Bess sighed. "It's all so complicated. But I don't think Ned disappeared voluntarily."

In a few minutes the girls were ready to leave. Nancy decided to call Hannah Gruen and tell her about the change in plans and ask her to notify the Marvins and Faynes. She dialed the number. There was a long wait before her ringing was answered. To her surprise it was not Hannah's voice that said h.e.l.lo. Instead it was Marty King's!

CHAPTER IX.

The Spy

THERE was a soft laugh at the other end of the line. "I guess you're surprised to find me at your house," Marty said.

"A little," Nancy replied, trying not to let her voice betray how startled she was. "I suppose you're there to help Dad with some specific kind of work."

Marty King giggled. "Work, yes, but not legal work."

Nancy's heart began to beat a little faster. What did Mr. Drew's a.s.sistant mean by that remark? Did she mean detective work?

Marty went on to explain. "Your father is out of town and I didn't know where to reach him. Mrs. Gruen, your housekeeper, telephoned me to give a message to your dad. A close relative of hers was taken ill and she had to leave immediately. She would not be able to get dinner for Mr. Drew."

"I see," said Nancy.

Marty King informed the young detective that she was an excellent cook and thought it would be fun to surprise the lawyer with a good meal.

"I'm planning to make an unusual French dish," she added.

"I'm sure my father will enjoy it," Nancy said without enthusiasm.

Marty asked if there was any message Nancy wished her to give Mr. Drew.

"Yes," the young detective replied. "Please tell him that Bess, George, and I are leaving Emerson to go to Ned Nickerson's home and stay overnight. By the way, Marty, how are you making out with the glowing eye case?" Nancy asked her. "Solved it yet?"

Marty was taken off guard. She stammered a moment, then finally said, "My key contact has disappeared."

"That's too bad," Nancy said, but secretly was relieved to hear it. Without her contact, Marty could not work on the case which Nancy considered to be hers!

"By the way," said Marty, "any news of Ned?"

"Nothing concrete," Nancy replied evasively.

Recalling what Jerry Faber had told her about the conversation with his mysterious pa.s.senger, she wondered if Zapp Crosson had been Marty King's source of information. She asked, "Marty, was your key contact a special friend?"

The young lawyer giggled. "He'd like to be-" There was a long pause, then she continued, "There's someone else I like much better."

Nancy's mind was racing with ideas. Could Marty possibly mean her father? Before Nancy could think of a way to induce Marty to tell her, the other girl abruptly changed the subject.

"I have something cooking, so I must get back to it. I'll give your father the message. Bye now."

Nancy put down the phone and at once Bess said, "Don't keep us in suspense. What is Marty King doing at your house?"

Nancy smiled. "Getting my father's dinner ready. Hannah is away."

"Ah-ah," said Bess with a wink at George-a wink that Nancy did not fail to see.

Her cousin was about to continue the teasing but changed her mind. A woebegone look had come over Nancy's face and George decided to drop the subject.

"We'd better get going," she said. "It's a fairly long ride to Mapleton."

Nancy nodded. The girls picked up their bags and light coats and went out to the car. There was little traffic and the drive did not take as long as they had expected. They arrived at the Nickerson home about five o'clock.

Ned's mother greeted them at the front door. She was pretty and dressed attractively. Bess gazed enviously at the woman's slender figure.

Mr. Nickerson was at home also. He and Ned closely resembled each other, and the youthful-looking older man was still athletic like his son.

"I certainly hope you girls can solve this mystery soon," he said. "Naturally, Mrs. Nickerson and I are extremely worried. We know Ned can usually take care of himself, but if he is being held by someone who has no scruples, he may be in great danger."

George remarked, "A break in the case should come soon. We have some good leads and I hope Nancy can find another one among the papers Ned sent home."

The girls were taken upstairs to two bedrooms. As soon as they had put down their luggage, Nancy said, "I can't wait to see the papers. May I look at them now?"

"They're still in Ned's room," Mrs. Nickerson replied. "As soon as you freshen up, I'll meet you in there and show them to you."

Within five minutes Nancy was looking at the drawings, figures, and exposition in the various science papers Ned had written.

"They are very technical," she remarked to Mrs. Nickerson. "I'm sure, though, that they are not for a computer."

Ned's mother watched Nancy work for a while, then excused herself.

"Before you go," said Nancy, "tell me, have you a large blackboard?"

Mrs. Nickerson said there was one in Ned's closet. "And I think there's chalk in the desk. Why do you want the board, dear?"

Nancy said she had become fascinated by a set of numbers arranged in a pattern on one of the papers. "From a distance they seemed to be the outline of an eye. I want to copy them."

She said she wondered if Ned had discovered the formula for a cold light glowing eye. "The numbers may be a code-a code that Zapp Crosson wanted desperately to get!"

"I know how interested you are in working on the case," Ned's mother said. "But we must eat. I didn't feel like cooking, so I arranged for all of us to have dinner at Flannery's restaurant. Do you mind if we go ahead, Nancy, so that we won't lose our reservation?"

"Please do," Nancy replied. "What I want to work on shouldn't take long. I'll meet you all there as soon as I can."

Mrs. Nickerson nodded, left the room, and went downstairs. A short time later Nancy heard the group drive off in the Nickerson car.

She went to the closet and brought out the blackboard which opened up and stood on four legs.

Turning, Nancy caught sight of a man.

With her back to the open window, Nancy began to chalk down the numbers from the sheet on the desk. She decided it would be wiser to memorize them rather than write them on anything to take with her. This way they could not fall into dishonest hands in case the copy was stolen or lost. It did not take her long to sketch the eye-shaped code.