"Nancy," whispered Helen, "oh Nancy. You found it!"
"Finally," said Nancy with a sigh of relief. She pulled a flashlight out of her pocket and turned it on.
Helen grabbed her arm. "You are not going down there. We should let Chief McGinnis know."
"We should probably let Jane know where to find the button," said Nancy, almost in a daze.
"You're right about that too. I'll go get her. Don't move," siad Helen before dashing off towards the kitchen. Nancy sank to the floor. She did it, she finally did it, she found an entrance to the secret tunnel. And all it took was timing. She didn't know how many times they had been in that room and had passed it up. Was the sofa at Twin Elms the same way? It had to have been, it would explain how their ghost got in and out earlier that day! But then, how did he get outside without them seeing him? Was there an exit to the yard as well? There was only one way to find out. She stood up and glanced at the doorway, hushed voices were coming closer. She turned back to the sofa, and stepped in.
"That is simply amazing!" whispered Jane as she and the Turnbulls followed Helen out of the kitchen. Helen had quickly explained that Nancy found the secret passage and how she found it. "We've been in that room so many times and never noticed!"
"So have we!" whispered Helen. "But we also wouldn't have noticed it before because we weren't looking for secret passages before!"
"You never know what you'll find when you look for it," mumbled Mary.
"Oh Mary, knock it off. I for one am very glad this is almost all over, Nancy will be reunited with her father very soon!" whispered Edna.
"Oh yes! And then . . ." Helen paused in the doorway, her eyes widening. "Oh no, no no no! I'm so stupid! She went in!" The four quickly went to the sofa and looked in. "I should have known this was going to happen!"
"Well, you can't go back now," muttered Mary.
Helen huffed. "You're right, I guess I'm going to have to go in after her." She turned to the women. "Do you have any flashlights?"
"We have a couple, I'll go get them," said Edna before taking off.
"I'll go with you," said Jane.
"You're the manager," said Mary, "you should stay for when the police show up. I'll go with her."
"Oh Mary, um, you're not exactly . . ."
"As young and as agile as I used to be? I know, but I'm still pretty strong, Jane, I can handle anything."
"I'm sure you," said Helen, "but I really would like a fellow to come along. No offence."
"None taken, there are some things only a man can do," siad Mary.
"Well, the Matthews's are coming over and dropping off those extras," said Edna as she entered the room and handed Helen a flashlight. "Maybe we can have one of them go with you."
"Oh, that would be great! When are they getting here?"
Jane glanced at the old clock sitting on the mantle. "They should be here any minute now."
"Well, if you can send one of them down, please do, but I must go in after Nancy right now!"
"You be careful now, you hear?" said Edna as the women helped Helen into the sofa.
"I will, it's Nancy we have to worry about."
"Right. I'll contact the police right away," said Jane before rushing out of the room.
"And we'll keep an eye out for the Matthews," said Mary before they followed her out. Helen turned on the flashlight and looked down the stairs. She took a deep breath and went down.
Meanwhile, Nancy had been exploring the tunnel. She found that there were three staircases connected to the main tunnel. The shortest one was the way she had entered, from the living room. She had quickly gone up the longest and found that it went into the attic. But she didn't stay for long to find out exactly where in the attic it opened up to, just took a quick peek and was rushing back down the stairs. She knew then that the medium set of stairs had to go into Gomber's room, and she was going to see if he was still there. If he wasn't, then he was in the tunnel, probably with her father. If he was in his room, then she would search for her father, all while keeping an eye out for his accomplice. She paused when she got to the bottom of the medium staircase. Who was his accomplice? While they had known all along that Gomber was behind it all, they had had no clue as to who was working for him, playing as the ghost of Twin Elms. Nancy let out a soft breath as she flashed her light up the stairs and tiptoed up. It didn't matter now, they were going to find out everything soon enough.
She waited until she got to the top of the stairs before switching off her flashlight. She didn't want Gomber to know she had found the tunnel just yet. She found a peep hole and peered through it. She let out a soft huff. The door was at the back of the closet and she couldn't see a thing with all the clothes in the way. She decided to risk it and opened the door. Just like with the sofa seat, it opened noiselessly. She paused to listen, but she couldn't hear any movement. She gently pushed the clothes out of the way and looked into Gomber's room. He was nowhere to be seen. Quickly, she closed the door behind her and went straight to the dresser. She took another look around the room before silently opening the top drawer. Inside were several papers. She skimmed through them. The Hardys had been right, Gomber was after both houses to sell to the railroad company for a nice profit. She also found what she figured was the name of his accomplice, Will Wharton. She didn't find much more than that, nor did she care to. She knew she had to get back into that tunnel and find her father. But first, she had to call Chief McGinnis. He was going to be mad with her, but she had to explore and find out more so she could give him information.
She went back to the closet and realized with a start that she didn't know how to get back in. She gritted her teeth. Real stupid move, Nancy, she told herself. She let out a breath and went looking for the opening mechanism. She had theorized that this was the easiest one to find. Now, it was time to find it. She pushed the clothes all the way to the far side of the closet and began her search. The button that opened the sofa was covered by a locket. So what would Jim Caldwell have used in a closet? And it had to have been noticeable enough for someone like Gomber to find it. She glanced at the clothes she pushed to the far end. What if it was on that side? She pushed the clothes back over and shone her flashlight on that wall. She didn't see anything, so wondered if it had anything to do with touch. She slid her fingers over the wall. She paused as they felt a knot in the wood. Was it really that simple? It had to be. She pushed on it, and the back of the closet swung open.
"Yes!" Feeling enthusiastic and quite pleased with herself for finding two entrances without needing the book of poems, Nancy closed the door behind her and nearly dashed down the steps. She definitely had to keep herself from squealing too hard. All that excitement and enthusiasm vanished, however, when she noticed a beam of light heading down the tunnel. She turned hers off and crouched at the foot of the stairs. If it was Gomber, she still might be able to take him by surprise. But then she heard her name.
"Nancy! Nancy, where are you?"
Nancy let out a breath of relief as she stood up and turned back on her flashlight. "Helen! I'm over here!"
Helen came towards her and hugged her. "Oh thank goodness I've found you! Where have you been? And what were you thinking? I told you to stay put!"
"You know I couldn't, not when I'm so close to solving this mystery and finding Dad. And I'm glad I came. This staircase leads to Gomber's room and he wasn't in there. Not only were the Hardys right, but I think I might have the name of our ghost."
That got Helen's attention. "Really?" Nancy nodded. "Who is it?"
"His name is Will Wharton. That's all the information I found so far, but we at least have a name. And he's definitely a real man, not a ghost by any stretch of the imagination. As far as I can tell, he's equally in this whole business with Gomber for the money."
Helen scoffed. "I could have figured that much. Now come on, we should let Chief McGinnis know about all of this."
Nancy grabbed her arm. "You mean you didn't call him?"
"Well, Jane did, but . . ."
"Then I'm going to continue down this tunnel."
"What? No you're not. If Gomber is in this tunnel, he's no doubt going to be on the lookout for you and use you to get your dad to do whatever he wants."
"Exactly." Nancy pulled out her phone and went to the recording app. "I could get him to confess while you went for help."
Helen gave a defiant shake of her head. "Nope, I am not leaving you. Besides, he'd probably have me cornered just as much as you, so I wouldn't be able to." She let out a huff. "I just hope it's Richard who comes down."
Nancy blinked. "Say what?"
"Oh, that's right, the Matthews's are delivering some extras to Lilac Inn. Jane said she'd ask if one of them could come down here and help us out, because we all knew you'd want to continue exploring."
Nancy smiled. "You know me too well."
Helen scoffed. "Sometimes I also wish I knew you well enough to convince you out of some of this." She sighed. "But then I realize I do know you well enough to know that wouldn't work. I can't wait for Bess and George to get back."
"Oh, don't worry, you know they wouldn't miss my birthday party."
"That's still over two weeks away."
"It'll be here before you know it, don't worry. Now come on, let's see what lies between the two houses."
"You mean besides a long tunnel, Nathan Gomber, your dad, and Will Wharton?" asked Helen as she began following Nancy down the tunnel.
Nancy set her jaw. "I definitely hope so." With that being said, the two girls walked into the earthy tunnel, the light from their flashlights bouncing off the walls.
"You do know how long it's going to take to get from Lilac Inn to Twin Elms, right?" whispered Helen.
"It's going to be about half an hour at least," muttered Nancy.
"Will Wharton must be getting in his steps every time he makes a trip," muttered Helen.
"Well we definitely will be as well," said Nancy as she swung her flashlight around again. She paused as the light went further. "Why, there are passageways going off the main tunnel!"
Helen swung her flashlight into the tunnel. "Why, this might be where they hid the escaping slaves!"
Nancy nodded. "It's very possible." She pursed her lips. "And Dad's probably in one of them."
Helen placed her hand on Nancy's shoulder. "Let's just concentrate on getting these men rounded up before trying to rescue your dad, they could do something to him if we don't get them caught by the police first."
Nancy nodded. "That I agree with. Let's see if we can't flush them out and get them towards Twin Elms, specifically Aunt Flora's room. I'd like to let Ida's and Izzy's trap do some work after all the work they went through putting it up."
Helen chuckled. "I wish I could be a fly on the wall to see that."
"Nancy? Helen?" The girls jumped at the sound of their names and turned quickly. Their lights fell upon the worried face of Richard Matthews.
"Oh, Richard! Thank God!"
"Helen, sh!"
Helen grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."
"Were you two planning on walking all the way to Twin Elms?" Richard asked.
Nancy nodded. "Yes, and I was hoping to flush out the ghost while doing it. See. the twins set up a trap in Aunt Flora's room, and if there are three staircases at Twin Elms like there are here at Lilac Inn, then the medium-sized staircase would go into Aunt Flora's room."
Richard nodded slowly. "And you want to make sure he goes up that one in particular."
"Right."
Richard let out a breath. "Alright, I'll see what I can do to help."
Nancy smiled. "Thanks Richard, you're the best!" He smiled at her. "Alright, let's go ghost-hunting." Nancy turned and led the way through the main tunnel. Helen and Richard glanced at each other, sighed, shrugged, and followed.
They walked on in silence, their ears straining for any sound besides that of their muted footfalls and thunderous hearts. But that was the most they could hear as they walked down the tunnel for what seemed like ages. They did see several other tunnels branch out from the main one, but most within mere feet from where they began, so they could see to the far end of most of them. There were a couple that looked like they went on for longer, and Nancy wondered if the items they stole were hidden in one of those, and maybe even her father.
"What was that?" whispered Helen. The three paused.
"What was what?" whispered Richard.
"I thought I heard something," whispered Helen. The three paused, barely breathing. Their flashlights danced across the walls as they looked for something that could make a noise, but they didn't see anything. They turned and looked behind them to make sure no one was trying to sneak up on them, but they didn't see anyone.
Helen let out a sigh before turning around. "I was so sure . . . oh!" Nancy and Richard swiveled. There stood a man in his mid-forties with unkempt salt-and-pepper hair, his brown eyes wide and staring at them like a deer caught in headlights.
"You're Will Wharton!" exclaimed Nancy. He blinked, turned, and ran.
"Hey!" Richard bolted after him.
"Oh, Richard, be careful!" said Helen as she and Nancy took up the pursuit. Nancy came to a stop, noticing with pleasure that Will Wharton was going up the medium set of stairs. Helen came to stop next to her as the two watched Richard chase Wharton up the stairs.
Nancy turned to Helen with a smile and whispered, "I think Richard's got this, and the twins." Her face fell. "But we haven't seen Gomber." She turned back to the tunnel. "He could be with Dad."
Helen grabbed her arm. "Nancy Drew, we are heading into Twin Elms and getting Chief McGinnis."
"He could be too late! Gomber might try to move Dad before he gets down here! We've got to at least stall him," said Nancy. She began walking back into the tunnel.
Helen sighed. "When you've got a point, you've got a point." She followed Nancy back into the tunnel. "Which side tunnel do you think they would have taken your dad?"
"It would have to be either close to Lilac Inn or in between the two houses," replied Nancy, quickening her steps. "I don't think they would have wanted to carry him far."
"Thank goodness the majority of these we can see the end so we can figure out where he is hidden faster," remarked Helen, quickening her own pace.
Nancy merely nodded as she began flashing her light down each tunnel as they passed. The next minute, they were practically in a jog. They looked down each path quickly before moving on to the next one. There were a couple of side tunnels they noticed turned a corner and dashed down each of those. At the endof one, they could tell Wharton had to have been using as a makeshift camp. They found all the stolen items from Twin Elms stashed away in another, but they only stuffed the jewelry in their pockets and raced back out to the main tunnel. They checked two more side tunnels before finally finding Carson, who was bound to a chair. But he was alone.
"Dad!" cried out Nancy as she rushed forward to take the gag out of his mouth and began to untie him.
"Nancy! You shouldn't be here! Gomber . . ."
"Didn't want to miss this little happy reunion." Helen gasped as Nancy swirled around. There was Gomber and he had a gun aimed at them.
(Author's Note: Yes, my rosy readers, Nancy found it! Nancy found everything! Now they've got to figure out how to get out of this mess. But the way things work out isn't quite how they imagined. And if racey losh is reading this as well, I just want to apologize for upsetting you. You were clearly enjoying this very much and I said something stupid. I do want to thank for having read everything so far. Have a wonderful day, and God bless!)