A Surprise
“Can it be that Mary Mason lives in this neighborhood?” Nancy Drew asked herself in surprise.
There could be no question as to the identity of the girl, for she was now close enough for Nancy to see her face distinctly. She wore a neat silk frock, simple in line but unmistakably new and expensive.
Nancy’s first inclination was to call to her, but upon second thought she decided that such a course would be foolish. It was doubtful that the girl would tell her anything she wanted to know, and by waiting and watching she might learn something to her advantage. Accordingly, she crouched lower behind the steering wheel of her roadster, hoping that she would not be observed.
Unaware that she was being watched, Mary Mason continued down the street, swaggering a trifle as she walked. Nancy saw her turn in at a dilapidated old house. She paused on the porch, fumbled in her bag for a key, then unlocked the door and entered.
“That’s where she lives, all right,” Nancy Drew decided as the door closed behind the girl. “Lucky for me that I came this way.”
It was with considerable misgiving that she surveyed the house. From the road the place appeared deserted.
“There’s something mighty strange about that girl’s actions,” she thought. “Surely, she wouldn’t live in a place like this unless she were reduced to the lowest sort of poverty, and her clothing doesn’t indicate that.”