The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene Page A

in the lilac grove and its results, she praised her friend. “Next time, though, don’t try such a risky thing alone,” Helen scolded.
    Nancy was almost asleep when a sudden thought struck her. Why had the “ghost” been titian-haired this time, instead of brunette?
    When the girls went into the dining room the next morning, the other young people, Maud, and Mrs. Willoughby were already eating.
    “Welcome back, Nancy,” said John, grinning. “How’s my beautiful sleuthing skin diver?”
    “Ready to flip!” gibed Nancy.
    Maud looked up from her grapefruit. “Will you go skin diving with a wig on?” she asked with an attempt to be facetious.
    Nancy was slightly annoyed but gave no sign of this. She hoped Maud had not spread word around the inn of the wig episode.
    Breakfast over, Nancy returned her car to the parking lot and then sought out Emily privately. She asked whether Maud had been gossiping about events of the previous evening. Emily said she was sure this was the case.
    “Tell me, Emily,” Nancy said, “how much do you know of Maud’s background?”
    “Very little. Only that Aunt Hazel met her about a year ago at a social gathering in River Heights. They became friendly. The next thing I heard was that Maud was going out West. Then, about a month ago, she showed up here. Aunt Hazel thought she would make a good social director, and Dick and I engaged her.”
    “Maud can be pleasant,” Nancy commented, “and she does have musical talent. I really can’t figure her out.” To herself, Nancy conjectured on the possibility of Maud’s using her position as a cover-up.
    The young detective left the inn presently to do some sleuthing in the lilac grove. She met John part way there.
    “I didn’t want to mention it at breakfast, Nancy,” he said, “but I’d like to see the exact site of your masquerade. Emily and Dick told me a little about it.”
    “I’ll be glad to show you.” Nancy led him to the lilac grove. She described vividly her encounter with her double. John listened intently.
    “Nancy, you were in a dangerous spot. Maybe it’s a lucky thing Carl Bard scared your impersonator away.”
    Nancy did not agree. “The sooner she is caught, the better. I must say, she does look much like me. I don’t wonder you were fooled.”
    John laughed. “I think I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I much prefer the real Nancy.”
    Nancy blushed at his compliment. As the two looked about the lilac grove, Nancy saw a tiny object glinting in the sun. She picked it up. The object was of steel and shaped something like a can opener, except that there was a tiny wheel at the end.
    “What’s this?” she asked John.
    He took the little device and stared at it. “I know where it belongs,” he said. “I’ll return it.”
    John put the object in his pocket, and Nancy had the feeling he had deliberately evaded her question.
    “I wonder if there are any distinguishing footprints,” he said, changing the subject.
    Nancy frowned as she looked at the soft earth. There was a print—a peculiar one which she recognized—clearly outlined. It had been made by a skin diver’s flipper. Nancy’s mind flashed back to the night before, when she had left for the lilac grove. John’s cottage had been dark. Maybe he had been sleeping. If not, where had he been?
    “John,” she said, looking the young man squarely in the eye, “were you skin diving last night?”

CHAPTER XV
    The Underwater Rescue
    JOHN McBRIDE looked startled at Nancy’s sudden query. “No, I wasn’t skin diving,” he said, returning the girl’s direct look. “Why?”
    Nancy pointed to the marks on the ground. “They’re flipper prints,” she said. “There must be more! The jeep tread and these prints have to start and end some place.”
    John knelt down and studied the prints. “From the size, I’d judge these were made by a man.”
    Nancy suddenly recalled the similar prints she had seen and the distant sound of a motorboat