“We’ll make sure that no thief outwits you this time!” George promised.
On the way to Mrs. Alexandra’s home, the girls stopped at Mr. Faber’s shop to say hello. He said that on the previous day he had been told by the police how the imitation ruby-and-diamond headpiece had been snatched from Nancy and decided to do some investigating. The girls were startled when he placed the ornament on the show counter.
“Why, Mr. Faber, where did you get this?” Nancy asked in astonishment.
“From a pawnbroker just a little while ago.”
“Then the man who snatched it from me must have pawned it!”
“Yes. The police are trying to track him down.”
Smiling, Mr. Faber placed the hair ornament in a padded case and gave it to Nancy.
With the imitation ornament once more in her possession, Nancy remarked that it would not be necessary for her to borrow the original.
“You make a mistake if you do not wear the genuine piece,” Mr. Faber advised. “This one does not sparkle as much as the original.”
The girls left the shop and continued to Mrs. Alexandra’s house. Nancy gave her the headdress and told how it had been recovered.
“I am glad for you,” the former queen said with a smile. “Now you will not be worried about it.”
The girls had hoped to talk with her alone, so they were disappointed to find Francis Baum there. He explained that he now had much leisure time.
“It’s not fitting for a prince to work,” he declared loftily.
“Michael will need time for his studies,” Mrs. Alexandra said. “I hope to engage a tutor for him within a few days.”
“No hurry about it,” the young man interposed. “I want to have a good time for a while.”
Bess and George noticed that many art treasures had been removed from the living room. Nancy had forgotten to tell them that Anna had put away the objects until the two women became better acquainted with the newcomer.
“Where is the Easter egg?” Bess asked.
Francis Baum became immediately alert. “Easter egg?” he demanded. “What’s that?”
“Merely one of the things I brought with me when I came to this country.”
“Let’s see what it’s like.”
Mrs. Alexandra ordered Anna to bring the little treasure. She obeyed reluctantly.
Francis Baum’s eyes brightened at the sight of the Easter egg with the gold-encrusted lid. He raised the lid. Beholding the nightingale, he astonished everyone by asking if it could sing.
“Then you too know the secret!” Mrs. Alexandra exclaimed.
She took the beautiful ornament from him. At the touch of her finger the nightingale sang its song. The young man gave no hint that he understood the words.
Mrs. Alexandra told the story of her escape from her country, much the same as Nancy had heard it from Mr. Faber.
“Michael dear, what did your nurse tell you about the nightingale?” she asked.
“Just about what you’ve told me. Why do you keep asking me?”
As if to escape further questioning, the young man arose and hurriedly left the room.
Nancy quickly told Mrs. Alexandra that Katherine thought the nightingale might be saying in her native tongue, “clue in jewel box.”
The former queen touched the secret spring several times. Finally she admitted that the little bird might be trying to convey such a message.
“Do you know what it means?” Nancy asked.
Before Mrs. Alexandra could reply, they were startled by a loud crash. From the kitchen Anna’s voice was raised in fright and anger.
“Oh, Michael!” they heard her wail. “What have you done now?”
Mrs. Alexandra and the three girls, alarmed by Anna’s cries, hastened to the kitchen. On the floor lay a porcelain bowl which had broken into a dozen pieces.
“Madame Marie, it was not my fault!” Anna said, her eyes fastened on Michael.
“No, blame me!” he retorted sharply. “Sure I did it. So the old bowl cracked.”
“Old? Cracked?” Anna’s voice rose in anger. “That lovely porcelain cannot be replaced. The king gave it to Madame. She-”
“There, Anna, please say no more,” Mrs. Alexandra interrupted. “It was an accident. After all, my grandson is far more precious to me than the most valuable piece of porcelain.”
“That’s the way to talk, Grandmother!” Michael nodded. “I’ll get you another bowl.”
It was easy to see that Mrs. Alexandra felt deeply distressed. Nevertheless, she passed the matter off with regal composure. Nancy decided it was not the right time to bring up the subject again of the nightingale’s mysterious reference to a jewel box.
I’m afraid to borrow it,” Nancy said
“We must leave now,” she said considerately. “May I take the hair ornament that Mr. Faber recovered?”
To her dismay, Mrs. Alexandra asked Anna to bring in the genuine headdress and place it on Nancy’s head.
“It suits you perfectly. You must wear it in the fashion show,” she insisted.
Nancy did not want to offend the woman a second time, yet she was fearful that something would happen to the tiara-like piece.
“I’m really afraid to borrow it,” she declared dubiously.
“Do take it to please me,” Mrs. Alexandra urged. “I assume all responsibility. Anna will wrap it for you.”
Nancy thanked the woman, and left the house with Bess and George. They carried the precious package at once to Katherine.
“Ah, it will set off the Renaissance costume!” the designer approved in delight. “I ask Jim to put the ornament in his safe!”
“Fine. See you at the picnic this afternoon.”
“It is sweet of Helen to give it for me,” Katherine said with a smile.
After picking up her car at the service station, she dropped Bess and George at their homes, then stopped at police headquarters to find out if there was any news of the pickpocket. Chief McGinnis said that a suspect had just been brought in for questioning.
“May I see him?” Nancy requested.
“Certainly,” the officer replied.
Well acquainted with both Nancy and her father, he frequently received useful clues and tips from them. In fact, Nancy had solved so many cases that the chief jokingly declared Nancy to be an unofficial member of his staff!
The man who had been captured was placed in a line-up with other suspects. Nancy studied each person as he stood on a platform under a powerful light. The wiry built pickpocket she had hoped to identify was not in the group.
“Sorry,” she said regretfully. “I’ve never seen any of these people before.”
As Nancy was about to leave the building, an irate man burst in.
“You policemen!” he fairly shouted. “I’ve been paying taxes here for twelve years, and what do I get in return? Nothing! When I need a policeman, I can’t find one! And when I finally get one, he arrests the wrong man!”
CHAPTER XI
“If you have a complaint to make, the lieutenant will take it-over at that desk,” a sergeant told the complaining man.
He calmed down a bit and directed his remarks to the chief. In a bitter voice he revealed that his wallet had been snatched while he was standing in front of a store.
He had shouted for a policeman. The officer had arrested a man, who immediately established his innocence. Shortly afterward the wallet, empty, had been found in an alley.
“You can bet the thief had an accomplice,” the angry victim declared. “When the policeman came on the run, I heard someone in the crowd whistle as if in warning.”
“You did not see the person who whistled?”
“No, I didn’t.”
The lieutenant promised he would do what he could, and made a routine report. After the indignant man had left headquarters, the officer gazed rather apologetically at Nancy.
“What can we do?” he asked with a shrug. “Money can’t be traced, unless the bills were marked or the serial numbers recorded.”