“I was just finishing the report for the fish and wildlife proposal that states we’ve found the cave,” he said. “Would you like to take a look at it?” He handed it to Nancy.
“You’re not going to believe this,” she said, “but I discovered this morning that Chuck’s report mentioned it was found.”
“What!” Professor Noble exclaimed. “We only found it yesterday. And Chuck said it didn’t exist. He didn’t even want to join me in looking for it.”
“I know,” Nancy said. “Ms. Oberdorf said Mr. Stryker gave Chuck’s report to her yesterday.”
“Why would Chuck give John the report, anyway?” Professor Noble asked, perplexed.
“I don’t think he did,” Nancy said. “I think Mr. Stryker did something fishy with it. But that’s not why we’re here.” She went on to tell him what they’d seen in the stream near James’s house.
“Could you draw a picture for me?” Professor Noble asked. “That might help.”
Nancy quickly drew a rough sketch on the scrap of paper he handed to her.
Professor Noble wrinkled his brow as he looked at it. “The last time I saw something like that was in a book about the Gold Rush. It’s a sluice. People use it to separate gold from pebbles in stream beds.”
“But we’re not in California,” George said. “Who would look for gold here?”
“There’ve always been rumors that there’s gold in that stream,” Professor Noble said. “It’s called the shining stream.”
“The shining stream . . .” Nancy murmured.
“What?” Professor Noble said.
“The shining stream,” Nancy said with mounting excitment. “I heard Mr. Stryker mention it at the coffee shop.”
“That’s right!” George exclaimed.
“The rumor is that there’s a mother lode at the end of it, so rich it would make whoever found it a millionaire,” Professor Noble said. “It’s highly unlikely there’s gold there, but you know how rumors are. Someone might just be having some fun with it.
“But from what you’ve described,” he went on, “it looks as though they’ve sunk some money into their operation. I’d say they think they’re onto something. Of course, they’d have to have a permit to do that kind of sluicing.”
“A permit from the town?” Nancy asked.
Professor Noble nodded. “That kind of sluicing can pollute the waters downstream. They’d have to show they have additional equipment to take care of it.”
“Then we need to return to the Town Hall,” Nancy said, “to see if anyone’s filed a permit.”
George cleared her throat. “Nancy, isn’t this kind of a wild-goose chase? What we really need to find out is who’s threatening Aunt E. and who killed the bats.”
“I know,” Nancy agreed. “But I have a hunch this is all tied together. Someone is looking for gold in that stream. And my hunch is it’s Mr. Stryker. And maybe Mr. Bremer, too.”
Professor Noble thought for a moment. “Do you expect to find a permit?” he finally asked.
Nancy shook her head. “No. If those two are looking for gold, they’d want to keep it a secret, wouldn’t they?”
Martin and George nodded.
“Then let’s find out for sure,” Nancy replied. “Maybe this is the missing piece to this mystery we’ve been looking for!”
• • •
A quick search through the permits on file at the Town Hall turned up nothing, just as Nancy suspected. They were about to leave the Permit Office when Mr. Stryker came in.
“What brings you to Town Hall?” he asked them pleasantly.
“Just a friendly visit,” Nancy said.
“Well, I hope you’re enjoying your stay in Fairport,” he said, and walked away.
When they were back outside, George turned to her friend. “That was close,” she said.
“I hope we didn’t tip him off to what we’re up to,” Nancy said with a worried frown. “We need to go back to James’s. I want to take another look at that equipment. Maybe we’ll find some clues that will lead us to Mr. Stryker and Mr. Bremer.”
“Could we have some lunch first?” George begged. “I’m starving.”
The coffee shop was almost empty because it was way past lunchtime. Nancy and George ordered. While they waited for their food, Nancy laid out the clues.
“We have someone who’s been threatening Aunt Elizabeth,” she said. “It could be Sarah. Or it could be someone else.”
“And we have someone who’s killed the bats,” George said.
“And someone who’s looking for gold in the shining stream,” Nancy went on.
“And someone who changed Chuck’s report,” George reminded her.
“The question is,” Nancy said, picking up the hamburger the waitress had set before her, “are these things part of a bigger thing or are they completely unrelated?”
