Nancy drove down the hill. Even though no vehicles were around, a caretaker could be on the premises. “If we do meet someone, we’ll say we met Klaus at the show and he sent us to see his yearlings. That way, we’ll at least get a tour of the place.”
Ned chuckled. “Like we have the money to buy a horse.”
Nancy parked. As soon as she switched off the engine, she heard dogs barking from somewhere around back.
Ned furrowed his brow. “They sound big and mean.”
“Let’s hope they’re penned,” Nancy said. She opened the car door, then waited. No dogs came barreling around the barn. “I think we may be okay.”
Cautiously Ned opened his own door and climbed out. When he shut it, it made a sound as loud as a shotgun blast. “If that doesn’t bring someone—or some critter—running, then there’s probably no one here.”
“We’d better hurry, though, before someone does show up.” Nancy headed toward the barn. A set of double doors opened onto a wide aisle. She stepped inside. It was cool and dark out of the sun. Stalls flanked the aisle. As Nancy walked past them, she noted the brass name tag over each stall door.
“All of the horses must be outside,” Nancy said as she looked into an empty stall. Then she heard a nicker and the thud of a hoof banging a wooden wall. “Almost all,” she corrected.
The two hurried down the aisle. Nancy stopped in front of a closed wire-mesh stall door. The name tag read Salut.
“This must be Klaus’s other stallion,” Nancy guessed. The horse moved in front of the door and pressed his nose against the screen. “Hi, big guy,” she crooned as she studied him.
Nancy frowned and moved closer. “Wow. This horse could be a ringer for Aristocrat. He’s the same color, with no white markings.”
“That’s interesting,” Ned said. “How do we know he’s not Aristocrat?” Ned asked.
“We don’t know,” Nancy said. “But I know how to find out. Before she was hurt, Gilly told me to look for the scar on Aristocrat’s hock. Remember? That’s the way to identify him.”
She unlatched the stall door. “This stallion is wearing a halter. If you hold him, I’ll check his hind leg.”
“I hope he doesn’t bite.” Ned followed her into the stall. The big horse snorted suspiciously, but stood quietly while Ned held the cheekpiece of his halter.
“Easy, guy,” Nancy soothed. Talking quietly, she moved around to the stallion’s flank. Gilly hadn’t said which hock, so she needed to check both.
Putting her left hand on his right flank, Nancy rubbed him to let him know she was there. He was such a powerful horse that one kick would have sent her flying.
“Just looking to see if you have a scar,” she told him. Reaching down, she felt the joint in the hind leg. She probed the smooth hair gently until her fingers found a rough, jagged spot running along the inside of the leg.
“Ned!” Nancy whispered excitedly. “I found the scar Gilly was talking about!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. So that means either this is Aristocrat or Salut is his twin in every way.”
“And if this is Aristocrat, then your hunch was right—Klaus stole his own horse,” Ned said grimly.
“But why would he steal his own horse and then house him in his barn?” Turning, Nancy gave the horse a solid pat on his neck.
“Someone other than Gilly could have figured out that this is Aristocrat.” As the stallion nuzzled her fingers, she frowned in confusion. “Unless…” She thought a minute, trying to make sense of it all. “Unless the horse that was stolen wasn’t Aristocrat. I remember Gilly telling me that she couldn’t find his scar. Maybe when she bathed him, she suddenly realized that the horse at the show wasn’t Aristocrat at all.”
“Why would Klaus pass off another horse as Aristocrat, then steal it?” Ned asked.
Nancy gave the horse one more pat, then followed Ned from the stall.
“And if that is Aristocrat in there”—Ned jerked his thumb toward the horse—“then who and where is Salut?”
Nancy locked the stall door behind her. “There’ve got to be answers to all our questions somewhere.”
“I’ll bet Klaus Schaudt knows the answers,” Ned said.
“I doubt that he’ll volunteer any information,” Nancy said. Hands on hips, she looked up and down the aisle. “We’ll have to hunt for the answers ourselves. Let’s try searching the office.”
“That must be it.” Grabbing Nancy’s hand, Ned led her down the aisle to a closed door. “Let’s hope it’s not locked.” Ned turned the knob, and the door opened.
Nancy stepped inside. A window illuminated the small paneled room. It was furnished with a wooden desk, a swivel chair, shelves, and a file cabinet. Paintings of horses decorated the walls.
“What are we looking for?” Ned asked.
“Any evidence that Andy Brackett worked here and insurance forms on Aristocrat.” Sitting down in the swivel chair Nancy started opening the desk drawers while Ned headed for the file cabinet.
For ten minutes they worked in silence. Nancy searched through every drawer in the desk, locating stacks of new bills, correspondence from horse owners, and show schedules. Nothing had Brackett’s name on it.
“Hey, the stuff in this file drawer might be helpful,” Ned said. “Klaus has a folder on every horse.”
Nancy popped out of the desk chair. “Let’s see the one on Aristocrat.”
Pulling out a folder, Ned held it up. “There’s also one on Salut.”
Quickly they scanned the two folders.
“Here are Aristocrat’s registration papers,” Nancy said. “They state his color, breed, sire, and dam.”
