The Secret of the Old Clock

Pressing for more information, Nancy learns that the will is somehow associated with Crowley’s clock. He told Abby that his notebook contains information on the whereabouts of the will, but the old woman doesn’t know where the notebook is. Pursuing the clock angle, Nancy learns that the Tophams probably have it. Therefore, she must call on the family. Since they dislike her, gaining entry will be a challenge.

When she arrives back home, Nancy finds her friend Helen Corning waiting. Helen needs to sell some tickets to a charity ball before heading to her aunt’s summer camp at Moon Lake. Nancy gets a brainstorm and buys Helen’s remaining tickets. She then presents herself at the Topham house and says that the charity ball will be the social event of the season. Mr. Topham decides that getting his name listed as a patron is good for his image, so he buys the tickets. Nancy also learns that Crowley’s old clock was sent to the family’s cottage at Moon Lake. She’s told that she can ask the caretaker to show it to her.

The following day, Nancy heads to the camp at Moon Lake. She has a flat tire on the way but knows how to change it and is soon on her way again. After greeting Helen and her friends, she checks into the camp as a guest for the week, intending to gain access to the Topham cabin while she’s there.

Helen and the other campers involve Nancy in all their hiking, swimming, and boating activities, which makes it hard for the detective to slip away. Helen takes Nancy for a boat ride and points out the Topham cabin on the other side of the lake.

After learning that the Topham place is easiest to reach by water, Nancy asks to borrow the camp’s boat the following morning. She sets out early, but as she nears her destination, the boat’s motor dies. Nancy spends hours trying to fix it. Late in the day, she makes one final attempt and gets the motor running, but it’s now too late to do anything but return to camp.

Trying another tactic, Nancy checks out the next morning and drives to the other side of the lake. She notices that the Topham cabin door is open, the caretaker is missing, and most of the belongings have been removed. When she sees a rough-looking man approaching the front door, she ducks inside a closet.

The man is joined by two others. From their conversation, it becomes clear that they’re robbers and are clearing out the cottage. Nancy surmises that these may be the same men who stole the silver heirlooms from the Turners. Unable to stifle a sneeze in the dusty closet, Nancy is discovered. She tells them, “You have no right to be here, helping yourself to the Tophams’ furniture! […] You should be turned over to the police!” (109). The ringleader gleefully replies, “Well, you’ll never get the chance to do it. […] You’ll wish you’d never come snoopin’ around here” (109). He shoves her back into the closet, locks it, and takes the key.

The men drive off in their van, and Nancy tries to pick the lock and force the door, but nothing works. Fighting panic and despair, she sits in the dark for hours before an idea occurs to her. Pulling a clothes bar out of the wall and using it as a lever, she pries off the closet door’s hinges.

At that moment, the cottage caretaker, Jeff Tucker, appears. He was locked up in an outside shed and has just freed himself. Jeff confirms that Crowley’s clock once stood on the mantel, but the thieves took it. Nancy rushes out and drives to the nearest State Police headquarters to report the theft.