Nancy walked to the picture window at the far end of her room to gaze down into the beautiful garden. Bess and George also looked out their windows. None of them had noticed that their hosts had silently closed the doors to the hall.

When the three friends tried to get together before joining the Cosgroves downstairs, they found that they had been locked in!

CHAPTER IIIEscape

Although Nancy felt a tight knot of alarm in the pit of her stomach, her mind was racing. Obviously she and her friends had been kidnapped, and what made it worse was that the three girls were locked in separate rooms! No chance to plan an escape!

Before the young sleuth could decide what to do, she heard Bess cry out, "Anne, Jackie, where are you?"

"Locked in, just like you," George's voice came faintly.

"This is awful!" Bess wailed. "What'll we do?"

"Don't panic," Nancy advised. "That won't get us anywhere."

The girls realized that if they tried to discuss a plan of action through the walls, their captors would hear them and foil any attempted escape. Each one had to fend for herself!

While Bess and George began a minute examination of their prisons, Nancy looked through the keyhole. The key was gone, but she was sure the lock on this bedroom door was a common type.

"That's a break," she thought and opened her purse.

She took out a bobby pin and a nail file. First she inserted the file into the keyhole and held it tight. Next she pushed in the bobby pin. By manipulating first one, then the other, she finally managed to get the door open.

Silently Nancy stepped into the hallway and listened. She heard the front door slam, and tip toed to a window just in time to see the sham Cosgroves get into a green sedan and roar out of the driveway.