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.‘She’s the person to help you,’ he said.”“Oh, my goodness,” Nancy responded, flattered by the professor’s glowing recommendation.“He also mentioned your friends, George Fayne and Bess Marvin,” the woman continued, lighting her eyes on them.“He described you all so vividly that I immediately recognized you when I saw you standing downstairs.So.I take it you received my little note?”“We did, but we could hardly read it,” Nancy said.“It was washed out by the rain.”“Then, how did you know where to find me!?”“As you said, Duchessa, Nancy’s a first-rate detective,” George said, chuckling.With that, there was a knock at the door, and the woman rose to answer it.To the girls’ astonishment, it was Andreoli.“You almost got us into a heap of trouble!” George accused him.“If you hadn’t told the night clerk about our trip across the canal, we wouldn’t have had to explain ourselves to the police, who, by the way, warned us not to do any more detective work!”The gondolier looked crestfallen.“I not know who you were then,” he said haltingly.“Poor Andreoli.Don’t be so hard on him,” the duchessa said in his defense.“He told me about your conversation with Captain Dona- tone.I believe his restrictions concern only police matters.I am asking you as a private citizen to help me on a matter in which I do not wish to involve the authorities.”“Yes?” Nancy asked, her curiosity rising.“I have a nephew who is quite brilliant, an artist like his father, and he—” She paused as if unsure whether to continue.“And he?” George prompted her.“Well, he has been kidnapped—taken away from Venice, his family, his work, everything.” “Why didn’t you tell the police?” Bess asked.“Because I did not want the publicity.If I reported the kidnapping, there would be stories in the newspaper.My family would be very upset.”Gazing at the elegant appointments in the room, the fine brocade, the crystal and marble, the girls concluded there was great wealth hidden between the lines of Maria Dandolo’s story.Throughout, Andreoli had remained quiet.“I want you to find my nephew,” the woman went on.“I will pay you well.”“I never take money, and I am not sure I can accept the assignment anyway,” Nancy said, surprising her companions.“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard Nancy Drew turn down a chance to solve a mystery!” Bess exclaimed.“Well, as Andreoli knows,” the girl replied, “our friends are in trouble.”“They’re in jail,” George stated flatly.“Yes, I know all about it,” the duchessa said, “but what does that—”“I’m afraid I have to devote my time to them until they are free.I’m sure you can understand that.”“Of course, but perhaps I can help you in that regard,” Nancy’s listener replied, causing a flutter of excitement among the girls.“I cannot promise, but I can certainly try.”She said something in Italian to Andreoli whose head bobbed up and down at every syllable.“Si, si,” he replied.“But signora,” Nancy started to say.“Duchessa,” the woman corrected her.“Then, duchessa ,” Nancy continued, “please tell me how it is you can help my American friends when you fear going to the police about your own relative?”“That is an easy question to answer.You see, I have many friends in high government positions who can—how you say—move thingsalong for you.But Filippo.Well, he would be in even greater danger if I revealed his disappearance to them.I do not trust anyone now— except you.”The woman lowered her eyes, tracing a thin crack in a black marble table.“It’s pathetic how old things break and fall apart with time,” she said.“I’m trying hard not to let it happen to me, especially now.Please, you must find Filippo.It is your duty as a detective!”5.RevelationsNancy was thunderstruck by the woman’s pronouncement and if it were not for her curiosity about the artist’s disappearance, she might have politely excused herself.The twinge of uncertainty in the girl’s face was very evident.“Please, forgive me for talking as I do,” the duchessa said softly.“I cannot force you to help me.I—I’m not myself these days.”“I understand,” Nancy said.“Why don’t you tell us more about Filippo.When was he kidnapped?”“Less than three days ago while he was making some deliveries to our factory in Murano.”“Are his captors demanding money from you?” George asked.“No.Not money.”“What do they want then?” Nancy asked.Maria Dandolo gave a long, arduous sigh.“I cannot give you any more information until you say yes, you will help the Dandolo family.”“I will,” Nancy said, “once the charges are dropped against my friends.They are completely innocent, you know.”“Fair enough,” the duchessa said, smiling.“Uno momento.” She excused herself to a nearby telephone while Andreoli rose from his chair.“Scusi, signorine,” he said.He spoke to the woman in Italian, nodded at the girls, and left immediately.“Strange, very strange,” Bess commented to her friends.“I mean what does a gondolier have to do with a duchess?”“Maybe he’s her private chauffeur or runs errands for her,” Nancy said.“What intrigues me more is, what was he doing in the store below?” When the woman finished making her call, she informed the young detectives of her success.It would take no more than two hours to clear the Emerson boys, she said.“You can pick them up about four o’clock,” she added, sitting down again.“Now I must confess something else to you,” she continued.“I’m partly responsible for your friends’ trouble.“But how?” Bess asked, dumbfounded.“My family has been in the glassmakingbusiness for generations,” the duchessa explained.“We own a factory in Murano and have several stores throughout Italy, including the one downstairs.”“Oh, then that explains why we saw Andreoli in the window before,” Nancy interrupted.The woman nodded.“Yes.He helps me with many things.But what I want to talk about is the particular glass sculpture that was found in Mr.Nickerson’s luggage.It was one of the most beautiful things Filippo ever designed,” she said sadly.“Ever since he was a small boy he’s been fascinated by the Quadriga, the magnificent bronze horses atop the Basilica San Marco.” So I was right, Nancy thought.The glass statue was modeled after them! “Was Filippo carrying the piece when he was kidnapped?” she asked aloud.“No.As a matter of fact, it had disappeared from our showroom in Murano a few days earlier.I reported the theft, and the police alerted customs officials throughout Europe to be on the lookout for it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]