The Mystery at Saratoga

right?” Officer Ryan demanded.
    Trixie gulped and nodded, suddenly weak-kneed.
    “We saw your signal,” Officer Johnson explained, “but we got trapped in the crowd of people going back to their seats before the race. We couldn’t get through.”
    “I’m just glad Regan did,” Trixie said gratefully. “Otherwise, I’d be—” Her voice failed her, and she gulped.
    “Attempted murder—that’s one more charge we’ll book you on,” Officer Ryan told Scarface. “Come on, we’re going downtown.”
    “Wait!” Trixie ordered as a cheer erupted from the stands. “Everybody be quiet!”
    Straining their ears to hear above the cheering of the crowd, the girls and Regan, along with the two officers and Scarface, heard the announcer’s voice over the loudspeakers: “And the winner, by five lengths, is Gadbox!”

A Celebration Party 17

    THAT EVENING, Trixie and Honey, refreshed after a long nap and dressed in the best outfits they’d brought to Saratoga, entered the hotel dining room. The hostess escorted them to the largest table in the room, where the rest of their party had already gathered for a celebration dinner.
    Jim Frayne held Trixie’s chair as she sat down, then took his seat next to her. Brian did the same for Honey. Looking around the table, Trixie smiled in turn at Mr. Worthington, Mr. Stinson, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, and Mart. Her smile turned into a wide, delighted grin as her eyes landed on Regan and Joan Stinson, sitting side by side across from her. Regan’s friend Johnny, looking uncomfortable in a suit and tie, was sitting on the other side of Joan.
    As soon as the girls were seated, Mr. Worthington signaled their waiter, and he came to the table bearing a tray on which rested twelve champagne glasses, each one filled with bubbling liquid.
    Trixie stared at the glass that was set before her, then looked apologetically at Mr. Worthington. “I can’t—” she began.
    “Yes, you can,” Jim whispered into her ear. “Our glasses are filled with ginger ale.”
    Trixie giggled and lifted her glass. “In that case...” she said, looking expectantly at Mr. Worthington, who had risen to his feet to propose a toast.
    “To Honey and Trixie,” he said, “who saved Worthington Farms from disaster.”
    “And to Brian, Mart, Jim, Regan, and Johnny, who saved Honey and Trixie from disaster,” Mr. Wheeler added.
    Trixie and Honey ducked their heads in embarrassment, then joined in the general laughter.
    “You’ll all be happy to know,” Mr. Worthington said as he sat back down, “that I had a call from Officer Ryan before I came here tonight. He says that Scarface has confessed that he drugged Gadfly seven years ago and attempted to drug Gadbox yesterday.”
    “What about Louie?” Honey asked. “Did he get away?”
    Mr. Worthington shook his head. “The saying that there’s honor among thieves is a great exaggeration,” he said. “As soon as Scarface realized that he was going to be in prison for a good long while, he was only too happy to assure himself of some company. He told the police exactly where to find his accomplice, who is now also behind bars. And Louie, not to be outdone as a traitor, told the police about four other instances in which he and his former friend had pulled the same trick at other tracks around the country.”
    “It’s all my fault,” Carl Stinson blurted suddenly. The others at the table all looked at him in surprise. “That man with the scar talked to me seven years ago. Offered me a lot of money if I’d slip Gadfly some drugs before the race. Explained the whole deal—how they’d wait for a race where there was one heavy favorite, and another sure thing for second place. Then they’d do something to make sure number one was disqualified, and bet heavily on number two at tremendous odds.
    “I turned him down flat, of course,” Stinson continued. “I should have turned him in. But he threatened Joan’s life if I told the police, so I kept my mouth shut. It never occurred to me that he’d sneak into the track in the dead of night and find Gadfly’s feed bag. I always kept it so well hidden.”
    “I was the only other person who knew where the feed was kept, so of course you suspected me,” Regan said, understandingly.
    Stinson nodded. “That’s not all. When I told Scarface I wasn’t interested in his offer, he told me he’d go to you. I laughed in his face. ‘Regan wouldn’t turn against me,’ I said. But then, when the drugs