(#44) The Clue in the Crossword Cipher Read Free Page A

change your mind about going to Peru when Ned showed up.”
    Nancy smiled. She did not reply, because at that moment the telephone rang.
    Carla’s heart sank. “Oh, somebody has found out where we are! Maybe El Gato!”
    Nancy answered the phone, disguising her voice. A man at the other end of the line said, “Police headquarters calling. Is this Miss Drew? Chief McGinnis wants to talk to you.”
    Nancy did not admit who she was but merely said, “Please put him on.”
    The next instant Chief McGinnis’s familiar voice said, “Nancy, I want you to come to headquarters immediately. It’s very important.”

CHAPTER III
    Strange Cancellation
    WHEN Nancy told her companions about Chief McGinnis’s request, George remarked, “Maybe they’ve caught Wallace.”
    Bess added, “I suppose you’ll have to go to headquarters, Nancy. But how are you going to get there? We have no car.”
    “A taxi will do,” Nancy replied. “Carla, I think you’d better come with me. After all, you know more about this case than I do.”
    The two girls reached headquarters forty minutes later. Chief McGinnis had the prisoner brought into his office.
    “Is this the man who came to your house and pretended to be a police detective?” the chief asked Nancy.
    “Yes, he is.”
    Harry Wallace’s eyes flashed. “I never saw this girl before in my life!” he shouted.
    Nancy went on, “He tried to steal a valuable antique plaque. It belongs to this young lady.” On purpose Nancy had not introduced Carla by name, hoping that perhaps the prisoner would give himself away by identifying her.
    The man became sullen. “I’m not going to talk,” he said. Turning to Chief McGinnis, he added, “You have no right to hold me. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
    Again Nancy spoke up. “If you need any witnesses, Chief, I have two friends who were there at the time.”
    At this, Harry Wallace seemed to change his mind about talking. “Oh, all right,” he said. “I didn’t recognize Miss Drew at first. She looked different when I saw her.”
    Chief McGinnis stared at the prisoner hard. “Then you admit trying to steal the plaque?”
    “No, I don’t,” Harry Wallace replied. “That plaque belongs to me!”
    “What!” Garla cried out. “It does not!”
    The prisoner made one more effort to clear himself. “I’m an importer in New York City. I buy articles from all over the world. That plaque was sold to me in South America. It was taken from my shop. Ever since then I’ve been trying to trace it. First I found out Miss Ponce here had it right in River Heights. And then I learned she gave it to Miss Drew.”
    There were faint smiles on the faces of Nancy and Chief McGinnis. The prisoner had indeed given himself away. The officer said, “I’m afraid, Mr. Wallace, that you have tripped yourself up with your story. Now suppose you tell the truth.”
    The prisoner refused to say another word. Nancy whispered to Carla, “Is this the man who has followed you several times?”
    “I think so, but I cannot be absolutely sure.”
    Nancy walked forward and whispered this information to the chief. She added, “Miss Ponce also received an anonymous warning note. Maybe Harry Wallace sent it. The note was in Spanish. Translated, it said, ‘Beware of the cat.’ Does that mean anything to you?”
    Before answering, Chief McGinnis went to a bookcase and pulled out a loose-leaf ledger. He ran his fingers down the index, then turned to a page near the back of the book.
    “Hmm!” he murmured, beckoning Nancy to take a look at the notation.
    She leaned over his shoulder and read that there was a mysterious man in Peru who was known to the police there as El Gato. His name and whereabouts were not known, but he was listed as a “wanted person.”
    Chief McGinnis turned to the prisoner. “Things will go a lot easier with you if you tell us who El Gato is.”
    Startled, Harry Wallace jerked his shoulders uncomfortably and began to speak, then dosed