Free (#44) The Clue in the Crossword Cipher by Carolyn Keene Page A

remarked.
    Nancy inquired if his assistant were there.
    “No. I do not know why. He did not telephone. It is very strange. Perhaps he is ill.”
    Carla told him that the man was not ill and explained where the girls had seen him. Señor Velez said he could not understand it.
    Nancy suspected that the man had taken the day off to shadow the girls. “But why?” she asked herself. “It has something to do with the plaque, I’m sure.” She recalled his attempt to copy the carving, and was more convinced than ever that he had not acted out of simple curiosity.
    Senor Velez spoke again. “Luis is a good worker, but he is a very strange and secretive person.” The shop owner regarded the girls anxiously. “Why are you asking about him? Has he done something wrong?”
    “Not that we know of,” Nancy replied.
    But in the minds of all the girls was the same grim question: Had another dangerous enemy been revealed?

CHAPTER XI
    The City of Gold
    “LET’S buy some gifts to take home,” Bess suggested.
    Nancy was brought out of her musings about Luis Llosa. She smiled. “That’s a good idea.”
    The three girls from River Heights picked out various articles. Nancy purchased an attractive salad bowl set for her father and jewel cases for Hannah Gruen and Aunt Eloise.
    After writing out the addresses where they were to be sent, she asked permission to go into the back room of the shop. It was here that the wooden objects were carved. When Nancy came to Luis Llosa’s workbench, she paused. On it was a half-finished tray made of queñar wood.
    As she glanced down to the floor, Nancy noticed another unfinished carving. She picked it up.
    “I wonder what this was going to be,” she murmured.
    Señor Velez came into the room and she asked him about the object. He came over, took it, and frowned.
    “I do not know what this is intended for,” he said.
    The piece was about eight inches long and three-quarters of an inch thick, with a tube inside the center of it.
    “This is about the size and shape of handles of some of our salad forks and spoons, but we always keep them solid,” Senor Velez said.
    “I found the wood under Luis Llosa’s bench, so I suppose it’s his,” Nancy told him.
    The shop owner frowned even more deeply. “No doubt, but this wood did not come from my purchases. It is arrayánes.”
    “What!” Nancy exclaimed.
    “That is right,” the craftsman told her. “I cannot understand. Luis must have brought it here. I intend to ask him when he returns.” Señor Velez put the piece into his pocket.
    Nancy’s mind was already filled with speculations about Llosa’s work. She said, “Maybe he intended to put something inside the handle.”
    “Perhaps,” Senor Velez conceded. “But what? I will certainly make him tell me.”
    On the way home Nancy told the other girls of her discovery. Instantly George said, “I’m sure he’s up to no good.”
    That evening Carla had arranged a delightful party for the North American girls to meet some of her Peruvian friends.
    “It was wonderful and I enjoyed getting to know your friends,” Nancy told Carla after the guests had left.
    “And what marvelous dancers!” Bess exclaimed. “Oh, I could live here forever!”
    “And have Dave down here fighting duels?” George grinned.
    Before leaving for Cuzco the next day, Nancy telephoned Señor Velez. She found him upset. “My assistant has not come back and has sent no word. I called his home to find out why, but nobody was there.”
    Nancy asked the shop owner if he had missed anything from his place of business. Senor Velez admitted that he had not thought of checking but would look immediately. “Hold the phone, please.”
    Within two minutes he was back. “Luis has taken many of my tools! Oh, it is dreadful, dreadful! Some of them are very old and I cannot replace them!”
    “I am sorry,” Nancy said. “You will report the theft to the police, of course?”
    “Indeed. Indeed. And thank you, Miss Drew,