The Mystery Of The Old Map

13-11-2020 Favourite Detective - Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew relaxed in her bedroom with her best friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne. The summer holidays had just begun and the girls were discussing how best to spend them. Bess wanted to go on a lazy beach vacation whereas George who was the athletic type, preferred trekking or mountain climbing. Just then, Hannah Gruen, Nancy's long-time housekeeper walked in and announced a visitor who wanted to meet Nancy.

Their visitor was a distinguished-looking gentleman, wearing a three-piece suit with spectacles perched on his nose. He rose when the girls entered and introduced himself as Mr Gregory Danvers. Mr Danvers explained that he had recently come into an inheritance, in which a great-aunt had left him an island after her death. She had written in a letter, which her lawyer had handed over to him, that she had no other living relatives and so had willed over the island to Mr Danvers. She had also mentioned that there had been a rumour that a treasure had been buried somewhere on the island. Mr Danvers who was quite wealthy had decided that a quiet island was what he needed away from the hustle-bustle of the city and had workmen repair the old cabin on the island and equip it with modern amenities.

He then came to the crux of his visit. As the workmen repaired the old cabin located on the island, they had come across a locked wooden box that had been hidden beneath the floorboards. They had handed it over to Mr Danvers, who had opened it and found to his surprise a map of some sort inside it. 

He had now brought the map along to show the girls. He opened it from a case he had placed next to him. The girls were immediately curious and gathered around him to peep into the map. It was an old weathered parchment paper, rectangular in shape. On the top left was a pencil sketch of a bunch of fir trees, next to them was what looked like a hill. In the centre was a pond with a waterfall. There were caves drawn on the lower part. In all, it seemed like a map of the island. But other than that, there was no clue as to why it was drawn. No words written on it nor were there any sort of indicative arrows.

Mr Danvers explained that he had done a bit of research in the local library and found out that a pirate ship had sunk on the coast, just off the island. The pirate and a couple of his cronies had escaped the ship and taken a box of their treasures ashore. They had also built the little cabin on the island. This had been never confirmed, but Mr Danvers said that the presence of the map was proof that something was hidden on the island.

He said that he would have taken his time exploring the island if not for some unfortunate incidents which had occurred this past week. He had suddenly started receiving threatening calls and messages asking him to not step on the island. He believed this could possibly be the work of one of the workmen or their acquaintances as they were the only ones who knew about the map. His house had also been vandalized, but the thieves could not find the map as Mr Danvers had been carrying it with him when he left home. But what they had taken was a copy of the map which Mr Danvers had drawn. So now the thieves had a copy of the map, but even they would not find any clues on it.

So, Mr Danvers who had heard of Nancy Drew's prowess as a detective had come to her to ask for help. Nancy and her friends were intrigued. They assured Mr Danver that they would help in every way they could. Nancy took the unrolled parchment map and kept it on a table beside the window. The three friends poured over the map but they could not glean a single clue. Bess, who was at one end, bent over the map to point out something to Nancy. Unfortunately, her movement tipped over a glass of water placed on the side of the table and spilt all over the map. "Oh, Bess !! Have a care," said George as Nancy quickly held up the map to drain out the water. The sunlight falling in from the window fell on the wet map and the girls and Mr Danvers watched amazedly as faint lines began to appear on the map. It had been written in invisible ink which had been revealed by the parchment getting wet!! A few more sketches appeared, but what caught their attention was the little drawing of a treasure chest within the drawing of the waterfall. "It is true then, " said Bess. "There is indeed a treasure !! 

"Hmmm...", mused Mr Danvers, “I have only been to the island by boat and am unaware of the presence of the waterfall. The flora and fauna look the same in all directions with fir trees and caves littering it and so it would be difficult to pinpoint the location of the waterfall. Maybe if we could arrange a helicopter to fly above the island, it might make it easier. But the lesser people who know what we are up to, the better it is."

Nancy had been pondering over the same thing. "Mr Danvers, there would have been no helicopters during the time the parchment was written. Also, the parchment looks like the view is from a higher point, from where the pirates got the lay of the land. Do you know of any such place ?" she inquired. 

Mr Danvers thought for a bit and then gave a broad smile. " Indeed there is... the old lighthouse situated on the other side of the island. There should be a pretty good view of the whole island from up there," he said.

The next day found the girls with Mr Danvers speeding up to the island on his speed boat. It was a brilliant blue day and the girls were enjoying their trip. They could see the island in the distance and they headed towards the jetty in front of the cabin. Suddenly they heard a loud sound and they looked to their right. An unmarked speed boat was speeding towards them spraying water in wide arcs around it. " He better look out or he is going to crash into us, " cried Mr Danvers. The other boat did not change its course and seemed to be heading straight toward them. Luckily Mr Danvers expertly handled his boat and accelerated ahead in the nick of time. The other boat sped away and was soon hidden behind the island. "That's not a coincidence," exclaimed Nancy, "they tried to run us down deliberately." Shaken by the incident, the four of them decided to be extra careful on the island. That night in the cabin, they took turns being on guard, but nothing happened.

The next day Nancy, Bess and George made their way up to the lighthouse on the other end of the island. Mr Danvers had elected to stay at the cabin. The steps inside the lighthouse were old and rickety and they made their way up slowly. As they reached the summit, they were happy to see that, just as Nancy had predicted, the lay of the land was exactly as shown in the map. They could see the grove of trees, the hill, the caves carved out into the cliffs on the shore. And in the centre through the thick foliage, they could make out the top of the waterfall. Nancy who had brought a compass with her quickly jotted down the coordinates and they made their way through the thicket to the centre of the island. Unknown to them, two men who were hidden in the bushes had been watching them at the lighthouse and now slowly followed them.

The trio came to the gushing waterfall, which fell into a wide pool at its base. It was a majestic sight and the sound of the water was deafening. "The treasure chest was shown to be at the centre of the waterfall, so it means that there should be a path which leads behind the waterfall, " said Nancy. They climbed the craggy stones next to the waterfall and found a narrow path which led to a dark area behind the waterfall. George was the first to reach and she shone a flashlight into the darkness. It was a small area with rocks on three sides, and it was completely hidden from view by the waterfall in front. The girls crouched in that area and scoured the walls and floors for loose stones. A stone from the wall on the left fell down and in the recess inside, they could see a heavy box. Full of excitement, they pulled the box out and kept it on the floor. It was a very old box, with a heavy lock on the outside. "Our first real treasure," said Bess happily.

"Our first real treasure too," came a voice behind them. The girls whirled around to see two masked men pointing pistols at them. "We want no trouble here. Just hand over the box," one of them said. The girls had no option but to push the box towards them. The thief who had spoken kept his gun trained towards them when the other tied the box to a rope they had lowered from the top of the waterfall. A few minutes later he pulled the box up and away. The other masked thief followed him and in a minute they had both disappeared over the edge.

Nancy and her friends were dejected. They had been so close to the treasure and it had been snatched from right under their noses. They trudged slowly back to the cabin only to find Mr Danvers with a big grin on his face and the treasure box sitting proudly on a table.

Their amazed enquiries were answered calmly by Mr Danvers. Apparently, after the girls had left in the morning, Mr Danvers had alerted the coast guards about the near-fatal speed boat accident that had happened the previous day. The coast guards had patrolled around the island and found a speedboat hidden in a cove off one side. They had just hidden themselves and laid in wait till the thieves showed themselves. When the two thieves had come with the box, they had been arrested and the box handed over to Mr Danvers.

The girls were relieved and happy to hear the news and begged Mr Danvers to open the box. Mr Danvers broke open the box to find a pirate's loot of old gold and silver coins. There were also a few pieces of jewellery which looked extremely valuable. An extremely pleased, Mr Danvers said that he would be donating it to the city museum to display it to the general public.

After all the excitement and a meal they had prepared together, they sat around the table having a drink. Mr Danvers raised his glass and proposed a toast. "To the greatest girl detective, Nancy Drew and her brave friends George and Bess, " he said. They all cheered and clinked their glasses together, bringing a close to an interesting case and an eventful day.