chest. “Of course, Mr. Texel wasn't aware of the
connection, and I'm still not certain that he or one of
his other men isn't involved. It would have taken at
least two people to pull off the theft.”
“That's exactly what I thought,” Nancy said.
“Someone had to drive the van or trailer that hauled
Aristocrat away.”
“And Michael Raines was not one of the thieves,”
Klaus stated firmly.
“We don't know that for sure,” Ned said. “We saw
your stallion Salut. He sure looks like Aristocrat.”
“He should. They are brothers. When Aristocrat was
so successful, I bought Salut, importing him from
Germany this spring.” Klaus's chin dropped to his
chest. “It's a good thing, since we may never find my
Aristocrat.”
His sadness was so real that Nancy suddenly
doubted he could have been in on the horse theft. Still,
she had to ask him some questions. “Did you have an
insurance policy on Aristocrat?” she asked. She already
knew the answer, but she wanted to hear what Klaus
would say.
“Yes. Though it will never cover his present or
future worth. Anyway, money cannot replace a friend.”
Klaus's words confirmed what Nancy and Ned had
discovered. Obviously, he had no motive to steal the
horse. She remembered Gilly's reaction when Klaus
came into the stall after the theft. And what about the
scar? Nancy thought.
“Gilly told me that Aristocrat had a scar on his
hock,” she continued, watching him closely. “It's odd
that Salut has one, too.”
Anger flared in Klaus's eyes. “You went into his stall
without my being here?”
Nancy held his piercing gaze. “You asked me to
investigate, so I did.”
Klaus inhaled slowly, his face reddening. Nancy
knew he was used to being obeyed, not challenged.
“That I did,” he admitted, but his tone was cool.
“And Salut has no scar. He scraped his hock several
days ago playing in his paddock. The hair has not had a
chance to grow back in.”
Nancy was satisfied with Klaus's explanations. In
fact, everything he said made sense. “Thank you for
answering my questions. We're sorry we came on your
property without telling you. We'll head back to the
horse park to find out if Texel or the police have
located Andy Brackett.”
That sounds like a good plan.” Klaus made a
clicking sound, and immediately the dogs stood at
attention and watched him, waiting for their next
signal. “I wish I had something more to tell you about
Mr. Brackett, but he left this farm a year ago.”
“Was he fired?” Ned asked. “That might be another
reason why he chose to steal your horse.”
“Yes, I dismissed him for laziness.”
Nancy could believe that. She bet Klaus expected
his employees to jump the instant he spoke.
Nancy and Ned said goodbye. When they headed
toward the doorway at the end of the aisle, Ned gave
the rottweilers a wide berth.
Nancy didn't think Klaus would sic the dogs on
them—though, on second thought, he'd gotten quite
angry when he heard they'd been in Salut's stall.
Linking her arm through Ned's, she pulled him from
the barn. “That was a close call,” she said when they
got outside.
“Do you think Klaus suspected we'd been in his
office?” Ned asked.
“Let's hope not. He'd be furious, and I definitely
don't want a second encounter with Jaws One and
Two.”
When they rounded the corner of the barn, Nancy
paused to get her bearings. The bright sun was
blinding. They were on the opposite side from where
they had entered and had to jog back around the
building to the Mustang.
After pulling open the door, Nancy scrambled into
the seat and shut it firmly. Only when Ned was safe in
the car did she let out a sigh.
“I love dogs, but those two gave me chills,” she said
started the car.
“Me, too. Where to now? The horse park?”
“Yes. Let's hope Texel has found Andy Brackett. I
want to call the hospital, too. If Gilly's conscious, she
may be able to tell us who knocked her out. That would
sure help us solve this case.” She backed up, turned the
Mustang, and headed up the drive.
“So you've crossed Klaus off your list of suspects?”
Ned asked.
“He answered most of our questions,” Nancy said.
“Still—” She suddenly braked. Craning her neck, she
leaned forward and looked out the windshield at a
thick grove of trees and brush on the far side of the
mare and foal pasture. In the middle of the grove,
Nancy thought she'd spotted something solid and gray.
“What are you looking at?” Ned asked.
“There's something in those trees.”
Ned looked out the window. “I see it. It looks like a
metal shed.”
“Or maybe a horse trailer?” Nancy checked the
rearview mirror. They had crested the hill and were
almost to the road, so the barn was behind them, out of
sight. “Let's check it out.”
Nancy drove out to the main road, turned left, and
pulled onto the shoulder. She didn't know for sure
what was in the trees. Still, the thing looked as if it had
been hidden, concealed for a purpose, and that made
Nancy suspicious.
“What if Klaus drives out?” Ned glanced over his
shoulder.
“If he's headed back to the horse park, he'll take a
right,” Nancy said, opening her car door. “He won't see
us.”
“Unless he catches us running through his horse
pasture,” Ned said gravely.
Nancy punched him playfully on the shoulder.
“Then we'll just have to run fast.”
After locking the Mustang, she put the keys in her
pocket. Then Nancy climbed the fence and, after
checking to make sure no one was coming down the
drive, jumped into the pasture. At the same time Ned
jumped beside her, and the two of them tore across the
field.
Nancy ducked between two saplings and into the
brush, snagging her T-shirt on brambles. The grove
was wilder and thicker than she'd thought.
“If only I hadn't left my trusty machete in the car,”
Ned joked as he pushed through the briars.
Holding her bare arms high, Nancy followed him.
She was glad she'd worn long jeans. Halfway through
the tangle of honeysuckle and cedars, she spied the
gray thing about fifteen feet ahead of her. It was large
and metal, like an old shed. When she moved closer,
she knew her hunch was right—it was a horse trailer.
She caught her breath. “Ned, I think it's the trailer
from the horse park!”
“Let's see if there's a dent.” Whacking aside a
branch
, Ned made his way to the trailer. Someone had
laid cedar branches against the side as if trying to
camouflage the vehicle.
Ned knocked several branches to the ground.
“There's the dent.” He pointed to the side over the
wheel. “It has to be the same trailer. But what is it
doing here?”
“Good question.” Nancy opened the side door, half
expecting the grotesque mask to come flying out at her,
but the trailer was dark and empty.
She sniffed. “Smells like horse manure.”
“Gee, that's a big surprise.” Ned laughed.
Nancy stepped into the trailer. The net, stuffed with
what looked like fresh hay, still hung from the middle
post. Had the trailer been used to haul Aristocrat away
on the night he was stolen? she wondered.
“Nothing in there,” Nancy said as she ducked back
out. “But the fact that it's hidden makes it suspicious.
We need to get the police to check it out.” She stopped
talking, suddenly realizing that Ned wasn't there. She
looked right, then left. “Ned?”
“Around here!” he hollered from the far side of the
trailer. Nancy hurried around the hitch to find Ned
crouched, studying the ground.
“Tire tracks,” he said as he stood up. “And they're
fresh. This trailer hasn't been here long.”
Nancy followed the tracks. The briars, broom grass,
and honeysuckle were trampled in a wide path that
stretched to the edge of the grove and came out in the
pasture by the far fence.
“A pretty good hiding place,” Nancy said, walking
back to the trailer. “And I can think of only one reason
someone would want to hide this trailer in here.”
“So Klaus fooled us. He was in on the theft,” Ned
said in a low voice.
Just then Nancy heard a menacing growl behind her.
The hair stood up on the back of her neck. Ned tensed
and his eyes widened as he looked at something behind
Nancy. “Don't move,” he whispered.
“Good advice, Mr. Nickerson.”
Slowly Nancy turned her head to look over her
shoulder. Klaus stood on the path about eight feet
behind her. Beside him, Andy Brackett, still dressed in
his security uniform, a gun in a holster on his hip, held
the two rottweilers on short leashes.
“It was you who stole Aristocrat,” she said
accusingly. “You and Brackett were in it together.”
“So you figured it out,” Klaus said smoothly. “I
thought I had you convinced that it was all the doing of
the hapless Mr. Brackett.” He jerked his head toward
Andy. “But I guess I didn't. Too bad, Miss Drew,” he
continued, his voice so cold it gave Nancy shivers. “I
liked you. Now I'm afraid you and your friend will have
an unfortunate accident like poor Gilly. Only this time
we won't make a mistake.”
14. Seeing Double
You were the one who hurt Gilly!” Nancy exclaimed as
she spun to face Klaus. “Why? Did she figure out you
stole your own horse?”
Klaus made a disdainful noise in his throat. “I can
tell you haven't quite figured out my brilliant scheme
yet, Miss Drew, and that makes me feel disappointed. I
thought you were a worthy opponent.”
“Nancy discovered your trailer,” Ned said, his eyes
on the dogs. They were straining against the leash.
“You should have hidden it better.”
“That was Brackett's stupidity.” Klaus spat the last
word. “If I'd been able to pull off the heist without an
accomplice, I never would have trusted such an
incompetent person.”
Nancy threw Brackett a quick glance to see how he
was taking Klaus's insults. The guard's face reddened,
but he didn't say a word.
Her gaze shifted back to Klaus as she pondered the
statement he had just made. What did he mean when
he said she hadn't yet figured out his brilliant scheme?
“At least Brackett didn't bungle the fire and
attempted theft of the other horse,” Klaus continued.
“They were nice distractions, don't you agree? They
had Texel and his guards running every which way.”
“Why did you frame Michael for Gilly's assault?
How could you do that to someone you claim is like a
son?” Nancy asked.
Klaus snorted. “The charges against Michael will
never stick, though the frame-up went perfectly, except
for you, Miss Drew. It was our misfortune that you
scared Brackett away before he could silence Gilly for
good.”
“So you were the shadow I saw sneaking off,” Nancy
said to the guard.
Klaus arched an eyebrow. “He was. I was the person
who drove the station wagon from the parking lot.
Brackett ran from the barn, signaled to me, then hid.”
“You had Michael's pass?” Ned asked.
“Slipped it off his dresser. Piece of cake, as you kids
say.”
“Klaus, what are we going to do with these two?”
Andy Brackett finally spoke. His voice was squeaky and
lacked confidence. He wasn't the mastermind behind
the theft, Nancy decided, but he must have been the
perfect accomplice—easy to boss around.
“We'll take them back to the farm. Texel and the
police already suspect you're the thief, Brackett. I'll say
the two nosy teens discovered you trying to steal Salut,
so you shot them, then ran off when I drove up.”
“Sh-shot them?” Brackett stammered, raising his
eyebrows. He opened his mouth as if to protest, but
shut it quickly when Klaus spoke.
“You have a better idea?” the trainer snapped.
“Don't worry, I'll give you enough money to leave the
country. When this is over, I'll have lots of money.”
He turned back to Ned and Nancy. “Now get
moving.” He nodded toward the tracks leading from
the grove. “We've got to do this quickly. I will not allow
two kids to ruin what took me years to plan.”
Arms crossed, Nancy stood her ground a minute
while her mind searched for a way out of the mess they
were in. She and Ned couldn't just walk back to the
farm. Once there, they'd be sitting ducks for whatever
evil ending Klaus had in mind.
Narrowing his eyes, Klaus gave her a look of
warning. “Do not doubt that Andy will turn the dogs on
you at any time. He has trained them well. I can claim
they were just doing their job when they found you
trespassing on my property, but it would be a messy
and painful way to go.”
Nancy stifled a shudder. Linking his hand with hers,
Ned tugged her gently toward the path. “Come on,
Nancy. Let's do as he says.”
Reluctantly, Nancy went with him. Klaus, Andy, and
the two dogs followed right behind. They stepped into
the pasture, startling the mares and foals, who quit
grazing long enough to stare at them.
They walked down the hill toward the barn, Nancy's
mind racing as she
tried to figure out Klaus's scheme.
He said the crime had taken him years to plan and he
was going to make lots of money. Obviously, there was
more to his scheme than the theft of one horse.
Since Klaus wouldn't receive that much insurance
money from the loss of Aristocrat, he had to be making
more money somehow. That was the puzzle. Unless . . .
Unless Aristocrat hadn't been stolen.
Gilly's hurried remark about not finding the scar on
Aristocrat's hock stuck in Nancy's mind. If the horse at
the park wasn't Aristocrat, then Klaus would get the
insurance money—and he'd still have his horse. But
what could he do with a horse that was supposed to
have been stolen?
“Tell me, Klaus.” Nancy slowed so she'd be walking
right in front of the trainer. “How long did it take you
to find a ringer for Aristocrat?”
“So you are finally putting it together, are you?”
Klaus replied, a touch of admiration in his voice. “I
hoped to be able to share my brilliance with someone
who would appreciate it.”
“I know you're a smart man,” Nancy said. “You
wouldn't have planned something as risky as the theft
of your own horse unless you could count on a big
payoff. The insurance money obviously won't be
enough.”
They reached the fence in front of the barn.
Stopping in the shade of a huge tree, Nancy faced him.
“So you had another horse stolen, one that everybody
thought was Aristocrat—everybody except Gilly.”
“Yes, she figured it out, poor girl. She didn't even
have to say anything. I knew it from the way she
avoided me like a frightened rabbit.”
“Then which horse was stolen?” Ned asked. He had
climbed the fence and swung one leg over so he was
straddling it. Below him, the dogs stared up hungrily.
“Tell them about the horse you stole, Brackett,”
Klaus said gruffly.
“Uh, I took that horse to an auction. The killers
bought him.”
“Killers!” Nancy exclaimed.
Klaus chuckled. “Yup. Right now he's being hauled
to a slaughterhouse, where they'll turn him into dog
food.”
“That's sick,” Ned declared. “I thought you were a
horse lover.”
Klaus shrugged. “I had no ties to that horse. Andy
discovered our Aristocrat look-alike in someone's
backyard. It took a month to condition his coat and