Free 025 Rich and Dangerous by Carolyn Keene Page B

carefully flicked the ash from his cigar into a marble ashtray at his elbow.
    “Unfortunately, Sarah was simply not careful enough. She allowed her family to take advantage of her constantly—and this is how they have repaid her.”
    “Just what are you implying?” Nancy asked.
    “Her nephew Jack has been robbing her blindever since her husband passed away,” he said, watching the plume of blue smoke trailing up toward the ceiling. “And her sister—well, I told Sarah a thousand times to have her put away, for safety’s sake, but she refused to listen, poor trusting soul. And look how she’s been repaid.”
    “You’re saying Alison Kale is responsible for Sarah Amberly’s death? That’s a pretty heavy charge.” Nancy watched Pieter’s face carefully. He shook his head lightly and sighed deeply.
    “Well, you must agree, the woman is mad, completely mad. Did you know she was committed for several months when she attempted to take her own life a few years ago? She’s totally irrational and she never could adjust to the fact that Sarah was out of her league in every way.”
    Nancy frowned. The one thing Alison Kale had not seemed was jealous. Shy, yes—even neurotic —but jealousy just hadn’t seemed to enter into her relationship with her sister.
    “They were born poor, you know,” Pieter van Druten continued. “Dirt poor. Sarah was able to transcend the circumstances of her birth, but Alison was not. It’s that simple.
    “In fact, I informed Detective Ritter of all this not an hour ago. Someone had to let the poor man know of her disappearance. The entire police force is out there searching for her right now, their butterfly nets in hand, I suppose.” With that, Pieter chuckled.
    Nancy caught George’s eye, and she could tell George was thinking the same thing she was: for a man who’d just lost his fiancée, Pieter van Druten seemed remarkably collected.
    Nancy wondered if she should speak her mind in front of Pieter. Giving him the benefit of her thinking was like baiting a barracuda, she knew. On the other hand, she wanted to hear what else he had to say. There was something about him. . . .
    “I think you’re wrong,” said Nancy. “This crime was too calculated for a person as unstable as Alison. She could never have planned it, much less carried it out.”
    Pieter van Druten threw Nancy a dazzling smile and stubbed out his cigar. “Brilliant, truly brilliant, Miss Drew. And that is where Jack Kale comes in. Between the two of them, they had one brain, and with that little brain they were able to plan and execute poor Sarah’s demise.”
    Nancy saw George shiver when she heard that. That night, she and Jack would be off on their date together—alone.
    “I don’t understand,” said Nancy, hoping Pieter would explain.
    He did. “You see, Miss Drew, Sarah and I were to be married. If that happened, both Alison and Jack stood to lose millions. On their own, they are penniless, yet they’ve grown used to living the life of wealthy people through Sarah’s generosity.I myself—again he laughed his cruel little laugh—“I am not so generous. They would have both been out on their ears and they knew it.”
    “Hmmm.” Nancy considered Pieter’s hypothesis. It certainly sounded logical. And then there was the little matter of the jewels. She wondered if Pieter knew Alison had them. If he did, then he’d been the one eavesdropping on them. He may have even planted them in Alison’s dresser.
    “Then why steal the jewels?” she asked him. “With Sarah out of the way, wouldn’t they have come to Alison and Jack in the end?”
    Pieter considered this for a long moment. “Who knows?” he answered. “The working of irrational minds is hard to comprehend.”
    “You seem to do all right,” Nancy remarked.
    “Surely, Miss Drew, you are not suggesting that I took the jewels?” He laughed uproariously. “You may not be aware, but I am the owner of a rather large diamond mine of my