The Hudson River Mystery

people away. Then, when she got the signal, she must have run to fetch Bunker and then sent him-”
    ”Bunker?”
    ”—out in his houseboat to pick the divers up. Tonight, the whole group must have been about to transfer their ’haul’ from Bunker’s boat into Thea’s car. We caught them in the act, so Thea had to knock us off.”
    Honey shivered, not with cold this time, but with deep admiration of Trixie. ”You’re a genius!”
    ”Gleeps, I am not! But it is all fitting together, isn’t it? Even about Thea’s car. I don’t know why it never occurred to me before that it was stolen. That’s why she didn’t really care if Brian repaired it. And that’s why she didn’t mind losing it if it meant getting rid of us at the same time. I just remembered, too, how Thea was in that bait and tackle shop in White Plains when Brian hit her car—she must have been buying supplies or something.”
    ”How do you make the connection between Thea and Bunker?” Honey asked.
    ”Oh, that was easy—well, it seems easy now. Brian told me he and Loyola had seen Bunker picking up two divers off Killifish Point. And I was sure, one time, that I had seen Bunker’s houseboat in the same area where I’d seen the fin. The fact that we caught him and Thea together tonight just confirms that he’s in on the scheme.”
    ”He seemed like such a nice man,” Honey said thoughtfully.
    ”I know,” said Trixie. ”And I still can’t figure out why he looked so surprised when he saw the divers stowing us in Thea’s car...
    Ken, who with Carl had been silently in awe of the girls, suddenly asked, ”Are you guys in some kind of trouble with the police?”
    ”No!” the girls said in one breath. ”Why?”
    ”Because it looks like they’re waiting for you.” He pointed toward shore, only a few yards away.
    The low cliff from which Thea’s car had plunged was now swarming with flashing red lights and many figures moving about.
    ”Oh, my gosh!” exclaimed Honey. ”I wonder what’s going on!”
    ”I don’t know,” Trixie said softly. ”But I sure hope there’s still time to catch Thea before she gets away—not that I ever want to see her again in my entire life!”

River Reward • 17

    BEDRAGGLED BUT ALIVE, Trixie and Honey stepped carefully from the boat and waded the last few feet toward the riverbank. They were profuse with their thanks to Ken and Carl, who waved and drifted back into the darkness. Their father had been expecting them hours ago, they said.
    Trixie led the way up the short climb to the top of the cliff.
    ”It’s Honey and Trix!” came Jim’s excited voice. ”Gosh, am I ever glad to see you two!”
    Surrounding him were all the Bob-Whites, several police officers—and Pat Bunker. Bunker was the first one of the parade rushing forward to greet the girls. Both Trixie and Honey stepped backward when they saw him.
    ”You must think I’m the world’s biggest fool, little ladies!” the fisherman exclaimed. ”Wh-What?” gasped Trixie.
    ”I sure am glad to see you,” he went on, reaching out to clasp a hand of each of them. ”When I saw what that woman was willing to do to protect our treasure—well, I knew I had to slip away from that gang and call the police.”
    ”You called the police?” Honey asked.
    By this time, the rest of the small crowd had engulfed the girls. Sergeant Molinson stepped forward and said, ”I had two calls about you girls tonight, one from Mr. Bunker and the other from your brothers, when you failed to return to your party after an hour. You have some explaining to do, but after hearing about what you’ve been through, I guess it can wait.”
    ”No, it can’t,” Trixie said urgently. ”We have to stop Thea—”
    The sergeant held up his hand. ”I’ve already notified the state police to be on the lookout for her,” he said with a little nod at Trixie. ”After you called me, I did some checking. I found out that she was wanted under various aliases in five states, on charges that include auto theft, tax evasion, and stealing buried or sunken treasure. The only thing I couldn’t find was any record of what you told me she was—a children’s book writer. But I guess that’ll teach me not to be so skeptical when you call me with hot tips! As for the shark—” He stopped to scratch his head. ”I did find out that there have been several other sightings of fins lately.”
    Trixie was obviously reeling from his compliment, so Honey chimed in, ”Oh,