The Eskimo's Secret by Carolyn Keene

night.”
    “Thank you,” Nancy replied, “and thank you for caring.”
    “Just get Carson back.”
    “I’ll do my best.” Nancy replaced the receiver, feeling drained. She leaned against the cool metal for a moment, then she remembered that Alana and Ben would be waiting for her. In spite of her exhaustion, the night was not yet over.
    She took the elevator to her floor, then hurried along the hall to the stairs. Once there she took a bandage from her purse and used it to keep the door to the stairway from locking. The doors to the stairs, which were meant only as a fire exit, had no knobs on the inside, so they couldn’t be opened except from the hall or with a key. Once she was sure she could get back into the hall, she hurried down to the first floor and cautiously opened the exit door.
    “Where have you been?” Alana demanded. “We’ve been waiting forever.”
    “I’m sorry, but I had to take care of something,” Nancy said, then explained about Miss Haggler’s call, finishing, “I couldn’t risk her calling the police in Seattle and I was afraid the phone in my room might have been bugged.” Alana nodded. “We have to keep anyone else from knowing what is going on.”
    “Anyway, let’s get back upstairs and out of sight,” Nancy said.
    “This really is very kind of you,” Ben commented.
    “You’re a part of this, too,” Nancy reminded him. “After all, the Tundra is your heritage.” “And the treasures could give my people a real chance,” Ben agreed. “If they had those carvings back, they could sell some and build the school and the other things they need in Seal Bay. The settlement never really recovered from what Cole did to it when he was trying to force the artists to sell him their works.”
    “What do you mean?” Nancy asked, stopping for a moment to catch her breath on the long climb.
    “There’s nothing there for the young people. I left as soon as I could and so do many of the others. It’s a town without a future, unless something is done. I think my grandfather was beginning to realize that and to feel guilty toward the end. I just wish he’d entrusted the secret to someone else—someone who could solve the riddle of the Tundra.”
    “We’ll solve it,” Nancy assured him with more confidence than she truly felt. “Just as soon as we get it back.”
    “That’s what I like,” Alana said. “Confidence!”
    They waited while Nancy peeled the tape off the door, then followed her down the hall to her room. Nancy handed Ben the key she’d just gotten from the desk clerk. “Your room is right there,” she said, indicating the door next to hers, “but why don’t you come in with us first. Maybe we can come up with a plan.”
    “I hope you have some ideas,” Alana said as Nancy unlocked the door. “I, for one, have just about run out. She stopped as Nancy grabbed her arm. “What is it?”
    “I’m sure I turned off the lights when I left,” Nancy said, looking around. Then she saw it— a small tape player resting on the dresser, waiting for them.

14. A Puzzling Code

    “Let me check,” Ben said, moving past the two girls to look in the bath and closet. “There’s no
    one here,” he told them. “Maybe you just forgot about the lights.”
    Nancy shook her head. “They’ve been here,” she said. “They just made a delivery.”
    “What do you mean?” Alana asked.
    Nancy crossed to the dresser and looked down at the tape player. “They brought this,” she replied.
    “A message?” Ben asked.
    “Or instructions,” Nancy suggested.
    “For what?” Alana looked pale. “Do you think they know you’ve found me?”
    Nancy shrugged. “Your car was at the lodge,” she reminded her. “I’m sure they saw it after we left, even if they didn’t notice it before.”
    “What are we going to do?” Ben inquired.
    “I guess the only way we’ll know for sure what’s going on is to play this,” Nancy said. “We might as well sit down and