Drew 17 - The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk by Carolyn Keene Page A

teasing, but she blushed a deep red. Rod’s face, too, had turned crimson. His composure was soon restored, however, and he said with a grin, “Miss Nancy Drew, may I put an armlock on you?”
    The two laughed and went on to Captain Detweiler’s quarters. Fortunately the officer was there. He admitted the couple at once. Then Nancy asked him to lock the door.
    He smiled. “More surprises?” he asked.
    She grinned back. “A big one and I think a very important one.”
    She unzipped the beach bag and let the papers tumble onto the captain’s desk.
    “I found these hidden in the lid of the mystery trunk,” she said. “Nelda translated some of the documents and said they no doubt had come from the government offices in Johannesburg. I couldn’t figure out why anyone stealing jewels should be involved in the espionage business at the same time.”
    “Perhaps he’s just a contact hired to smuggle the papers into another country,” the captain suggested. He picked up one document after another and quickly scanned them.
    Finally he said, “These are important, indeed. Nelda and I have a relative who works for the government. He told me that some time ago a number of very important secret papers had been stolen from the office files, and there has been no trace of them. I feel sure these are the ones and will contact Johannesburg at once.”
    He paused for several seconds, then said, “Nancy, you have done a wonderful job of sleuthing since you’ve been on board, and this, perhaps, is the most important find. I think the government in Johannesburg owes you a deep debt of gratitude.”
    Nancy was embarrassed. She merely said, “Oh, that’s high praise, but thank you. I think now I’d better leave. Please put the papers in your safe.”
    “Indeed, I will,” the captain replied.
    Nancy and Rod went outside. He said to her, “I’m due down at the purser’s desk and must hurry. You don’t mind if I leave you here?”
    “Not at all,” she responded. “And thanks a million for your help.”
    After breakfast the next morning Nancy wandered to the secluded area of the sports deck where she had seen Otto August twice, once alone and once with his companion.
    “Maybe the two of them will be there now, talking in their finger language, and I can pick up another clue,” she thought.
    The girl sleuth strolled over to the spot, but no one was there. For a moment she felt a sense of disappointment, then she chided herself. “How could I expect them to be there every time I come?” Nevertheless, she walked to the men’s chairs. A natural instinct for sleuthing told her to look around.
    Nancy noticed a crewman picking up bits of paper and other trash that had been left near Otto August’s chair. She detected a small piece of paper sticking up between two floorboards. Quickly she reached down and carefully pulled it out. To her surprise, there were three drawings on it.
    They were hands showing finger language. She read: DAN.
    The girl detective stared at the name for several seconds, then decided to look at the passenger list for someone named Dan or Daniel.
    She hurried back to cabin one twenty-eight. The other girls were not there. Nancy scanned the passenger list, but found no one with that name. “Now what’ll I do?” she asked herself. “I wonder where the girls are.”
    Something told her to return to the sports deck. “Perhaps I overlooked something else that was dropped,” she thought.
    The two suspects had not yet come to occupy their favorite chairs. Nancy went over to them and glanced around. The crewman whom she had seen cleaning up came in her direction. He was holding out a copy of The New York Times.
    “Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked. “I found it on that chair.” He pointed to the one Otto August had used.
    Nancy was about to turn down the offer, when her eyes focused on the date of the paper. It was one week old!
    “Maybe Mr. August was reading this for a specific purpose,”