Mystery of the Glowing Eye - Carolyn Keene [6]
“After we eat,” Bess said firmly.
At an intersection in town Nancy inquired of a traffic policeman where there was a good restaurant. He recommended The Clearview. In a few minutes the girls reached the attractive, ivy-covered brick homestead. Inside, it was filled with beautiful old furniture and paintings.
“How charming!” Bess exclaimed as the girls went to the powder room.
A few minutes later a headwaitress led them toward a table by the window. Nancy, who was ahead of the others, stopped suddenly. At a booth for two in a secluded corner sat her father and Marty King!
“What’s the matter?” asked George, who had bumped into Nancy. The young detective did not answer. Instead she called to the headwaitress. “We’d like to sit back here.” She herself chose a table out of sight of her father and his assistant.
After the headwaitress had handed the girls menus and gone off, Nancy told the cousins what had startled her. “I thought it best not to be seen by Dad and Marty,” she added.
George guessed what was going through her friend’s mind. “You’re afraid Marty will think you followed them because she was going to work on the glowing eye mystery.”
“Yes,” Nancy replied. “And I don’t want Marty to bring it up to me. They must have flown here. Let’s eat quickly and leave.”
The young detective’s hopes of not being seen were in vain. A short time later Marty came directly toward the girls on her way to the telephone booth in the hall. She looked surprised, but said cheerily, “Hello, Nancy. How’s everything? Have you caught up with the kidnappers yet?”
Nancy introduced Bess and George. Marty smiled, then said, “Oh, you’re the girls who help Nancy solve mysteries. What fun you must have! Well, I’ll run now and make a call to the office.”
She walked away without saying a word about Mr. Drew. On impulse Nancy got up, said to Bess and George, “Order me some soup and a ham on rye,” and hurried across the room to speak to her father.
He was surprised but invited her to sit down. “Marty’s with me,” he said. “We flew up here in connection with a boat-company case. You decided rather suddenly to go to Emerson, didn’t you?”
“Yes. It may be a wild-goose chase, but I’m trying to follow the course that copter took. By the way, I think there may be a connection between Cyclops that Ned mentioned and your mystery of the glowing eye. Dad, you haven’t yet told me details about that mystery, which you first called the Anderson case.”
“You could be right about a connection between the two cases,” the lawyer agreed. “I’ll tell you the whole story when I have time.” Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy saw Marty coming back. “I’ll give you this hint. Investigate the Anderson Museum in Hager. It’s about six miles from here.”
Nancy returned to her table in a far better mood than she had left it. Her father was not sidestepping her detective work in favor of Marty’s after all! Bess and George noticed the difference in their friend. But before they had a chance to ask her about it, Nancy said they were going to Hager to pick up a clue.
“What is it?” George asked.
“Something to do with Cyclops or the glowing eye.”
Twenty minutes later the three girls were on their way. Mr. Drew and Marty remained at the restaurant. The six miles were quickly covered.
Hager proved to be another historic town with brownstone mansions dating back to the “elegant eighties” and still in fine condition. Tall trees and well-kept lawns lent the area a picturesque, though severe atmosphere.
Bess remarked, “I wouldn’t be happy living in these surroundings. You’d never dare disturb anything, and you’d be afraid to laugh.”
Nancy smiled at Bess’s pretended fears. “Cheer up. The people here are no doubt very friendly.”
After riding around a while the girls came to a large estate with a high hedge around it. Over the entrance drive was a stone archway with a large silver nameplate at the top. Engraved in script was Anderson Museum.
Nancy parked and