The Mystery at Lilac Inn - Carolyn Keene [28]
Mary proceeded to give Nancy a dramatic story of hearing footsteps at night when no one was around. She said that several times when she had been working late in the kitchen, a ghostly face had looked in the window.
“It’s a spooky old place!” Mary shuddered. “I don’t know how I stood it—the grounds are so lonely and creepy at night. Besides, commuting to my brother’s here was too long a trip.”
Nancy wondered if she were on the wrong track, after all. Perhaps Mary had left because of fright, and had wanted merely to find work closer to town.
The young sleuth looked around. “This is a pleasant home,” she said. “Have you always lived with your brother?”
Mary answered readily, “No, just since I returned to Dockville, two months ago. I worked down South during the winter, and before that, out West. I hadn’t seen Bud for a couple of years. When I came back here, he suggested I get a job nearby.”
She paused. “Say, Miss Drew, how did you know I was in Dockville?”
Nancy explained about her call on Mrs. Stonewell.
Mary scowled. “That fuss-budget wanted a slave, not a maid. I was glad when she fired me.”
Mary went on to say that after she left Lilac Inn, she had stayed here. “I’m keeping house for Bud until I find a really good deal.”
“Oh—by the way,” Nancy said casually, “the other day I found a note to the gardeners. I understand you printed it.”
For a fraction of a second Nancy was sure she detected a startled look on Mary’s face. Then the former waitress laughed heartily. “Oh, Miss Drew, isn’t that funny you should have found that?”
“Then you knew lilacs are called ‘blue pipes’?” Nancy asked. “And what in the world did the message mean?”
After a short pause, Mary answered, “I don’t know. Someone asked me to write it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t remember his name. I wasn’t there long, you know.”
Nancy went through the list of names of the gardeners, but Mary still insisted she did not remember who had asked her to print the message.
“Another thing,” said Nancy. “I phoned this house the other day and was told no Mary Mason who had worked at Lilac Inn was here.”
Mary Mason flushed. “I don’t know who answered the phone. Around here nobody calls me Mary. That’s my business name. I’m Dotty Mae. My full name is Dorothy Mary.”
“I see,” said Nancy. “Sorry.”
Mary stood up. “Hate to rush you, Miss Drew. But I’m er—expecting company.”
She accompanied Nancy to the door. The young sleuth said good-by and went to her car. She started the engine, glancing surreptitiously at the Masons’ cottage. Nancy plainly saw the window curtain move, as if someone were standing behind it, watching her.
As she drove away, Nancy reviewed the conversation. Mary Mason had seemed quite friendly, and sometimes a bit flighty. Nancy reflected that Mary’s explanation of the “blue pipes” note sounded logical, but that the woman’s whole story had been overly glib. She had, Nancy felt, not been entirely truthful.
“Why didn’t she want to tell me who asked her to write the note about ‘blue pipes’?” Nancy’s hands gripped the wheel hard as a startling idea occurred to her. “She’s shielding someone.”
“Blue pipes” was being used as a signal—perhaps between persons at Lilac Inn and an outside accomplice. Were Mary Mason and a gardener two of them? And could Maud possibly be a third member of the group? Were they responsible for the diamond theft?
“They’re all familiar with the place,” Nancy reasoned, “and might have learned of the secret closet.”
If this were the case, she speculated, the three might have other assistants. “For instance,” Nancy thought, “the woman who bumped into me in Benton, whoever put the diamond in my purse, and the person who placed the bomb in our cottage.”
Nancy felt excitedly that her theory was worth following. She decided to return home and see if her father were there.
When Nancy arrived she was delighted to find Carson Drew at the desk in his study. The lawyer went over the whole case with his daughter, then shook his head in amazement. “This is a many-sided case you’ve tackled,” he remarked. “I’m inclined to agree that the mysteries