Free Carolyn Keene_Nancy Drew Mysteries 050 by The Double Jinx Mystery

the woman had a list of all the doctors in town. “I should like to inquire at each office,” she added.
    The nurse said she was sorry but there was no printed list.
    “Then may I look at the classified pages in your phone book?” Nancy requested, certain that all the local physicians would be listed.
    Nancy took a notebook and pencil from her handbag. When the nurse brought the book, Nancy copied the names and addresses. There were twelve.
    “I hope you find the man you’re looking for,” the nurse said, after the young detective had thanked her. She smiled. “Is he a special friend?”
    “No. Just the opposite. That’s why I’m trying to find him. The police are looking for Clyde O’Mayley. If he should ever come in here, please call Harper headquarters.”
    The woman looked a bit startled that such a lovely and wholesome girl would be trying to track down a criminal, but she made no comment and said good-by.
    For the next hour Nancy went from office to office. Some of the doctors worked in their own homes, others in office buildings. Finally Nancy, very weary, looked at her list.
    “Only three more to go,” she thought. “I guess Hannah will prove to be right. I’m not going to find that needle in this haystack.”
    Nancy drove to the next address. At the doctor’s office she was surprised to be greeted by a young nurse who had been in grade school with her.
    “Evelyn Hatch!” she exclaimed. “So you’re a nurse.”
    “I’m in training. I work here afternoons.”
    “We lost track of each other after you moved to Harper,” Nancy remarked.
    “I can’t believe it! Nancy Drew! I’ve missed seeing you. How is everything?”
    “Oh, I keep busy,” Nancy replied.
    Evelyn grinned. “Are you still doing detective work?”
    Nancy nodded. “That’s why I’m here.”
    “The doctor’s not in just now,” Evelyn told her. “Is there something I can do to help you?”
    Nancy told her about trying to find the man named Clyde O’Mayley who might have come for treatments for ornithosis. “Was he here?” she asked hopefully.
    “Is he a criminal?” Evelyn asked.
    “Well, yes, sort of,” Nancy answered.
    “Then I may have an interesting clue for you,” Evelyn said. “There was a man in here who gave the name of Arthur Clyde. He did have ornithosis.”
    “What did he look like?” Nancy asked.
    Evelyn’s description fitted the wanted man. Nancy was thrilled. “Is he supposed to come back?”
    The nurse told her that the patient had made an appointment for the following afternoon. “It’s at four o’clock.”
    “I think I’ll report this to Chief Pepper,” Nancy remarked. “He can assign plainclothesmen to watch your office and nab the man if he’s Slick Fingers.”
    “Who?” Evelyn asked.
    Nancy laughed. “Oh, that’s Clyde O’Mayley’s nickname in the underworld.”
    Evelyn wagged her head. “Nancy Drew, you’re really something! When I knew you in school you gave me the impression you would become a professional dancer, not a detective.”
    The two chatted for a while, then Nancy said she would go on to Harper Police Headquarters and then home.
    “By the way, did the man have any identifying marks on him so we could trace him more easily if he doesn’t show up tomorrow?”
    “Yes, he did have one,” Evelyn answered. “I was quite intrigued. On the top of his left arm he had a small tattoo. It was unusual, not like any I had ever seen before.”
    “What was it?” Nancy asked her.
    “A circle with a cross in it. The vertical and horizontal lines extended fully from one side of the circle to the other.”
    Nancy caught her breath. This was the symbol used by Merv Marvel! She said nothing to Evelyn, but wondered if he and Slick Fingers were pals. Then a second thought came to her. Perhaps Merv had mesmerized Slick Fingers and got him to consent to the strange mark being tattooed on him.
    “It must have been done recently,” Nancy decided, “because the description of him