The Sign of the Twisted Candles by Carolyn Keene Page B

was ready to leave. “I think,” he said, “that I’d better come back here tonight and keep an eye on things.”
    Nancy smiled. “Oh, would you? We’ll have dinner ready by that time.”
    Carol insisted upon helping. Mrs. Gruen remarked that the Jemitts also should be offering to do their share.
    “They’ll get hungry some time,” the Drews’ housekeeper said. “Then we’ll see them.”
    Nancy had chosen to set the table in the dining room so she could watch the couple come downstairs. But half an hour went by and they did not appear. Uneasy, Nancy decided to go upstairs and speak to them. She found their door wide open and the closet stripped of clothes. On a hunch Nancy pulled out several bureau drawers. There was nothing in them!
    “They’ve gone!” she thought in dismay. “No telling what they took with them!”
    Nancy fairly flew to the first floor and burst into the kitchen. “The Jemitts have moved out!” she exclaimed.
    “What!” said Hannah Gruen. “But how could they without our seeing them?”
    Carol sank into a chair. “It’s all my fault. I’ve made such a mess of everything!” she wailed. “Th-the Jemitts must have used the back stairway.”
    She explained that since several steps on it needed repairing, the stairway was never used. At the top and bottom, planks had been laid across and curtains hung at the back. The spaces were used as closets.
    “Please show me,” Nancy requested.
    She and Hannah followed the girl to a rear hall which opened onto a porch. Carol grasped the handle of an inside door and turned it. A curtain three feet beyond had been shoved aside, revealing a stairway. There was no doubt but that the Jemitts had used it in their secret getaway.
    “I wonder how much of Asa Sidney’s property they took,” Mrs. Gruen remarked grimly.
    Carol shuddered at the remark. “You really think they have stolen more of Mr. Sidney’s possessions?”
    Nancy nodded. “It’s a good possibility.” A determined look spread over her face. “I’m going to find those people!”
    Hannah smiled. “I’m sure nobody wants them back, but as foster parents they did abandon a minor, and are liable.”
    “Carol, is there a big flashlight around?” Nancy asked.
    “Yes, in the kitchen.”
    “We’ll need it. Carol, you help me. Hannah, please guard the house,” Nancy directed.
    The two girls rushed outside just in time to meet Mr. Hill walking in. His chauffeur was driving off. Quickly Nancy explained what had happened and the three rushed to the garage. As they had expected, the Jemitts’ car was gone.
    “We didn’t hear the motor,” Nancy said, “so it’s my guess the Jemitts pushed the car out to the road before starting it. Let’s take mine and try to catch them!”
    She had parked her convertible in the driveway, near the far corner of the inn. When they reached the car, all of them gasped in dismay. Both rear tires had been slashed.
    “How awful!” Carol exclaimed.
    “And I have only one spare tire,” Nancy said, vexed with herself because the Jemitts had outwitted her. An idea came to her. “The tire-cutting was probably done to prevent pursuit,” she said. “Or maybe the Jemitts wanted to make us believe pursuit is necessary, but actually they’re not far away!”
    She turned to Mr. Hill. “What was in the boxes you took to the bank besides the securities?”
    “A large collection of sterling silver,” he replied. “I’m sure that old tenant house is filled with loot.”
    “Then that’s where the Jemitts would go first,” Nancy said with conviction. She took a large portable spotlight from her car trunk. “Let’s hurry to the tenant house,” she urged.
    The three strode off through the meadows to the old cottage. Nancy was somewhat disappointed to find it in darkness.
    “They got here ahead of us,” Mr. Hill commented. “That is, if they came here at all.”
    “Let’s wait a few minutes,” Nancy said, putting out the light.
    They stood in