In the course of solving the mystery of an old man's disappearing fortune, Nancy both starts and ends a family feud and reveals the identity of an orphan of unknown parentage. The second of three novels by ghostwriter Walter Karig, this story focuses on Nancy's encounter with a 100-year-old man at "The Sign of the Twisted Candles," a roadside inn and restaurant. Nancy, Bess and George take afternoon tea there while waiting out a storm; Nancy's roadster was blocked by a fallen tree. They encounter Asa Sidney, celebrating his 100th birthday, and the pathetic maid/waitress, Carol Wipple, mistreated by her adoptive parents, Frank and Emma Jemmit.