Nancy put an arm around Sarah’s shoulder, expecting her to shrug it off, but she didn’t. “I want to trust you. I really do. But you know I’ve got to find out who’s threatening Mrs. Porter, and so I have to suspect anyone who seems likely. It was your car that tried to push me off the road.”
“But I swear to you that it wasn’t me!” Sarah exclaimed. “And I have proof.”
“You do?” Nancy asked.
Sarah reached into her backpack. “After you left that night, I searched my car. I knew someone had to have taken it out of my driveway.” She took out a pad of paper and handed it to Nancy. “This is what I found.”
Nancy took the pad from Sarah. It was a receipt pad, the kind that made duplicates with carbon paper. When she saw the name of the store on it, she caught her breath: Fairport Hardware.
“Why didn’t you show this to us sooner?” Nancy asked. “Or to the police?”
“Because I didn’t know who to trust,” Sarah said. “I knew someone was out to frame me for something I hadn’t done. Can you blame me?”
Nancy turned the pad over in her hand, mulling over the implications. “No, I can’t,” she admitted. “I’m glad you told me.”
“What does this mean?” Sarah asked her.
“Why don’t you come with me?” Nancy said, and pulled Sarah to her feet. “We have a lot to talk about.”
• • •
Back at Aunt Elizabeth’s, Nancy, George, Bess, and Sarah gathered in the parlor. It was time to begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
“We suspect that John Stryker and Ralph Bremer are looking for gold in the brook,” Nancy said. “I overheard them talking about a shining stream at the coffee shop the other day.”
“And we know that Mr. Stryker changed Chuck’s report, saying the cave existed even before we found it,” she went on.
“Why would he do that?” Sarah asked.
“I suspect because he doesn’t want the widening equipment on that road. The workers would be going into the woods or be out on the road for months,” Nancy explained. “He couldn’t look for gold in secret with all that activity going on nearby. And he was doing it in secret. He never filed a permit.”
“So is that why he was so agreeable about the bats?” Aunt Elizabeth asked. “Not because he had any sympathy for the conservationists but because widening the road threatened his own interests?”
“That’s right,” Nancy said. “At least, that’s what I think.”
“But what I don’t understand is why someone as smart as Mr. Stryker would get taken in like that by a rumor of gold,” Bess said. “He’s the town manager, after all.”
“I think Ralph Bremer must play a role in motivating him,” George suggested. “After all, his hardware store isn’t doing so well.”
“That’s a good point,” Nancy said.
“But who killed the bats? And why?” Bess asked. “And who’s been threatening Aunt Elizabeth?”
“And why?” George echoed.
“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Nancy resolved. “We’re going back to the Town Hall right now to ask Mr. Stryker. And I hope he gives us a straight answer.”
• • •
It was late in the afternoon by the time they arrived at Town Hall. Nancy, George, and Sarah marched into Mr. Stryker’s office and found him at his desk.
“Well,” he said, looking up, “if it isn’t the young detective and her friends.”
“How do you know I’m a detective?” Nancy asked.
“Word gets around in a small town,” Mr. Stryker said.
“Mr. Stryker,” Nancy said in a no-nonsense tone of voice, “I have reason to believe that you’ve been looking for gold on town property not far from Hank Tolchinsky’s house. Is that true?”
Mr. Stryker laughed. “Looking for gold? You must be kidding.”
“No, I’m not,” Nancy said. “And I also know you forged Chuck Danzig’s report for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Chuck never found the cave, but we did. We found it yesterday—filled with dead bats.”
Mr. Stryker rose from his desk. “I refuse to discuss this with you,” he declared. “If I answer any questions, they’ll be from an officer of the law. And believe me, if you approach the Fairport police and tell them your suspicions, they’ll laugh in your face!”
“Well, we’ll see about that, won’t we,” Nancy said. She turned and began to leave, followed by George and Sarah.
“Are you going to the police?” Mr. Stryker called after her.
Nancy turned to face him. “Does that worry you?” she retorted.
“Me?” Mr. Stryker laughed. “I don’t have a worry in the world.”
“What are you going to do?” Sarah asked when they’d left the Town Hall. “Are you going to the police?”
“I think it’s time,” Nancy said. “We have evidence now with that receipt pad you found in your car. And we also know he’s changed an official report. Chuck Danzig will testify that he never mentioned that the cave was found. I don’t have any authority over Mr. Stryker, but the police do.”
The police station was just around the corner. Nancy was glad to see that Officer Spinetti was on duty. She listened carefully while Nancy told her the whole story.
