Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Twin Dilemma Page A

sidetrack me onto another mystery! Nancy concluded.
    As she continued listening, more questions came from the two men. They wanted to know what Belini’s association with Millington was!
    The young detective missed hearing Belini’s answer as several customers entered the room from the stairway. They were chattering about a choice of colors, but then paused long enough for the girl to hear a few more remarks pass between the men.
    “Do you supply fabric to Millington?” Henri questioned.
    Belini grumbled something unintelligible.
    Then Nancy heard Henri ask if Belini had sold material to Mrs. Jenner.
    “Sure. So what? She likes to sew.”
    Clearly, the man was on the defensive, but before any more was said, the reporter and Grover strode out of the room. Nancy remained out of sight until they went up the stairway and she heard Mr. Belini’s voice again.
    “Henri will be at the Crystal Party tomorrow night,” the man said. Then there was a click as he put down the telephone.
    Obviously, he had called someone. Nancy stood stock-still, hoping to hear more, but the man made no other calls. She decided it would be better for her to try and follow the two men, rather than eavesdrop on Belini, so she hurried up the stairs and out the door.
    Her eyes roamed the street, but the pair was nowhere in sight! They couldn’t have gone too far on the ice, Nancy reasoned. They must have taken a taxi.
    Disappointed, she headed back to the restaurant, digging in her rubberized heels to avoid slipping. On the way, she picked up a newspaper. When she arrived, Bess and George were not there.
     
    After the two girls had seen Russell Kaiser leave in the police car, they assumed that he was on his way to the local precinct.
    “Let’s go there,” George suggested. “Maybe we’ll get a chance to talk to him.”
    The girls asked the doorman for the address. He gave it to them but said, “I wouldn’t recommend bothering poor Mr. Kaiser now. He’s very upset, as you can well imagine.”
    “Don’t worry,” George said. “We only want to talk to him because we might be able to help him.”
    The doorman raised his eyebrows and was about to ask them how, but the girls just smiled sweetly and left.
    When they arrived at the police station, they did not see the bald-headed man. Upon asking at the desk, they learned he was talking to the captain, but would be done in a few minutes. Bess and George sat down to wait.
    “I bet Nancy has eaten our lunch as well as hers by now,” Bess murmured to her cousin.
    “I just hope she’s still there,” George said. “Of course, Millington may only give her a half hour off, in which case she’s probably left.”
    The cousins’ conversation ended abruptly as Mr. Kaiser appeared. The girls stood up quickly.
    “Mr. Kaiser,” George said when he strode toward them.
    He paused.
    “Remember us? We met you at the Speers’ auction the other evening,” Bess continued.
    “Oh, yes,” he said now. “You were with the young lady who bid on the medallion.”
    “Yes. We saw the news item about the burglary and wondered if the medallion had been stolen, too.”
    “You followed me here to ask me that?” he replied, incredulous.
    “We’re detectives,” Bess said.
    “Amateur detectives,” George added. “May we speak to you a moment? We have some information that might be of interest to you.”
    Kaiser shrugged. “Why not?”
    Without revealing too much about the mysteries they were working on with their friend, Nancy Drew, George explained their special concern for the distinctive medallion.
    “It’s very possible,” she declared, “that the man who was bidding on it is the burglar you’re looking for. He told us he was you.”
    “Not only that,” Bess spoke up, “but he seemed to want that medallion an awful lot.”
    “Enough to steal it, I suppose,” Mr. Kaiser said with a glint of mischief.
    “Exactly,” Bess said.
    “Well, girls, I appreciate the clues, but I’m afraid you’re