The Mystery of the 99 Steps by Carolyn G. Keene

door.
    She ran outside and from the top of the long flight of steps gazed up and down. The Arab was striding quickly toward a small, dark car parked up the street. There was a driver at the wheel and the motor was running.
    “Come on, Henri!” Nancy urged.

CHAPTER IX
    Startling Headlines
     
     
     
    TOGETHER, Nancy and Henri dashed down the steps of the Tremaine mansion. By this time the mysterious Arab had jumped into the automobile. The driver pulled away and the car shot forward.
    Suddenly, in the glare of two street lamps in front of the Tremaine home, the Arab took off his turban. With it came a wig and false whiskers.
    “Oh!” Nancy gasped.
    The man was Louis Aubert!
    “Is something the matter?” Henri asked.
    “That man was in disguise. I have an idea he had no right to be at the party. We should tell the Tremaines.”
    “Do you think he is a thief?” Henri looked perplexed. “Is that why you wished to stop him?”
    Nancy hesitated, then answered truthfully, “I’m not sure. But I do have reason to suspect that the man is dishonest.”

    Henri accepted her reply as if sensing Nancy did not wish to divulge anything else. The couple re-entered the house.

    Monsieur and Madame Tremaine were at the back of the hall saying good night to several guests. Nancy waited until they had departed, then asked her host who the Arab was. He and his wife exchanged glances, then Monsieur Tremaine responded:
    “We did not catch his name. He suddenly appeared and told us he was a friend of Monsieur Leblanc’s. Do you wish me to ask him?”
    “He has already left,” Nancy told them. “He seemed to be in a great hurry.”
    The Tremaines frowned. Obviously the man had displayed very bad manners! Nancy was saved from explaining the reason for her query because Bess, George, and Mr. Drew joined them. The lawyer said he thought they should leave now.
    Henri smiled at Nancy and said good night. Monsieur Leblanc then came up to the group. His manner seemed perfectly natural as he expressed the hope of seeing them all again some time in the near future.
    Nancy’s brain was in a whirl. She wondered if the financier might be staying in town and planning to meet Louis Aubert early in the morning. Smiling, Nancy asked Leblanc, “Will you go way out to the country tonight?”
    “Yes, indeed. I love it there. I sleep much better.”
    George had caught on to Nancy’s line of questioning. She spoke up. “Do you commute to your office every day, Monsieur Leblanc?”
    “Yes. I will be at my desk by nine o’clock tomorrow morning, as usual,” he replied.
    Nancy had come to a conclusion. He would meet Louis Aubert either in Paris during the daytime or out in the country the next evening. “I can’t wait to follow him,” she thought.
    The girls went for their wraps, and after thanking the Tremaines for a delightful evening, left with Mr. Drew. Nancy, although bursting with her news, decided not to tell it until they were alone at the hotel. Once there, she asked her father to come to the girls’ room.
    Nancy told about the Arab being Louis Aubert and added her suspicion that the invitation might have been obtained fraudulently.
    “It could even have been forged,” she said. “Remember, his brother Claude is a wanted forger. Louis could be one, too.”
    George in turn repeated the conversation she had overheard between Louis and Leblanc.
    “These are excellent clues!” the lawyer exclaimed. “They may tie in with something I heard this evening from Monsieur Tremaine. He is one of the people who is greatly alarmed about Monsieur Leblanc’s irresponsibility in business affairs.”
    Nancy asked eagerly, “Can you tell us why?”
    “Oh, yes. Today Leblanc received a very large sum of money—thousands of dollars in francs—for the sale of certain securities. He had insisted upon having it in cash. I assume that he had the sum with him tonight.”
    Bess’s eyes grew wide with excitement. “You mean that perhaps the poor man