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The Triple Hoax |
Chapter 1 - A Sudden Trip
Nancy receives a special delivery letter from Aunt Eloise inviting her, Bess and George to New York to help out a friend who has been swindled in a vacation scam. At the airport, Mrs. Richards meets them, but her chauffeur does not show up with the car. Once they finally get to Eloise's apartment, the details of the scam are explained to the amateur detectives. That evening the group attends a magic show by the Hoaxsters troupe. Several audience members, including Bess, are invited on stage, where the magicians cause private possessions to disappear by sleight of hand.
Chapter 2 - Bess's Strange Caller
Bess's handbag is returned to her after the show with the
contents intact. Nancy is suspicious of the whole process as
the personal possessions were kept for quite a while
backstage. The next day a sales rep named Howie Barker calls
Bess with a special offer on a vacation package in Maine.
Nancy arranges to have him come so that she can
surreptitiously take his picture. The 
girls go to the police with the
photos and the story of the potential swindle.
Chapter 3 - Poison!
The girls take the photos to Mrs. Richards, but she does not
recognize Barker as the man who posed as a travel agent. She
shows the girls two more suspicious looking letters, then
takes the girls on a tour of her home. While admiring the
uniform of a Florentine soldier, Nancy discovers a vial of
poison in the pocket. The girls take the vial to Mr. Horner's
laboratory to have it tested. 
There they meet the lab assistant
Enzo Scorpio. Mr. Horner advises Mrs. Richards to have the
vial appraised. That night the girls return to the Hoaxsters'
show, and George tries to be selected to go on stage, but is
refused.
Chapter 4 - Airport Trouble
The girls return to the theatre the next day, but the Hoaxsters have unexpectedly left town. They ask around and find out from a waitress in nearby luncheonette that they have moved on to Mexico City. Back at the apartment they receive a phone call from Mrs. Richards - she is concerned because the vial of poison has been stolen.
Chapter 5 - A Planned Accident
The next day, Nancy is called down to the police station as they have identified the man posing as Barker. On the way, their taxi is sideswiped and their driver rendered unconscious. Once at headquarters, the girls find out that their con man is a convicted forger and is currently wanted on other swindling charges.
Chapter 6 - Clue to a Suspect
Bess and George call home to get permission to accompany
Nancy on her pursuit of the Hoaxsters down in Mexico City.
Upon arrival at the Fortunato Hotel, the manager detains them.
A police lieutenant comes and accuses Nancy of operating as a
detective without a license. She explains her amateur status,
which is confirmed by Chief McGinnis, and apologies are made.
Once settled in, they speak to Eloise by phone, who explains
that Enzo has been identified as the thief of the vial. Then
they get ready to go see the Hoaxsters' show, with the plan of
dressing in Mexican garb to disguise themselves. At the show,
the girls are seated next to Sra. Mendez, who shows them a
picture of her grand-daughter. Sra. Mendez is one of the
audience
members
whose handbag "disappears."
Chapter 7 - Pyramid Chase
After retrieving her belongings from backstage, Sra. Mendez invites the girls on an outing the next day to the Pyramid of the Sun. At the site, Bess helps a tourist who feels faint while ascending the pyramid steps. After descending, Nancy grabs George's arm and points to a man rounding the corner, identifying him as Enzo. The girls take off in pursuit.
Chapter 8 - Startling News
The girls split up during the chase and Nancy nearly catches Enzo in the parking lot, but he gets away in a car. Nancy reports the sighting to the police, and then adds that she believes Enzo will try to sell the vial to a local collector. The lieutenant agrees to coordinate a trap, and the girls go to visit the collector, Señor Pedroa. He gives the a tour of his holdings. When they return to their hotel, they hear from Sra. Mendez that her grand-daughter has been kidnapped.
Chapter 9- Stage Attack
Intending to confront the Hoaxsters and accuse them of kidnapping, Nancy returns to the theatre, to find the troupe suddenly departed again. The girls are given permission to hunt for clues, and while Nancy is investigating the stage, a surly maintenance man crashes a painting over her head. A sympathetic Indian cleaning woman admits she knows where the troupe went but is afraid to tell.
Chapter 10 - A Setback Reversed
She admits that the Hoaxsters have moved on to Los Angeles. When the girls attempt to make plan reservations to fly to L.A., they are met with the news of an air strike, and are therefore forced to drive the 2,500 miles to their destination. In the meantime, Sra. Mendez has received the ransom note for Dolores, which is folded in a strange fan-like manner. Nancy believes there is a hidden message and finds "$100,000 in sack to 8 by X."
Chapter 11 - An Odd Invention
The girls return to a boutique where they had bought some Mexican outfits, and discover that the proprietress Sra. Clara has been approached by a potential con man. They decide to hide in the dressing rooms to see if they recognize Sra. Clara's visitor. Two men arrive and conduct their spiel, but Bess has accidentally left her wallet on a chair and Barker discovers it belongs to her. After exposing the girls, the men stomp out.
Chapter 12 - Smugglers
The girls start their road trip and make a pit stop where the people speak no English and all the food is full of spicy peppers. After four days, they arrive at the border, where the customs officer accuses Nancy of trying to smuggle a stolen jade figurine into the U.S. A box is found in the trunk, and another customs officer calls the police in Mexico City to vouch for Nancy's character. Upon arrival in L.A., all the hotels are booked, so the girls call on George's former neighbors, the Vetters, for accommodations. While making the phone call, the car is stolen.
Chapter 13 - The Invisible Hand
Nancy finds a Hoaxsters poster in the spot where the car had
stood, and so they go to the theatre and find their car in the
lot, with everything intact. They arrive at the Vetters home
and make contact with Mr. Drew. He tells them that Ned, Burt
and Dave will be joining them in L.A. Then they speak to Sra.
Mendez. She had paid the ransom money in a sack and deposited
it near a big tree. The police watched, but no one arrived to
retrieve the sack, but later the money was gone. Nancy
conjectures that the thief probably came down from the tree
unseen. Still, Dolores has not been returned. 
That evening the Vetters' laundry
room is set on fire.
Chapter 14 - More Tricks
Firemen find evidence of arson. A fake call was made to Mrs. Marvin, which is how the culprits discovered that the girls were staying with the Vetters. Meanwhile, Sra. Mendez has paid a second ransom, which has gone unclaimed. She also passes along a message that Señor Pedroa has been approached by a man named Ozne regarding a 15th century vial of poison - Nancy realizes that Ozne is Enzo spelled backwards.
Chapter 15 - The Watermark
Ozne/Enzo is captured, but the vial he was trying to sell was a fake. Nancy decides to study the ransom note again and finds a watermark of a fern leaf on the paper. She makes inquiries at stationery stores about this paper. The group attends a movie, and spot Caldwell and Barker in line at the theatre.
Chapter 16 - Hijackers
Unfortunately the girls lose the culprits in the crowd. The next morning, the girls are at the airport to pick up Ned, Burt and Dave on Flight 388 when it is reported that the plane has been hijacked. Bess spots one of the Hoaxsters in the crowd, and Nancy disguises herself to ask whom he is expecting on the plane(it is his wife). The hijackers are overpowered and the plane eventually lands. Ned says there was a blond woman who was quite unreasonable during the crisis - George goes up to her and asks if she is the wife of the Hoaxster. The wife assumes George is a girlfriend of her husband's and slaps her.
Chapter 17 - A Hoax Exposed
A guard comes and is prepared to arrest the woman, who
identifies herself as Mrs. Horace Browne. George elects to let
the incident pass. Dave is able to provide a clue to the fern
watermark as his uncle is a printer. The Fern Printing Co.
does not have any samples of their stationery available but
suggests Nancy visit Mr. Horace Browne in L.A., who buys
regularly from the company, and
provides a local address.
Chapter 18 - Ned's Disguise
The group decides to go to the Hoaxsters' show and set a trap by sending Ned up on stage, then later dust his wallet for fingerprints. They also touch base with Sra. Mendez who says that Dolores is probably being held in L.A. as the newest ransom note was composed of words cut from a local paper. At the show Ned has disguised himself in a mustache and beard to trick the Hoaxsters.
Chapter 19 - The Young Prisoner
Back at the Vetters', the paper from Ned's wallet is dusted and reveals fingerprints. The evidence is taken to the police and matched to wanted criminal Sam Gambro; however Nancy does not recognize the man in the mug shot. Turns out he is Browne, but has had some plastic surgery to change his appearance. When the police arrive at the theatre to arrest the Hoaxsters, they have skipped out. The group goes to the Brownes' home address and Nancy spies the culprit lounging on his patio. Nancy and Ned jump the fence and force their way past Mrs. Browne into the house. They find Dolores chained to a bed in a room upstairs, but are then locked in the room too. They watch as the Brownes attempt to flee.
Chapter 20 - Escape!
Dave, George and Burt foil the Brownes' escape while Bess phones the police. Nancy, Ned and Dolores are released and the Brownes confess to all the swindles. A search of the premises is conducted which reveals the stolen vial of poison, Mrs. Richards's limousine and Sra. Mendes's ransom payment. During dinner that evening, Nancy names her mystery "The Triple Hoax" and explains that it refers to defrauding of Mrs. Richards, the kidnapping of Dolores and Ned's disguising of himself at the Hoaxters' show. Nancy and her group are invited to a convention of American detectives which is in town, where she is presented with a framed award in admiration of her efforts.
6 grayscale pictures by Ruth Sanderson © 1979 by Simon & Schuster, New York. 2 black and white line drawings by Philippe Daure © 1987 by Hachette, Paris. color image by Marco Rostagni © 1981 by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore SpA, Milan.
© 2001, Lea Shangraw Fox