“Do you think he was the one who did that to the railing?” Aunt Elizabeth asked.
“I don’t know,” Nancy said. “Jessie told me she saw Sarah around there this afternoon.”
“It could be either one of them,” George said.
“Except we know it was Sarah’s car that pushed us off,” Nancy reminded them. “Or someone driving Sarah’s car.”
George perked right up. “I didn’t think of that! Do you think Tolchinsky could have taken her car and used it to throw us off the track?”
Nancy shrugged. “There’s a lot more we need to know,” she said.
“What I want to know,” Aunt Elizabeth said, “is why someone ran your car off the road, Nancy. Why would anyone be after you?”
“Someone must know Nancy is trying to find out who’s threatening you, Aunt E.,” George said. “So now Nancy’s a target, too.”
The group was silent for a moment, and then Aunt Elizabeth spoke up. “Nancy, Professor Noble called just a couple of minutes ago and said he and Jessie didn’t find the cave today. He’d like you to help him look for it tomorrow. He’ll pick you up in the afternoon.”
“That means a visit to Mr. Tolchinsky as well,” Nancy said firmly. “We’ve got to get to the bottom of this. And quickly.”
With that, they went upstairs to bed. Tomorrow, after the crafts fair, they’d look for the cave. There wasn’t much time to find it—or whoever was threatening Nancy and Aunt Elizabeth.
• • •
When Nancy, Bess, and George arrived at the crafts fair late the next morning, the activities were in full swing. Colorful booths lined the sidewalks of the green, offering everything from decorative flowerpots to handcrafted jewelry.
As Nancy stood at one booth, purchasing a beautiful handwoven shawl she knew would be perfect for Hannah, she heard her name being called.
It was Jessie. “Mrs. Porter told me you’d be here,” she said. “I’m glad I found you. Are you coming with the professor and me this afternoon?”
Nancy nodded. “Did she tell you what happened last night?”
“Yes, she did. It’s very peculiar,” Jessie said. “I have to tell you something that’s even more peculiar.”
“Tell me,” Nancy said. Would it be the clue that made the mystery make sense? Or just another piece to a puzzle that wasn’t falling into place yet?
“I ran into Chuck Danzig the other day,” Jessie began. “Remember him? He’s the man from the state fish and game agency who developed the habitat conservation plan for the town.”
“Right,” Nancy said. “I remember him. He spoke at the town meeting.”
“He told me something odd,” Jessie said. “He said that when he came to the Town Hall to get the surveyor’s map for the site, Mr. Stryker told him he only had a day to complete his habitat report. And when Chuck told Mr. Stryker it usually took him several days to do a proper assessment, Mr. Stryker said he was sorry, but he could only have one day, and that was that.”
“Why would it matter to Mr. Stryker?” Nancy asked.
“Exactly,” Jessie said. “And the really weird thing is that Mr. Stryker insisted on accompanying Chuck to the site, and he stayed with him the whole time. Chuck said he felt as if Mr. Stryker kept leading him away from certain areas, although it was done in such a subtle way that he couldn’t protest.”
Nancy thought about this for a while. It certainly was odd. But how did it fit in?
“Look who’s here.” Jessie muttered under her breath, giving Nancy a poke with her elbow.
Nancy looked where Jessie pointed. At the edge of the green Mr. Stryker was talking to Mr. Bremer. It was an angry conversation, from the look on Mr. Stryker’s face.
Mr. Stryker shouted some last words at Mr. Bremer, turned on his heel, and stalked away.
“What do you think that was all about?” Jessie asked.
“I don’t know,” Nancy replied. “But as they say in the movies—the plot is definitely thickening!”
• • •
Professor Noble and Jessie arrived at the Porters’ later that afternoon. Nancy and her friends piled into his car and they headed off on Old Fairport Road.
“I’m going to park in a friend’s driveway,” Professor Noble told them, “and then we’ll hike from there. I’d rather not run into Tolchinsky if it’s at all possible.”
“I wouldn’t mind running into him,” Nancy said. She told him about what had happened the previous night.
“So now the suspicion is on Mr. Tolchinsky?” Professor Noble asked.
Nancy nodded. “After all, the car was run off the road near his house.”
Professor Noble thought for a moment. “You know, the suspects are starting to mount up. There’s Sarah and Tolchinsky. And after what Jessie has told me about her conversation with Chuck, I’m beginning to wonder if Stryker might not be involved in some way.”
“Aunt Elizabeth thinks it’s odd how easily he caved in to the environmentalists’ point of view,” George said.
“But when I saw him the other day,” Professor Noble said, “he tried to convince me that it wasn’t worth looking for the cave. He said he thought we had a pretty strong case as it was.”
“You’d think if he was in favor of the bats, he’d want you to find the cave, wouldn’t you?” Nancy asked.
“My thoughts exactly,” Professor Noble said. “It looks as though quite a few Fairporters are behaving suspiciously.”
