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by
CAROL ^'
To'Sf Illustrated
by Dale Pay son
millMSIlllMIUil by
CAROL BEACH YORK
illustrated
by Dale Fay son
The whole thing was
so strange.
First— and really most strange of
—was
the
found
in
little
doll that
all
Marilyn
her pocket. The
little
doll
with the ugly spider attached to
it.
How did it get there? And why? Then Marilyn began
to notice a
man in a black coat— on street,
school.
her
own
standing outside of her
Who was he, and why did
he seem
to
be following her?
Slowly, ever so slowly, Marilyn finds herself
drawn
into a strange
and frightening experience, one in which she discovers just how brave she can be.
And it all begins on the day she finds the spider doll
.
Franklin Watts, Inc.
New York/1973
.
-£:
"
YORK Mystery of the spider doll
IL 5-6
DISCARDED
c.l
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in
2010
littp://www.arcliive.org/details/mysteryofspiderdOOyork
The Mystery of the Spider Doll
OTHER MYSTERIES BY THE AUTHOR The Mystery of the Diamond Cat Mystery at Dark
Wood
The
MYSTERY of the
SPIDER DOLL by
CAROL BEACH YORK illustrated
by Dale Payson
FRANKLIN WATTS,
INC.
New
York
•
1973
To Pauline, and happy memories of Lindy's Lake
Library of Congress Cataloging
in
Publication Data
York, Carol (Beach)
The mystery of the
SUMMARY:
spider doll.
After Marilyn finds a doll in her coat
pocket, she becomes aware of a strange
[L Mystery II.
stories]
man shadowing
Payson, Dale,
I.
illiis.
Title.
PZ7.Y82Myl ISBN 0-531-02601-9
72-6073
[Fie]
Copyright © 1973 by Carol Beach York Printed in the United States of America
12
3
4
5
her.
^
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
The Man
The man
in the
1
Black Coat
was sure he was being fol-
in the black coat
lowed again. He had changed directions the other
man was
behind, but
no doubt about
The man street a
and
good
object— now
the
behind him. Nearly a block .
and following; there was
.
it.
in the six
to
black coat found himself on a
blocks from where he wanted to be,
do something—fast.
The object
.
.
in a miserable drizzling rain besides.
He had
.
still
there
still
twice, but
in his coat
felt like
it
pocket— a very
small, light
weighed a hundred pounds
somehow he would have to get rid of man who was following made his move.
.
(1)
it
before
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPmER DOLL
(2)
Marilyn was not sure whether she would go into the Soda Shop alone. She always had a coke with
Jeannie after school, but today Jeannie could not
come. It
would be
Still
.
.
sort of an adventure, of course.
.
Marilyn walked through the drizzly
When
ging her school books.
rain,
hug-
she reached the door-
way of the Soda Shop, she stopped, still trying to make up her mind. Compared with the dark afternoon
street, the lights in the
ing, so she
invit-
decided to enter.
Inside, it
shop looked extra
it
was warm and
had looked from the
on the table
street.
in front of
bright, even cozier than
Marilyn piled her books
her and hung her raincoat
over the back of a chair.
She had chosen a table halfway back so she could If
in the shop,
watch the people going by on the
street.
Jeannie had been with her they would have sat
by the windows, but Marilyn did not want
right
that
to
do
by herself because boys from school went by and
made
silly faces.
That was
fine
when
she was with
Jeannie, but not now.
Several people sat at the counter. At one of the
other tables two high-school
girls,
with long hair and
a million bracelets on their arms, were whispering
The Man
in the Black
Coat
(3)
about something. Marilyn watched them for a few
moments, thinking about when she would be school, year after next.
in
high
She hoped that she would also
be slim and beautiful and have
lots of girl friends to
whisper with. Marilyn sipped her coke slowly, picturing herself as a high
school
girl.
Surely she would have the
braces off her teeth by then! Dr. Peterson had said
was
possible.
Only possible? He
it
really could not ex-
pect her to start anything as important as high school
with braces on her teeth!
The Soda Shop was decorated
in
pink and green
and white. The
tables had pink imitation marble tops, and the spindly white chairs had green cushions on
the seats.
were
They were not very comfortable, but they
pretty.
"Old-fashioned," Jeannie had said.
"It's just like
an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. I've seen pictures of them.
The owners keep
it
this
way on purpose.
Marilyn wished Jeannie were here today, but she
had gone shopping with her mother.
So,
Marilyn
sipped her coke and watched her reflection in the
shop mirrors. She decided that she looked
like
a
creep—plump and dark-eyed, with pale brown hair that was limp from the rain. Well, maybe she didn't look like a creep, she decided.
Maybe
she looked
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(4)
rather interesting
—but certainly
not slim and beauti-
ful.
The high school girls got up and sauntered out. Then a man in a black coat came in and walked by Marilyn's table. There was plenty of room to pass, but he bumped awkwardly against the back of her
mumbled, and went
"Sorry," he
chair.
on, taking a seat
near the end of the counter.
Marilyn sat a while longer drinking her coke,
made
until her straw
tom of the
glass.
empty
a noise against the
bot-
Then she gathered up her books and
coat and went up to the cash register. She had to wait
who was working
for the waitress
come down
man
in the black coat got
to the front of the shop.
up from
He
at the
counter to
While she waited, the
to the register.
his seat
and came
stood beside Marilyn, im-
patiently waiting to pay his check.
Then he leaned past her to put his check and money on the counter. As he drew back, his arm bumped against Marilyn's books and knocked them all
on the
they
fell
floor.
on the
Marilyn's
They sounded
like
bombs going
off as
tile floor.
face flushed
as
everyone turned
to
look.
"Sorry, kid,
"
the
man
books and plopped them counter.
said.
He
picked up the
in a disorderly
heap on the
(6)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
Everyone was watching, and Marilyn face burning.
Some
She began
to
her
felt
adventure!
put her books
in
the special ar-
rangement she had, the biggest on the bottom, the top book upside
down
so the front cover
get rained on. All the while the
man
stood uncomfort-
ably close to her. She could smell the his
would not
damp wool
of
coat and the strong odor of tobacco. All she
wanted
to
do was gather her books together, pay her
check, and get
coming
into the
As soon left in
away from him. She was never never Soda Shop alone again!
as the waitress took her
money, Marilyn
a hurry. She did not even stop to put on her
raincoat, but the rain
had stopped anyway.
Marilyn was halfway
home
before she
calm
felt
to stop racing along, and to walk more slowly. By the time she reached her own block she was even
enough
beginning to smile to herself That clumsy!
First
he had bumped
man
certainly
into her chair
then he had spilled her books on the
was and
floor.
In the yard next to Marilyn's house Mrs. Simpson
was surveying her straight,
tulips,
bright-colored
which were blooming
row along the
in a
side of her
house. Marilyn did not see her, and she was turning
up her
front
walk when she heard Mrs. Simpson
call.
Man
The
Coat
in the Black
(7)
"Hello there, Marilyn!"
Marilyn turned back to answer
saw the man
in the
.
.
and then she
black coat (the clumsy
He was
black coat).
.
man
in the
walking along the street not
far
behind. "Hello, Mrs. Simpson," Marilyn answered. For a
second she was tempted to add, "Watch out
He might bump
man. He's very clumsy. fence and knock
it
she
dumped
your
down."
up the
Instead, she ran on side,
for that
into
steps of her house. In-
her books on the hall table.
"Marilyn, not there, dear," her mother said, coming out of the living room.
Every day Marilyn came home and dumped her books
"Not
in the
same
spot.
Every day her mother
said,
there, dear."
"And you've added
When
the door open," her mother
Marilyn went back to close the door, she
saw the man street.
left
this time.
in the
black coat standing across the
He was smoking
house. At least,
it
a cigarette
seemed
to
and looking
at
her
Marilyn that he was
looking at her house. But that was
silly.
She closed the door and stood
for a
moment
peeking through the edge of the curtain that covered
(8)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
the glass in the top half of the door. She was sure he
could not see her peeking at him.
Now why would
he
be looking over here? she wondered. After a few
moments he
the gutter and went on
down
flipped his cigarette into
the street.
CHAPTER 2 The Spider Doll
When
the
man
in the black coat left
Marilyns
street,
he walked quickly for several blocks and then entered
basement restaurant called Mario's. The
a small
cloths,
been
and each
lit for
table
had a candle that had not yet
the evening.
The restaurant was almost deserted
A
ta-
were covered with red and white checkered
bles
at this hour.
waiter lounged against a rear doorway by the
kitchen,
and a slim blonde woman was
table in a corner.
over
The man
in the
sitting at a
black coat walked
to her.
"Where have you been?" she demanded. (9)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(10)
"Emerson followed me again," he answered softly.
The blonde woman caught her you got
"Have
breath.
it?"
He
"Yes and no."
shake him and had
"Get rid of
sank into a chair. "I couldn't
to get rid
it!"
of it."
The woman seemed
stop
to
breathing altogether. "I'll tell
can get
it
you
all
about it" he
"Don't worry.
said.
I
back."
"You're a fool," the
woman
said.
"What have you
done?"
had worn her raincoat home, she would
If Marilyn
have noticed something bulky as she put
it
As
on.
it
pocket as soon
in the
was, she did not see the bulge
was hanging up her coat in the hall closet. Her mother had gone upstairs to finish her pack-
until she
ing.
She was going on a business
father the next day. Marilyn's
trip
with Marilyn's
grandmother was
start-
ing dinner in the kitchen.
Marilyn cautiously explored her coat pocket, a puzzled expression on her face.
What on
earth
could that be? She did not remember putting anything in there, anything that would this
anyway
.
.
.
make
a
lump
like
The Spider Doll
With great
surprise, Marilyn
doll, less
than four inches high.
long
and bonnet,
ess.
skirt
like
It
(11)
drew out a small was dressed in a
an old-fashioned shepherd-
In her hand she held a thick shepherd's crook. It
was not a particularly unusual
except for
doll,
the small size and the fact that attached to the
skirt,
though crawling upward on squirming hairy
legs,
as
was a large black
spider! Marilyn
dropped the
doll in
alarm— and only then saw that the spider was made of and plastic, like the doll.
cloth
Marilyn stared at picked
it
up
again.
proportion to the
it
The
little
for a
knew
it
much
bigger in
doll than a real spider
have been. Marilyn shivered after she
few moments and then
spider was
was not a
just to look at
would
it,
even
real spider.
This was the strangest doll she had ever seen.
She did not even to
like to
hold
it.
There was no place
put her fingers where they did not seem to touch
the spider.
"Marilyn, have you been using ror?" her
my hand
mother called from the top of the
mir-
stairs.
Marilyn looked up, but almost at once her
mother disappeared. Her shoes clicked on the
floor of
the upstairs bathroom, as she went there in search of the mirror.
When
Marilyn ran up the
stairs,
she found her
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(12)
mother going
into her
cause she
had not found the
still
bedroom, shaking her head be-
"Look what was
my
in
mirror.
coat pocket.
"
Marilyn
hurried after her mother into the bedroom.
Her mother was only
half listening. All around
the room were signs of packing.
One
suitcase
open on the bed, and another stood on the side
it.
The lamps were
was
floor be-
and unpacked clothing
lit,
lay
folded on a chair by the window.
"Look, Mother." Marilyn went around to the opposite side of the er's
bed and managed
to get her
moth-
attention as she bent over the half-packed suit-
case.
"Hmmm? What
is
dear?" Her mother looked
it,
up vaguely. "Gracious," she "I
found
it
in
cried, "what's that?"
my coat pocket."
Marilyn's mother looked at the spider doll and
made a face. "What a Whose is it?" "I don't
dreadful thing. In your coat pocket?
know."
Mrs. Bender turned "I hate spiders,
"
away with
school was playing a joke on you,
Marilyn
sat
a faint shudder.
she said. "One of the children at
down on
I
suppose.
the edge of the bed and
held the doll gingerly between two fingers.
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(14)
The looked
doll
was
not like
real;
silky strands
of petticoat
And
it
that even the hair
was just painted
below the
net was tied in a
made
so nicely
on. It
doll's shoulders,
bow under
hung
in
and the bon-
A
white
ruffle
showed below the hem of the blue
skirt.
her chin.
there were tiny gold buckles on the doll's white
shoes.
But there was also the big black
"I don't think
it
could have been
ilyn said thoughtfully. "I
wore
my
spider.
at school,
"
Mar-
coat to the Soda
Shop, and I'm sure nothing was in the pocket.
"You must be mistaken," her mother "Or maybe someone
up with
in
told her.
the shop got your coat mixed
theirs.
"But that couldn't be—" Marilyn started to explain,
but her mother interrupted.
"After
all,
there are hundreds of raincoats around
just like yours,
you know.
"
Marilyn's mother shook
her head, folding clothes into a neat stack for the case.
"Why you
all
have
to dress exactly like
suit-
one
another—" "But there wasn't anybody
at the
Soda Shop with
a coat like mine.
"Marilyn, everybody has a coat like yours. "Well, none of them was there today.
"Then somebody
just got
it
mixed up somehow.
The Spider Doll Unless
was someone
it
at school playing a
(15)
joke on
you.
"What should
do with
I
it?"
you think you got
it
at the
back tomorrow and leave
it
with the waitress. Some-
"If
body may be asking
for
had begun
rain
doll
on her bureau.
and she could hear
again,
window
the roof and on the
it
it."
That night Marilyn put the
The
Soda Shop, take
on
it
panes. But she decided
that she did not like to think of the doll sitting there, that pretty
little
clinging to her
doll
skirt.
with the nasty black spider
Even
in the darkness,
Marilyn
could see the spider in her mind. She rolled over
away from the bureau and pulled the sheet up her head was nearly covered. .
.
Little Miss Mufifet sat
.
eating her curds and
whey
.
.
on her
until
tuffet
.
.
.
.
Marilyn grew sleepier and sleepier, but the old
rhyme jangled around in her head. Along came a spider and sat down beher and frightened Miss Muffet away
nursery .
side
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
CHAPTER 3 The Hiding Place
hack tomorrow," said the man
"Til get
it
coat. "I
know where she
it
lives,
so
it
will
in the black
be easy
to
get
back."
"How?"
the blonde
brows together
in a
woman
asked, drawing her
frown. Then she became angry.
"That was stupid, Roger.
I
don't
know what you were
thinking of."
"What
I
was thinking of was keeping
it
away
from Emerson," he said. "You could have thought of some other way. Sticking it into some kids coat pocket— how dumb can you be?"
(16)
The Hiding Place
"You weren't
had
to think
before she that
Roger protested
there,"
of something fast.
left
the ice
cream
I tried to
Personally,
hotly. "I
take
back
it
place, as soon as
Emerson hadn't followed me
(17)
I
saw
in."
Roger felt rather
satisfied
with what
he had done, considering everything. Surely the girl
.
.
it
would not be too
difficult to
approach
.
Marilyn did not wear her raincoat the next day
because the rain seemed to have stopped. The sky
had a patchy, partly clearing were
still
a green
wet look
not wear
look,
even though there
puddles along the gutters of the streets and
it
to the trees
because
this
and yard. She
was the day her
also did
class
was
going to a concert at Winston Hall.
Marilyn put on a blue and white dress that she usually saved for company, her best shoes, her bracelet,
charm
and her navy spring coat with the brass but-
tons. It
had
was a busy morning
left
in the house.
Her parents
early for their trip, with a flurry of last-min-
ute instructions
to
Marilyn and Gran, and kisses
good-by.
"Don't forget to water the plants,
"
her mother
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(18)
whispered
to Marilvn.
"Gran means
but
to,
she'll for-
get." "I'll
remember, MariKii promised. "
When her
parents had gone, Marilyn finished her
breakfast and put on her coat.
She went
to
the
kitchen where her grandmother was washing the dishes.
"How do
I
look, Gran':^"
Marilvn raised her voice,
because her grandmother was hard of hearing.
The
old
woman
turned from the
sink,
peering at
Marilyn over the rims of her eyeglasses. "Ver\- prett\"," she said.
Marilyn turned around so that her grandmother could have the
view.
full
terriblv expensive,
grow
it
The navy
Her mother had
MarilvTi's favorites.
coat was one of said
it
had been
and would Marilyn please not out-
for a year or two.
"Maybe
you're as
mother had added
tall as
you
at the time.
re going to be,' her
"Some children never
grow after they're twelve. "Thev don't?" Marilyn was not too happy to hear that. She wanted to be tall as well as slender (and, of course, beautiful). "I'm only five feet plained. "I've got to
"Well, wear out this coat said. "I don't
tall,"
she com-
grow some more.
know what
first,
"'
things are
her mother had
coming
to that
The Hiding Place
(19)
they charge such a high price for a simple httle coat!"
But Marilyn loved
it.
Even she hoped she would to wear the coat for a
enough
stay five feet tall long
few years. After that she wanted
more
to
grow
at least six
inches.
Marilyn walked carefully along toward school, picking her
way between puddles
left
over from the
previous night's rain, because she did not want to get
on the back of her stockings. She forgot
spots
all
man in the Soda and how nice she
about the spider doll and the clumsy Shop, thinking of the concert
looked in her blue coat.
And
into the school yard, she
doubt about
it, it
then, just as she turned
saw him. There was no
was the same man who had knocked
over her books and had walked by her
here he was again
.
.
house— and
.
Their eyes met, and she thought he was going to
speak to her, which frightened her for a moment. So far, in all
the years of her
tried to speak to her.
that this
no strangers had ever
But she had the clear feeling
man was about
Just then Jeannie
other
life,
to say something.
came along with some of
the
girls.
you look great!" They swept her along with them, past the dark-
"Hi, Marilyn,
The Hiding Place
eyed man
(21)
up
in the black coat, into the school yard,
the steps, and through the doors. "To safety," Marilyn
found herself thinking as the heavy doors closed be-
man was
hind her and the
left
outside by the school
yard entrance.
She had never seen him before, and now every time she turned around, since yesterday
found the spider
it
seemed, there he was. Ever
afternoon— the same day she had doll.
At 9:30 A.M. the class
left for
Winston
Hall.
A
bus was waiting in the driveway behind the school. Marilyn and Jeannie were partners, which meant they
would have cert.
on the bus and
seats together
at the con-
Looking through the group of other children,
Marilyn half expected to see the dark-eyed
somewhere. But he was not
man
in sight.
She sank back into her seat on the bus with a feeling of relief.
"Guess what I'm going
to get for
my
birthday?
Jeannie said.
"What?"
The bus was
pulling
away from the
Marilyn could forget about the
"A watch,
school,
man now.
a wristwatch with a gold band."
"Oh, great!" "Expandable," Jeannie added.
and
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(22)
During the concert, Marilyn found her thoughts drifting
back
And
to the spider doll.
the
man who had
stood by the school yard. She was sure he had been
about
to
speak to her. But why?
Some
of the boys in the class snickered behind
their fingers at the
They
music.
sections of the
rolled their eyes to express
times
several
more romantic
Miss
Anders,
the
boredom, and
music
teacher,
"shhssed" loudly from her seat in a row behind the students,
where she could keep an eye on everyone.
Miss Anders was wearing a red dress she had never
worn
to school,
pupils not to
and her bright darting eyes dared her Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and
enjoy
Chopin. Programs
rattled.
Boys shuffled their
feet
Some of the girls shifted in their seats. And Marilyn was still thinking about the man.
restlessly.
She wondered
if
he might be waiting outside of the
concert hall to speak to her.
was silly. He would not even had been a twenty-minute bus
But, of course, that
know
she was there.
Winston
ride to
Still,
down
when
It
Hall.
the program was over, as she trailed
the carpeted stairs of the concert hall from the
balcony to the lower
floor,
Marilyn found herself
looking ahead through the rows of glass doors that
opened out
to the street.
The bus was ready
to take
The Hiding Place
them back. Miss Anders was hovering about that
nobody got
lost.
(23)
to see
Everyone was whispering and
giggling-
"Shhss,
"
Miss Anders warned.
There was no sign of the man
The bus was against the side
in the black coat.
at the curb, the driver lounging
by the open door,
his hat
low over
his
forehead.
"Hurry along, children. Keep the
line
moving.
Orderly now." Miss Anders stood at the head of things, guiding with her strong will
and bright
Marilyn walked close to Jeannie.
had been
to think that
across town. But she
was not
man would be
was
still
How here,
eyes.
silly
she
way over
awfully relieved that he
there.
The house seemed very quiet when Marilyn got home from school that afternoon. Her parents would be gone for a week and only she and Gran would be in the house.
Marilyn sat on her bed and looked at
the doll. If
you think you got
it
hack tomorrow and leave
at the it
Soda Shop, take
it
with the waitress, her
Somebody may he asking for it. Marilyn wondered if it could be the man in the black coat. She remembered how he had bumped into mother had
said.
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(24)
her chair. Could he have put the doll in her coat
pocket? But that was
books on the
seem
to
silly.
Was
floor.
be about
to
Later,
he had knocked her
on purpose?
that
Why
did he
speak to her in front of the
school?
Marilyn examined the doll again. She squeezed to see if there
was anything
dolfs clothing, the
stiff
blue
inside.
skirt
it
She searched the
and the
ruffled shep-
herdess bonnet. Even the shoes. She took them off
and put them on again. She even forced herself— ugh!— to squeeze the spider. Yes, she felt
something hard
She got out her
one side of the
wad
of
stiff
scissors
spider.
inside.
and poked a tiny hole
in
There was nothing inside but a
cottonlike material that formed the body.
She smoothed back the edges of the
hole. It hardly
showed. If that
man
does want the
something special about
it,
doll,
there must be
she thought. But what?
After a long time she got
up and emptied the
pencils out of the large pencil holder on her desk. She
wedged
the doll into the bottom of the pencil cup and
put the pencils back on top. They stuck up a couple of inches higher than usual, but nobody would notice that
if
they did not
know something was underneath.
The Hiding Place
(25)
Marilyn put the pencil holder back on her desk and sat looking at
it,
frowning to
herself.
Then she could not stand
the quiet of the house
a minute longer.
She switched on her radio, and a loud blast of music
filled
the room.
It
would not bother Gran be-
cause she was so hard of hearing. But Marilyn could not help thinking that Miss Anders would probably not have liked the music very much.
It
was a long
way from Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Chopin.
CHAPTER 4 Room for Rent
They had agreed o'clock.
to
meet
in the
bus station at four
The blonde woman arrived first. She
sat tap-
ping her feet impatiently against the floor, every
and then turning her head
to look at the clock
now
above
the ticket window.
Four
o'clock.
Four-ten.
She fidgeted and drew her
lips into
a thin angry
line.
At four-fifteen he came in. She saw him at the magazine stand and walked over, being careful to look casual. (26)
Room
He was
for Rent
(27)
leafing through a magazine. She stood
close to him.
"Did you get
it?"
she whispered.
man who
There was no one nearby. The
sold the
newspapers and magazines was at the far end of the counter, leaning his heavy arms against the glass top of the cigarette case as he talked
"Not
to
another customer.
yet."
Her expression did not change. Only the grimshowed the anger inside.
ness around her eyes
"Take
it
easy," he said.
and took up another.
zine
He put down
the maga-
"I've got everything figured
out."
She said nothing, pretending
to
he looking over a
rack of paperback books beside the magazines. "There's a
Room for Rent
sign in the
window of
her house," Roger said. "Tomorrow you can ask about it."
The next day was Saturday. Marilyn loneliness of the house without her
more than
ever.
after ten she
Jeannie, but there
Gran was
the
mother and father
She wandered from her room down
to the kitchen, out to the yard,
A little
felt
and back
to her room.
went downstairs again and called
was no answer.
sitting in the living
room
sorting out
her sewing basket. Spools of brightly colored thread
(28)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
were
laid out
each item
on the table
as she took
flashed in the light.
it
and Gran squinted
top,
Rows
of snaps and hooks-and-
hem
eyes on cards were set in one place,
and
bands
elastic
sently for a
at
out of the basket. Needles
bindings
Marilyn watched ab-
in another.
few minutes.
"I guess
have some potato chips,
I'll
she said at
"
last.
Her grandmother nodded was sure she had not
would have ways
brightly, but Marilyn
really heard.
Otherwise she
"Not too many, dear.
said,
Someone
"
al-
said that.
Marilyn
on her bed and ate the potato chips,
sat
running her finger around the side of the bowl
to get
the last crumbs. It
yet
it
seemed
was only
as
though she had been up
ten-thirty. It
a long, dull day
.
.
was
for hours,
certainly going to
be
.
At eleven o'clock the doorbell rang. Marilyn was still
in
her room, composing a
poem
for lack of
thing else to do.
"Over the deep dark
forest
Over the deep dark sea
Over the deepness and darkness of night
The moonlight
is
coming
to
me
. .
.
some-
Rent
Roo77i for
She paused and
when
the bell
Gran was downstairs, she would answer
rang.
When that
her head
lifted
(29)
it.
the bell rang a second time Marilyn decided
Gran had probably
fallen asleep.
She put down
her pencil and went downstairs. Just as she reached
came out
the door Gran
of the kitchen, wiping her
hands on her apron.
A woman
with blonde hair stood on the porch.
She was wearing a yellow dress and yellow shoes.
On
her arms were several gold bracelets that jingled pleasantly together. Beside her on the porch
brown
small
"My name
"Hello," she said sweetly. I've
come
was a
suitcase.
to ask
Nora Lee.
is
about the room.
"What's that?
"
Marilyn's grandmother bent her
head forward, her eyes searching the woman's "About the room. Gran,
face.
Marilyn said in a loud
"
voice.
The woman seemed
understand
to
Gran was hard of hearing. She smiled
once that
at
at
Marilyn to
thank her.
"Oh, the
Gran began
to
room— well,
I
don't
know about that—
shake her head.
"But you have the—
"
Miss Lee started to speak,
and then remembered. Raising her again.
"You have the sign
tioned toward the
Room
in
for
voice, she
your window.
Rent
sign.
"
began
She mo-
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(30)
it
Gran followed her motion. "They meant to take down," she said. "They've gone away. Miss Lee looked baffled, but continued to smile.
"My mother and
father— they've gone away
week. They meant to take the sign
came
until they
back," Marilyn explained.
"But smile
down
for a
isn't
became
the
room
still
for rent?
The woman's
"
a shade less bright.
"What's that?" Gran asked. "I said, isn't the
room
still
Lee
for rent?" Miss
re-
peated more loudly. not
my house, Gran
"I can't rent
it.
"Oh
The woman's
pletely.
dear.
"
It's
"
said.
smile vanished com-
She looked almost on the verge of
was so hopeful. This
is
such a pretty
near the bus line and everything.
I
tears. "I
street,
and
it's
did so hope
it
would be available. The three of them clustered by the door, looking at
each other awkwardly. "Can't you
come back
next week?" Gran sug-
gested.
To answer
Marilyn, the pretty to her prayers for
woman seemed
some company
to
be the
in the house,
and she touched her grandmother's arm. "Couldn't she at least look at the room. Gran? That wouldn't do
any harm."
Room Gran looked this.
She stared
like
know what
she did not
at the
blonde
for Rent
woman
(31)
to say to
uncertainly.
Miss Lee looked very helpless and forlorn, standing there in her smart yellow dress with her suitcase
beside her.
many rooms to rent in this town," much appreciate having could only see what it's like maybe I could
"There
aren't
she said sadly. "I would so one. If
I
come back
next week.
show
"Let's
her.
to
it
Gran,"
Marilyn
said.
"Mother wouldn't mind. "What's that?"
"Mother wouldn't mind!
Gran thought about
that a
certainly looked like she
moment. The woman
would make a reasonable
tenant.
"No,
I
guess
just looked at
"Come
it,
"
my
daughter wouldn't mind
Gran agreed
if
she
at last.
on," Marilyn said.
Miss Lee bent
down and
took the handle of her
suitcase. "I'll just bring this along.
They followed Gran up the stairway, and Miss saying, "My, such a pretty house, such a lovely place. I'm sure I'd be happy here. Marilyn did not think their house was worth all Lee kept
that
much
praise.
She could find plenty of things
Rooin for Rent she'd like to
throw
to
fix
out.
(33)
up, and a lot of old furniture she'd like
But Nora Lee seemed to think the
house was wonderful. At the head of the "It's this
stairs
Gran turned
to the
left.
way, she said over her shoulder. "
Marilyn hoped she would grow up to look just like this beautiful
blonde woman, slender and
with gold bracelets sliding up and
tall,
down her arms and
when she moved. The room-for-rent certainly was not
jingling
lyn thought for the hundredth time. tion of furniture that
It
pretty, Mari-
had a combina-
was not needed elsewhere
in the
house, and the only really nice things were the curtains
when the
new
and bedspread that her mother had bought
they decided to
floor, a
fix
up the room
to rent
it
and
yellow oak, which had a nice gleam to
Unrented, the room always looked so bare.
It
it.
needed
somebody's books and clothes and perfume bottles scattered around
.
.
woman would make in
she was sure this pretty blonde
.
it
look very different
if
she lived
it.
Nora Lee did not seem bare or dreary at
"What right in
and
to think the
room was
all.
a lovely room! set her suitcase
longed there. "This
is
just
"
she cried. She walked
down
what
as
I've
though she be-
been looking
for.
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(34)
Oh, such a nice
bed— and what
soft
a pretty view
from the window!"
She walked
around the room, admiring every-
all
thing.
"My
daughter and her husband will be back at
the end of the week," Gran said. "You could
and
them
talk to
if
come
you haven't found anyplace by
then."
up finding anything," Miss Lee "And I really need a room right
"I've about given
said with a sigh.
now.
No one spoke
for a
few moments. Miss Lee stood
looking around the room. Gran stood by the doorway fiddling with the trim "I
wonder
—
wonder if— well, just
until
Then
I
"
on her apron pocket.
Miss Lee said at if
you could
let
last,
haltingly,
me have
the
"
—
room
your daughter and her husband return.
could talk to them about staying longer."
"That would work out
all
right,
wouldn't
it,
Gran?" Marilyn said eagerly. "Mother wouldn't mind, I
know."
Gran looked "I don't
not really see,
"
Miss Lee and Marilyn doubtfully.
at
know," she
my room
said,
shaking her head.
to rent. It's not
my
"It's
house, you
she explained again to Miss Lee. "Just
until
they
get
"Mother wouldn't mind."
back,"
Marilyn coaxed.
Room "It
would
Lee
said.
just
what
for Rent
be a great favor
really
to
(35)
me," Miss
She sank down on the edge of the bed. I've
been looking
for.
"It's
about given up
I'd
finding anything so nice.
"Can't she stay, Gran?" Marilyn begged.
Gran looked to
at
Miss Lee. She certainly seemed
be a nice enough young woman.
Pretty, too. Just
the kind of boarder anybody would like to have.
"Well—" Gran twisted her apron pocket uncertainly.
"You can put your things ilyn said to Miss Lee.
in these drawers,
"
Mar-
Glancing over her shoulder
her grandmother, she added, "If
it's
all
at
right with
you. Gran." "I
see any
suppose until
harm
"I can't
"But
in
it,
"
my
daughter gets back.
Gran mumbled
thank you enough,
it's
"
It's
can't
Miss Lee said.
not permanent until you talk to
daughter," Gran reminded her.
you know.
I
to herself.
not
my room
"It's
not
my
my
house,
to rent.
Miss Lee said politely. Anybody would understand by now, Marilyn thought impatiently. Gran had said it a hundred "I understand,
"
times!
During the day Marilyn could hear Miss Lee
moving around
in
her room. Toward late afternoon
(36)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
she went out.
The house was
quiet again, but
it
did
not seem so lonely to Marilyn now.
At nine o'clock Nora Lee returned, bringing a quart of peach ice cream, which she invited Marilyn
and Gran
to share with her.
kitchen table, and Gran
They
made Nora
sat
a
around the
cup of
instant
coffee.
"I like instant coffee just fine,"
Nora Lee
said.
She spoke loudly. "It's
not like regular,
if
you ask me,
"
swered. "Now-a-days everything has to be instant.
Nobody can wait
Gran an-
new and
a few minutes for anything.
Marilyn and Nora Lee exchanged smiles across the kitchen table.
Then Marilyn watched Miss Lee
drink her coffee, the gold bracelets jingling softly
along her arms.
CHAPTER
A
Nora moved
5
Scary Feeling
silently
around Marilyns room. She did
not want to disturb anything as she searched, so she took her time. She tried to put everything back exactly as
it
had been
The calendar on Marilyns desk had been turned to
Monday
before Marilyn went to school that morn-
sound of a passing car broke the quiet of the street. The trees were in full bud, and the grass sparkled with the green freshness ing. Outside, the occasional
of a spring morning. In the kitchen Gran was mixing a batch of cookies.
She did not hear the creak of the floorboards now
and then from
upstairs.
(37)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPmER DOLL
(38)
Shortly before noon Nora
went
out,
uptown street
came downstairs and
walking briskly along the street toward the
none of the spring beauty
area, seeing
around
in the
her.
Marilyn did not realize that anyone had been searching her room until Tuesday afternoon.
and the
after school,
It
was
late afternoon spring sunlight
slanted in long pale lines across the carpet. She had
stopped by the kitchen
for a
cupcake and a coke, and
she threw her sweater and school books on the bed. In her desk drawer she kept a box of straws. As
she opened the drawer, she noticed that her diary
was lying on top of the box. She never
left it there.
Not that there was anything secret or exciting her diary. (Dear Diary,
I
have a new plaid
Jeannie's. We're both going to
skirt like
wear them tomorrow
and be "twins." Dear Diary, Miss Larrimore sick
and we have
giving us that. ers.
tests,
I
does a substitute know what
to
is still
always
tests to the regular teach-
we need
on?) Nothing very secret or private, but
seemed
is
don't think substitutes should do
They should leave the
How
She
this icky substitute.
and
in
it
a test
had always
Marilyn that a diary should be tucked
away, as though secret things.
it
were
filled
with special, private,
A She always kept
it
Scary Feeling
(39)
under the box of straws. And
she had not even written
in
it
for a
week
or more.
Then she noticed her Hbrary books on the window seat. She always kept them with the titles facing into the room.
Now
they were turned to the window.
Marilyn had noticed It
was such a
dow
seat
this
without really "noticing"
thing.
little
She went over
to the
win-
and munched her cupcuke and stared down
They were not
at the library books.
exactly in the cor-
ner spot where she always kept them.
It
though someone had picked them up and
down
it.
was
set
as
them
again wrong.
Gran never came dusted and kept
into her room.
Marilyn had
neat since she was ten years old.
it
(Mother always said
it
was one of Marilyn's outstand-
ing virtues.)
With a thoughtful expression on her round
freck-
led face, Marilyn began a silent inspection of her
room.
Someone had were
tennis shoes
also
been
in
her clothes closet. Her
set neatly in line
with her school
shoes; she always kept
them
in the
All her shoes in fact,
now
that she looked closely,
were
back of the
closet.
set too straightly in line, too perfectly even.
knew she had
not
left
them
She
as neatly as that.
Marilyn began to have a strong feeling of uneasi-
r^^T^^v^
A ness.
The cupcake did not
Scary Feeling
taste good,
and she
unfinished part on the edge of her desk. She prised to feel
(41)
set the
was
sur-
goosebumps along her arms.
But who could have been
in
her room? Not Gran
or surely not that nice Miss Lee. Besides, Miss
was away working
all
Lee
day.
Someone must have come into the house while Miss Lee was at work and while Gran was— where? But that would be easy; Gran was so hard of hearing. If she was in the kitchen or the back porch, anybody
who was halfway go
quiet could
come
in the front door,
and go out again without Gran even hear-
upstairs,
ing them.
Marilyn thought about the
man
in the
black coat
standing across the street from her house that rainy
The afternoon she had found
afternoon.
the spider
doll in her coat pocket.
She turned and looked across the room toward her desk.
had
left
The pencil holder looked just the way she The pencils were sticking out higher than
it.
they should. After a
moment
out the pencils.
The
she crossed the room and pulled doll
was
still
there, holding her
crook, the bonnet tied under her chin, ful
black spider clinging to her
had
left
it.
skirt.
and the dreadJust as Marilyn
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(42)
Marilyn put the pencils back carefully and stood looking at them. She reached out once to pick up the
holder and remove the pencils again— and then she
The hiding place had worked well enough maybe it was the safest place to leave the doll. How strange her room seemed to her now, now
hesitated.
once,
that she thought it.
It
someone had been poking around
gave her a scary
feeling.
She
sat
on the bed and
drank the coke nervously. Like the cupcake,
seem
to taste so good.
in
it
did not
CHAPTER 6 Sweet Miss Lee
The blonde woman stood impatiently counter. Directly before her
chine with the sign:
at the bakery
was a small metal ma-
PLEASE TAKE A NUMBER.
As she waited, Nora impatiently tapped the cardboard
of the case. Beneath
ticket against the glass top
her feeling offrustration with
life's
small delays lay a
deeper, harder layer of frustration. She would not
let
months of careful planning and effort go for nothing! When it was finally her turn she asked for a dozen chocolate-frosted donuts
.
.
.
and she wished
she felt more hopeful that this small purchase would help her plans.
(43)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(44)
"I just love chocolate donuts,
tween
"
Marilyn said be-
bites of her second one.
do
"I
too,
but I'm afraid they're a
to eat ver)' often,
"
fattening
little
Nora Lee replied with
a smile.
"What's that?" Gran asked.
Nora repeated more
"I said they're fattening,"
loudly.
"But you don't have
to
worry about
that.
Please have another.
my
"One's for
limit,"
Gran
said placidly.
"Too
rich
me.
How
Marilyn sighed wistfully.
was "too
rich," she
Too sweet?
it
meant,
much
things.
it
What filling?
always meant
of whatever was "too
Marilvn wished she could
"
it.
wondered. Too good? Too
\\'hatever else
that people couldn't eat rich.
often she heard
Her mother was always using
that phrase.
way about to her. The
feel that
Nothing ever seemed "too rich
"
sweeter and more chocolatey, the better she liked
Nora
Lee dusted her
fingers
free
it.
of donut
crumbs, and spooned sugar into the coffee Gran had
made
for her.
"You have some more," she urged. She pushed the plate closer to Marilyn. "I bought so many, and they aren't any good
stale.
"Marilyn's had two already," Gran objected. She
might not have heard exactly what Nora Lee
said,
but
Sweet Miss Lee
(45)
she understood the gesture of pushing the plate to-
ward Marilyn. "Just one more,
Gran— please," Marilyn
asked,
waiting only the barest part of a second for permission before she helped herself to another of the choc-
olate donuts.
How thought.
nice of Miss Lee to bring them, Marilyn
And on
a night
when Gran They had
thing special for dessert.
when Nora Lee came
per
in.
hadn't
made
any-
just finished sup-
She walked back
through the hallway and tapped on the frame of the
open kitchen door. She had the bag of donuts hand, her white gloves in the other.
glamorous she looked,
How
in
one
casual and
Marilyn had thought.
wished she had a white pocketbook exactly
like
She Miss
Lee's.
Gran had asked
if
Nora would
supper, but she said she
had
like to
have some
just eaten. "I often stop
off to eat right after work," she explained.
To Marilyn's delight. Gran invited Nora Lee to come into the living room and watch television when they had finished eating the donuts.
"That would be very said. "I
—if I
thought
stay."
nice, Mrs. Hamilton,
I'd get a small set for
"
Nora
my own room
Sweet Miss Lee
when
Marilyn was sure that
(47)
her mother and
fa-
came home and met Miss Lee, and saw how would let her stay as long as she wanted to. The last person who had rented the room had been a retired bank clerk who ther
pretty and nice she was, they
collected stuffed birds. Marilyn's mother
much. She said she hated
liked that very
room with
had never
to clean the
those glass eyes staring out at her from
all
the stuffed, feathered bodies.
hope
"I said, as
they
something good on," Marilyn
there's
all
went
into the living room.
"What's that? Gran asked. "
"I
hope
there's
something good on,
"
Marilyn
re-
peated. "I like exciting stories.
"So do
I,
"
Nora Lee agreed. "My
sort of uneventful that
exciting
on
"Me
I
like to see
too.
"
something really
Marilyn was pleased. She was liking
"Have you ever had to you, Marilyn?
"No,
so— so
television.
Nora Lee better and better
pen
life is
I
guess
thought about the
"
all
the time.
a really exciting thing hap-
Nora asked companionably.
not,"
man
Marilyn said slowly.
in the
She
black coat, and finding
the strange doll in her pocket. She
wondered
if
Miss
Lee would think that was exciting or adventurous.
The man
in the black coat
had apparently gone;
at
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(48)
least she did not see
him anymore. But somebody
her room ...
likely that
it
was
Nora Lee would
that exciting, in a shivery way.
in
find
Or was the whole
thing just her imagination?
Maybe
Marilyn looked at Nora Lee cautiously. she could
her about the
tell
tell
Gran, but
in the
black coat and
room being searched. She
the doll, and her
should
man
really
someone. Marilyn did not want to frighten
seemed a long time
it
to wait until her
mother and father came home. Marilyn squirmed restlessly
Why Shop?
in
her chair.
hadn't she taken the doll back to the Soda
If the
man
in the
black coat wanted
it
enough
come into her house and look for it when she was away at school And tomorrow she would be away at school again. Maybe he would come back. Maybe he would to
.
find
it
.
next time.
With
a start, Marilyn realized that the television
program was "I think
"A gone
.
over. I'll
She hadn't seen a thing.
go
upstairs,
lovely lady,
"
"
Nora Lee
said.
Gran murmured when she had
upstairs.
A
short time later, Marilyn
mind. She knocked
at
had made up her
Miss Lee's door, but there was
Sweet Miss Lee
(49)
no answer. After a moment she knocked again, but
Nora Lee had
either
gone out or was asleep.
Disappointed, Marilyn went to her
The
doll
still
She
lifted
it
lay at the
last
room.
bottom of the pencil holder.
out carefully and stood holding
hands and staring down At
own
at
it
in her
it.
she went to her closet and slipped
it
into
the pocket of the sweater she would wear to school the next morning. She was not going to leave
room to
again. If
it
in her
someone came back, Marilyn wanted
be sure he did not find the
doll.
CHAPTER
The Night
7
Visitors
Nora Lee had not heard Marilyns knock because she
had slipped out of the house, past the living room where the sound of the television set— tuned rather loud for Grans sake
— covered
and the door closing behind
the sound of her steps
her.
She hurried along the darkened going
to rain; there
was not
a star to
streets.
be seen
It
was
in the
overcast night sky.
At a drugstore several blocks away she stood for a
moment
at the
the black coat
window, looking
was already
thought, he was on time.
(50)
there.
inside.
The man
in
Well for once, she
The Night
She went
When
him.
in
and
down
sat
Visitors
at the counter next to
came she ordered
the waitress
(51)
a cup of
coffee.
"Think of something
man
else, genius,"
she said to the
in the black coat. "If the doll's in her room, I
cant find
As far as
it.
I
can see
it's
not anywhere
around that creepy house. And she just
isn't
the
chatty type kid."
"Okay, okay," the
man
muttered. "Don't get in a
panic. We'll think of something. "I
hope
Nora
so,"
ideas. Putting
in
it
some
said.
"You and your bright
kid's coat pocket. Honestly,
Roger, you are a real genius, a real genius."
Roger sipped hear.
his coffee
and pretended he
Anyway, he was busy thinking of what
didn't to
do
next.
Once Marilyn had decided Lee, she It
felt
to confide in
Nora
disappointed at not being able to do
would have been such a
relief,
so.
Marilyn thought, as
she rather disconsolately got ready for bed.
Outside a wind had sprung up. The window
shade rattled
in
sudden gusts of wind, and
air felt cool after
Marilyn lay ersome.
It
the
warmth of the
at first the
afternoon. But as
in bed, the rattle of the shade grew bothwas keeping her awake, and she did not
(52)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
want
to stay
odd
own
awake. Her
familiar
room seemed
tonight, with the gathering storm outside
and the
thought that someone— some stranger— ha.d possibly
been
in
it
and might come again.
Twice Marilyn got up and went feel in
her sweater pocket for the
thought, she would just throw
cans in the school yard.
It
doll.
in
it
to the closet to
Maybe, she
one of the trash
had become such an un-
bearable burden to her that she did not even want to
Soda Shop. What
take
it
"We
don't run a lost
to the
wouldn't take
it,
if
the waitress said,
and found here.
and she had
"
to bring
What
if
they
back home
it
with her again. No. She would throw
way to Maybe that
away somewhere on her
it
school tomorrow and be rid of
she should
would
tell
Jeannie
all
for good.
it
about
it.
Maybe
help.
Consoling herself with
drew the covers up
closer
this
thought,
Marilyn
around her head. She could
hear the rain starting outside, and from somewhere far off
came the sound of a
police siren racing through
the night. But the siren was faint and distant, and
soon faded away, leaving only the sound of the rain
and the wind
in the tree tops.
Marilyn did not know
how
long she had been
The Night
what awakened her
asleep or
.
.
.
Visitors
(53)
but in the darkness
she could see that someone was standing by her bed. Before she could even think— was at the
it
Gran?— the lamp
bedside table clicked on, blinding her with
its
sudden brightness.
Nora Lee was standing beside the bed, looking
down at her. "Wake up, sound
as
Marilyn," she said.
Her voice did not
sweet and friendly as before, and as Marilyn
blinked sleepily in the sudden light she saw that there
was someone standing It
was the man
in the
in the
When Nora Lee
bedroom doorway.
black coat.
spoke, he
came
into the
room
and closed the door.
"What— what do you want—"
Marilyn stam-
mered, clutching the covers about her. She could
feel
her whole body trembling with fright at the sight of this
man— and
Nora Lee. The woman was not the
same; something about her had changed.
"Okay," the
do with the
"The
man
said brusquely.
"What did you
doll?"
doll?" Marilyn shrank
back as
far as
she
could to get away from him.
"Come
on, Marilyn, get up."
Nora reached out
and took Marilyn by the arm. "Don't be won't hurt you.
where
it is,
We
just
and nothing
will
want the happen.
doll.
afraid,
Show
we us
The Night
was
Marilyn
trembling
Visitors
(55)
now,
too
violently
frightened to even speak.
"You scared
Nora said accusingly
her,"
to the
man.
He came closer to
the bed.
"We're not going
to hurt you, kid.
that doll.
Show
us
where
and
it is
be afraid
to do. There's nothing to
We just
that's all
want
you have
of.
Marilyn glanced wildly around the room for help
—although she knew
this
was
useless.
Her bedside
alarm clock, set for seven o'clock in the morning,
showed
two-thirty.
Where was Gran? will hear you— she'll be comwrong—" Marilyn said in a shaky
"My grandmother ing to see what's voice.
Nora smiled,
imagine what possible
as if trying to
help poor deaf old Gran could be.
"Your grandmother's
right,
all
"
the
man
"She won't be hurt either— if you give us the
Something
in his tone sent a
sion through Marilyn.
was
It
said.
doll.
tremor of apprehen-
like cold fingers
on her
back.
Gran— what have you done
"Where's "She's tiently.
all
"We
Marilyn,
"
one of you.
We know you have
Now
it
to her?"
Miss Lee said impa-
aren't going to hurt her.
to hurt either doll.
right,
We
aren't going
up and give me the here somewhere. get
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(56^
For a moment Marilyn had the fleeting thought that she might just say she
had taken the
doll
back
to
Shop— but the words wouldn't come out. knew she hadn't been back to the Soda since that day. Maybe they had been following Shop
the Soda
Maybe
her
they
all this
time without her realizing
it
.
.
.
There
must be something awfullv important about that for
them
to
want
it
break into her room
so desperately that they
in the
The man waited no Xora and seized Marilvn
"Now
will
s
doll,
would
middle of the night. longer.
He
reached past
arm.
you get out of that bed,
kid, or
do you
want more?"
"Roger— leave her
alone,
'
Xora snapped. "Mari-
going to cooperate, aren't you, Marilyn?" Her
lyn's
voice
took
doesn't
on a threatening sweetness. "Marilyn
want anything
to
happen
to her
grandmother,
right?"
"Oh, please don't hurt
my grandmother—"
Marilvn looked back and forth from Xora Lee to the man. "It's
sweater
there— in
my
Xora went quickly
had the spider her face.
sweater
pocket— the blue
in the closet."
doll.
A
to the closet. In a
moment
she
look of intense relief flooded
The Night here,
"It's
"And
all right,
(57)
she said over her shoulder.
"
okay.
it's
"I told
you not
He still had
worry so much," the man
to
a tight grip
get out of here,
"
closet.
on,
to Marilyn.
"Roger — what—" Nora began with
surprise, but
off.
"We can't leave this kid here." "Well, we certainly aren't going around with
us.
"
Nora stared
"Just for a while,
good head
to get a
"Come
she said.
"Get up, kid," the man said
he cut her
said.
on Marilyn's arm.
Nora walked away from the let's
Visitors
"
he
start.
at the
to
drag her
man blankly.
said. "Long enough for us Then we can drop her off
someplace. "I don't like
it,
Roger.
"You'd better like
have any choice.
Come
and be quick about
it,
"
he said
on, kid, up.
gruffly.
"We
don't
Get something on
it.
Marilyn tried to draw back farther away from the
man, but
was
his grip
really
on her arm was too strong and there
no place
left to
back away
"I guess you're right, still
frowning. She
and wait
He
in the car, let
still "
"
Nora
didn't like
to.
said. it.
But she was
"You go down
she said to the man.
go of Marilyn's arm. "Okay. But be quick
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(58)
about
And no funny
it.
business, kid.
You
don't
want
anything to happen to that old lady, do you?"
Marilyn shook her head. She stared up
man with he said
wide, frightened eyes.
wait in the
"I'll
at the
hall, in
case you need any help,
to Nora.
looking back at Marilyn, he crossed the room
Still
and went
out.
At
Nora went
last
the door closed behind him.
to the closet
blouse. She tossed
and took out a
skirt
and
them toward Marilyn. "Hurry up,
she said.
Marilyn got up slowly. Her legs
felt
so
weak she
didn't think she could even stand on them.
When
she was dressed Nora took her arm and
hustled her along the hallway, past Gran's room.
The
door was closed and Marilyn supposed that Gran had slept through everything.
now
man
.
.
At
least
Gran would be
safe
.
had turned
Outside
it
did not
let
cold, but
Nora and the
Marilyn stop for a coat. Pushing her
along between them, they went around the side of the
house
to the
garage in back.
A
close beside the garage door. until
you came "Get
He
right
in the
up
to
small car It
in
visible
it.
back with her, the
started the
was drawn
was not even
'
man
said to Nora.
motor and drove slowly down the
The Night alley without using the headlights. It
Visitors
was only when
they came to the street that he switched on the
turned out of the
alley,
(59)
lights,
and increased the speed.
Marilyn watched the familiar houses and streets slip
by
When would filled
Where was she going? Her get home again?
in the darkness.
she ever
.
.
.
.
.
.
eyes
with tears of fright.
It
was beginning
night was very dark.
to
rain once more,
and the
CHAPTER 8 Into the Fog
It
began
the road.
to rain so
He was
hard that Roger could hardly see forced
to
go a great deal more
slowly than he liked, and he sat hunched over the steering wheel, squinting through the steady deluge
of water on the windshield. The wipers hardly seemed to help.
The
rain
was rotten
luck,
he thought.
And
rotten luck to have to worry about this kid.
taking her along wasn't such a hot idea after
matter still
how much of a head
was
Maybe No
all.
start they had, she
identify them. Sooner or later they'd
could
be caught.
Unless, of course, they got out of the country
(60)
it
.
.
.
Into the
He
Fog
(61)
glanced into the rear view mirror. Nora was worried by the rain
also frowning,
wouldn't
.
.
.
and she
what he was thinking about the
like
kid;
Roger was sure of that. She wouldn't like it at all. But they couldn't just let the kid go, could they? That
would be the end of everything, and work over the last six months. to lose all they
their planning
all It
wasn't worth
it
had worked so hard for because of one
kid.
For what seemed sat
huddled
in the
to
be hours and hours Marilyn
back seat of the car beside Nora
Lee. Tears dried on her cheeks, and began again. At first
she had watched the town gradually give
open country roads, but before long the heavy
to see
much
of anything. Marilyn
rain
way
to
was too
knew
it
was
hopeless to try to keep track of where they were
going ... her
if
she could escape, she could never find
way home "Wake up," Nora was saying. She shook Marilyn. The rain had stopped. A faint light had broken in .
the sky.
.
.
Beyond the
morning countryside
car
windows the desolate
lay bathed in a
"Now listen to me." The man had turned around
in
low ground
earlyfog.
the front seat.
pointed a finger at Marilyn as he spoke.
He
THE MYSTERY OK THE SPIDER DOLL
(62)
"We're going
here to get some food, and
in
want any funny
don't
business.
we
Not one peep out of
you. Understand?
Marilyn nodded dumbly. She was
moment— but
for a
ory of
all
that
and she
rush,
had twisted
it
still
had happened came back felt
half-asleep
only for a moment. Then the
mem-
to her in a
her arm throbbing where the
in the
man
bedroom.
Nora opened the car door. "You'd better not
try
anything," she said to Marilyn.
Nora Lee got out and brushed her smooth the wrinkles from the long
drive.
skirt
to
The ground
was wet and muddy around the car and she
tried to
find a place to stand.
"Come
on, get out.
"
She bent and looked back
into the car.
Marilyn
felt stiff
and clumsy
as she
made
her
way
came down heavily in the mud, and Nora stepped back to avoid being spatout of the car. Her foot
tered.
The man his door.
He
got out of the front seat and
stood for a
and buttoning
his coat.
slammed
moment straightening his tie He smoothed back his hair
with the palms of his hands.
"You look
beautiful,
"
Nora
said sarcastically.
She took Marilyn's arm and drew her across the
Into the
muddy
Fog
(63)
parking area toward an all-night roadside
diner. In the gray half-light of the foggy
dawn
the
neon sign glowed warmly: "EAT'
in large
over the doorway. Another
hanging out so
sign,
could be seen from the highway
said:
red letters it
"Mamie s Truck
Stop— 24 Hour Service— Good Food." The man followed close behind Nora and Marilyn. Nora Lee pushed the door open and went in first.
The diner was small. It was also deserted except for a large plump woman in a red dress who sat behind the counter doing figures in a book. She looked up cheerfully when she heard the door opening. "Morning,
folks.
Come
come to Mamie's." The room smelled of rette smoke.
right in," she said.
fried foods
and Roger
stool
stool
stale ciga-
Nora wrinkled her nose with
but she went to the counter. She
empty
and
sat
distaste,
down on one
on another, and they
between them
left
an
for Marilyn.
A clock above the counter Mamie came
sat
"Wel-
said 5:30.
along the counter toward them, and
with a flourish worthy of better establishments, she
opened a large worn menu. Nora shook her head and
some milk
for her."
said,
"Only
coffee.
And
She did not even touch the menu.
"Coffee and a couple of burgers, " Roger said.
Into the
Fog
"Coming right up. The woman folded the menu and tossed where out of sight under the counter. "Anything besides milk
it
(65)
some-
for the little lady?" she
asked.
Mamie's eyes met Marilyn's Marilyn
woman
shook
cups
moment, and
miserably.
The plump
turned away almost at once, smiling cheer-
She began
fully.
head
her
for a
to
hum
in the fingers of
to herself as she
hooked two
one hand and held them under
the spigot of a large aluminum coffee urn.
"You're the fic's
been She
light
first
with
ones to stop this morning. Traf-
all
that rain.
down and
set the coffee
on the counter. Then she turned
Nora
"May
stirred her coffee. It I
clinked two spoons
to the grill.
looked dark and
bitter.
have some water, please, she said "
to the
woman. "Sure thing—and at
Nora
it's
free today.
as she set the glass of water
"
Mamie winked
down, and a
glass
of milk for Marilyn.
"Now we
got the fog,"
nally stopped,
and now the
Never
lasts
down
into the valley.
head
Mamie
said. "Rain's
fog. Well,
it'll
lift
fi-
soon.
long around this stretch of the road. Goes
to indicate
"
Mamie motioned with
some place
her
farther along the high-
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
(66)
way. "But around here
Good
don't stay long.
it
thing,
too. Nast\' driving in the fog."
"Drink your milk, Marilyn," Xora Lee Marilyn stared at the
glass.
said.
Her stomach
knotted with fear and her throat was
felt
She did
tight.
not think she could swallow anything, even a sip of milk.
remember one time I was driving up from Louisiana and I came through a patch of fog as thick as ice cream," Mamie went on. She turned back to the "I
grill.
Marilyn reached
around the
Her hand closed
for the milk.
glass unsteadily
and she
"I couldn't see anything,
plump woman shook her head
I
lifted
mean
at the
it.
anything."
memory.
Marilyn tried to hold the glass steady
"Nothing but
fog,
The
.
.
.
I
looked. Mighty
Xora Lee's
yell interrupted
everywhere
scary—"
"Man7j/n— oh—oh—
"
the story of the foggy drive.
The
glass
from Marilyn's grasp and landed right
She sprang up
like a shot,
had slipped
in Nora's lap.
brushing at the milk, and
before Roger could even get to his
feet,
Marilyn was
up, running like a streak for the door of the diner.
Behind her she could hear the man swear— and
Into the
Fog
(67)
then she heard his feet hard against the old board floor of the diner.
But she was
The door slammed behind her
out!
and she was running across the muddy ground the fog
fog
.
.
.
...
faster .
.
.
away if
.
.
.
away
.
.
.
if
into
she could only go
she could only run and hide
in
the
CHAPTER 9 Run! Run!
Nora pulled a handful of paper napkins from the conand tried to blot up the milk on
tainer on the counter
her
skirt.
"These
what
they're going to
She
felt
it
"You never know
kids," she said.
silly
do
was up
next." to
her to
make
the situation
look as normal as possible. She could see that the
woman behind
the counter
the sudden flight of Marilyn
"Seemed
like
was rather surprised by
and Roger.
something sure scared her," Mamie
said.
She leaned across the counter
damage
the milk
had done. (68)
to see
how much
Run! Run!
(69)
"Kind of a mess, huh?" nothing, nothing really," Nora said. "She's
"It's
just being ornery today. Tired,
gone out
I
guess. She's probably
to sit in the car."
"She your kid?"
Nora was not too flattered
enough
to
"No," she
said.
"My
be taken as old
kid sister."
She picked up the fallen broken, and handed
"Oh,"
to
be Marilyn's mother.
Mamie
it
to the
glass,
which had not
woman.
said. "Well, I
guess they have their
funny streaks, these teenagers." "They sure do," Nora agreed. She would have
know what was happening out
given anything to there in the fog
Once
.
.
.
outside Marilyn ran toward the highway.
The ground was soft and wet beneath her Run! ... it was all she could think.
feet.
Run!
Already the fog was growing thinner along the
highway. She could see the pale gleam of the concrete. It
seemed
useless to run in that direction. She
could not outrun the
man on
the highway, and unless
someone happened to be driving by at just ment there was no help in that direction. She swerved and dashed
that
mo-
for the shelter of the
(70)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
trees that
The
fog
formed a woods
seemed
look back to see
to
at the side of the diner.
be deeper
how
there.
close the
man
She did not even
was.
Gasping and breathless Marilyn plunged through the
trees,
stumbling
now and
then
across
fallen
branches and ridges of earth. Run! Run! Her hair in
her face,
damp and
limp.
Her shoes
fell
Run!
hurt.
Run! Her heart pounded heavily. At a tree larger than the others she crouched down, listening in the misty dark of the woods. She could not see ther direction.
The
trees
far in ei-
melted into the mist and
vanished around her. Somewhere high up in the
branches a bird called through the
stillness.
Then she heard the sound of someone coming roughly through the undergrowth of the woods Drawing in her breath in an effort to regain some .
.
.
strength, she was about to dash on deeper into the woods when the sound of approaching footsteps
stopped.
Except
for the call of the bird
high branches
all
was
and the
silent.
Marilyn took a step away from the leaves crackled underfoot. a very loud sound,
trunk of the
tree.
soft stir of
It
seemed
to
tree,
Marilyn to be
and she drew back against the
She could not run on now. The
had stopped and was
but
listening to hear
man
where she was.
THE MYSTERY OF THE
(72)
It
was
SPffiER
like a terrible
somewhere, listening
DOLL
game. The
to hear
man
when Marilyn
waiting
started to
run again; Marilyn pressed against the tree trunk, hardly daring to breathe, waiting for another sound
from the
He
man
so that she
would know where he was.
could be only a few feet away, so heavy was the
fog at this spot.
By and by Marilyn began to hear soft, cautious They were very close. Tears sprang into her Her eyes. heart hurt in her chest, and it seemed she
footsteps.
couldn't breathe, her throat
was
so constricted with
fear.
And footsteps
then, after
what seemed a long
time, the
sounded farther and farther away. At
she could not hear anything at crying above.
all
last
except the bird
CHAPTER
ZY
10
9400
empty bedroom, the hands of her bedclock pointed to ten minutes before six. The
In Marilyns side
alarm was set for seven. But there would be no one hear
it
when
it
rang. Its shrill
would echo through the
room
.
.
and
stillness
to
persistent buzz
of the
empty
.
Roger reentered the lower part of
his trousers
diner.
His shoes and the
were spattered with mud.
His face was flushed and angry and drops of perspiration
beaded
his forehead.
But he
tried to
compose (73)
himself, smoothing
back
THE MYSTERY OF THE
(74)
his hair
DOLL
SPfflER
with the palms of his hands and smiHng apol-
ogetically.
"She's out in the car, says she doesn't
come back
mad
in,"
he said
want
to
to Nora. "She's afraid you're
about the milk."
He spoke the words for the benefit of the plump woman behind the counter, but his eyes, catching Nora's, sent another message.
Nora Lee knew
He had not caught "I suppose
had gone wrong.
that something
the
girl.
What could
we'd better get
they do
started,
"
now?
she said, tak-
ing her handbag from the counter.
"What about your burgers? Mamie asked. "No time, Roger mumbled, throwing some "
"
bills
on the counter.
Mamie beamed. "Thanks! Have
a
good
trip
now. Outside, they hurried to the car. "It's
"And we
hopeless to find that kid now," Roger said. can't
hang around here
that time she could
best bet
is
between us
until the fog
to get out of here
as possible.
and put
as
much
safe.
it.
By
space
She didn't get a good look
the car last night, or this morning either. identify
lifts.
be anywhere, miles away. Our
Chances are we may
just
at
She can't
be perfectly
ZY 9400 "Oh, sure,
moment
car a
ever they did,
Nora
"
said slowly.
looking around in
would be best
it
all
(75)
She stood by the directions.
What-
to get out oihere.
Marilyn had meant to go deeper into the woods.
She had crept along ing as
little
carefully,
noise as possible.
found herself
at the
from tree to tree mak-
And then suddenly
deep mist of the woods she had only gone
and come back started.
to
she
edge of the woods again. In the in a circle
almost the same place she had
She could see the red neon sign "EAT'
through the
trees.
As she looked, Nora Lee and Roger came out of the diner and walked toward the car. Marilyn's throat
tightened again, and her heart began to beat fiercely.
But
it
looked like they were going to go away. They
went
straight to the car,
Nora
hesitate, looking around.
the
row of trees
at the
and only
and amber
minute did
edge of the woods, and on across
the highway and the fields beyond. by, red
for a
Her gaze swept past
lights
glowing by
A
truck lumbered
its tailgate.
Then, as Marilyn watched, Nora opened the front door of the car and got
in.
The man went around
the driver's side. She heard the engine
to
start.
They were going away — but her relief was abruptly ended as a new thought filled her with panic.
X
i 'Ix^1
cr
A
ZY 9400
Maybe they were going back said
if
Gran.
she tried anything
it
They had
to her house.
would be the worse
Marilyn started to run toward the call,
car. Wait, wait,
but no sound would come. She
meant
hadn't spilled the milk on purpose. She hadn't
drop the
glass.
Her hands had been
she had been so frightened, that was
when
for
And now — maybe
she wanted to
to
(77)
and
so shaky
And
all.
then,
she saw what she had done, she had started to
run almost without realizing what she was doing. Anything, anything, to get away from the man's look of hate and rage.
Wait,
And
wait! She
could
call out, if
didn't
want them
so she
was
had run out closer
.
.
now— if
only they would hear her
.
only she .
.
.
she
to hurt Gran.
The car backed up and
turned, and
was gone.
But not before Marilyn had seen the number ZY 9400 on the rear license plate
as they
drove away
from the neon sign that flashed so brightly through the morning mist:
"EAT.
CHAPTER 11 Brave Girl
As the car sped along the highway and out of the fog area, Nora took the spider doll from her coat pocket. She carefully pried open the bottom of the shepherdess's crook,
and a
thin dark key slid out.
Nora held the key against the
warmth of her
trouble to get
not get
in her palm, feeling the cold
it
skin. It
had taken a
back, but she had
it
now.
It
lot
of
would
away from her again.
Mamie was wiping off the counter, humming to when Marilyn burst through the door. She
herself,
was a
startling sight with her
in her face,
and
mud-spattered
tear-filled eyes. (78)
legs, hair
Brave Girl
The woman looked
at her
dumbly
(79)
across the
space of the small room.
was stammered out
Marilyn's story hasty, confused
way
that
Mamie could
in
such a
not really un-
derstand what had happened. But she called the police in
frightened urgency.
"Kidnapping,
I
house and took her
guess— she says they came
away— but
to her
number of
she got the
the car—"
Marilyn listened weakly as the the phone.
man.
One He
think
it's
talked on
was only a very short time before the
It
police arrived, trying to get
woman
it
and Marilyn told her story again,
straight so they
would understand.
of the policemen was a kindly, gray-haired
patted Marilyn's arm comfortingly. "I don't
went back
likely they
said to her reassuringly.
away from here
to
your house,
"They want
"
he
to get as far
as possible.
"But they said—" "I
that
know, he interrupted, nodding
was
one sent less I'm
"
just to scare you. to
Of course
his head.
we'll
"But
have some-
your house right away to check, but un-
mighty wrong, and
I
don't think
I
am,
that's
the last place they'd go. "Really?" Marilyn looked up at
him through a
blur of tears. She wanted to believe
much. Poor Gran
.
.
,
him
so very
Brave Girl
(81)
The other poHceman had gone back outside
to
use the car radio to send out an alarm for a car with
hcense number
on Route "It
ZY
9400, beheved to be headed south
6.
was a good thing you got
ber," the gray-haired
brave
pohceman
their said.
hcense num-
"You were a
girl.
"I only
wanted
to stop
them from going back
to
hurt Gran."
The policeman
smiled.
peated, "you were a brave
"Like
I
said,"
he
re-
girl."
Plump Mamie wiped her hands on her counter and shook her head. What a morning it had
cloth
been! Not
many mornings were
her diner.
Now
other story.
in the old
days
.
as exciting as this in .
.
well, that
was an-
CHAPTER
12
The Secret of the Spider Doll
Nora Lee's heels clicked across the floor of the hotel had gone well, so far. There was
lobby. Everything
even a trace of the old jauntiness in her step as she went toward the outer door. It was nearly nine o'clock. .
.
.
In a
few minutes
the
bank would be open
another few minutes and they would have the
contents of the safety deposit box and be on their
way. Thoughts of travel filled her
on the French
restaurants in
Paris!
and luxurious places
mind. She saw herself lounging on a beach
in Spain, or lit
to exotic
Riviera.
Rome and
Dinner
in candle-
sidewalk cafes in
Paris.
Think of the clothes she could buy. Think of
Paris in the spring!
(82)
The Secret of the Spider Doll
(83)
Then she saw the two policemen standing by the
and began
car talking to Roger. She hesitated,
to
walk
quickly in the opposite direction. But the policemen
had seen
her.
One of them was coming
She began
to
after her.
run, her heels tapping furiously
against the pavement. Visions of Spanish shores All she could hear
and
Paris cafes fled.
was the sound of her own and the sound of the
heels clicking on the pavement,
policeman's heavy tread growing closer behind her.
Just as the policeman
and unharmed. that Marilyn
When
was
had thought, Gran was
the pohce phoned to
also safe
Gran was confused and
tell
safe
her
and on her way home,
distressed.
She stopped her breakfast preparations and went to
sit
in the rocker in the parlor.
eyes, glistening
behind her
time before Marilyn chair closer to the
from the lice to
glasses.
finally arrived,
And
then, a long
Gran moved her
windows and did not take her gaze
street in all the
time she waited for the po-
bring Marilyn safely home.
When Nora Lee and City, nearly
home,
Tears stood in her
it
Roger were seized
in
Talbot
two hundred miles away from Marilyn's
did not take the police departments of the
The Secret of the Spider Doll
two towns long
to unravel the
meaning of the key
or the
that
(85)
mystery of their
flight,
had been hidden
in the
spider doll.
A
safety deposit
box
Talbot City bank
at the
yielded an assortment of diamond rings and necklaces,
missing since an unsolved theft at the Dorset
Gem Company
in Marilyn's
home town some months
before.
Nora Lee had been employed eral years.
at
Dorset for sev-
She was a trusted worker, and although
she had been questioned at the time of the
seemed
Yet, theft,
theft,
she
free of suspicion. it
was indeed Nora who had planned the
with Roger's help.
Roger had also worked at Dorset for a while. Then he had quit his job for another. Nothing satisfied him for very long. Soon afterward, Nora had accidentally discovered the combination of the safe at the Dorset
Gem
Company. Intrigued with the possibilities before them, Nora and Roger had planned the robbery. Using Nora's keys, Roger entered the company offices late
one snowy November
the guard, and opened the safe.
took glittered and sparkled like so ises of glittering
night,
overpowered
The diamonds he
many
bright prom-
and sparkling days ahead.
(86)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
The next morning Roger drove and rented a
safety deposit
to Talbot City
box under a
name.
false
There the diamonds would remain, while the
investi-
gation of the theft worked to a standstill.
Nora had been questioned,
were
as
employees. They were naturally the
first
all
Dorset
suspects in a
crime that had obviously involved both a key to the offices
and a knowledge of the
Nora's ter.
safe combination.
however, could not have been bet-
alibi,
She had been out to dinner with Mr. Cranston,
her employer.
But the investigation did not stop with the pres-
Company. Former employsome years back were also questioned, and Roger's alibi presented more of a problem. Roger and
ent workers at the Dorset ees for
Nora had expected that he would be questioned, and so
Roger paid an old friend of his named Joe Emerson
to say that they
had been together
ment playing cards
at Roger's apart-
until nearly three o'clock in the
morning on the day of the
theft.
Joe Emerson had been glad to get the money.
"down on
He
he told Roger.
was a
little
When
the police questioned him about Roger's alibi
his luck," as
they did not give any explanation, and aside from a certain curiosity,
Emerson was content
payment from Roger and be on
his
way
to take his to
another
The Secret of the Spider Doll
(87)
But when he read the account of the diamond
city.
theft,
the date
it
had taken
successful investigation,
place,
and the
so-far un-
he "put two and two
to-
gether," as he said.
His arrival one night at Roger's apartment came as
an unpleasant shock. Although Roger would not
admit any connection with the robbery, he did give
Emerson
two hundred
his last
dollars.
Emerson had gone away. Roger suggested
Later,
to
Nora that they take
the diamonds out of the safety deposit box and get
out of the country before anything else happened. just didn't trust
Nora was she
had
felt
Emerson any also
concerned about Emerson. But
they should not do anything in a panic. They
originally agreed to wait at least six
fore going to "It's
"If
pen and
too soon, Roger,
we
"
she argued.
wait too long, something
trip us up,"
too soon,
"
is
going to hap-
he warned.
likely to trip ourselves
Nora
said.
up
if
we
"Emerson won't dare go
to the police. He's already involved false alibi
months be-
Mexico with the diamonds.
"We're more
move
He
longer.
because of the
he gave you. What could he gain by going
to the police, except to get himself in trouble, too?
"Maybe you're
right,
"
Roger said reluctantly.
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPmER DOLL
(88)
He agreed Time
to wait.
The
passed.
investigation
And Roger was beginning
still.
And then one
in
came home to find apartment had been searched. The search
that his
night Roger
had been neat but thorough, been there was not cigar
smell
chill
he was
sure.
though whoever had
afraid of being interrupted.
A
in the air.
sweep over him, Roger stared
at his rooms. It
hundred
as
smoke lingered
Feeling a
son,
at a stand-
somewhat
about Emerson.
his fears
around
was
to relax
could only have been Emer-
Not content with a
dollars more,
trifling
Emerson had come
two
to look for
the diamonds.
Roger called Nora. he
"We
can't wait
any longer,
said.
The next day Nora asked to attend to a family matter.
for a leave of
absence
That would give them
time to get away before her absence was questioned.
That night Roger called again. "Emerson's back,"
he told
her.
Nora caught her breath. "What happened?" she asked.
"He him
in
called at the job and said I'd better
an hour.
key. But
I
I
went back
thought
it
to the
apartment
meet
for the
wasn't such a hot idea to carry
it
The Secret of the Spider Doll So
loose.
stuck
I
in that
it
(89)
weird spider doll you
picked up from—"
"You what?" Nora "Never mind, the apartment to
following me.
I
'
yelled.
Roger told
come
her. "Just listen.
I left
get you, but Emerson's been
think I've lost
him now. Meet me
at
Mario's as soon as you can. We'll take his car and get
out of here.
When
Roger came out of the phone booth he did
not see Emerson anywhere and he started in the direction of Mario's. definitely lost
He had just
decided that he had
Emerson, when once again he saw the
heavy-set figure in the distance behind him. Roger
began
walk
to
faster,
changing direction. But Emer-
son followed. It
was
clear that
Emerson did not intend
him alone— there seemed nothing the key.
to
The Soda Shop and Marilyn
do but get
rid of
sitting alone be-
hind her pile of books had provided the nity.
to leave
first
As Roger passed her he pushed the
opportu-
doll into the
pocket of her raincoat hanging from the back of the chair.
Almost
at
once he panicked again. Emerson had
passed by the shop. Too late Roger realized that
Emerson had not seen him— he could have kept the
(90)
THE MYSTERY OF THE SPIDER DOLL
doll.
Then he saw Marilyn
getting up, gathering to-
gether her books and purse and coat, and heading for the cash register to pay her check
Now
.
.
.
besides the theft, Nora Lee and Roger also
faced the charge of kidnapping.
"My, my,"
said Mr. Cranston of
Company when he heard was the
last
Which
person is
I
The Dorset Gem
the news about Nora. "She
would have suspected."
sometimes the way
it is.
D\sc^RC)£0
About the Author
Carol Beach York
many books
is
the author of
young people. This is her third mystery book for Franklin Watts. The other two are Mystery of the Diamond Cat and Mystery at Dark Wood.
The author
for
lives in
Harvey,
Illinois,
and has one daughter, Diana.
Printed in the U.S.A.
by Moffa
Press, Inc.
