Nancy scowled as she hung up the phone after talking to Sally. Dogs? Whatever did she mean by that. And what about that note next to the telephone, that said "Check out squeaking. Mice?! Well, so far she hadn't seen any dogs or mice; or people for that matter. Better have a look around, she thought. Stepping away from the phone, she heard this weird sound Whooooooo! It sounded sort of like an owl, but not quite. "What is that," she thought. Nancy decided to have a look around the house. In the kitchen, by the sink, she found a note from Sally, apologizing again for leaving Nancy alone, and including her Cell Phone number. Looking down into the sink, she found a pair of rubber gloves. Near by were two more reminders, one to get the well-water tested, and another to cut down that dead Maple tree. "It's a little late for that," mused Nancy wryly. Looking around the left side of the cooler, she found a quart of fresh bottled water. She took it, realizing that if the well water really is unsafe, it would be a good idea to have some drinking water she could trust.
She turned around and walked toward the front door. Near the door, she noticed another sticky-note on the wall to the left. Cautiously, she examined the floor between herself and the wall, taking note of some rotting floor-boards. She decided not to test them. Maybe she could find a way to fix them. Nancy stepped out the front door, observing the full moon and peaceful night. "Whooooooo!" There it was again. As she stepped off the front porch, a man suddenly appeared. He introduced himself as Red Knott, a bird-watcher. He told Nancy several helpful things, including stories about the dogs, the Park Ranger, and how to get the water tested. Suddenly, there was the sound of dogs howling.
Red left and Nancy turned and went back inside the house, the porch floorboards creaking as she did so. As soon as she was inside, she heard the dogs howl again, then heard the sound of barking and snarling right outside the door. Oh my! The doors trembled, as if someone or something was hurled against them, indeed the entire house shook as she heard the terrifying sounds in the night. She crept halfway up the stairs, and parted the curtains, only to see the dogs themselves, running to and fro, right there in her yard. Their eyes had an eerie yellow glow. One of the dogs spied her, and leapt at the window, barking savagely. Then just as suddenly as it began, the dogs vanished and all was silent. Nancy considered having another look around outside, but thought better of it, and decided to get a good night's sleep. She went upstairs to bed.
The next morning, the affair with the dogs seemed like a distant dream, and Nancy figured it's time to have a look at that motorboat. The first thing she discovered was that the boat was full of water. She needed to bail it out somehow. She found an old oaken bucket at the well, and bailed out the boat. When the boat was empty, she found a screwdriver and a life-jacket in the boat. Taking both items, she decided to go pay some visits. After several unsuccessful pulls on the starter-rope, she thought she better have a look inside the engine. Although Nancy was not a mechanic, she thought she might be able to figure out was was wrong. She immediately recognized one problem; there was no spark plug in the engine. She certainly wasn't going anywhere until she found a spark plug. On the way back to the house, she discovered a path to the right, which lead to a small toolshed. Fortunately, there was no lock on the door, and she walked into the shed. Straight ahead were some shelves. Perhaps there would be a spark plug sitting right there. Wouldn't that make things easy? No such luck. She did see a cute garden gnome, and to his right, a flatiron and a small chest. Just behind the iron she found a key. Backing away from the shelves, and looking to her right, Nancy found a wooden chest. It had a padlock on it, but since she had the key, she wasn't worried. Unfortunately, the key was corroded with age, and snapped right off when she tried it. Uh-oh, the chest was still locked. Looking above the lock, she saw that the simple hasp was screwed on from the outside. That screwdriver sure came in handy. Off came the hasp, and she could see the chest's contents. She took a hammer and nails, and a device that looked like a gas mask.
Well, a hammer and a gas mask were not going to get the motor fixed, were they, and she couldn't think of anywhere else to search. Say, maybe Sally would know. Nancy went inside and called Sally on the phone and learned all kinds of useful things. The most important, it seemed, was that Red Knott might have a spark plug, but in order to see him you have to visit at night. Nancy decided it was time for a nap, and would wake up after dark. Not hearing any dogs, she screwed up her courage and stepped out into the front yard. Looking to the right, she easily found the path to Knott's observation platform and climbed up to see him. Whispering, so they didn't startle any birds, she agreed to take some bird pictures in exchange for a spark plug. He gave her the plug, along with a digital camera and an audio tape of some bird calls. There was no point in fiddling with the boat in the dark, so she went back to bed and got up first thing in the morning.
She went straight out to the boat, and installed the spark plug. The motor started right up on the first pull, but then sounded funny and quit. Afraid to start it up again without making sure everything was perfectly adjusted, she took another look at that diagram inside the lid. Plus, zero, minus, plus. Hmmm. The pattern seemed to correspond to the four threaded devices, and sure enough, they each had three settings, high, medium and low. She wasn't sure whether the plus meant the top position, or the highest torque, so she took a chance that since they were all set to the top, the two pluses would correspond to that setting. She set the upper-right one to the middle position with two clicks, and the lower-left one to the bottom position with one click. Crossing her fingers and hoping for the best, she yanked firmly on the starter, and voilą, off she went.
She decided Em's Emporium was the first place she should go. In the process of talking with Emily, she retrieved Knott's tape recorder, made arrangements (sort of) to get that maple tree removed, and learned Em's opinion of Jeff Akers. Nancy decided it was time to meet Ranger Akers herself.
After looking at some of the curiosities in the Emporium, she headed across the lake to the Ranger Station. "My, he is good looking," she thought to herself; "but he's an officer of the law, after all. No cute stuff now." She talked with the Ranger, and learned he takes his Job Very Seriously. He doesn't put much stock in ghost stories however. He also tells Nancy that the Ranger Station serves as the Post Office and local Museum. She also receives a test-kit for the well, mails the letter to Ned, and gets the OK to look around the museum. Checking out the computer gave Nancy several important tips - the Hantavirus is common around mice, and objects exposed to the virus should be handled wearing a respiratory mask and gloves. She also learned how to prime a pump, along with some useful historical facts. She read the regulations for the Park. Good thing too, since Akers is such a stickler for details. Before she left, she also discovered much of the same information on display-panels around the room. She returned to Sally's house, and read the instructions on the test kit. Simple enough, just collect some water and return the kit to the Ranger. Remembering to place the bucket under the pump, Nancy poured some fresh water into the top of the mechanism to get it primes, and pumped a bucket of water. She then placed the test tube in the water, filling it. "No time like the present," she thought, and hopped in the boat and took the sample back to Ranger Akers. She expected results back in a day or two. She returned to the house.
Nancy remembered her agreement with Red Knott, and placed the tape into the cassette recorder. She pressed the Play button, and was treated to recordings of six different bird songs. She rewound the tape and played them again, just to be sure. Before she left the house, she explored in the kitchen area, in the cupboard above the sink, and found a map of some trails in the woods. In the same cupboard was a flashlight. "It's not nailed down, and you just never know," she thought, placing the flashlight in her inventory. She realized there were some areas she had not yet explored, and left the house via the side door. Straight ahead, to the East, was an earthen mound. She climbed over the mound and found herself embarking on a set of trails. Very soon she happened upon some large boulders, and discovered a wooden board sitting on them. Thinking the board might come in handy to fix those rotten floorboards, she took it. Then she headed into the trails, wondering how to proceed. When she came to the first "Tee" intersection, she thought "I'd better be careful," and decided to follow her old policy - when given a choice of directions, start with the right, and keep track of where you have been. She did the same thing at the next intersection where there was a choice, only to find herself at a dead end. Tracing back to the last choice she went the other way, and soon heard the sound of a Goldfinch singing. A couple of steps forward, and there it was! She carefully aimed the camera, and had her first snapshot. That should please that old grump.
She made her way back to the first Tee, and went up the new trail. Soon, she came to a fallen tree, and decided to go right again, instead of straight. Going past an old dead log, she found a Blue Jay sitting on a branch. Taking aim with the camera, she snapped a nice picture of the Jay. Continuing on, she presently came to a tree where someone had tied a Yellow ribbon. Again trying the right-hand path and again to the right, she found a Robin and had her third picture. Around the corner, she heard a Tanager singing, but couldn't find it. When she came to a large tree stump, she consulted the map. Thank goodness for that map! Nancy had been making careful notes on it, recording where she found logs, birds, fallen trees, and other helpful landmarks. After turning a couple more corners, she suddenly came to an old cemetery! She walked in, and started examining the names on the stones. Waldo Mathias? Who was that? She made a mental note to find out more about him. That stone seemed different somehow. Right in the middle of the path was another board. Better take that one too. Further in the cemetery, near what appeared to be a mausoleum, were four important-looking markers, all dedicated to dogs. They were named Vitus, Xander, Iggy and Lucy. Not your everyday dog-names, but there's no accountin' for taste, right? The dogs were all different ages, but curiously all shared the same date of death, January 29, 1932. Nancy examined the Mausoleum, and discovered fresh paw-prints. Wonder who could explain that?
After leaving the cemetery, she managed to find the Tanager, but it wouldn't sit still for a picture. The same thing happened when she discovered the Cardinal. Both birds were too shy to have their picture taken. When Nancy returned to the house, she thought it would be wise to look around the back side of the house. There, she found a blue tarp covering a pile of seemingly useless junk. However, there was one board in there that seemed strong enough to repair the floor. She took it, and headed into the house. Near the front door, where that rotten spot in the floor was, she placed the boards over the soft place, and secured them with the hammer and nails. Carefully, she stepped across the boards, and was finally able to read the sticky-note Sally had left. "Rotten floorboards, Watch your step." Well, thank you, Sherlock Holmes. Nancy wondered if she had really gone to all that trouble just to read a note that told her something she already knew. She didn't think so. There had to be more than meets the eye. Feeling a bit stymied, she decided to experiment with the Cuckoo Clock and see if it would run.
To her surprise, turning the hands on the clock resulted in a little door opening up, and not a cuckoo, but a dog! Not only that, the sound of a dog barking. Above the dog's head appeared a pair of swans. She tried the clock hands again. As before, the dog barked, but appeared in a different window. Four dogs, four windows, all the same. Whatever could that mean? Where had she seen something about swans? "Oh" she said, "I remember. There is a plaque by the back door with something like poetry on it. One of the lines mentions swans. Let's have a better look."
"Could this have something to do with the four dogs' grave markers in the cemetery," she mused. Perhaps is is some kind of code or message to help identify which dog is which. Nancy thought and thought, racking her brains to think of some place she hadn't already been or something she hadn't already seen. With a start, she realized there was a cabinet above the sofa in the living room that she hadn't even tried to look into. Perhaps . . .
Oh! Four dog statuettes! With the same names as the cemetery markers. Tentatively, she reached up and touched the one on the left, named Vitus. It turned a quarter-turn. Could there be some connection between the dogs in the cabinet and the dogs in the clock? She went back to the clock and turned the hands. Wow! The first dog barks as before, all right, but now the picture above the dog has changed from swans to birds. Nancy quickly reviewed the poem and discovered that one stanza refers to swans and summer, and another refers to birds and winter. She opened the cabinet again, and tried Xander, the dog on the far right, giving it two clicks so it faced directly at her. She tried the clock again. Aha! She now realized that turning the dogs resulted in changing the clock, and that probably the right thing to do would be select one direction for each dog, so each season would be represented. But what order should they be in? She pored over the poem searching for some insight, but nothing came. Wait a minute. Didn't the tombstones give the dogs' exact date of birth? That first line in the poem refers to birth. She checked her notes, and was immediately grateful that she always paid attention to details. Each dog was born in a different season! That was the connection she needed to make. Now she could associate Vitus with winter, Iggy with fall, Lucy with spring, and Xander with summer. All that remained was to set the statues according to what she had learned by experimenting with the clock. Her heart pounding with excitement, she went back to the cabinet and touched the second statue, Iggy, but to her dismay, found it was stuck. A quick examination of the base revealed that the wood was warped. She needed some sandpaper to work it loose. Since she had already been through everything in the house and had not seen any sandpaper, it seemed she must go to Em's and try to buy or trade for some.
Nancy went to Emily and asked her about everything she could think of, including sandpaper. It seems Red bought all of the sandpaper in the store last week, and Nancy's only hope was to get some from him. She returned home, and waited for the sun to go down so she could speak to Red. She mentioned to Red that some of the birds were shy and wouldn't sit still for a picture. He realized that her clothes were too visible, and suggested that she get some camouflaged clothes like his. Emily sells them. Fortunately he was willing to part with some sandpaper. Nancy went directly to the house, and hoped the sandpaper would do the trick, and she would find out what lay in store when she solved the clock puzzle. Carefully, she worked the paper in and out and around the warped spot, until - Voilą - now Iggy's statue turned just as well as the others. With her fingers crossed, Nancy set the dog statues to match the four seasons as she had figured out: Vitus to the left, Iggy facing out, Lucy to the right, and Xander in his original position, with his back to her. As she did, she heard something clunk, and noticed the portion of the wall near the rotten floorboards seem to come loose.
With her heart in her mouth, she gingerly stepped over the bad floorboards and tried the spot in the wall. It opened, revealing a hidden staircase to the basement. Of course! That's where the stairs should be, right under the other flight that goes upstairs. She was really glad to have found that flashlight as she brushed the cobwebs out of the way. At the foot of the stairs was a door, and Nancy used her flashlight to carefully check the area to be sure she didn't miss anything important. Sure enough, there was an old framed photograph hanging on the door. She took a closer look, and figured it was too important a clue to leave lying around, so she took the picture with her. Now she really had to screw up all her courage, and made herself try the doorknob. To her surprise, it wasn't locked. Carefully, she stepped through the door into a basement area. Something sounded vaguely like mice, but she didn't see anything moving. Looking to the right revealed a heavier, metal door, perhaps an exit. First, though, she wanted to have a look around the boiler and the pile of coal in the other end of the room. Searching with her fingers along the wall, she discovered a loose panel. Inside was an old note, with what seemed to be a list of important dates. The last one, "MM Pinched" didn't have any date associated with it. What in the world was that all about? When she pulled down the note, there was a safe imbedded in the wall! Could those dates actually be old combinations to the safe? And could MM (probably Mickey Malone) Pinched be the new combination? What's more, she was sure she still heard the sound of mice rustling around. She thought she would give the tumblers a spin, just to try her luck, but found it blocked by something. The only other controls on the safe were a button that didn't seem to do anything, and what looked like a tiny hole. Guess the safe has to wait.
Nancy couldn't find anything else interesting in the basement, so she went out that metal door. Sure enough, it led up some steps and to the outside. Now the real entrance to the basement was opened, and she could return there any time she wanted without going down that creepy hidden staircase. On the way up the steps, she found an old newspaper clipping referring to William Akers, Mickey Malone's most trusted employee. In the story, Akers fiercely defended Malone, saying all the accusations against him had to be false. Nancy thought it was time to get a good night's sleep, and be all rested up to talk with Emily and the Ranger in the morning.
When she got to Em's shop, she asked questions about Malone and the picture she found, but Emily said Ranger Akers was a better one to see about those things. Nancy also said she need some camouflage clothing. Since she had no money, Em made a deal to trade the clothes for twelve pieces of live bait. Ugh. Well, things could be worse, but still that's pretty creepy. Most importantly, she discovered that the former Sheriff was Joe Akers, Jeff's father. Nancy silently mused over the connection, and wondered if William Akers could be Jeff's grandfather. She left the Emporium and went to the Ranger Station.
She had a nice long conversation with Jeff Akers. He denied any connection to William Akers, so that was the end of that theory. He also had been too busy to take care of the water sample. Maybe tomorrow. It seems he is frustrated being the "Lone Ranger" having to take care of the whole park by himself. When Nancy wanted more detailed information, he offered to give her more, provided she help sort out the old filing system left by the former clerk. Oddly, the clerk had dated everything with Roman Numerals, you know, the kind like the dates on old buildings. Fortunately, Nancy knew a little something about Roman Numerals, and what she had forgotten could easily be refreshed by the tutorial in Jeff's computer. She decided to do a little brush-up on Roman Numerals. Soon, she was able to read and sort the dates into the correct sequence. When she finished, the file-case looked like this:
Always curious, she assumed these dates were meaningful enough to explore further, so she read everything she could get her hands on in the files. Nancy found stories about Malone moving in, and when he died, among other important things. The actual years she could access were 1925, 1932, 1949, and 1997. When she was fully satisfied, she reported to Akers that everything was in order. As a token of gratitude, he gave her an honorary Park Ranger Pin. It seemed a little silly, but you never know when something like that might come in handy. When she asked him about Yogi, his dog, he seemed a little defensive. It felt like a good time to leave. Hunt up some live bait, maybe.
Nancy went back to Sally's house, and checking to be sure she had Em's bait-box with her, she set out looking for creepy-crawlies. She remembered there was a flat stone by the rear cellar-entrance, and thought that might be a good place to start. She lifted the stone with one hand, and had the other ready to grab whatever might be lurking under there. This time, she found a pair of nice plump earthworms. Realizing that nature can be somewhat random, she understood that there might be worms one time, or bugs another time, or maybe nothing at all. She would check under here again, perhaps after the sun went down. She couldn't think of anywhere else near the house to search, so she headed into the woods and kept that map handy, not only to help find the way around, but also to locate logs, and other objects where insects and worms might want to hide. Every time she heard something chirping or squeaking, she was careful to look under stones and logs, always ready in case her prey was able to run away quickly. She would have to be faster than the bugs. She even came up with a big, handsome Stag Beetle. That was a find, indeed! She thought to herself that gorgeous beetle should count for two, but Em probably wouldn't agree. She even remembered that there were some loose stones just outside the cemetery gate. Eventually she couldn't find any more, and still did not have the twelve that Em required. Nancy took a short nap, and went out again after dark. As expected, many of the places she searched before now had new creatures under them, including the cutest little glow-worms. She got up to ten or eleven, but try as she might, couldn't come up with twelve. Frustrated, she turned in for the evening, and started out again the next morning. Sure enough, she soon had enough bait to satisfy Emily, and get the clothing.
It was still the crack of dawn, so Nancy had something she wanted to try before setting out across the lake. It occurred to her that the sharp pin on the back of the honorary ranger badge might just be the right tool to probe into that tiny hole on one of the safe's buttons. She went back into the musty-dusty cellar to test her theory. It worked! The safe's controls were free to turn. Now if she only knew the combination. The most likely set of numbers would have something to do with the date Malone was arrested. Nancy checked her PDA to see if she had written down the date. Sure enough, she found what she was looking for. Malone was nabbed on January 29, 1932. Hey, that's the same date on the dogs' tombstones. Let's see, all the other dates (possible combinations) on the list were six figures long. So, she figured the right way to express the date would be 0-1-2-9-3-2. Nancy tried various ways of using the combination until she hit upon the answer. This was an unusual kind of safe, where each digit had to be put in and acknowledged. It didn't matter whether she twisted the dial to the right or left. It worked like this:
Set the dial to Zero by pushing the center button. She did not push that center button ever again.
Push the button next to the dial to "accept" the Zero
Set the dial to One by twisting it left once.
Push the button next to the dial to "accept" the One
Set the dial to Two by twisting it left once.
Push the button.
Set the dial to Nine; Push the Button.
Set the dial to Three; Push the Button.
Set the dial to Two; Push the Button.
With a clunk, the safe swung open, revealing a book, and some mice. Eeek! At least they found their way out the rear of the safe. Perhaps they were more afraid of Nancy than she was of them. She recalled the advice about Deer-Mice and viruses, and just to be on the safe side, put on the gloves she had found in the kitchen sink, and the mask before touching that book. Wow! It was William Akers personal journal. It tells about a Speakeasy, apparently nearby underground. Mickey Malone had left Akers a map, and the cryptic instructions, "The Dogs Will Lead the Way." Nancy had no way to figure out what that meant, but at least she had another map. Maybe something would turn up. William Akers had done his share of exploring in the woods, and took the trouble to write down explicit directions from the house to the cemetery. It looked something like this:
L, R2, L2, R2, L
R, L2, R, L2
R2, L, R2, L
Although Nancy was pretty familiar with the route by now, that information was sure to be a help. The journal also mentioned that William had a baby Joe. Jeff Akers had a father Joe. Could it be Jeff wasn't being entirely truthful? Nancy thought she better visit Emily and Jeff Akers again.
Emily was glad to get those twelve critters, and handed Nancy the Camouflage suit. Nancy took the boat across the lake to the Ranger Station. She was delighted to learn that the lady in the picture is still alive, and what's more, Akers came up with the telephone number. Also the report from the State Department of Health in Harrisburg revealed that the well had high levels of Arsenic, much more than would be expected naturally. Nancy questioned the Ranger about Joe and William Akers, until he finally admitted William really was his grandfather. Having opened a sensitive subject, however, Jeff was unwilling to say anything more. Nancy left the station, and returned home. Anyway, she was excited to have a new phone number to call, and couldn't wait to call Vivian Whitmore. What a character she turned out to be. And full of useful information, if only Nancy could sort it out.
Vivian told about Willy; William Akers that is, and her story backed up Akers' writings in his journal. She was also familiar with the Speakeasy. (Nancy had looked that term up in the Dictionary, and learned that a Speakeasy was a kind of hidden bar-room, used during Prohibition times, when the sale of alcohol was universally forbidden. People constructed special rooms that were hard to detect, and only trusted friends were permitted to know about them.) According to Vivian, there were two ways to get to the Speakeasy, but the only one she knew how to use involved unlocking a secret entrance under one of the Headstones in the cemetery. She promised to send Nancy her key, which she still kept after all these years. She also mentioned four portraits of the dogs, and that they meant something together with the map and other items to form one large clue. That sounded like a mystery Nancy would have to unravel herself. Vivian also mentioned something about one of the dogs - Iggy - that it was her favorite, and that it liked to stay on the front porch all day. Whether that meant anything significant, Nancy wasn't sure. It probably had to do with the fact that William Akers had marked an "I" on the map, right where the porch would be.
While she was right there at the telephone, Nancy checked in with Sally. The news that the well might have been poisoned didn't sit too well with Sally, but she trusted Nancy to solve things somehow. When Nancy asked Sally about other things, such as Vivian, the hidden gold, and the cemetery among other subjects, Sally didn't know very much. Strangely, nobody had even mentioned the possibility of gold. When she hung up from talking with Sally, Nancy didn't feel terribly satisfied, so she decided to have a nice long chat with Bess and George. They talked about how everybody involved could be included in the suspect list, and about the possibility that gold bars were really hidden somewhere on Sally's property. While they were talking, Bess mentioned that they finally have Joe and Frank Hardy's new telephone number. After talking to the gals, Nancy called the Hardy Boys and brought them up to date on what was happening.
Nancy was anxious to find out if that clothing she got from Em would really help her approach those shy birds, so she headed out into the woods, with trusty map in hand. She was really not very fond of mazes, and these woods certainly felt like a maze, even with the map to help. Oops, Nancy didn't realize how long she had been talking on the phone, and discovered the sun was low in the Western sky. Early morning is a much better time to go bird-watching, so she crawled into bed and slept soundly, with only an occasional dream. She dreamt about her good friends the Hardy boys, and imagined that her favorite gaming company, HER Interactive, would soon find a way to publish an adventure featuring those two hunky boys.
First thing in the morning, she trudged off into the woods, checking the map to see where the Cardinal and the Tanager had last been seen. In no time at all, protected by the camo clothing, she had both birds captured on film. That left only the Red-Tailed Hawk. She hadn't seen one, nor heard the hawk's song. Nancy felt like she was at a standstill. Whenever she tried to talk to anybody, they had nothing new to say. She relaxed, and spent the day studying all the information she gathered, and waited for the sun to go down. She needed to talk to Red and get some idea how to find a Red-Tailed Hawk. When she asked him where to find a hawk, he said they always nested in that big tree just Southwest of the house. On the way back, she found the tree, by walking almost out to the dock, then turning around to face the house. The big tree was slightly left of her usual path. Since it was dark out, Nancy looked forward to another peaceful night's sleep.
Nancy was ready to face another day of Super-Sleuthing, and headed directly into the front yard to track down that elusive hawk. She spotted that tree, or what was left of it. Never heard of hawks nesting in an old stump. Wait! She heard a hawk's cry nearby. There it was on the roof of the house. Carefully focusing the camera, Nancy snapped her final picture. Through the lens, she spotted something very peculiar. The hawk was standing on a loudspeaker. Just as she realized the implications of an external speaker, WHAP !! she was conked on the head, and regained consciousness only to find her hands and feet bound. She was on the floor of the tool shed, and the shed had been set on fire! If only she could knock down that sharp scythe to the right of the shelves, perhaps she could cut the rope and get free. She studied the objects in the room, and came up with an ingenious plan. The scythe was hanging by a slender cord. If she could only find a way to burn through the cord. Here are the steps Nancy devised to set herself free:
Kick the Rake to the left
Press the Pump handle to set the rake handle on fire
Kick the Rake to the right. The wooden Roller ignites.
Tip the Garden Gnome over, so it rests on the Jack.
Pump the Jack twice, tilting the shelf.
The roller burns through the cord and releases the scythe.
Nancy escapes the fire.
Nancy dashed over to the well and pumped a bucket-full of water. She hurried back to the shed, and used the water to extinguish part of the blaze. She quickly repeated the process, and had the fire out in no time. Red Knott showed up, and was his usual "charming" self. Nancy spoke to Sally by phone, who reassured her that the shed was no loss, just glad that Nancy was unhurt. It had been a long day already, but Nancy had one more chore to do, so the day wouldn't be a total loss - she went to the Ranger Station and mailed that photograph to Vivian before turning in for the night. After sundown, she climbed Red's tree once more. Before she spoke to him, she noticed two gas cans sitting there that she had not seen before. She gave Red his camera, and asked him everything she could think of at the moment, and returned to the house for the night.
The next morning Nancy got up at sunrise, and headed right for the Ranger Station, just in case something arrived for her. Was she ever surprised when the key to the gravestone was there. "My," she thought, "the Mail service is sure a lot better at Moon Lake than it was at the Beech Hill Museum. I thought those jade carvings would never arrive when I was working on that case." She hurried right out to the cemetery to try that key. She looked at the first headstone she came to, the one that said Waldo Mathias. There it was, a keyhole she had not noticed before! She put the key in, and Click! Now she discovered that the letters W-A-L-D-O were unlocked, and could be turned. Some of them caused others to turn along with them. Nancy had seen puzzles like this before, and knew the process required to figure them out, but the problem was, she did not have any idea what the desired password was. She looked at all the letters, wrote them down and played with many combinations, but nothing seemed to jump out of the page.
Wait, maybe Vivian would know. Of course! She had to remember the secret word. Nancy could hardly wait to get back to the house and place that call. When the phone rang, who should pick up but Eustacia Andropov, whom Nancy had met when she worked so hard to save the Palladium Theatre. Small world. Anyway, Vivian scratched her head and finally remembered that the password was Mickey's nickname for Waldo: B-A-L-D-O. It sounded simple enough, to change just one letter, but since they affected each other, it turned out to be pretty tricky. Here's the easiest solution Nancy could come up with, and she did it in just six clicks. In her mind, she numbered the blocks from left to right like this: 1-2-3-4-5. Then the pressed the second one twice, the third one twice, finally the fourth one twice. She never did press the first or fifth blocks at all. Easy to remember: 2-2, 3-3, 4-4. Click! The mechanism was activated, and a stairway to the underground tunnels opened up.
Nancy bravely stepped into the stairwell, turned on her flashlight, and went into the tunnels. Oh, no! The batteries went dead. Carefully, she made a U-turn and felt around overhead until she discovered the exit to the cemetery. Whew! Glad to see the sky again, she headed for the boat and Em's Emporium. Surely they carried fresh batteries. When she asked Emily for batteries, she landed another job - arranging the six-packs of Combo Cola to match the diagram Em gave her. It was easy enough; many of the 6-packs were already in the right place, and some of them had to be rotated. It only took a few minutes, and Nancy was on her way home with fresh batteries. She could hardly wait to check out those tunnels.
Nancy opened the secret staircase again, and went into the tunnels, confident this time that her new batteries would see her through. The first fork she came to didn't look like much of a decision, a tiny path to the right, and a large one to the left. She decided to go left. Then, she came to one that was a bit harder to decide. Following her tradition, she tried the right branch. It seemed to go on for a long time, but finally she came to a steel door. She wondered if she was near the house. She gave the door a push, and Wow! There was the Speakeasy. A quick glance around the room confirmed that all four dog's portraits were there, along with some other interesting things. The first thing she did was look at each dog close-up, and notice that each one had on a different color collar. Iggy's was yellow, while Xander wore a red collar, Vitus a blue one, and Lucy's was green. As she examined the paintings, she realized Vitus would bark at the hawk, so she placed a mark on the map near the big tree. Lucy swam out to the shipwreck, so she was able to place her mark slightly offshore. Xander's painting, however had been damaged, so it was impossible to guess where his favorite spot was.
Nancy looked behind the bar and found the Spigots William Akers mentioned in his journal, but they seemed to be locked somehow. She continued to explore the entire room, until she discovered that the cap on the center hub of the Roulette wheel opened. Inside was a red button. Can't hurt to try, she thought, and pressed the button. A click was heard in the area of the bar. She went behind the bar again, and found that the spigots worked. She had to pull a spigot to select a number, then press the button to rotate the letters. She guessed that the colored spigots must correspond to the dogs; Blue=Vitus and so on, and that the initials of the dogs name should be rotated into place. Pretty soon, after some experimentation, she managed to get them all. When they were in order, they read from left to right, X, V, I, and L. Suddenly, another secret passage in the tunnel system was revealed.
Before going there, Nancy took the trouble to remove the block from the big ornate door opposite the bar. This door led directly into the basement under the house. She was right! She had judged the distance accurately. Now, though, she had more business in the tunnels. The way back into the tunnels was right where she came in, the wall with the small dog photos. (Nancy realized that if she had difficulty finding the correct spot on the wall, she could always get to the tunnelsthe long way - out through the basement, through the woods and into the cemetery again.) She entered the tunnel, and soon found a new tunnel, indicated by some new lights on her right. On the wall, she discovered mosaic replicas of the paintings, showing Iggy on the porch, Lucy on the boat, and so on. When she finally got to Xander, this mosaic was not damaged as the painting had been, and revealed that the dog's favorite spot was next to the pump. Nancy finally had all four dogs marked on William's map. Now what? She examined the map-like mosaics between the dog pictures, and found one that matched her map really well, except it didn't include the house.
Starting with the boulders on the top row, that caused Lucy's shipwreck, she pressed that spot. Then she found Xander's place by counting straight down four, matching the grid on the map. Then Iggy, up one and two to the right, just like a knight on a chessboard she thought, and finally Vitus's spot up one and two to the right again. Abruptly, the wall swung inward. At the same time, there was the sound of another door opening. She didn't go into the hall behind the mosaic just yet, because a new door to the left has opened. As usual, following the right fork is the best choice, and Nancy found herself in an underground chamber. Stepping further in, what did she discover, but a Kennel, complete with four adorable dogs. They were definitely not ghosts, and definitely not fierce. They did look pretty well trained, however, and well cared-for. Around the corner, she found a tube of glow-in-the-dark toothpaste. Wonder how that would work in a dog's eyes? Then on the workbench, Nancy found the loudspeaker she had seen on the house, a dog collar with a yellow medallion, some really classy reading material, and a key marked MM. She could guess whose key that was. Then Nancy found a day-book. It wasn't hard to piece the whole story together now; someone who deals in antiques, cares for four dogs, buys speakers, resents someone moving in to the Malone house, tries so solve mosaics, and knows Nancy Drew. Wow! All this time it was Emily, being so nicey-nice to Nancy's face, and trying to get the gold any which way she can. Nancy felt bad for ever suspecting that charming Ranger, tough as he is, he certainly wasn't guilty of anything wrong. And that Bumbling Birdwatcher; why he may be grumpy, but he's harmless after all. And he did show some concern after Nancy escaped the fire, in his own awkward way.
Well, Nancy thought she better proceed carefully now. Since she knew all about Emily, anything could happen. She went back to the mosaic, and easily opened it again, remembering the pattern. At the end of the corridor was a locked door. Luckily, the MM key opened it without a hitch. Inside, Nancy found what appeared to be a large water tank and some controls. The tank had a large door in its side, secured by a pressure-wheel. She considered opening it, but thought better of it. What if that tank were full of water? She was in an enclosed room, and might be swamped. She decided instead, to experiment with the controls to the right. It looked like another tank. Perhaps it would be possible to transfer water from the main tank into the auxiliary one. She started with the rightmost set of controls. To start with, the wheel was locked. The water gauge showed the water level as empty. Then, there was a spindle with something missing. She placed the wheel she had found on the spindle, and it fit perfectly. Unfortunately, it just spun in place. She looked behind it, and saw the hole in the spindle. Maybe that trusty screwdriver would come in handy one last time. It worked! The wheel was secure, but still locked just like the other one. Backing away, she looked at the other controls, to the left. There was one wheel that would turn. She tried it once, but nothing seemed to happen. So she went back to the other controls, only to discover that they were unlocked now. She turned the smaller, left-hand wheel once, then the larger wheel. Suddenly, the pressure gauge indicated that this tank was full. Hopefully the main tank would now be empty. As a precaution, Nancy retrieved the screwdriver and the wheel before going away from the controls, being careful not to turn the wheels any more.
She returned to the main tank, and bravely turned the pressure-wheel, unlocking the door. She opened the door, and Whew! It was empty and she was free to go in and climb down the ladder to the chamber below. Well, nothing is easy, especially where 600 pounds of gold bullion is at stake. Nancy found another puzzle lock on the door.
The one thing Nancy was quick to notice was the familiar four colors. She deduced that the first number, green, would have something to do with Lucy, then Xander, then Vitus, then Iggy in that order. She tried desperately to match their birth-years to the tumblers, but soon found out that was impossible. Then she remembered the passion for Roman Numerals in this town. What were their initials, but Roman Numerals! L = 50; X = 10; V = 5, and I = 1. Armed with that knowledge, she was quick to solve the door and enter the secret chamber. This is how she turned the wheels. Noticing that all but one column affected others, she know to save the sixth column for last. She mentally numbered them from left to right, 1-2; 3-4; 5-6; 7-8. She turned them this way:
Second column three times
Third column once
Fifth column once
Sixth column five times.
She had been careful never to turn the first, fourth, seventh and eighth tumblers.
The numbers changed to 50, 10, 05, and 01, and a spindle was revealed. It appeared to already have a pin through it, so the screwdriver would not be necessary; but Nancy was grateful she had brought the wheel with her. With her heart in her mouth, she placed the wheel on the spindle and gave it a turn. The door opened. Dared she peek inside? Did her eyes deceive her? She stepped inside and found the lost treasure of the Hole In the Floor Heist! Six hundred pounds of Gold Bullion. Wow!
Nancy thought she better be really careful. With Emily right on her tail, who knew what could happen next. She turned and went out, intending to climb the ladder when her worst fears were realized. Emily was right there, at the top of the ladder, armed with a large bone! Nancy thought, "good thing I left this door open!" She quickly stepped back into the gold-room, turned around and slammed the door shut. Without hesitating, she turned again to face the gold, and picked up the grating in the floor and stepped down. She crawled through the short tunnel, came up through the other grate outside the gold room, only to see Emily eyeing all that gold. Nancy quickly slammed the door shut, and without pausing for a second, turned and climbed up the ladder before Emily could react. Nancy was safe, and Emily was stranded on the lower level. The Sheriff's Department took care of Emily, Sally adopted those four gorgeous dogs, Ranger Akers made good use of his ticket-pad when all the commotion started, and Red Knott went away grumpy as ever. Nancy could relax for a while, having solved another difficult mystery. She decided it would be fun to spend some time at the Carnival, wondering what new adventures lay in store for her.