“What’s your guess?” George asked, biting into a ham sandwich.
“My guess is there’s one more clue we need to have this all make sense,” Nancy said. “And we’ve got to find it fast.”
• • •
After Nancy told James Stanton what they’d learned from Professor Noble, he was more than willing to give them permission to revisit the stream. Remembering some of the landmarks along the way, Nancy soon led them to the edge of the woods, where the stream meandered.
“What in the world?” she exclaimed.
“It’s gone!” George cried.
The stream was empty. It was as if the sluice had never existed.
“Someone must have moved it,” Nancy said. “They must know we found it.”
“But how could they know?” George demanded. “We’ve told no one.”
“But we did run into Mr. Stryker,” Nancy reminded her. “And it would have been easy for him to ask the people at the Permit Office what we were doing there. Obviously, he’s onto us now or the equipment would still be here.”
“That makes sense,” George said. “What do we do next?”
“Let’s go back to Aunt E.’s,” Nancy said, “and put all our heads together.”
They walked back to the car. They were just about to get in when Nancy saw a young figure on a bicycle quickly pedaling out into the road.
“It’s Sarah!” she exclaimed, and ran after her. “Wait!” she called.
When Sarah saw Nancy chasing her, she pedaled faster, glancing behind her to make sure Nancy wasn’t catching up.
A car came speeding around the curve. “Sarah! Stop!” Nancy called. “Watch out!” Sarah’s bike wobbled as she struggled to regain her balance. The car sped toward her.
“Oh, George!” Nancy cried. “I can’t look!”
13
A Crack in the Puzzle
“She’s okay,” George said, grabbing Nancy’s arm. Sarah had swerved her bicycle to the side seconds before the car would have hit her. The car traveled on for several yards, then stopped.
Sarah was standing by the side of the road, her sides heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Nancy and George ran up to her.
“You could have been hurt!” Nancy cried. “Are you all right?”
“Just scared,” Sarah said.
The driver of the car was standing in the middle of the road looking at them.
“You could have been killed!” he yelled. “Watch where you’re going.”
“I’m sorry,” Sarah said, hanging her head.
“Be more careful next time,” he told her as he walked back to his car. “You know, a boy was killed here not so long ago. This road needs to be wider.” He climbed into his car and drove off.
“And you need to drive slower,” George said under her breath.
Nancy took Sarah’s bike and steered it onto James’s property. Sarah sat down on a boulder and put her face in her hands.
“Why did you run away from me?” Nancy asked.
“Because I don’t trust you. Because you’re against me,” Sarah said. “Because you suspect me of things I haven’t done!”
Nancy sat down next to her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw George approach, but she waved her away. George sauntered back to their car.
“I’ll trust you if you tell me the truth,” Nancy said. “But you haven’t been honest with me. We’ve discovered the cave where the bats hibernate, and all the bats have been killed.”
Sarah looked up at Nancy, shocked. “They’re dead? Who would do such a thing?”
“We have some suspects,” Nancy said.
“And I’m one of them, aren’t I?” Sarah asked. She jumped to her feet.
“Well, you certainly don’t like bats,” Nancy reminded her. “And like the driver of that car, you’re for widening the road. Killing the bats would eliminate the obstacle to the widening, wouldn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t harm the bats,” Sarah said.
“Then why are you here?” Nancy asked. “This is the second time I’ve seen you in this spot in the past couple of days.”
Sarah put her head down and then looked Nancy straight in the eye. “My brother died at this corner. I come to mourn him. Sometimes I leave flowers at the spot where he died. That’s why I come here.”
