Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew by The Twin Dilemma Page B

on the wrong track. You see, the robber wasn’t the least bit interested in the medallion. I had put it in the safe with some other things that he took. He left the medallion, though, probably thinking it was a valueless trinket.”
    The girls were disappointed. “Then obviously the burglar wasn’t the man who competed with you at the auction,” George said. “But why did he introduce himself to us as Russell Kaiser?”
    Mr. Kaiser shrugged. “I have no idea, and to be quite honest, I don’t really care. Now, I have other matters to take care of. If you will excuse me, please.”
    He hurried off, and the young detectives left the precinct and headed for the restaurant. To their relief, they found Nancy still there, dallying over a salad.
    “We thought for sure you’d be gone by now,” Bess said as she and George sat down. “What happened to your job at Millington?”
    “I have no job,” Nancy replied, spearing a piece of lettuce with her fork, “but I do have lots of other news.”
    She told about her encounters, the conversations she had overheard, and her current suspicions.
    “I’m convinced Ted Henri deliberately tried to send me off on another mystery—” Nancy said.
    “The auction scheme,” George put in.
    “Right—because he didn’t want me near the case involving Mr. Reese.”
    “And Jacqueline’s been helping her brother,” Bess remarked.
    “Then her story about the kidnapping was phony,” George added.
    “I’m not positive about that,” Nancy said. “Maybe she really did believe her brother was missing. Otherwise, why didn’t she appear for the fashion show? What makes less sense is that she turned up at the hotel later.”
    “Also, we never did see her and Ted together at any time that evening,” George added.
    “Exactly. So it’s possible that someone wanted her to believe Ted had been kidnapped,” Nancy concluded. “Someone who was determined to keep her away long enough to steal those expensive gowns!”
    After the young detective’s idea took root in everyone’s mind, the other girls related their experiences of the morning.
    “I’m glad the medallion wasn’t stolen, for Mr. Kaiser’s sake,” Nancy said. “And it proves that Pete Grover wasn’t the thief.”
    George nodded. “If Grover is working with Ted Henri, and now we have ample proof that he is, I’m sure he’s not a burglar. Yet, he has a criminal record—he’s wanted for check forgery. I can’t figure it out.”
    “Neither can I,” Nancy admitted.
    “And why would he pretend to be Russell Kaiser?” Bess asked.
    “Well, if his job at the auction was to set us up for a fake mystery, maybe he’d done some research. Found out about the Kaisers, their family’s lion crest, and the names of surviving members he gleaned from Galen Kaiser’s recent obituary,” Nancy said.
    “Then he and Henri wrote the note to Jacqueline, using the crest as a symbol,” Bess added.
    “But what was all that business about a crooked auction?” George put in.
    “Just a ploy to make the newspaper announcement about the sale of the Kaiser estate even more tantalizing,” Nancy replied.
    “And all of this to keep us away from their case,” George sighed. “I bet if we had combined forces we’d have solved it by now!”
    “Whatever we do,” Nancy said, “I don’t think we should let on to Jacqueline or Ted that we know what’s going on.”
    “Three can play pretend as easily as two,” George said, trying to sound less anxious than she was.
    “And tomorrow night we’re going to get our chance,” Nancy replied.

15
    Stylist Trouble
    Nancy’s announcement made both George and Bess stare at her in surprise.
    “What do you mean?” Bess asked.
    “We’re going to the Crystal Party,” Nancy replied.
    “The what?”
    Nancy laughed, then repeated Mr. Belini’s telephone conversation. “Ted Henri will be there, and it must have some significance. I think we’ll be able to pick up a clue there.”
    “Where