The Hudson River Mystery

”The one called The Wild and Wonderful Hudson. It sounds so exciting—”
    ”Why don’t you tell me about it?” countered Thea briskly. ”Sounds like you know more than I do.”
    ”Well, no, I—that is, Loyola Kevins—”
    ”Ah, Loyola,” Thea said. ”How do you know her?”
    ”Through Brian,” said Trixie, sensing that Thea preferred not to talk about her latest project. ”You see, I saw something on Sunday that I’d never seen before. Loyola told me you might be able to tell me what it was.”
    ”I doubt it,” Thea said. ”What are you referring to?”
    ”A shark. I saw one in the river just before the storm.”
    ”You’re kidding!” Thea exclaimed, sinking slowly back down on the couch. She was silent a moment, then said, ”A shark hasn’t been seen in these waters for, oh, at least a year.”
    ”See, I knew Loyola was right—you are an expert on the Hudson,” Trixie crowed.
    Honey leaned forward anxiously. ”You mean, there are sharks in this area?”
    Thea looked from Trixie to Honey and back again. ”At one time, this river was loaded with sharks,” she began.
    ”Yipes!” squealed Trixie. This piece of news was more than she had hoped for.
    Thea looked as though she wanted to go on, but something made her change her mind. ”So it’s entirely possible that you did see one,” she concluded abruptly. ”However, if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it or mention it to anyone else just yet. There’s no sense in causing a general panic. Let me do a little investigating on my own first.”
    ”Loyola said you spend a lot of time researching along the river,” recalled Trixie. ”Would you mind if Honey and I—” She paused, not sure of the polite way of inviting themselves along on Thea’s expeditions.
    The doorbell rang, and Thea leaped up to answer the door. She came back into the room with Brian, who motioned to the girls to get up.
    ”I think we’ve bothered Thea enough,” he said.
    ”No bother at all,” Thea said pleasantly. ”Thanks for the repair job.”
    Trixie hesitated. ”Brian, could we stay a few more minutes? We were just talking about—”
    ”Come on, Trixie. I told Moms we’d be home by now,” Brian said irritably.
    Reluctantly Trixie and Honey said good-bye to Thea and followed Brian out to the car. Next time, I’m going to visit Thea without Brian, Trixie promised herself.
    Honey, sandwiched between the two Beldens, wore a troubled expression on the way home. She glanced over at Brian from time to time and finally spoke up. ”Is there anything wrong, Brian?” she asked. ”Trixie told me about your accident, and I know it must have been upsetting. But you seem, well, really depressed about something. Can we help?”
    ”I’m sorry for being such a grouch back at Thea’s,” he said. ”I’m just short-tempered today. That’s all.”
    ”Are you sure?” Honey persisted. ”I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re always on such an even keel.”
    ”Maybe it would help to talk about whatever’s bothering you,” said Trixie.
    ”I guess I can’t hide anything from the two schoolgirl shamuses, can I?” Brian asked dryly. ”Nope,” chorused the girls.
    ”I just—well, frankly, I found out today that I didn’t do as well on that chemistry test yesterday as I had hoped.” The headlights from an oncoming car flashed over Brian’s face, pale and drawn.
    ”Is that all?” asked Trixie. ”Jeepers, Brian, you can’t get a perfect grade all the time! If I got that upset every time I flubbed up on a test, I’d spend my entire life moping around.”
    ”It—it’s not just that,” Brian said, taking one hand off the steering wheel to rub his eyes. ”I haven’t been feeling up to par lately.”
    ”What do you mean?” Honey asked anxiously.
    ”Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing.”
    ”Please tell us,” said Trixie.
    ”Well, I just feel weak a lot of the time, kind of sluggish. Sometimes I feel sick to my stomach, and sometimes I feel like someone is squeezing my chest.”
    Trixie was aghast. ”But, Brian, that sounds really serious! Why haven’t you mentioned this before?”
    Brian shrugged. ”Didn’t seem worth mentioning. You can’t go around complaining about every little ache and pain, and I don’t want to worry anyone. The fact is, I’m having trouble deciding whether I’m really sick or if it’s just nerves.”
    ”What have you got to be nervous about?” Trixie asked.
    ”Well, that chemistry test, for