Chapter 15 The Invisible Intruder by Carolyn Keene
Outwitted
THE startled boy cried out. “I—Who—?” he stammered.
Seeing that he was surrounded, a look of fear came into his eyes. But in a moment he regained his composure.
“I—I’m just searching for rabbits,” the boy answered Ned. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
George spoke up. “Did you expect to find them down in the hole?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Nancy walked up to the boy and looked him straight in the eye. “Are you telling the truth?” she asked. “I have an idea you’re looking for something else.”
“Suppose I am?” he asked.
Nancy decided to take the plunge. “By any chance are you searching for a shell?” she asked.
The boy jumped in astonishment. His bravado vanished. He said in a trembling voice, “How did you know?”
“I found it myself,” she said. “Who owns the shell?”
“I don’t know,” the boy said. “And that’s the truth. My name’s Steve Rover and I live in Middleburg. A tall, thin guy came up to me and asked if I would like to earn a little money.”
When Steve paused, Nancy prompted him. “He offered to pay you to find the shell?”
The boy nodded. “The man didn’t tell me who he was, just said he’d fallen into the hole and hurt his ankle. He couldn’t walk far. That’s why I came.”
“How did you get out here?” Nancy queried.
Steve said the man had driven him to the edge of the woods and he had hiked in from there. “He’s waiting for me. I don’t know what he’ll say when I don’t bring the shell.”
Ned spoke up. “We’ll go with you but stay out of sight. If this fellow is the man we think he is, it would be best if you appear to be alone. But after that don’t have anything to do with him.”
Ned, Burt, and Dave would precede the others and hide, ready to pounce on the man as soon as Steve reached the car. The three girls for reasons of safety were to bring up the rear.
“Also,” Nancy thought, “if we’re all watching him, Steve won’t have any chance to double-cross us by running away.”
Ned and his companions halted at the edge of the highway but kept themselves well screened by the trees. A car stood there but no one was in it. Their eyes roamed the woods on both sides of the road but they saw no one.
“I wonder where the man is,” Ned asked himself.
In a few minutes Steve came sauntering along. Ned surmised that the boy was frightened, but he kept going. Steve walked out to the car, opened the front door, and climbed in. He had barely closed the door and sat down, when he moved over into the driver’s seat.
“That’s funny,” Nancy whispered as she came up to where Ned was hiding.
“Maybe it’s some kind of a trick,” Ned said.
The next moment Steve started the motor. At once he shifted into gear and started down the road.
“Oh no!” cried Bess as she and George joined the group. “He put it over on us!”
At that very second the watchers saw a figure rise up from the floor of the rear seat. The man was tall, slender, and had bushy hair!
“Prizer!” Burt shouted in disgust. “He sure outwitted us.”
“Yes,” Nancy said, “but at least he didn’t retrieve the shell. We’ll give that bit of evidence to the police.”
As the car roared off, the young people made notes of its make, model, and license number.
“It should be easy for the police to pick him up,” Dave remarked.
“Yes,” Burt agreed, “but by the time we can telephone them, Prizer could be far away and have different license plates on the car.”
“What will we do?” George asked.
Nancy suggested that they hike down the road. “At the first house we come to, we’ll ask to use the phone.”
The six young people strode along at a fast pace but continued to talk about the clever way Prizer had eluded them.
“When Steve got in the car,” said Nancy, “I suppose Prizer ordered him to drive away. He probably was told he would be harmed if he didn’t go whizzing off.”
“I wonder if Steve will tell him about us,” Bess said.
“I hope not,” George retorted. “If Prizer finds out we have the shell, he may do something drastic to get it back.”
It was a long, hot walk to the next house. The family who lived there was seated on the lawn. They greeted the group affably and said their name was Sutton.
“You look hot,” Mrs. Sutton spoke up. “Would you like some cool drinks?”
“Thank you. That would be very welcome,” Nancy replied. “But first I’d like to use your telephone to call the police. We saw a rather peculiar incident on the road about a mile from here and we’d like to report it.”
Mrs. Sutton led Nancy into the house and showed Nancy where the telephone was. In the meantime, the woman went to the kitchen and poured six tall glasses of fruit juice and filled a plate with homemade cookies.
When she and Nancy returned to the lawn, the young people sat down on the grass and began to sip the cool drink. Nancy asked the family if they knew Steve Rover in Middleburg.
One of the daughters answered. “I know Steve. He was in high school with me, but he dropped out. He’s okay, but he hates school.”
Mr. Sutton spoke up. “Yes, Barby, and he hates work evidently, from what I hear in town.”
“We have our fingers crossed that he isn’t in any trouble,” Nancy went on. Briefly she told about Steve and the man in the car.
Barby’s eyes widened. “You mean that man might harm Steve? Oh, I hope not!”
“We hope not too,” said Nancy. “But I’m worried.”
The refreshments and few minutes of relaxation restored the hikers’ vigor. Ned asked if by any chance there might be a shortcut back to the Red Barn Guesthouse.
“You’re from that place?” Mrs. Sutton asked. “I hear that ghost horse has started appearing again and nobody will stay there any more.”
“Unfortunately that’s true,” Nancy told her. She smiled. “We hope to solve the mystery because we don’t think it’s really a phantom horse and rider. Probably someone is trying to frighten Mrs. Hodge.”
“But why?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” said Nancy. The young sleuth did not feel that she should say anything about her suspicions that Prizer was trying to get the property at a low price.
Mr. Sutton said, “I wish you luck. Well, about a shortcut. Half a mile farther from here you’ll see a dirt road on your right. Take that and it will bring you out a short distance from the guesthouse. You’ll be able to see it from the road.”
The young people thanked the Suttons for their hospitality and started off. After they had hiked along the dirt road for some distance, Dave began to laugh.
“What’s that old saying about the longest way ‘round is the shortest way home, or is it the shortest way ’round is the longest way home? Anyway, this is the longest shortcut I’ve ever taken.”
The six trudged on, and finally came to the end of the dirt road. As Mr. Sutton had said, they could see the Red Barn Guesthouse in the distance and turned toward it.
They found Mrs. Hodge very upset. It was evident she had been crying. Bess went up to her and put an arm around the woman’s waist.
“Something’s happened! What is it?” Bess asked.
Tearfully Mrs. Hodge replied, “I drove into town to call on a friend right after dinner. When I returned, I found the house had been ransacked!”