The Whispering Statue by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online Page A

evening. Maybe we can spy on the place and learn something.”
    Dick was delighted with the idea and drove the girls downtown in his small car. Nancy had decided to take him into her confidence, without revealing her identity, and said that certain things happening at the shop made her wonder if the business was being carried on honestly.
    The good-looking young man grinned. “I’ve never tried solving a mystery, but it sounds like fun!”
    He parked the car some distance from the shop and suggested they approach Basswood’s from the rear along a driveway.
    As they neared the building, Bess whispered, “I see a light in the basement window.”
    The young people tiptoed forward. They could hear men talking. As they drew closer, Nancy recognized the voices as those of Mr. Basswood and Mr. Atkin.
    Reaching the lighted window, the four spies found it wide open. They could see the two men clearly. They were packing books in cartons. Dick hunkered down and stared intently at the scene below.
    Mr. Atkin spoke up. “It’s a good thing you’re getting the rest of this Merriam collection out of here. I don’t trust that Lynbrook girl!”
    The remark made Bess shiver. She was sure Nancy would be in danger if she went back to work at the shop!
    Just then the young people heard a car. They did not want to be caught spying! The girls started to move away. But Dick, startled by the automobile, suddenly lost his balance and tumbled into the cellar of the art shop!

CHAPTER VIII
    The Race
    THE three girls were aghast when Dick fell through the open cellar window of Basswood’s shop.
    “What’ll we do?” George asked.
    “We’d better run!” Bess replied promptly. “Come on!”
    Nancy had stretched out her arms to push the cousins away from the window in case the men looked up. In a moment, however, she inched forward and peered down. If Dick had been hurt, she would certainly go to help him!
    “But if he’s all right,” she said to herself, “Bess and George and I had better get away from here as quickly as possible.”
    Dick had landed on a pile of newspapers evidently used for packing books. When the two men heard the thud they turned quickly. Dick stood up and looked at them sheepishly. He gave no explanation of his sudden entrance.
    “He’s all right,” Nancy thought. “I’m sure he can get out of this predicament himself.”
    She told this to the other girls and the three scooted away.
    “Where shall we wait for Dick?” George asked.
    “I vote for the soda shop,” Bess said.
    Nancy remarked that it was possible when Dick did not see them around, he would figure they had gone back to the yacht club. “Then we’d miss a ride home.”
    “I guess you’re right,” Bess conceded. “But a soda sure would taste good right now.”
    The girls went directly to the parking lot where Dick had left his car. They climbed in.
    Ten minutes later he appeared. “Hi! I thought I’d find you here.”
    As he swung himself into the driver’s seat, Nancy said, “Tell us what happened. How did you get away from Basswood and Atkin?”
    The young man grinned. “Mostly by keeping still. They asked me what I was doing at the window, and I just shrugged. Then they tried to find out what I had overheard. Again I shrugged. ‘Nothing important,’ I told them.”
    As Dick paused, George begged him to go on. “You haven’t told us yet how you got away from Mr. Basswood.”
    “That older man finally said to me, ‘I guess you thought we were burglars.’ I just laughed and they took it for granted that he had hit upon the truth. The other man told me to go out the way I had come in. Then they slammed the window shut and locked it.”
    The three girls laughed and Dick asked, “What kind of a detective would I make?”
    “Excellent,” Nancy replied.
    “Then maybe that’s what I’ll take up when I finish college,” the young man said.
    As they neared the yacht club, Dick reminded his passengers that the boat races would be