The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene

examined Nancy’s sleeves. “Why, Nancy, what on earth have you been up to?”
    “Can we talk some place where we won’t be overheard?” Nancy requested. Dick led the way to his office.
    Once inside, Nancy told of her sleuthing activities and experiences that day and night. “I’m glad you helped me along with that ‘dance’ story, Emily. Only Dad and the guard and you two know where I’ve been.”
    Dick spoke up earnestly, “You might be risking your life for us, Nancy. Lilac Inn isn’t worth that.”
    Nancy set her jaw. “I must outwit my impersonator before she outwits me. And if I do, I’m positive I’ll solve the mysteries of this place, too.”
    Dick nodded understandingly. He said Emily had told him of all the odd happenings at Lilac Inn.
    “I also explained to Dick about my fear that Maud has some hold over Aunt Hazel,” Emily said, adding that she hesitated to ask her aunt outright unless necessary.
    “Of course,” Nancy said. “Mrs. Willoughby is upset as it is.”
    Emily said grimly, “If I find out Maud is threatening my aunt, she’ll regret it!”
    The three young people started upstairs once more. On the way, Nancy asked if Mary Mason and the gardeners had brought references when they came to Lilac Inn.
    “Why, yes,” Emily answered. “But at the time, Dick and I were so busy with work here, we didn’t check them until later. They seemed all right.”
    The trio said good night, and Nancy entered her room. Helen was sleeping soundly, and did not awaken. It seemed to the young sleuth that her own eyes had just closed when she was awakened by Helen calling her name frantically.
    “Nancy! Nancy! Wake up! There’s an earthquake!”
    “What?” Nancy sat up in bed. As she did the startled girl noticed that her bed was indeed shaking slightly.
    “Quick!” Helen urged. “Let’s get out of here before the ceilings fall down!”
    As the girls ran to the hall, they met Dick, Emily, Mr. Daly, Mrs. Willoughby, and Maud. All cried out that they too had felt the vibrations, which now had ceased.
    “This is very strange,” Dick said. “This isn’t earthquake territory.”
    On a hunch, Nancy suggested they telephone the Benton State Police and find out if the tremors were widespread. Dick made the call and with a puzzled expression reported that apparently the disturbance was confined to Lilac Inn.
    Maud shrieked, “The building’s falling apartt We’d better get out of here!”
    “Go if you want to,” Emily said sharply. “But the shaking has stopped and the building is still intact.”
    “I’ll make an investigation,” Dick offered. “There may be something wrong with the foundation.” He suggested that Nancy and Mr. Daly accompany him to the cellar. “The rest of you wait here.”
    None of the three discovered anything out of the ordinary in the basement.
    Nancy smiled in relief. “Instead of falling down, this building seems to be unusually sturdy.”
    Mr. Daly, however, was extremely nervous. “This has never happened before,” he said. “Dick, I strongly advise you to give up the inn. It’s—it’s just not safe here any more.”
    Emily’s fiancé shook his head, saying that he, like Nancy, was more determined than ever to solve the mysteries at Lilac Inn. The trio went back to the second floor and reassured the others.
    “Are you all sure you never felt a similar vibration before?” Dick asked. “Shaking like that used to happen to our house when a very heavy truck went by.”
    “Maybe that’s what happened this time,” Helen said philosophically. “Let’s go back to bed.”
    Nancy was not convinced by this explanation. Remembering the explosion and fire caused by the time bomb, she wondered if someone had planted an explosive underground to try to destroy or at least weaken Lilac Inn.
    “Nancy,” said Helen, when the girls were once more in bed, “why did you change your mind and come back to the inn tonight?”
    When she heard about Nancy’s masquerade