The Mystery at Lilac Inn - Carolyn Keene [41]
“How old is Gay now?” Nancy inquired.
“About twenty-seven,” Lillie answered.
“I wonder,” Nancy pursued, “if she still likes ‘blue pipes’?”
“Oh! Gay must’ve told you that means lilacs!” Lillie exclaimed. “She certainly was crazy about them—even wore lilac colors.”
“Say!” Mr. Merriweather exclaimed. “I wonder if Gay sent me the pipe made of lilac wood I received yesterday. There was no return address on the package, and the postmark was blurred—must’ve gotten wet.”
When he showed the pipe to Nancy, she could scarcely hide her excitement. The pipe looked exactly like Mr. Daly’s! But she asked Lillie in an offhand way if Gay had ever spoken of Lilac Inn,
“Why, yes,” the actress replied. “If you mean the old place in Benton that Gay said she visited as a child, when the inn was owned by a relative of hers—someone who’d lived in the West Indies.”
“He was a Spaniard, I believe,” Nancy put in, “named Ron Carioca.”
“That sounds right,” Lillie said.
Mr. Merriweather spoke up, “You might find Gay in Benton. Maybe she went back for old times’ sake.”
“A good idea. We’ll look there,” Helen said.
Nancy sighed. “I suppose she’s changed quite a bit since—her imprisonment.”
Lillie shook her head. “Surprisingly, no. I’ll show you.” The actress went to a table and picked up a scrapbook of clippings. She thumbed through the pages and pointed out a recent magazine picture of an attractive model with golden hair, “This is Gay. Looks just like her.”
The young sleuth studied the picture. It struck her there was something familiar about Gay’s eyes.
The two girls thanked the Merriweathers and left. They got into the car and headed for Benton. Elatedly, Nancy and Helen discussed everything they had learned—Gay’s last name, the fact that she had been in prison, and her childhood association with Lilac Inn.
“Do you think she is your double, Nancy?” asked Helen. “There’s a resemblance. Besides, being an actress, Gay knows how to use make-up skillfully.”
“Yes. Also, the color of her hair is similar to mine,” Nancy added.
“But,” said Helen, “I can’t understand why Gay decided to impersonate you in the first place.”
“I’m inclined to think it had nothing to do with the mystery of Lilac Inn in the beginning,” Nancy replied. “She wanted clothes and jewelry, so took my charge plate. But later she decided to use the disguise to keep John and me from our skin-diving trip.”
“You mean Gay was at the inn?”
“Yes. Under an assumed name, of course.”
Helen grinned at the young sleuth. “And next you’re going to tell me who she was. Well, one person she couldn’t have been was Mary Mason. You saw her in Dockville, and said she’s heavier and older than you.”
Nancy pursed her lips. “I never checked the description of that Mary Mason with Emily. She may not have been the Mary who worked at the inn, but was in league with her, and was asked to pose as Mary Mason, waitress.”
Helen was amazed. “Nancy, you’re a whiz. Gay and Mary probably are the same person.”
“That’s what I suspect, Helen. First, we’ll check with Emily.”
When the girls reached the inn, they questioned Emily. “Now that I think of it, Nancy,” Emily said, “Mary Mason was about your height and weight, and her coloring’s like yours.”
“That settles it,” said the young sleuth. “I’m going to talk to Chief McGinnis immediately.” With her friends covering the extension phones, Nancy told him of her suspicions.
“You’ve certainly made great progress, Nancy,” he praised her. “I’ll ask the Dockville police to get a line on the Mary Mason you talked to there.”
“Thank you,” said Nancy, then she called her father. Hannah said that Mr. Drew had gone out to dinner with a client, so Nancy asked the housekeeper to give him a message.
“Of course. Have you solved the mystery?” Hannah inquired hopefully.
Nancy said not yet, but to tell her father that she had an important clue to her impersonator. “Ask him to call me at the inn, please.”
Hannah promised to do so, and said that she hoped to hear the whole story soon. At supper-time John was not present at the table. Helen