The Bungalow Mystery Read Online Free Page B

hinted.
    Nancy and Helen hastily bade the Aborns good-by and walked toward the door of the suite with Laura. Suddenly Helen turned around.
    “It’s lucky you brought two cars!” she called back. “Laura has a lot of luggage.”
    Without another word, Helen gave Laura a quick kiss and walked into the corridor. Nancy followed a moment later.
    “Why did you say that?” Nancy questioned Helen as they rode down in the elevator.
    The dark-haired girl signaled for silence. There were several other people in the car. When they stepped out into the lobby Nancy repeated her question.
    Helen grabbed her chum’s arm excitedly. “I couldn’t resist it!” she exclaimed. “Jacob Aborn was the driver in the tan-and-white sports jacket I saw coming out of the road by the bungalow this morning! The driver of the black foreign car!”

CHAPTER IV
    The Tree Crash
    IF HELEN was right about Mr. Aborn’s being the driver of the foreign car, then it should be in the hotel parking lot, Nancy thought.
    “Let’s take a look,” she suggested.
    The girls walked to the rear of the hotel where Nancy had left her own convertible. They scouted the lot. There was no sign of a black foreign car. Helen asked the attendant if one had been driven in that day. The man said no.
    Helen was puzzled. “I was so sure I was right.”
    “You still could be,” said Nancy. “The car may be parked somewhere else. Mrs. Aborn may have picked up her husband at some other point.”
    Puzzled, she and Helen climbed into the convertible and Nancy started the engine. As she drove back to the Pinecrest Motel, Helen remarked:
    “I don’t care for either Mr. or Mrs. Aborn. Their friendliness seems forced, and their promises don’t ring true.”
    “I agree.” Nancy nodded. “By the way, did you notice how Laura’s guardian went out of his way to tell us she was penniless? And we were total strangers.”
    “I certainly did,” Helen replied. “It was in very bad taste, I’d say.”
    “As soon as Hannah’s ankle is better,” Nancy declared, “I’m coming back here. Let’s pay Laura a visit together at Melrose Lake. I feel very uneasy about her.”
    “A wonderful idea!” Helen exclaimed.
    When they reached the motel, she got out. “I hope Hannah’s foot improves quickly,” she said, and waved Nancy out of sight.
    A minute later Nancy was on the main highway which paralleled Twin Lakes for some distance. Presently, as she left the lake area, Nancy cast a speculative glance toward the sky. Did she imagine it or was it beginning to cloud over?
    Nancy glanced at the speedometer. She was nearly halfway to River Heights. “Maybe I can get home before the storm breaks,” she told herself.
    A quarter of a mile farther on Nancy saw an obstruction in the road and brought the convertible to a halt. A huge sign read:
    DETOUR. BRIDGE OUT. TAKE MELROSE LAKE ROAD. An arrow pointed to the left.
    “Just when I’m in a hurry!” Nancy fumed, knowing she would have to go miles out of her way before reaching the River Heights road.
    Another anxious glance at the sky told her there was no time to be lost. Already huge storm clouds were appearing.
    “I’ll be caught in another cloudburst like the one on the lake,” she thought.
    Hastily she headed the car down the Melrose Lake detour, a narrow, rutty road bordered with tall pines and thick shrubbery. Nancy was forced to reduce her speed to ten miles an hour, and even then it seemed as though the car would shake to pieces.
    Within a few minutes it grew so dark that Nancy snapped on the headlights. Giant rain-drops began to strike the windshield. In a short time they were followed by a blinding downpour, and the deep ruts in the road filled up like miniature streams.
    “I’m in for it now,” Nancy groaned, as the car crept up a hill.
    Before she could reach a level stretch on the other side of the hill, the storm broke in all its fury. Trees along the roadside twisted and bent before the onslaughts of the rushing