The Secret of the Old Clock

Nancy drives quickly but never finds the van. Instead, she reports the theft to the local police. At dinner that night, Nancy discusses the plight of the Turners—and Josiah Crowley’s potentially missing will—with her father and Hannah. Mr. Drew is familiar with the case and has heard of other people who might have been cut out of the will. He knows an attorney named Henry Rolsted, whom Crowley might have consulted about making a new will. Rolsted is an old friend, and Mr. Drew invites him to lunch the following day and asks Nancy to attend.

The next morning, Nancy goes to a local dress shop to buy a gown for an upcoming country club dance. While there, she encounters the disagreeable Isabel and Ada Topham, who bully a sales clerk and rip a dress, trying to implicate Nancy. They leave in a huff, and Nancy talks with the clerk, who overheard the sisters discussing the will. Apparently, their father is worried that someone may show up with a new one. This convinces Nancy that there may be something to the theory of a missing will.

Later, at lunch, lawyer Rolsted confirms that Josiah Crowley consulted him about making a new will, but the old man decided to draft it himself. Thus far, the missing document hasn’t turned up. Nancy tells her father, “Oh, Dad, it’s just as I suspected. I’m sure Mr. Crowley did make a later will! He hid it some place! If only I could find out where!” (32).

The following morning, Mr. Drew asks Nancy to deliver documents to a judge in Masonville and, on her way back, to swing by the home of the Hoover sisters, who were also promised money in Crowley’s will. After completing her errand, Nancy gets caught in a violent rainstorm. She parks her convertible in a barn and realizes that she stumbled onto the Hoover property by accident.

Going inside the house to dry off, Nancy makes the acquaintance of Allison and Grace Hoover. They’re struggling to keep their little farm going and say that Josiah Crowley promised them some money. Allison is an aspiring opera singer and would love to take voice lessons if she could afford them. Nancy vows to find a way to make that possible by finding the missing will.

When Nancy tells her father about the meeting with the Hoovers, he agrees to help them and makes an appointment to interview the girls the following afternoon. During their talk, the girls say, “Uncle Josiah was always putting articles away in what he called a safe place. But the places were so safe he never could find the things again!” (51). This lends further credence to the theory of a missing will.

Mr. Drew agrees to help the Hoovers free of charge. After the meeting, Nancy takes the sisters to a local vocal coach, Signor Mascagni, with whom she has set up an audition for Allison. Mascagni is impressed with the range of the girl’s voice and declares that he’ll happily take her on as a pupil if money can be found for the lessons.