An Instict for Trouble Read online

  ing for jobs and had listed Hopper and Wade as a reference.

  “Gee, I’m sorry, but I don’t recognize the names,” the woman said. “Just a minute, let me punch them into our computer.” Nancy held her breath as the woman put her on hold.

  Finally, she heard a click over the line. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have a record of anyone with either of those names. Are you sure you have the right company?”

  “Yes,” Nancy replied. “Well, thanks very much.” She hung up. “Richard and Piker lied on their applications,” she told Martin.

  “That’s enough to get them fired. It’s strange -we usually check references,” Martin said.

  “But it doesn’t prove that they’re poachers-

  only liars. Come on, I’ll get those sleeping bags and air mattresses for you.”

  They loaded the gear into the trunk, then Martin said, “I’ll see you later,” and went back inside.

  At the hotel Nancy found Bess sitting in the lobby, wearing a blue workshirt and well-cut blue denim overalls. “I’m all ready to go camping,” she announced. “At least, as ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “What’s with the Turkowers?”

  “The desk clerk told me they went off for a day-long hike through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,” Bess replied dutifully.

  “I wonder if that’s where they really are,”

  Nancy said, then explained that she’d gotten mattresses and sleeping bags from Martin but had to go back for the tent. “I’ll drop you off at the campsite first,” she went on a little tensely.

  “I want you to keep track of the professor.”

  Fifteen minutes later Nancy watched Bess trudge up the path to the campsite, two sleep-

  ing bags slung over her shoulder and a suitcase in her left hand.

  Back at the ranger station. Nancy found a very grim Martin Robbins. “I checked out the other references those clowns gave,” he re-

  ported. “Every one of them a fake. They’re out of here first thing Monday morning whether you turn up anything against them or not. My next job will be to find out how they got through the hiring process in the first place.

  The system is supposed to prevent this kind of thing.”

  “This place is deserted,” Bess told Nancy back at the campsite. “Everyone went off to the feeding stations to pack up.”

  “What about Trainey?” Nancy asked.

  “That’s the weird thing,” Bess replied. “I went up to the command post a while ago and noticed the professor riming through a stack of photos. When he got to one of them, he got livid. I mean, his face turned bright red and he stalked off to his tent, then hopped into a Jeep and blew out of here.” She stared at her friend.

  “What do you think it means?”

  “I have no idea,” Nancy replied.

  “Jack acted strange, too,” Bess continued, frowning. “I asked him to help me feed Spike, but he brushed me off. I don’t understand it.

  Just last night he was saying he could get really serious about me and today you’d think I had the plague.”

  “I don’t know quite how to say this,” Nancy said slowly, “but Jack has been more or less flirting with me, too.”

  “Really?” Bess’s eyes grew round with sur-

  prise.

  Nancy nodded.

  Bess was silent for a long time. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she shook her head and angrily wiped them away. Finally she said, “You must think I’m a real idiot, falling for such a total phony. He was faking his interest in me the whole time, wasn’t he?”

  Nancy shook her head. “He’s very convinc-

  ing,”-she said. “And maybe he is sincere in a way. He may be one of those guys who doesn’t feel good about himself unless he’s got some-

  body falling in love with him. So he convinces himself that the lines he’s passing out are true.”

  Bess straightened up, then put on a smile.

  “Believe me, from now on I’m staying away from him.”

  “Come on, Bess,” Nancy said to change the subject. “This is the perfect opportunity to search Trainey’s tent.”

  Bess became alarmed. “But he might come back at any time!”

  “You can stand outside and keep watch.”

  “Well-okay,” Bess said reluctantly.

  The two girls walked across the campground that was half packed already. Nancy looked at the piles of boxes with a feeling of urgency. She had to get to the bottom of things before time ran out.

  While Bess stood guard in front of Trainey’s tent. Nancy slipped inside. There was a sleep-

  ing bag spread out atop an army cot, a single, well-worn suitcase, and a folding table with a laptop computer. Nancy knelt down and opened the suitcase, but all it contained were clean, neatly folded clothes. She turned her attention to a few papers next to the computer, which turned out to be notes for a report on the project.

  Trainey’s green coat and floppy green hat were lying on the cot. Nancy picked them up and felt through the coat pockets. In the inside pocket was an envelope that contained a single photograph. It was too dark to make it out. She put the coat and hat back the way they had been and hurried outside.

  “What is it?” Bess demanded. “Did you find something?”

  “Yes, this picture.” In the bright sunshine, it was easy to distinguish the figure of a person in a green coat and green hat walking out of the hut by feeding station 1. The hat and coat were Trainey’s!

  Bess flashed her friend a puzzled look.

  “What’s so important about this picture?”

  Nancy pointed. “Look at the date and time at the bottom.”

  Bess read, then counted on her fingers.

  “Nancy!” she exclaimed. “That was just be-

  fore the propane stove exploded. That proves it! Trainey caused Brad’s accident!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  This picture is proof. Nancy,” Bess re-

  peated. “Trainey had to have tampered with the stove.”

  “I’m not positive, Bess,” Nancy said. “The picture’s too blurry. It could be anybody wear-

  ing that hat and coat, and if it is Trainey, why would he keep such an incriminating picture?

  Why not destroy it?”

  Bess gave the photograph back to Nancy. “I don’t know.”

  “And besides,” Nancy continued, “it seems likely that this is the picture that made Trainey so upset. What if this isn’t Trainey? When he saw it, he must have realized that somebody was trying to frame him. He may even have figured out who.”

  Nancy scrutinized the photograph. The flop-

  py hat and turned-up collar of the coat made an effective disguise. All that showed of the person’s face was one cheek and part of the nose.

  Frustrated, she was about to put the photo away when she noticed a small white spot on the person’s nose. She studied it closely but couldn’t tell what it was. It could just be a speck of dust on the lens of the enlarger.

  She slipped the photo into her pocket just as she heard Ned, Jennifer, and Alicia come down the path from the feeding station.

  “Welcome to Camp Marmotville,” Alicia called.

  “Thanks,” Nancy replied. “How’s it going?”

  “We’ve got the packing under control,” Jen-

  nifer said. “Hey, you haven’t seen my dad, have you?”

  “He left here in a Jeep about forty-five minutes ago,” Bess reported.

  Jennifer frowned. “Huh. He was supposed to meet us up the hill, but he never showed up.

  I think I’ll check the other feeding stations.

  Maybe a problem came up.” She walked off toward the road.

  “Are those maintenance guys around to-

  day?” Nancy asked.

  “I haven’t seen them,” Ned replied.

  “What about Jack?” Nancy went on. “Is he still at the feeding station?”

  “No. He came through about an hour ago but said he had paperwork to d
o,” Ned ex-

  plained. “I’m sure he’ll show up in a little while.”

  “So you guys moved out here just in time for our big cookout,” Alicia said, smiling.

  “Cookout?” Bess asked with interest.

  “Our farewell dinner,” Alicia explained.

  “To celebrate the end of stage two of the study.

  I’m about to make potato salad. Anyone want to help?”

  Bess gave Nancy an inquiring look, then said, “Sure, I’m game.”

  As they walked away. Nancy told Ned about Richard and Piker’s references. “Can you get away? I want to check those guys out.”

  “Sure,” Ned said. “I’ll just take the time.”

  “I’m a little concerned about Professor Trainey now, Ned,” Nancy said as she started the car and headed for the western entrance of the park.

  She told Ned about the photograph she found in Trainey’s tent. “What if I’ve been wrong about him? If he knew who was in that photo and went to confront him, he could be in danger.”

  “Do you think we should go back and look for him?” Ned asked.

  Nancy shook her head. “Let’s leave that to Jennifer for now.”

  The narrow road led down into a valley and across a railroad track into a town. She turned onto the main street. It was lined with two-

  story wood frame buildings and resembled the set for a western.

  Just past the business district was a white building with a green slate roof. The sign out front identified it as the town hall. Nancy parked, and they walked in.

  The Ashland Police Department occupied one big room on the ground floor. A husky man of about thirty was sitting at one of the two desks. The name plate on the desk said Chief Tucker. As Nancy and Ned approached the counter separating the waiting area from the office, he raised his head with a friendly smile. “Hi, folks, can I help you?”

  Nancy introduced herself and Ned and ex-

  plained that they were investigating a poach-

  ing scheme in Yellowstone Park. “You can call Chief Ranger Robbins to check us out,” she added.

  “Thanks, I’ll do that.” He swiveled to face the telephone and spoke for a couple of min-

  utes, then turned back to them. “Well, now, Nancy and Ned, what can I do for you?”

  “We need information about two men named Richard Geismar and Piker Slattery,”

  Nancy said. “According to their files, they grew up in Ashland.”

  Tucker frowned. “Those names don’t ring a bell, but I’ve only been here three years.” He went over to the file cabinets along the back wall. “We’ve got files here that go back pretty far,” he remarked as he flipped through one of the drawers. “If either of these guys were ever involved in anything illegal, it should show in this drawer. Ah, here we go.”

  He returned to his desk with two manila folders and began to leaf through them. “Well, well,” he said. “Definitely not model citizens.

  Vandalism, grand theft auto, breaking and entering, arson. They did time for that one.”

  “Wow,” Ned said. “It looks like you were right to suspect them, Nancy.”

  Tucker showed her a photo of a much young-

  er Piker. “That’s one of them,” she confirmed.

  “You watch your step with these fellows,”

  Tucker said. “You know who could tell you all about them? Margery Milliken, the principal at the consolidated high school before she retired. Go down to the end of the street and turn right,” he said, gesturing. “It’s a white house. I’ll call to tell her you’re coming.”

  Nancy thanked Tucker for his help, and she and Ned returned to the car. They found the house easily. The woman waiting on the porch steps was wearing a dark skirt and a white blouse. Her gray hair was twisted up in a french roll. A pair of reading glasses dangled from her neck.

  “Ms. Drew, Mr. Nickerson? I’m Margery Milliken. I understand you want some infor-

  mation about two of my former students.

  Come in.”

  She motioned them to the sofa. “Now, what do you want to know about Richard and Piker?”

  “Whatever you can tell us,” Nancy replied.

  The woman tightened her lips, then shook her head sadly. “Not among my successes, I’m afraid. They both had bad records in school.

  But I think they might have straightened out if it hadn’t been for Jeff Barnes. He was a year younger than they, but there was no question who was the ringleader, especially at the end.”

  “What happened?” Ned asked.

  Ms. Milliken clicked her tongue. “One night the three of them stole a car. When it ran low on gas, they broke into a filling station about twenty miles west of here. To cover their tracks, they set the place on fire, but something went wrong. Jeff’s hand was badly burned, and of course they were caught. Richard and Piker went to jail, but Jeff was still a juvenile, so he was given a suspended sentence. The Barnes family moved away right after that, and Rich-

  ard and Piker have never shown their faces around here since.

  “Thank you so much,” Nancy said. They chatted a little while longer. Then Nancy and Ned told Ms. Milliken goodbye and returned to the car. Ned offered to drive.

  Nancy was certain now that Richard and Piker were involved in the poaching, but they didn’t sound like the organizers. Who then? If that Jeff Barnes were around, he’d be a perfect candidate.

  By the time they got back to camp, the sun was low in the sky. Preparations for the cook-

  out were in full swing.

  “Ned?” Alicia asked. “Could you bring that big table from the shed? Jack said he’d do it this morning, but he never showed up.”

  “Sure,” Ned said, and headed off.

  “Is your father back?” Nancy asked Jenni-

  fer.

  Jennifer was obviously worried. “No, and I can’t understand it. Where can he be?”

  Nancy wanted to say something reassuring, but she was worried herself.

  When darkness fell. Nancy helped Ned build a fire while Bess set out plates, napkins, and bowls of cole slaw and potato salad. The hamburgers and franks tasted delicious, but Professor Trainey’s absence spoiled the good time. People kept glancing over their shoulders into the surrounding darkness, then inching closer to the fire.

  “Maybe Jack and the professor went off together and had car trouble,” Alicia sug-

  gested.

  Jennifer shook her head. “Jack has a two-

  way radio in his car,” she pointed out. “All rangers do. He could have called the station and had somebody come by with a message.”

  Nancy’s thoughts spun. What if her original idea, that Trainey was the head of the poach-

  ers, was right after all, and Jack had discovered it? Trainey and his gang might be holding Jack captive to keep him from interfering with the last phase of the operation.

  As the party broke up, Nancy took Ned and Bess aside. “We have to take turns keeping watch tonight,” she told them, checking her watch. “It’s just eleven. I’ll take the first two hours, then Ned can spell me.”

  Bess nodded and quickly ducked into the tent, leaving Nancy and Ned alone in the moonlight.

  “Should I stay with you?” Ned asked. “It might be safer.”

  Nancy put her arms around his neck. “I’d love you to, but you might distract me from my job. Besides, you need to rest before your shift.”

  “All right. Be careful, Nan,” Ned whispered.

  He gave her a lingering kiss, then went to his tent.

  Nancy watched him go with a sense of regret and loneliness. She crossed the campground to the spot she had picked out earlier, next to a large lodgepole pine. It gave her a clear view of the campsite but kept her hidden in deep shadows.

  The camp grew quiet. In the distance an owl hooted. Somewhere closer, an animal crept stealthily through the underbrush. Nancy shiv-

  ered and pulled the zipper of her jacket up higher. Ghostly wisps of white fog began to
drift by. Nancy shifted her position, folded her arms tight against her chest, and scanned the camp.

  As the minutes ticked by, she felt her eyes closing. So she decided to walk around to keep from falling asleep. She circled the camp-

  ground, then walked halfway down the road that led to the highway. Stopping just before the last bend, she saw a truck move by, its empty rear end rattling.

  She tensed. It seemed odd to be traveling through the park at that hour. Without stop-

  ping to think, she raced down the road, reach-

  ing the highway just in time to see the truck turn into the woods about a quarter of a mile east. It looked to Nancy to be near the spot where Piker and Richard had been working on the new trail.

  She jogged to the place where the truck had disappeared, realizing that there was a dirt access road there. The maintenance men had probably used it to move supplies into their work area.

  Nancy turned in and kept running. She’d covered about a half a mile when she saw the truck parked up ahead. She slowed and made her way up to it cautiously.

  She heard a low voice on the far side of the cab. It was Richard! A flashlight clicked on, illuminating the figures of the two mainte-

  nance men.

  “Hurry up,” Piker said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  “Yeah,” Richard replied. “I’m not looking forward to carrying all those cages.”

  Nancy’s spine stiffened. That meant the marmots had to be stashed someplace near-

  by.

  The two men began moving forward. Nancy followed at a safe distance. The access road ended about twenty feet beyond the truck, dwindling into a path that wound up a hill-

  side.

  Her calf muscles were feeling the strain of the climb, and she began to notice that the trees were thinning out. Nancy spied a cabin to the right of the trail. Piker unlocked the door and the two of them went inside.

  Nancy circled the cabin and saw a small window in the back. She crept up to it, pulled herself up, and peered in through the dusty pane.

  Her breath caught in her throat. Lining the walls were dozens of cages of marmots. Nancy could hear Piker. “That tranquilizer is strong.