=NANCY DREW MYSTERY STORIES=
THE HIDDEN
STAIRCASE
BY
CAROLYN KEENE
_ILLUSTRATED BY_
RUSSELL H. TANDY
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1930, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP, INC.
[Illustration: “AND THAT ISN’T THE WORST—LOOK UP THERE!”]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I A RUDE VISITOR 1
II A WARNING OF TROUBLE 8
III INTERESTING INFORMATION 14
IV A SECOND CALL 23
V STRANGE HAPPENINGS 31
VI THE GHOST CALLS AGAIN 40
VII WHAT CAN IT MEAN? 49
VIII THE WARNING 56
IX THE ANONYMOUS MESSAGE 63
X AN UNFRUITFUL SEARCH 71
XI A CRY IN THE NIGHT 80
XII THE THEFT 86
XIII ANOTHER SURPRISE 95
XIV WHAT HAPPENED TO CARSON DREW 103
XV A PRISONER 111
XVI A NEW CLUE 119
XVII UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS 127
XVIII INSIDE THE OTHER HOUSE 134
XIX A CHANCE DISCOVERY 144
XX THE UNDERGROUND PASSAGE 151
XXI THE END OF THE PASSAGE 160
XXII THE NEXT MOVE 166
XXIII NOTIFYING THE POLICE 178
XXIV NANCY LEADS THE WAY 185
XXV CAPTURED 195
CHAPTER I
A Rude Visitor
“I declare, I don’t know what makes me so nervous this afternoon! I have
the strangest feeling—just as though something were about to happen.”
As Nancy Drew expressed the thought aloud, she tossed aside a book she
had been trying to read and restlessly crossed the living room to glance
out of the window. She was alone in the big house, for her father,
Carson Drew, had been called out of the city on an important law case
and Hannah Gruen, the housekeeper, had taken her day off.
Usually, Nancy enjoyed a book, but on this particular afternoon she had
been unable to interest herself in anything. For no apparent reason she
felt nervous and uneasy.
As she stood at the window, her eyes rested for a moment upon an
old-fashioned mantel clock above the fireplace. The timepiece aroused
pleasant memories, for it had been given to her as a reward for her
service in solving a baffling mystery. Nancy smiled.
“I know what’s the matter with me,” she told herself. “I’m aching for
another adventure. That’s all the good it will do me, too!”
With a sigh of resignation, she again settled herself in a comfortable
chair and took up her book. She had read scarcely a page when her
attention was attracted by the sound of a heavy step on the front
veranda.
The doorbell rang sharply. There was an electric something about the
ring which was arresting, startling. Before Nancy could get up from the
chair, the bell rang a second time.
She dropped her book and hurried to the door. Opening it, she stood face
to face with a man she had never seen before.
He was unusually tall and thin with spindling legs which gave him the
appearance of a towering scarecrow. The illusion was heightened by his
clothing, which was ill-fitting and several seasons out of style. Nancy
could not help but notice several grease spots on his coat. However, it
was not the man’s clothing or miserly appearance which repulsed her, but
rather his unpleasant face. He had sharp, piercing eyes which seemed to
bore into her.
Nancy was permitted but an instant to appraise her visitor, for as she
opened the door he stepped inside without waiting for an invitation.
This rude action somewhat nonplused her, but she was too polite to show
her displeasure.
“I am Nathan Gombet of Cliffwood,” the man told her bluntly. “I want to
see Carson Drew.”
“My father isn’t here now,” Nancy explained quietly.
“Where is he?”
Nancy did not like the brusque way Nathan Gombet had of asking
questions, but she answered him politely.
“Out of town on business.”
“But I must see him.”
“I’m very sorry,” Nancy returned patiently, “but it is impossible. He
won’t be back until late this evening. If you will come back
to-morrow——”
“To-morrow won’t do. I want to see him now,” he demanded.
“Can’t you understand that my father is out of town?” Nancy asked a
trifle tartly, for she was beginning to be irritated. “If you want to
leave a message, I’ll give it to him as soon as he comes in.”
“I don’t want to leave a message. I came after those papers. Did your
father leave them for me?”
“I don’t know what papers you mean.”
“Oh, you don’t, eh? Well, your father knows all right. Just ask him
about Nathan Gombet’s property rights on the river and he’ll tell you
all about the nasty deal he and his friends tried to slip over on me!”
“What are you talking about?” Nancy demanded sharply. “Have you lost
your senses?”
“I’ve just come to ’em, that’s what I’ve done. Maybe you don’t know
about it, but I own some property down along the river. Your father
induced me to sell a piece of it at a ridiculously low figure. The land
is worth several times what he paid me for it. I’m not going to let
anyone put over a raw deal like that. I want the deed back or my price,
and Carson Drew is going to give it to me, too!”
“You don’t know what you are saying,” Nancy said icily. “My father
wouldn’t cheat anyone out of a cent.”
“Oh, no!” Nathan exclaimed sarcastically. “I suppose he’s in business
for his health!”
“He’s not in the business of taking what doesn’t belong to him—that’s
certain!” Nancy retorted hotly. “If you have anything coming to you I’m
sure it will be turned over to you just as soon as my father returns.”
“Just as soon as he returns—that’s good,” Nathan sneered. “Like as not
he’s hiding somewhere in the house this very minute.”
“How dare you insinuate such a thing?” Nancy cried angrily. “I’m alone
in the house.”
The instant she had divulged the information, she could have bitten her
tongue.
“Alone, eh? Well, maybe I was mistaken about your father being here, but
it’s the truth I’ve been telling you about those papers. He cheated me
out of a pile of money.”
“It isn’t the truth, and you know it! I’ve listened to you just as long
as I intend to. You ought to be ashamed to come here and say such
insulting things about my father. Now I wish you’d go!”
“I’ll not stir until I get my papers!”
“I’ve told you I don’t know a thing about your old papers.”
“They’re here some place. I know they’re in the house.”
“Will you kindly leave?”
“Just try to put me out if you think you can!” Nathan Gombet said, with
an unpleasant leer. “You know more about those papers than you let on.”
“You’re crazy!” Nancy snapped. She was so exasperated that she could not
keep her temper in check.
Nathan Gombet’s eyes narrowed to mere slits and a cruel look came over
his face.
“Get those papers for me!” he commanded harshly.
Nancy was aware that her father sometimes kept valuable papers in his
desk, but she had no intention of handing over any of them to this man.
She had never heard her father mention the documents in question, but
she had no doubt that Gombet was trying to get something which did not
belong to him. Although frightened at the man’s strange conduct, she
faced him boldly.
“I’ll not give you anything! Now get out of here!”
“All right, if you’ll not hand over the papers, I’ll just have a look
around for myself.”
A crafty look had come into the man’s eyes. As he spoke, he moved toward
the study which adjoined the living room. From where he had been
standing, Carson Drew’s desk was in plain sight.
“Don’t you dare go in there!” Nancy cried indignantly.
“Oh, so that’s where the papers are? I thought as much!”
A half dozen long strides took Nathan Gombet across the room and into
the study. Reaching the desk he jerked open a drawer and began pawing
through it.
“Stop that!” Angrily, Nancy grasped the man by the coat and pulled him
away from the desk. “You get out of here or I’ll call the police!”
With one vicious jerk, Nathan Gombet freed himself and wheeled upon her.
His face was convulsed with rage and Nancy saw that he was desperate.
Instinctively, she threw up her hands to ward off a blow.