The Secret of Red Gate Farm - Carolyn Keene [40]
“Let me go!” Joanne cried, struggling to free herself.
“Where did she come from?” Maurice Hale demanded unpleasantly.
“I saw her hiding among the bushes,” the guard informed him. “She was spying! But she got just a little too curious!”
“Spying, eh?” A harsh expression crossed the leader’s face. “Well, we know what to do with snoopers!”
“It’s all a mistake,” Joanne murmured, on the verge of tears. “I didn’t mean any harm. I’m Mrs. Byrd’s granddaughter and I was merely curious to know more about the cult.”
Even as Joanne spoke, her eyes traveled about the room, noting the stacks of money and the queer printing presses. She tried not to show that she understood their significance, but it was too late. The leader had seen her startled expression.
“So?” he drawled smartly. “This time your curiosity has been the means of getting you into serious trouble. You’ll learn, by the time we get through with you, not to meddle in affairs that don’t concern you!” He turned quickly to Snead. “Al, see that no one leaves this room!”
“Yes, Chief,” the guard answered.
Nancy wondered what he had in mind. Just then Maurice Hale continued in a cold, harsh voice:
“Just to make sure that other spies haven’t been pulling a fast one on us, I’ll have everyone remove his mask at once. Be mighty quick about it too!”
“No!” Bess whimpered aloud. Then, realizing what she had done, she covered her mouth and sank back against the wall.
All heads turned in her direction. Nancy and her friends had deliberately delayed in removing their masks, but now Nancy knew their effort to gain time was doomed.
With Al Snead still blocking the door, things looked black. Most of the others already had stripped off their headgear.
In addition to Maurice Hale and Al Snead, Nancy immediately recognized Yvonne Wong and Pete, the man who had spoken to her on the train. Next she spotted Mr. Kent, and finally, the woman with the upswept hairdo who had brought her the faked letter.
“That woman’s the same one I saw at the service station with the three men,” Nancy thought. “If she hadn’t changed her hair style, I might have recognized her the night she delivered the note.”
The other unmasked members were strangers to Nancy. Tensely now she watched as the leader stood before Bess.
“Nothing to be afraid of, dear,” he said, and gently lifted off the ghostly head covering. The next instant Maurice Hale practically shrieked, “A spy!”
His face contorted with rage, Maurice snatched the white cloth headpieces from George’s face, then Nancy’s. Their scheme was exposed to all the members of the counterfeit gang!
For an instant there was stunned silence, then angry cries arose from the Black Snake Colony members.
“They’re the ones who bought the Blue Jade perfume from me!” Yvonne Wong shrieked.
Al Snead glared at Nancy. “Yeah. I knew something was wrong when you came into the office wearin’ the Blue Jade. I smelled it, but didn’t let on.”
He then pointed accusingly toward Joanne. “That girl is the one who applied at our city office for a job! When she told me who she was and where she was from I knew she was the last person in the world we’d want to hire!”
“That crazy idea of yours about someone with farm experience,” the leader cried. “We didn’t need anybody to talk to our agents about cows and chickens—”
“But this place is in the country,” Al Snead defended himself. “And in our codes we use a lot of that kind of lingo.”
“Silence!” Maurice yelled, and turned to Joanne. “So you thought you’d get a job at our office and spy on us! And your meddling friend Nancy Drew was in cahoots with you.”
“No, oh no!” Joanne cried out. “It was only by accident. I wanted to find a job and help my grandmother. Nancy was just trying to help me locate the office—”
“Don’t expect us to believe a trumped-up story like that,” the leader said harshly. “We know all about