Nancy Drew: 2 . The Hidden Staircase

Reunion

"That was a pretty good scheme you had going there," said Nancy. "Have Will Wharton use the tunnels between Lilac Inn and Twin Elms to try and scare Aunt Flora and Aunt Rosemary out of their home. Then purchase it for cheap and get back a huge profit from the railroad. But I want to know, how were you planning on getting Lilac Inn? What? Were you planning on using the ghost scheme there too? Even though I just caught the last one?"

Gomber shrugged. "Figured more on infesting the place. Who would want to eat at a place or even stay there with roaches and rats?"

Helen shivered. "No, no they would not." But she glared at him. "But it's certainly cruel of you to wrench these old houses from my family just so you can sell them at a stupidly high profit! What? There were no other lots good enough for you?"

"There were none that the railroad company wanted as badly as these two. These old fools don't know what they were missing out on," said Gomber.

"So you figured on being the one to take that, didn't you?" said Nancy. She glanced at her father. "But not only were they being stubborn, but my dad was looking for other property for them to buy that would fit within their plans. That's why you kidnapped him, to stall him long enough to try and get both places, at least Twin Elms."

"Must be feeling awfully proud of yourself for having figured everything out, huh?" said Gomber.

"But I haven't figured out how Will Wharton fits into all of this. How did you two meet? How did you convince him to be the ghost?"

"Will Wharton's property was one of the ones purchased by the railroad," said Carson. "Apparently he wants more money."

Gomber smirked. "Told you I didn't have to to tell you anything. You and your brainy daughter have figured everything out."

"Except one thing," said Nancy quickly. She had to keep him talking. Richard would know to come back into the tunnel for them, he just needed to gather the police and come looking for them. Plus, there still were a couple of questions that she wanted answered.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" asked Gomber.

"How did you find the secret tunnel? And if you didn't have this tunnel, what would you have done instead?"

"Oh the original plan was to steal one of their keys, get it copied, and use that to get in," said Gomber with a cruel smirk. But then Will told me tales of the Caldwells hiding escaping slaves very effectively, tales that his grandmother had told him. We figured there had to be a secret passage going between the houses. I had asked the old Jane Willoughby a lot of questions about Lilac Inn before you sent her to jail. Apparently Emily told her enough about the Inn that she could tell me which parts of the Inn hadn't been renovated. So I booked that room." He shrugged. "Finding that secret opening was a piece of cake, really. I got Will in and we were making our plans. I figured on getting Lilac Inn, the old Jane Willoughby was pretty keen on selling, but she had to wait until a certain low point before she could." He glared at Nancy. "And then you came in and ruined that whole thing, so we had to up our game on Twin Elms."

"And if you had been able to buy Lilac Inn?" asked Helen in a low voice.

Gomber glanced at her and smiled. "Well, I would have sold it to the railroad company, of course. I would have continued with my plans to buy Twin Elms with Lilac Inn as my base until I sold it."

"You greedy, rotten, little rat," muttered Helen.

Gomber shrugged. "A guy's got to make a living somehow."

"I'd like to see you try that from jail," muttered Carson.

Gomber glanced at him. "See, that's the thing, I'm not planning on it. Which is why I'm awfully glad these two young ladies have come along." He grabbed Helen's arm. She let out a scream as he pulled her up against his chest and placed the gun to her head. "Don't worry, I'll send them for you, once I've been given safe passage."