The Mystery of the Midnight Marauder

see.”
    Brian was silent. He still regretted sleeping through the previous night’s excitement. He had known nothing until Sergeant Molinson, personally, had escorted Trixie, Mart, Honey, and a disappointed Reddy to Crabapple Farm.
    Honey stirred. “I’m glad I didn’t really fib too badly to Miss Trask,” she said, looking at Trixie.
    “I did finish up spending the night with you, didn’t I?”
    Jim frowned. “All the same, Honey, I don’t think you should do anything like that again.” Honey sighed. “No, you’re right. It could have been a dangerous situation.”
    “How about you, Mart?” Di asked quietly. “Did everything work out okay at school?”
    Mart smiled broadly. “Everything worked out just great!” he announced. “In fact, it couldn’t be better. I had a long talk with my journalism teacher this morning, and you know what? He’s let me off the hook. In the future, he’s going to teach me how to write articles for the school paper—articles that will be published—”
    “Once your spelling is corrected,” Dan put in, grinning.
    “And Miss Lonelyheart is going to retire,” Mart said, sighing with relief. “At least, this Miss Lonelyheart is going to retire. It’s a funny thing, though. The counselors at school got together and decided the column itself should continue, to offer help to anyone at school who needs it.”
    “But who’s going to write it?” Di asked.
    “One of the counselors,” Mart told her. “Neat, huh? Now I don’t have to worry about anyone.” Dan grunted. “Lester Mundy seems to have turned over a new leaf. His new club appears to have done him some good.
    “Clubs are good,” Dan said seriously, “as long as they’re there to help people. The Bob-Whites always try to help someone in trouble. This time it was Mart. Next time”—he glanced at his friends— “it could be any one of us.”
    Di was still busy thinking. “What was all that business with the scrap of material that, at first, everyone thought was Reddy?”
    “It was an important clue,” Trixie explained. “It was torn from Margo Birch’s shirt after she had damaged the school and then robbed Wimpy’s. She went to hide the meat in the woods and tore her shirt on the way. Sergeant Molinson says that the scrap I had matched the tear in her shirt exactly. She was wearing the torn red shirt tonight. Probably the only thing she owns that isn’t dressy!”
    “And as for the truck,” Mart added, “Margo Birch owned one similar to Crimper’s—although it’s hard to imagine her as a truck driver! If only we’d known.”
    Trixie sighed contentedly. “So it all ended happily. Dad and Moms are home safely and Moms’s back is better.”
    “My parents are home, too,” Honey said, “and was Celia ever glad to see Tom! They found the necklaces, by the way. Trixie was right again. The Midnight Marauder had hidden them in the woods. The police found them this morning.” Trixie laughed. “Reddy’s the only one who’s unhappy now. He was hoping for more hamburger.”
    “But I’m not happy,” Di announced. “ I didn’t get invited to the spring dance. I even wrote to Miss Lonelyheart about it.”
    Mart gasped. “Jeepers!” he exclaimed. “So you did! Consider yourself invited now. By me!”
    Brian grinned at Honey. “How about it?” he said. “Will you be my date on Friday night?”
    Jim smiled as his sister nodded shyly. “In that case, Dan,” he said slowly, “that leaves only one female between the two of us.”
    Dan chuckled. “But I’m already booked,” he said. “I’m taking Ruthie Kettner. I guess you’re going to have to take Trixie yourself.”
    Jim smiled and leaned toward her. “What do you say, Trix? Will you come to the school dance with me?” His tone was light, but everyone could see that his eyes watched her closely.
    Trixie’s face flushed scarlet as she answered happily, “I’ll be glad to go with you, Jim—unless another mystery comes along that I have to solve first.”
    The other Bob-Whites groaned in unison.
    “Please—no more mysteries!” moaned Mart.
    “At least, not until after the spring dance,” added Jim. He smiled at Trixie, and she smiled back, her eyes shining. There would be more mysteries, she knew, but for now, the spring dance was enough to look forward to.