she added hastily, “I want to keep this a secret, Dad.”
“All right. You drive down to the office and make the copy yourself.”
One of the policemen came in to say a message for the chief had been received over his car radio. “A report just came in that no parachutists have been found in the area.”
After he went outside, Chief McGinnis said, “What puzzles me is how the copter was flown here.”
Nancy made a guess. “Maybe it’s a robot copter. And someone deliberately sent it here to deliver the message. Of course that’s quite an elaborate way to do so.”
“And how is the owner going to get back his copter?” the chief asked. “We don’t know where it came from.”
“Wherever the place is, I’ll bet that’s where Ned is being held,” Nancy answered. She looked grim. “Let’s go out and see if we can get a soil clue from the tires.”
By this time the crowd in the street had dispersed and only the police were left. Nancy had brought her magnifying glass. An examination of the dried mud on the tires indicated that the take-off spot was probably near a swamp of black muck. She found tiny shreds of wood in it. “A lumber camp, or some other kind of forest area,” the young detective murmured to herself.
Without warning the engine burst into life and the rotors began to whir.
“The copter’s getting ready to leave!” Nancy cried out. “I must go with it. Maybe it will take me to Ned.” She began to climb aboard.
Mr. Drew jumped forward and made a grab for his daughter. “No!” he shouted. “It’s too dangerous! If the copter is controlled by an enemy, the operator could kidnap you and even kill you!”
Chief McGinnis agreed with Mr. Drew and added his caution. Before Nancy could step down, the rotors suddenly stopped whirring and the engine became silent.
“Something went wrong!” George exclaimed.
“Thank goodness,” said Bess. “Otherwise Nancy might be up in the air and off on a dangerous mission!”
Nancy nodded, but was more interested in the helicopter. “It must be remote-controlled,” she commented, “and can take off and land at any time.”
“But why did its engine stop?” Bess asked.
Nancy assumed that the operator had used a sensitized gadget which let him know whenever there was added weight in the helicopter, indicating that someone was aboard uninvited.
“We’ll prevent it from flying away,” said the chief. “Tomorrow the police will take it. Girls, would you find some heavy pieces for my men to pile inside? I want to keep the copter here if possible until we can check on its ownership and move it.”
While the husky police chief and a few of his officers clung to the craft, Nancy and her father hurried into the garage and brought out a heavy tire rim, an iron bucket left by a painter, and part of an unused steel fence as ballast.
“That should help,” the chief said.
George had a suggestion. “Why don’t we tie the copter down? I saw a lot of strong, thick rope in the garage.”
The others agreed and the craft was securely anchored to a tall, sturdy-looking tree. Bess and George said they must leave but would be back in the morning to help Nancy on the case. Chief McGinnis ordered one man to stay on duty. He and the rest drove off.