Juliana was deeply moved. "Vera has a daughter?" she murmured. "Where is she?"
"The child's name is Joan. She and her mother, now Mrs. Fenimore, live in River Heights. Joan likes flowers and gardening, just as you do. I can't tell you the whole story now, but the two of them need you."
"If I had known before-" Juliana began. "At the beginning of my retirement I sent a letter to my sister but it came back. I had no idea where she was."
"Mrs. Fenimore and Joan want to leave the neighborhood where they live," Nancy put in. "Joan would be so happy in these surroundings."
"Are the gardens still beautiful?" the former dancer asked dreamily.
Nancy hated to tell the woman the truth. She tried to soften it by saying, "They have been badly neglected. But they could be landscaped again. However, only a person who truly loved the place would want to do it."
"To me it would be a challenge," Juliana said with sudden spirit. "A memorial to Walt. But the castle and its grounds really are pretty large for three people."
"What a wonderful place it would be for handicapped children!" Bess mused.
"And I'd like to help them!" Juliana announced. "Yes, I'll make this place a beautiful spot again! I'll bring Joan and Vera here. And later we'll see about the other children."
"Good!" Nancy said. "We'll take you right to your sister, and then I'll go to settle my score with Mr. Hector."
The group had finally reached the foot of the stairway. Before the former dancer could be helped up the steps, a sardonic laugh echoed down to them.
"I'll make sure you don't get out!" a voice threatened.
The next instant the trap door dropped into place with a crash. A heavy object was placed on top of it. Then all was quiet in the dungeon!
CHAPTER XIXRelease and Capture
Nancy darted up the stairway to try opening the trap door. As she had feared, it did not budge. George and Bess pushed with all their might.
"It's hopeless," said Bess, panting.
"We're all prisoners!" Juliana Johnson exclaimed.
Nancy was fearful this new shock might undermine Juliana's health completely, so she said, "I feel sure there's no cause for alarm. When we fail to show up, help will come. I left a note at home."
"But will the trap door be noticed by anyone?" Juliana asked dubiously.
"Perhaps I can find another exit," Nancy said.
While Bess remained with Juliana, Nancy and George, using flashlights, searched the various cells. They could find no exit. The only openings were the high grilled windows.
"Nancy," George said suddenly, "I brought a police whistle. Suppose I blow it."
"Great!" said Nancy. "If you stand on my shoulders, you should be able to reach one of the windows and signal for help."
George and Nancy stepped into the nearest cell and went to the window. With agility George climbed to Nancy's shoulders and clung to the iron grills of the window. She blew a dozen shrill blasts with her whistle.
"I hope it'll work," she said, after dropping lightly to the floor.
She and Nancy wondered how long they might have to wait and how long Juliana could stand the added strain. They returned to the others and sat down on the steps.
Juliana had lapsed into silence, but Nancy gradually drew her out. One of the first questions Nancy asked was whether or not Walter Heath had given her a large pearl.
"No, but he was going to. It was being made into a ring when I went away."
Nancy next inquired if Juliana's fiancé had had a special name for her.
"Yes. He called me his little Cinderella," she said, smiling at the recollection. "Once Walt asked me to put on one of my dancing slippers and make a print in a block of newly made cement. He said he was going to set it in the garden wall opposite Poet's Nook. I suppose it was a lover's foolish idea."
"That wasn't foolish," Nancy replied. "It was very sensible. That footprint clue in the crumbling wall will prove your right to the Heath fortune against any claim of an impostor!"
Juliana said, "Please tell me the whole story. I am terribly confused." As kindly as she could, Nancy related all she knew.
"How dreadful!" Juliana exclaimed. "And what harrowing experiences you have had!"
"Tell me something," said Nancy. "It was reported that the hospital found a lot of money on you. Did you plan to stay away a long time?"
"Oh no. I was going to buy an expensive personal gift for Walt from a man who wanted cash. Also I planned to purchase something for our home." The former dancer sighed deeply.
Suddenly the woman slumped forward. In an instant Nancy caught her and placed the limp body on the floor.
"Juliana has fainted!" Bess cried out.
Nancy was fearful that the woman was suffering from something more serious than a faint, because the former dancer's pulse was very weak. Under the flashlight her face looked chalk-white.
"The poor woman!" Bess murmured. "She has been through so much!"
The girls tried to revive Juliana, and finally succeeded.
"We must get out of here!" said Nancy. At that moment they heard distant shouts outside.
"Listen!" George commanded.
The voices were coming closer. George blew several loud blasts on her whistle.
"Where are you?" somebody called. "We're the police. There are four of us."
Nancy shouted that they were below the trap door in the tower. She called out directions and in another five minutes the four prisoners were released.
"Lieutenant Masters!" exclaimed Nancy.
"How glad I am to see you! Did my father get in touch with you?"
"No. Hannah Gruen did. And who is this?" she asked, smiling at the former dancer.
Juliana herself replied to the question. When Nancy suggested that she ought not to expend her strength talking, the woman insisted she felt much better.
"Who shut you in here?" the policewoman demanded.
"I'm not sure," Nancy answered. "The voice was disguised, I think. But it might have been Daniel Hector. He must have escaped."
"Oh, no, he didn't," said a voice triumphantly. "We nabbed him climbing over a wall. Also these two birds."
Two more policemen appeared. With them, handcuffed, were Cobb and Biggs. Behind the men was Daniel Hector.
"This is an outrage!" the lawyer snapped. "You can't arrest me. I have a perfect right to be on this property. The others are trespassing."
Coolly Nancy presented her evidence against the lawyer. She accused him of stealing jewelry from the estate, a claim that could be proved by photographs found in Walter Heath's box.
"And that's not the worst," she said to him. "You pretended to look for the woman who was to inherit the estate. But when you did locate her you kept it a secret so you could help yourself to the estate. When you found out I was on the trail of the real Juliana Johnson, you had her kidnapped and locked in the dungeon here! To protect yourself, you produced an impostor with whom you had made a bargain."