The Whispering Statue Read Online Free

the circumstances there was nothing else to do.
    Meanwhile George had looked back and was watching the men who stood in the road, anger and bewilderment on their faces.
    “You can’t outsmart Nancy Drew!” she said as if addressing them. Then she grinned. “Pardon, Debbie Lynbrook. It was you who did this.”
    Nancy made good time back to the airport. Here she telephoned the Waterford Police Department, and spoke to the officer in charge, Captain Turner. He was astounded at her story and said he would send men at once both to the airport and to the mansion.
    “Do you know why those men wanted to hold you?” he asked.
    “No. I never saw them before and I’m a stranger in Waterford.”
    Nancy wondered if the three men were part of a gang that had something to do with the Basswood case or the whispering statue mystery. Had they penetrated her disguise? And how had they learned that the girls were arriving?
    “Well,” said Captain Turner, “I advise you and your friends to watch your step.”
    “We will,” Nancy promised.
    Two officers soon arrived at the airport and Nancy handed one of them the keys to the station wagon. He scrutinized the license plate, then said:
    “This is a stolen car. It won’t help us trace those men, but the owner will be glad to get it back.”
    The other officer had gone to telephone for a taxi to pick up the girls. The taxi arrived in a few minutes and the girls were driven to the yacht club, which was in the opposite direction to the old mansion.
    As they entered the expansive grounds, Bess exclaimed, “What a beautiful place!”
    There was a large garden with hedges on three sides. Flower beds were laid out in symmetrical patterns. Roses and delphinium were particularly prominent. At the far end of the grounds stood a long formal-looking Italian-type building of white cement.
    When the taxi reached the entrance, two young men in well-fitting blue uniforms took their bags. They led the girls through a tastefully furnished lobby to the registration desk.
    Nancy asked for Mr. Ayer, the manager. “Please tell him Debbie Lynbrook is here.”
    A few moments later the desk clerk took Nancy to Mr. Ayer’s private office. She closed the door and shook hands with him.
    In a low voice he said, “You’re Nancy Drew?”
    “Yes. My father sends his greetings and said he would telephone you once in a while to find out how I’m getting along. You know I’m here to solve a mystery for Mrs. Merriam.”
    “Yes, he told me, and I wish you all the luck in the world.”
    Nancy did not mention the whispering statue. She would do that later. Right now she wanted to settle the matter of accommodations and take a shower. Her race on the sand dunes to escape the would-be kidnappers had left her feeling pretty disheveled.
    She went back to the desk and registered as Debbie Lynbrook. The clerk, whose name was Sam Lever, suggested that the three girls share one bedroom.
    “The rooms here are very large. I have a nice one overlooking the bay. It has two double beds.”
    The girls decided to take it. Upon seeing the room, they were delighted. It not only had a sweeping view of the bay which was a few miles from the ocean, but the decorations were unusually attractive.
    After the girls had showered and were changing into slacks and sport shirts, they began to discuss the attempted kidnapping.
    George asked, “Do you suppose those men know who we are, or had they just received orders to abduct three girls coming by plane?”
    Bess looked at Nancy who once more had put on the wig and dark face powder. “I’m sure they didn’t guess you’re Nancy Drew,” she said. “But they may have found out who George and I are. Oh, I’ll never forget those two ugly men that came out of that mansion! I hope I never see them again!”
    George grinned. “Don’t bet on that. If they have been hired to keep us from solving the Basswood puzzle or the whispering statue mystery, they aren’t going to give up