The Mystery of the Castaway Children

consolation she could think of—the morning’s discoveries. She fetched them and, with Honey’s help, told the story of the search they had made.
    “Is this Dodgy’s bottle?” the sergeant asked Eileen.
    “Oh, yes. At least, I have bottles like that left from Davy’s baby days. But I don’t recognize the label in the neck of that torn T-shirt. My husband doesn’t wear that brand. And, of course, I have no way of identifying the coins.”
    Even the sergeant had to admit that the girls had spent their morning profitably. “I’ll get these things to the lab right away. It just may be that Davy is still hanging around the woods.” He paused to look sternly at Trixie and Honey. “Just keep in mind that he may or may not be alone.” The kitchen phone rang persistently. Mart loped across the yard and porch to answer. He didn’t take time to return to the table with a message but instead shouted from the kitchen window, “Sergeant, it’s your Saw Mill River call!”
    Trixie debated about whether or not to follow the sergeant. Finally she told herself, “This is our case, too,” and beckoned to Honey. The two girls stood just inside the kitchen door.
    “Read it to me, Mr. Dodge,” the sergeant was saying. “Slowly.”
    Trixie watched him write while he repeated aloud, “ ‘Are your kids worth twenty thousand dollars? Then prove it.’ ” The sergeant prepared to continue writing, then looked startled. “That’s all?” he barked. “Well, sit tight and keep in touch with me. We have a few new clues here, but nothing definite yet. No, I think it’s safer if I don’t try to contact you till we know for sure what’s going on. Keep your chin up. By the way, your wife and baby are just fine. They send their love.”
    Again Trixie felt a little thrill of surprise at the sergeant’s real concern for the emotional welfare of the people he served. Always before, she’d regarded him as a hardheaded, grouchy cop.
    As the three made their way back to the picnic table, it seemed to Trixie that she saw Eileen’s shadow stretch a bit too far. For one instant, Trixie ha¿ the impression that a second shadow blended with Eileen’s. How else could Dodgy’s beautiful mother, slim to the point of leanness, cast a lumpy-looking shadow? Trixie shook her head till her curls bounced, shut her eyes, and looked again. Eileen’s shadow was long and lean again. I'm seeing things, she decided.
    Almost at once, she heard a kind of thump and slither. No one else seemed to notice, although the robins darted into the maple tree by the doghouse. She assumed that the burden of the Dodge case was affecting her senses. Stay alert, she warned herself.
    Sergeant Molinson spoke to Dr. Ferris in a low mutter. The doctor kept his eyes on Eileen while the sergeant told her about the second note, then he reached across the table to test her pulse.
    Eileen jerked her wrist away and made knots of her two hands. “I’m fine! It’s Davy we have to worry about!” She widened her large blue eyes at the sergeant. “Did you say twenty thou— Why, we’ll only have a few dollars left from our auction when we pay that! And we have so many bills!”
    Trixie noticed that Eileen did not say “if.” She said “when.” Of course her boys were worth twenty thousand dollars.
    Boys. Not boy.
    “Sergeant!” Trixie shouted. “That kidnapper’s a fake! He doesn’t know we have Dodgy, and he probably doesn’t even know where Davy is!”
    “You caught on to that, too, huh?” the sergeant snapped. “The note said ‘kids.’ I was on the verge of calling in the FBI, but now I see it won’t be necessary. What we have here is some two-bit, small-time swindler who’s trying to cash in on one family’s troubles!” His voice was full of contempt. Turning to Eileen, he asked, “You sure you don’t know anyone who would fit that description?”
    “Oh, no!” Eileen said fiercely.
    The sergeant thanked Mrs. Belden for lunch and got ready to leave. Miss Goodley and Dr. Ferris rose to follow him.
    “Honey and I will keep looking for Davy,” Trixie promised. “Just Davy.”
    “Just don’t go looking for the would-be kidnapper,” the sergeant stressed. “This wretch might find out that Dodgy’s back. No kids, no easy money. In that case, he might try to pull some kind of stunt.”
    “Oh, please be careful,” Eileen begged, turning from Trixie to Honey.
    “We’ll find him,” Trixie said stubbornly.
    As the three cars disappeared