The Swami's Ring Read Free

the hospital safe?” Nancy asked as they sped forward.
    “I meant to, but Cliff suggested I take it to a local jeweler—to find out more about it. Next thing I knew, that man in the turban was standing there, asking all sorts of questions.”
    By now, Nancy’s car had caught up to the bus at a bus stop, where several people debarked. She signaled to the driver to wait.
    “What do you want?” the man shouted through his window. “I’ve got a lot of people to let off.”
    “One of them tried to rob us,” Lisa called back.
    Before Nancy could park, her friend had jumped out of the car and raced to the policeman on the corner, leading him quickly to the bus. When the last of several passengers had stepped off, Lisa and the officer jumped on board. There were only a few people left, and the man in the turban was not among them!

3
    Mean Accusation
    Through her rearview mirror, Nancy watched Lisa and the policeman step off the bus without the Indian. The girl detective immediately switched on her hazard lights, leaving the car double-parked, and leaped out.
    “What happened?” she asked, hurrying toward them.
    “I don’t know. He must have sneaked off without our seeing him,” Lisa replied.
    The officer listened to the girls’ story while Nancy displayed Cliffs ring. “Lucky you were on the scene, Nancy Drew,” he complimented her.
    Nancy’s reputation as a keen detective was well-known to the police of River Heights.
    “I was planning to see Chief McGinnis tomorrow,” Nancy said. “But maybe Lisa and I ought to go to headquarters now.”
    “Good idea,” the policeman grinned, “especially since I don’t want to tow your car away.”
    The girls glanced in the direction of Nancy’s flashing rear lights. She suddenly realized she had double-parked next to a patrol car!
    “Sorry,” she said sheepishly.
    When the pair reached the station, Nancy explained that she had two important matters to discuss with the chief. One related to the identity of a local amnesia patient who had been assaulted in the hospital. The other had to do with the driver of a car that had nearly run down Tommy Johnson.
    “I know about both cases,” Chief McGinnis said, “but I have no lead on the first and only a very slim one on the second.”
    Nancy gave a description of the bearded man.
    “I’ve seen him twice now,” she said. “The first time he took off in a tan-colored car with a blue racing stripe on the trunk.”
    “What’s the license number?”
    Nancy shrugged. “I couldn’t see it.”
    The chief hunched forward on his elbows and shook his head thoughtfully.
    “Do you have any idea whom it belongs to?” Nancy asked.
    “Yes, I think so. Of course, I can’t be absolutely positive, but—”
    “But what?”
    “It sounds like the same car that caused the Johnson boy’s accident.”
    Nancy was stunned into silence as her mind raced over the events of the afternoon. What was the connection between the Indian businessman and the bearded stranger?
    “I have a hunch the bearded man may be the driver we’re looking for!” Nancy exclaimed.
    “You could be right,” Chief McGinnis said. “I’ll let you know if anything definite turns up on either of those men.”
    Nancy promised to reciprocate and said good-bye. As the girls headed for Lisa’s house, the young nurse suggested that Nancy keep the ring.
    “It’ll be safer with you,” Lisa insisted, adding an apology for what had occurred earlier. “I should have put it in the hospital safe.”
    “Just be glad we have it,” Nancy smiled. “Besides, your visit to the jewelry shop turned up an interesting character.”
    “And some interesting information,” Lisa said. “This is the first chance I’ve had to tell you what Mr. Jhaveri, the jeweler, said about the ring. He’s quite an expert on foreign jewelry, and he believes the design is Asiatic.
    “The other man disagreed, however. He kept saying the ring was Middle Eastern. That’s when Mr. Jhaveri