Mystery at the Ski Jump by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online Page B

declared that she could remain in New York only until noon the next day.
    “Then I’ll have to take a plane home in case Dad needs my help in Montreal. If the brooch hasn’t arrived by that time, will you phone me as soon as it comes and then send it to me by registered mail?”
    Aunt Eloise agreed, and the two spent the evening watching television. The late movie was an old film depicting a skating carnival. It began with a picture of the skating queen and individual close-ups of her ladies in waiting.
    Suddenly Nancy cried out, “Aunt Eloise, look! That tall, dark-haired attendant!”
    “She’s very attractive,” Miss Drew commented. “In fact, she’s more striking than the queen.”
    “I know her!” Nancy cried.
    “Friend of yours?”
    “No, no. Aunt Eloise, she’s the woman I’m trying to find. That’s Mrs. R. I. Channing!”

CHAPTER VIII
    Trapper’s Story
    NANCY and Aunt Eloise waited eagerly for the motion picture to conclude. At the end the cast was named. Mrs. Channing was listed as Mitzi Adele.
    “Her stage name,” her aunt guessed.
    Nancy nodded. “Yes, or her maiden name. The film is seven or eight years old.”
    “She may have given up professional skating when she married,” Eloise Drew suggested.
    “Still, this helps,” Nancy said. “If Mrs. Channing was a skater, perhaps I can find some people in the profession who know where she comes from and something about her.”
    After breakfast the next morning Nancy phoned the television studio and asked for information about the skater Mitzi Adele. The man on the other end of the wire advised Nancy to write to the Bramson Film Company, which had made the motion picture.
    “Did you find out anything?” Aunt Eloise asked as Nancy put down the phone.
    “Only the name of the film company. I hope they have that woman’s address!”
    Eloise Drew prepared to leave for school. Nancy thanked her for the visit and kissed her good-by. After her aunt had gone, Nancy sent a telegram to the film company, asking that the reply be sent to her at River Heights.
    As she was packing, the apartment buzzer rang. Police Sergeant Rolf was in the lobby and asked to see her.
    “I’m here to return that diamond brooch, Miss Drew,” the officer told her a few minutes later. “If Sidney Boyd tries to sell the matching earrings, we’ll get him!” The sergeant thanked Nancy for her help and left.
    The weather was clear that afternoon and Nancy’s flight was smooth. She took a taxi home from the River Heights Airport, and slipped quietly into the Drew home. Hannah was in the kitchen. Tiptoeing up behind the housekeeper, Nancy called loudly, “I’m home!”
    “Oh!” gasped Hannah. “Nancy, you startled me!”
    “Aunt Eloise sent her love,” said Nancy as she removed her hat and coat and started for the hall closet. When she returned, Mrs. Gruen was taking a pie from the oven.
    “If Bess saw that cherry pie—” Nancy began.
    “Bess and George have a surprise for you,” Hannah interrupted. “Bess left word for you to phone her. George is there. Then tell me about the trip.”
    “I’ll tell you first,” Nancy said, laughing.
    Ten minutes later she telephoned Bess, who reported that through a merchant who sold hunting equipment, she and George had met another investor in the Forest Fur Company.
    “The old man’s a fur trapper from up north,” Bess went on. “He lives with his niece.”
    “When can I speak with him?” Nancy asked.
    Bess consulted George, who took up the extension phone. “We’ll drive him over tomorrow morning,” George said. “That is, if we can persuade him to ride in a car. John Horn is strictly a high boot and snowshoe man.”
    Nancy laughed. “I’ll get out my buckskin leggings and my coonskin cap!”
    “We’ll come early,” George promised.
    Mail for Nancy had accumulated on the hall table. As soon as she finished the conversation, she began to read it. Her duplicate driver’s license had arrived. There was also a