Nancy turned to Peter Greenbriar. “Why weren’t the horses in the barn last night?” she asked.
“It was a warm night, so after their evening feeding, I let them graze in the pasture. This morning, I discovered the note. I went out to the pasture. But Morning Glory wasn’t there. That’s when Laura found me.”
“Did you hear anything unusual during the night?” Mrs. Passano asked.
“No,” the groom replied. “I was in my apartment all night, but I didn’t hear anything. And I swear I had nothing to do with Morning Glory’s disappearance.”
“Peter,” Mrs. Passano said, “no one has accused you. We’re just trying to find out some facts. Please don’t let these questions upset you.”
Mrs. Passano might not be suspicious of Peter Greenbriar, Nancy thought, but she was. The Passanos had only Peter Greenbriar’s word that he was innocent. He could easily have taken the horse in the middle of the night. He was right there.
But why would he do such a thing? And why would he want the hunt to disband? Did he have some grudge against the Passanos? She was determined to find out.
Nancy stepped over to Laura and put her arm around her shoulders. “Laura, don’t worry,” she said. “I’m going to find Morning Glory and get to the bottom of the hunt sabotage.”
“Thanks, Nancy,” Laura said, her voice choked with tears. “You’re a real friend.”
Turning to Mrs. Passano, Nancy added, “I think you should report Morning Glory’s disappearance to the police as soon as possible. After all, we’re dealing with theft now.”
“Thank you for reminding me, Nancy,” Mrs. Passano said with a start. “I’ll call right away from the stable.” Mrs. Passano ducked into Peter Greenbriar’s office to make the call.
“I have to start bringing the horses in for their feeding,” the groom said, and he disappeared outside.
About fifteen minutes later, a young police officer with sandy-colored hair and freckles appeared at the barn door. After introducing himself as Officer McDonnell, he asked Mrs. Passano to explain what had happened. While she told him the story, he studied the note, which was still tacked onto Morning Glory’s stall door. Then he glanced around uncertainly at the assembled group.
“I’ll take the note down to police headquarters and show it to the chief,” he said, “and I’ll write up a report. But we’re a small police department, and we don’t have the manpower to investigate these kinds of pranks.”
“But my horse was stolen,” Laura said. “It’s not a prank.”
“Can we do anything in the meantime to speed along the investigation?” George cut in.
“Call your neighbors—spread the word,” Officer McDonnell replied. “Somebody may have seen the horse.”
He took the note off the door, then turned and strolled out of the barn. Nancy noted that he hadn’t even bothered to wear gloves. Now his fingerprints would be all over the note.
“Some help he is,” Laura scoffed after Officer McDonnell had driven away.
“He certainly doesn’t seem very experienced,” Mrs. Passano agreed. After a pause, she added, “I must tell the other board members of the hunt about this threat. It couldn’t have come at a worse time—Opening Day’s on Saturday. That’s two days away!”
“Maybe I’ll go down to the pasture,” Nancy suggested, “and take a look around.”
“You won’t find anything out of whack down there,” Peter Greenbriar declared as he walked by carrying two feed buckets. “I looked the place over thoroughly.”
“Well, another pair of eyes might turn up something,” George said. “Come to think of it,” she added, turning toward Nancy, “I’ll go with you.”
Nancy and George headed out to the adjoining pasture from a side door of the barn. The large grassy field stretched all the way down the hill to the road far below, skirting the house on the right.
“The thief could have been seen from the house,” George observed, “if someone had been awake. That’s pretty daring, to kidnap a valuable horse from right outside his owners’ windows.”
Nancy studied the pasture’s layout. The fence around the field had a gate in the far corner, near where the driveway and road intersected.
“Someone could have taken Morning Glory from that far gate,” she suggested. “That way, the thief wouldn’t have to drive the trailer up to the house and risk being heard.”
“Or worry about hooves clopping on the driveway,” George put in.
Nancy nodded. “Once Morning Glory was inside a trailer,” she suggested, “the thief could have sneaked back to the barn and tacked the note on the stall door.”
“Presuming the thief used a trailer and not a forest path,” George pointed out. She idly kicked at the grass with the toe of her shoe. Then she froze. “Nancy, look!”
George stooped down and fished in the grass. Then she stood up, holding a long brown leather stick with a thick handle.
“It’s a riding crop,” Nancy declared. “And it looks like someone’s initials are engraved on the handle.”
“CJ?” George said, peering closely at the handle. “Who could that be?”
“I don’t know,” Nancy said. “But let’s go find out.”
The two girls jogged back to the barn. They found Laura and her mother talking to Peter Greenbriar.
“Does this belong to anyone you know?” Nancy asked, showing the Passanos the crop with its initials. “George and I found it in the pasture.”
Peering closely at the crop, Laura and Mrs. Passano shook their heads.
But just then Nancy glanced at Peter Greenbriar. His face was deadly pale as he stared in silence at the riding crop.
8
Shopping for Leads
