An Instinct for Trouble, Page 5

  As she pushed the drawer closed, she noticed that it seemed to be sticking. She pulled it all the way out and held it up so she could see the underside. There was a manila envelope taped to the bottom of the drawer.

  Carefully removing it, she opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of fax paper. There were no headings, simply a list of animals, each followed by a dollar amount and one or two locations. She scanned the list, her eyes stopping at an entry that said: “Whistling Marmot—$400-$500—Yellowstone Park.” Someone had inked a little star next to it.

  Shocked, Nancy realized that she was looking at a list of how much wild animals would bring on the black market.

  Taking care not to crease the fragile sheet, Nancy put it back in the envelope and retaped it to the underside of the drawer. Then she took one last peek at the room to make sure she hadn’t left anything out of place and slipped out the door.

  On the way downstairs, she told Bess what she had found.

  “Well, that settles it,” Bess declared. “I knew right from the start that Edith and Gerald weren’t ordinary tourists. They’re in the marmot black market up to their necks.”

  Nancy frowned. “I still think someone from the Emerson group has to be involved, too. All the thefts, not to mention Brad’s and Ned’s injuries, point to an inside job.”

  “What’s next, Nan?” Bess asked.

  “Let’s head out and find Richard and Piker. I want to ask them a few questions about what they were discussing with the Turkowers,” she said.

  • • •

  Bess rolled down her car window, but the breeze was too chilly, so she put it up again.

  The road led along the bank of the Firehole River, kept warm by the hot springs in its bed. A layer of white mist hid the surface of the water. Nancy slowed down as they passed the Fountain Paint Pots, a series of pools turned vivid colors by the algae that lived in them. All at once she hit the brakes.

  “What is it?” Bess asked, alarmed. “Is something wrong?”

  “Look—in the middle of those aspens,” Nancy replied, pointing.

  “What is it?” Bess repeated. “A bear?”

  “No, it’s a van,” Nancy said. “And if I’m not mistaken, it’s the same one that tried to run me off the road this morning.”

  “Are you sure?” Bess gasped.

  Nancy nodded and pulled onto the shoulder of the road. Getting out, she walked down a dirt trail toward the half-concealed van. As she approached, she saw the words Minden Linen painted on the side.

  “This is it,” she said over her shoulder. “You can see the dent where it grazed off the tree. And look.” She pointed to a streak of white paint on the bumper. “That’s from our car.”

  Bess glanced around nervously. “Do you think the people who did it are still around?”

  “I doubt it,” Nancy said. She pulled open the driver’s side door and peered inside. The keys were in the ignition. “I’m going to search the cab. Keep an eye out for me, okay?”

  “Just make it quick,” Bess urged.

  Hastily Nancy climbed into the cab and opened the glove compartment. She found nothing except the registration and insurance card, both issued to the linen supply company. Under the seat, she found a creased map of the park. She was climbing out when she suddenly heard a thumping sound.

  Beth paled. “Nancy, let’s get out of here.”

  The sound came again, louder this time.

  “There’s someone in the back of the van!” Nancy exclaimed. She ran around to the rear doors and yanked the handle down. It was locked. “Bess, grab the keys. They’re in the ignition.”

  Bess grabbed the large key ring, then dashed back to Nancy with it. The third key worked, and she yanked the door open.

  The van was piled with neatly folded linen, and lying on a pile of towels in the center was a middle-aged man with round, wild eyes. His hands and feet were tied, and in his mouth was a gag.

  Chapter

  Eight

  NANCY AND BESS scrambled into the van and quickly released the man.

  “Mr. Heckleby?” Nancy inquired as the man rubbed his chafed wrists. He nodded.

  “Are you all right?” Bess asked.

  “I’ve been better,” he replied, massaging his ankles. “But I sure am glad you came along. I’ve been tied up for hours.”

  “What happened?” Nancy asked.

  Heckleby pushed back his unruly gray hair. “Beats me,” he said. “I was driving along near Madison Junction when I saw a car blocking the road. I stopped and got out to see if I could help, and someone grabbed me from behind. I felt something jab my arm. When I woke up I was hogtied and gagged on the floor of the van.”

  “You must have been drugged!” Nancy exclaimed. “Whoever it was hijacked your truck and tried to run me off the road with it.”

  “Who would do a thing like that? And why?” he demanded.

  “I don’t know,” Nancy replied, remembering the missing syringes and tranquilizer vials at the campsite.

  The girls helped Heckleby out of the van. “I’d better call the office and have them get a ranger over here.” He reached into the cab for his radio.

  Less than ten minutes later a park service cruiser pulled up behind Nancy’s car and two officers got out. They introduced themselves as Rangers Dillon and Cramer and took statements from both Nancy and Heckleby.

  Before leaving, the officers offered to drive Heckleby to the hospital in Gardiner, but he said he was too far behind on his rounds already. After thanking Nancy and Bess for rescuing him, he got into the van and drove off.

  Nancy was silent as she started the car and swung onto the road.

  “What are you thinking, Nan?” Bess asked.

  Nancy told her about the syringes.

  “You think someone from Ned’s group drugged Mr. Heckleby and tried to kill you?”

  “I can’t really narrow it down that far,” Nancy replied slowly. “Anyone could have taken the spare key to the command post.”

  Nancy drove past Madison Junction toward the Emerson campsite. “We need to find out where everyone was this morning around ten. That’s when I was forced off the road.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Bess promised.

  As Nancy got out of the car, she heard hammering. Squinting against the afternoon sun, she spotted Richard and Piker about fifty yards away. “Come on,” she said to Bess in a low voice. They approached the workers, who were lining up long, smooth planks of wood and nailing them to stout crosspieces.

  “Hi!” Bess called gaily. “Building a new walkway?”

  The two men raised their heads. Piker’s face was expressionless, but Richard gave Bess a slight grin. “Yeah,” he answered.

  “Why here?” Bess asked. “There aren’t any geysers around, are there?”

  “Princess Geyser is about a half mile north,” Richard explained.

  “This looks like a big job,” Nancy commented. “How long have you been at it?”

  “Since first thing this morning,” he said. “Why?”

  Nancy acted puzzled. “No reason, except that I thought I saw you in Gardiner this morning.”

  Richard chuckled. “Must have been my double, because I’ve been here all day.”

  Nancy and Bess headed through the woods to the campsite. Jack was beside the command post, checking out the assignment sheet. When he saw them, he smiled and yelled, “Well, hello there.”

  His gaze moved warmly from Nancy to Bess and back again. Bess moved close to him and said, “Hello yourself. It seems like ages since I saw you. Have you been having an exciting day?”

  Nancy smothered a laugh. Bess might be falling in love, but as promised, she was trying to help out with the case.

  “Oh, very exciting,” Jack replied, his smile broadening. “This morning Ned and I started packing up station four. Then came the high point—I repaired a park service slide projector. I tell you, the life of a park ranger is full of thrills!”

  Bess giggled.

  �
��Is Ned still around?” Nancy asked.

  “He was up at feeding station one a while back,” Jack told her.

  “I think I’ll hike up there,” Nancy told Bess.

  “Go ahead,” she replied. “I’ll stay here.”

  Nancy was about halfway up the hill when she heard a shrill whistling sound. Startled, she stopped and looked around. It came again from a clump of bushes about sixty feet to the left of the path. She made her way there and cautiously parted the scraggly branches, then let out a cry.

  Under the bushes was a wire trap just like the one Ned had showed her the day before. Inside was a little marmot. One of its hind legs was caught in the door and was badly swollen.

  Nancy’s first impulse was to run for help, but she couldn’t bear to leave the suffering creature. She knew that handling an injured animal could be dangerous, so she took the scarf from around her neck and wrapped it around her hand. Even if the marmot tried to bite her, the scarf would keep its teeth from breaking her skin. She knelt down and opened the door, gingerly freeing the marmot’s leg.

  “There, there,” she crooned as she slowly withdrew her hand. “You’ll be all right now.”

  Just then she heard Bess’s voice shouting. “Nancy, where are you?”

  “Over here,” Nancy yelled. She shut the cage door and stood up as Bess and Jack came hurrying up the path.

  Bess was huffing when she reached Nancy’s side. “What happened? We heard a terrible noise.”

  Jack came to a stop behind Bess. “I told her it was a marmot,” he said.

  “You’re right, it is a marmot. See? Its leg was caught in the trap.”

  “Oh, no!” Bess gasped. “Is it badly hurt?”

  Jack bent down and carefully examined the animal, then stood up, his face angry. “His leg’s not broken, but he’s definitely hurt,” he told them. “Let’s take him back to camp. We’ll clean the cut and bandage it.”

  “Can I help, Jack?” Bess asked, her eyes fixed on the injured animal.

  “Of course.” Jack’s face relaxed into a smile. “With a pretty angel of mercy like you, this little guy will recover in no time.”

  “Are you coming, Nancy?” Bess asked.

  Nancy shook her head. “I’m going up to the feeding station to see if Ned’s still there.” As she made her way up the hill, she kept thinking about the marmot. Had the thieves overlooked that trap when they collected the other marmots, or were they starting to trap more?

  When she approached the fenced-off area, she saw Ned and Jennifer, their heads close together, making some adjustments to one of the time-lapse cameras. The sight made her a little uneasy. She took a deep breath, pasted a confident smile on her face, and called out, “Hi, guys.”

  “Nancy!” Ned dashed over and gave her a big hug and a quick kiss.

  Nancy’s spirits soared; Ned wasn’t angry with her any longer. She turned to find Jennifer watching them, a hint of challenge in her eyes.

  “I can finish up here by myself if you want to take a break,” Jennifer said. “We got a lot accomplished today. Nancy, will you be at the square dance tonight? It should be lots of fun. Ned, don’t forget you promised me a Virginia reel.”

  Ned shifted his feet uncomfortably. “Oh, I won’t,” he said, then turned to Nancy. “I worked straight through lunch, so I’m due an hour or so. You want to drive to Mammoth Hot Springs? It’s my favorite place in the park.”

  She touched his arm lightly. “That would be great.” They walked down the hill and stopped at the campsite to tell Bess and Jack where she was going. Bess was so occupied with helping Jack that she only nodded.

  Ned led Nancy to one of the camp’s Jeeps. The top was down so Nancy zipped up her jacket before climbing in.

  During the twenty-minute drive, Nancy told Ned everything that had happened since she’d last seen him. She mentioned the Turkowers, the attack on the road, and how she’d found the linen service driver bound and gagged in his van.

  Ned was appalled to learn how close Nancy had come to being run off the road. “You’ve got to be more careful, Nan,” he said anxiously. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

  She felt a sudden glow. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing,” she told him. “And anyway, what about you? I’m not the one who got himself knocked out. How’s your head today?”

  Ned lifted one hand from the wheel to touch the back of his head, where it was bandaged. “It’s still there,” he joked. “I can take this bandage off tomorrow, though.”

  “I hope you’ve been taking it easy.”

  “Are you kidding?” he exclaimed. “We have to wrap up everything by Saturday. I’ve been going like crazy since daybreak. We all have.”

  He pulled the Jeep onto an embankment and parked. “Come on,” he said, pocketing the keys. “From here we walk.”

  They crossed the road and made their way up the path.

  “Mammoth Hot Springs is a twenty-foot-high stack of limestone with one side cut away by erosion,” Ned told her. “And it’s gorgeous. Look.”

  Nancy gasped in delight as they cleared the trees, and she saw steaming water flowing softly down a series of stone terraces that looked like giant multicolored steps. Near the top the stones were pure white, but farther down they were splashed with red, brown, pink, and tan.

  “At the top the water is so hot that nothing can live on the stones,” Ned told her. “But the water cools off as it flows downward, allowing algae to grow on the lower terraces. That’s why those ledges are so many different colors.”

  “It’s beautiful!” Nancy exclaimed.

  “I wanted to be sure you saw this,” he said, putting his arm around her waist. “But I’m afraid I have to get right back to camp. You can’t imagine how much work we still have to do.”

  After another long look at the limestone terraces, they reluctantly headed back to the car.

  “How’s the case going, Nancy?” Ned asked as he drove back to the campsite.

  “I’m making some progress, but not a lot,” she said. “I’ve got too many suspects. Anyone could have taken the key from under the rock by the command post, which means I have to consider outsiders, like Piker and Richard.”

  Ned nodded. “Well, if the key was stolen, Professor Trainey obviously didn’t do it. He’s got one of his own.”

  Nancy remained silent for a moment, then told Ned the news about the grant extension. He looked crushed. “Dan didn’t say a word about it,” he began. “I guess he’s too upset.”

  “It’s awful, I know,” Nancy said carefully. “And I’m afraid I’ve still got to watch the professor. He must be pretty desperate for money now.”

  Ned’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the wheel tighter. “That’s ridiculous. Professor Trainey is the last person on earth who’d get involved in poaching marmots—no matter how hard up he is,” he said indignantly.

  Nancy took a deep breath. “Try to see it objectively. He’s got a strong motive. And he has complete access to the equipment. I can’t rule him out on your say-so.”

  Ned was silent for a long time. As he pulled into the parking area, he finally spoke. “I’m beginning to wish I’d never asked you to help. Some help! Doesn’t the poor guy have enough problems just trying to get this part of the project completed by Saturday? If you can’t manage to leave Dan Trainey alone, you’d better just turn around and go back to River Heights!”

  Nancy’s anger spoke for her. “I don’t think you want this case solved! You’re more interested in protecting your precious professor and not offending dear Jennifer than you are in finding out who’s been poaching marmots.”

  “At least Jennifer pays attention to what I say,” Ned retorted hotly.

  Nancy knew, even as the words rose to her lips, that she was going to regret them. She couldn’t stop herself though. “Is Jennifer willing to shut her eyes to the truth just because you tell her to?” she demanded. “Then all I can say, Ned Nickerson, is that the two of you deserve each other!
”

  Chapter

  Nine

  IF THAT’S THE WAY you feel, I guess I know what to do about it!” Ned jumped out of the Jeep and stomped away.

  Nancy sat still. What had Ned meant? Did he want to break up?

  She started to follow him up to the campsite but then checked her steps. Maybe she should wait a bit to give him a chance to cool off. In the meantime she decided to talk to Bess.

  Nancy found her at feeding station 1, stroking the injured marmot through the bars of its cage.

  “Oh, Nancy,” Bess said, “look at Spike. Isn’t he adorable?” Her blue eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

  In spite of the way she felt, Nancy managed a faint smile. “Spike?”

  “I call him that because of the way his fur stands up around his head,” Bess explained. “Look, Jack bandaged Spike’s leg while I held him. The little guy didn’t even try to bite me. So how did things go with Ned?” Bess asked, glancing at her. Then she quickly added, “Uh-oh. Not so well, huh?”

  “No,” Nancy said. She gave Bess a full account of their most recent argument, including their parting words.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Bess replied, frowning. “But you don’t really think that Ned and Jennifer . . .”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Nancy said. “They’ve been together every day for two and a half weeks now. But I’m sorry I said what I did—even if I meant every word of it!”

  Nancy heard footsteps. Hoping it was Ned, she spun around eagerly. It was Professor Trainey. She couldn’t help letting out a sigh of disappointment.

  Trainey nodded to her and gave Bess a distracted glance, then bent down to peer inside the cage. “This must be the little fellow Jack told me about,” he said.

  “He’s so cute,” Bess announced. “Maybe in my next life I’ll come back as a marmot.”

  Trainey actually smiled at her—it was the first time Nancy had seen him happy.

  Bess turned to Nancy and said, “Come on, let’s go check out a few sights while the light’s still good. We’ll have plenty of time to eat dinner and change before the square dance.”