The Mystery at Maypenny's

much distance separated the three the inspectors found yesterday and today. On the map, it looks like three sets of ducks—all close together and all near a path.”
    “Do you mean the inspector thinks his crew isn’t doing a very good job of finding the ducks?” Di Lynch asked.
    Jim shook his head. “His people are experts. If that’s all they found, it means that’s all there were.”
    “That sounds like good news to me,” Dan said. “The ducks I found were close to the path, too. I figured that meant there were a lot down in the woods. If there aren’t, it means the epidemic is smaller than we thought.”
    “It means there isn’t an epidemic at all!” Jim almost shouted, his patience exhausted by his friends’ interruptions. “The department head is almost sure those ducks are being planted!”
    There was a moment of silence before Di Lynch said, “Oh, Jim, I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand.”
    Jim smiled at her gently. “I’m the one who should be sorry—for shouting like that. I guess the news was upsetting me more than I’d realized. It’s probably good that I got it out. Maybe now I can explain calmly.”
    Jim took a deep breath before he continued. “The ducks are being planted. Somebody, somehow, has got hold of a small quantity of botulism toxin. They’re inoculating the ducks with it and putting them in the woods after they’re dead—putting them close to the paths so they’ll be found.”
    “That toxin can’t be easy to get,” Brian observed.
    “It isn’t,” Jim said. “That, in a way, is the best break in the case so far. Only a few labs across the country keep a supply. If a check shows that any of it has been stolen recently, it will put us that much closer to finding out who the culprit is.”
    “I still don’t understand,” Di Lynch said, tossing her long black hair. “Why would somebody plant the ducks?”
    “There are two possibilities,” Jim said, “as there are in everything having to do with the International Pine expansion.
    “One possibility is that somebody who favors the expansion wants to destroy the preserve’s value as a game refuge. The other possibility is that someone who opposes the expansion wants to make International Pine look bad, by making it look as though it’s their factory that’s causing the ‘epidemic.’ ”
    Trixie suddenly felt as though she’d been kicked in the stomach. She knew someone who wanted to make International Pine look bad. That someone had a book on wildlife diseases that would probably tell all about botulism. That someone was hiding out in the preserve—and she and Honey had promised not to tell anyone that he was there! Trixie sneaked a look at Honey and saw that her friend was thinking the same thing.
    “What are you thinking, Trixie?” Jim asked sharply.
    Trixie looked up and saw Jim’s green eyes looking back at her suspiciously. She blushed and tried frantically to think of something to say.
    “Trixie is just shocked to think that someone would murder those poor ducks in order to prove their own point of view. Isn’t that right, Trixie?” Honey prompted.
    Trixie gulped and nodded silently.
    “It’s bad news, all right,” Brian said. “I just hope they catch whoever it is—and soon.”
    Suddenly Trixie stood up. “I—I don’t feel much like eating cake right now,” she said truthfully. “I think I’ll go home. Honey, would you walk with me?”
    “Of course,” Honey said, scrambling to her feet. “Di, would you mind very much staying here and helping the boys pack the picnic basket?
    They’ll never manage to do it without spilling or breaking something.”
    Di nodded, but her violet eyes reflected her hurt at being left out.
    Trixie walked away as slowly as her impatience would allow. As soon as they were out of sight—and hearing—of the others, she stopped and turned to Honey, grabbing both of her arms. “John Score is poisoning those ducks,” she said in a rasping whisper.
    Honey’s hazel eyes brimmed with tears. “Oh, Trix, I know! I knew it as soon as Jim said it could be somebody who opposes the expansion. What are we going to do?”
    “We have to catch him in the act. Don’t you see, Honey? We promised not to tell anybody we saw John Score in the woods. We didn’t promise not to tell anyone we saw him planting dead ducks. If we catch him red-handed, we can tell the wildlife department inspectors about it without breaking our promise.”
    Honey nodded. “I