“I hope he doesn’t discover I’m trailing him,” she thought. “If he does, I won’t learn a thing.”
The man did not pay the slightest attention to her, but stared out of the window with a blank expression. Some time later when the porter called “Winchester” he sprang to his feet and hurried down the aisle to be one of the first out of the coach. Nancy followed as closely as she dared, but nearly lost him in the crowd on the station platform.
To her relief the man did not call a taxi, but set off on foot. Again he walked rapidly, and it was all she could do to keep him in sight.
Nancy Drew had frequently visited Winchester and in general was familiar with the city. She had not walked far until she became aware that the stranger was leading her into the poorer section, a district frequented by pawnbrokers, fences, criminals and down-and-outers. Once the man she was following glanced around, and for a moment Nancy thought that she must have been seen. But as he continued again she decided that she had been mistaken.
She saw the man turn a corner, and hurried faster so as not to lose sight of him. Turning the same corner a moment later she found to her amazement that he had vanished.
“Now where could he have gone so quickly?” she asked herself. “He couldn’t have dodged into an alley, for there isn’t one close.”
The only alternative was that the man had entered one of the pawnbroker shops along the street.
“I’ll wait until he comes out,” Nancy decided, with a chuckle. “Then, after he’s out of sight, I’ll go in myself and give the pawnbroker the third degree. Who knows? I may track down those jewels this very afternoon!”
Nancy waited patiently for twenty minutes and then, because she was attracting attention, crossed the street and walked a short distance only