The Mystery of the Millionaire

her normal appearance must be awful, indeed, if a simple pair of slacks and a blouse made such a difference. “I look nice today for a change, you mean,” she said, her voice bitter.
    Jim’s face showed his surprise at this unexpected attack, and Trixie pressed her lips together hard, wishing there were some way to unsay what she’d just said. “I—I’m sorry, Jim,” she said meekly.
    “That’s all right. Now that we’re all here, let’s get down to business.” The coldness in Jim’s voice was obvious to everyone.
    “Trixie, this is Mark McGraw, the detective Laura hired. Mr. McGraw, this is my best friend, Trixie Belden,” Honey said.
    McGraw nodded curtly, and Trixie murmured a hello.
    “Where should we begin, Mr. McGraw?” Laura Ramsey asked.
    “We begin with my retainer,” McGraw told her gruffly.
    Laura looked shaken; clearly, the detective was not going to express any sympathy for her father’s disappearance. He was a businessman, and detective work was his business. “Of—of course,” she said. She reached into her purse and drew out the pile of bills she’d received from Mr. Lytell.
    “And just you see that you give Miss Ramsey a receipt for that money, young man,” Mr. Lytell said sternly.
    “I don’t happen to have my receipt book with me,” McGraw said sarcastically.
    “I do,” Mr. Lytell said. He pulled the book out of his pocket and shoved it at the detective, who looked at him in disbelief for a moment before he took the book.
    The room was silent as the detective wrote out a receipt.
    When the money and the receipt had been exchanged, McGraw said, “That’ll do for a starter,” then sat down on the couch and pulled a pencil and a small notebook out of his pocket. “All right, let’s begin at the beginning,” he said. “Miss Ramsey, tell me all you know about your father’s disappearance.”
    Laura Ramsey drew a deep, shaky breath and told the story, much the same way she had told it at the store the day before. Once or twice her voice broke, and she had to pause for a moment before she could continue.
    When she finished, the others maintained a respectful silence while McGraw continued writing.
    “And you kids are the ones who found the wallet?” he said abruptly as he looked up.
    Trixie and Honey nodded. They both felt more than a little intimidated by this man, who seemed to have no trace of sentiment in him at all.
    “Tell me about it,” McGraw demanded.
    Trixie and Honey looked at one another. Honey nodded slightly, so Trixie cleared her throat and began to speak, telling the detective what she had told Laura Ramsey the day before. She proudly included her deductions about the length of time the wallet had been on the ground and the elimination of robbery as the motive, because of the presence of the hundred-dollar bill.
    McGraw didn’t acknowledge her cleverness, however. “Did you look for tire tracks on the shoulder of the road?” he asked.
    Trixie looked at Honey, who shook her head. “No,” Trixie said.
    “Too bad,” McGraw grunted. “How about signs of struggle—stones kicked up, grass matted down, anything like that?” He looked up at Trixie, who once again shook her head. “Too bad,” he repeated. “It’s also too bad you weren’t more careful with the evidence,” he said, pulling the wallet out of his shirt pocket and holding it up for them to see. “Nice smooth leather like this would take fingerprints pretty well. But now that it’s been handled by everyone and his uncle, there’s no point in even trying.”
    Trixie swallowed hard. She had looked forward to learning from a real detective, but what she was learning was that she still had an awful lot to learn. “Is there anything else we can do?” she asked timidly.
    The detective wrote a few more words, closed the notebook, and returned it and the pencil to his pocket before he spoke. “Yup, there are a couple of things you could do to help me. First, I’ll need a deposition.”
    “A what?” Honey asked.
    The detective sighed. “A deposition,” he repeated slowly. “Just write down everything you’ve told me, plus anything else you can remember that you haven’t told me. Make it as clear and concise as you can. If this case ever gets to court, your testimony will be important. So I want you to get everything down now, while it’s fresh in your minds.”
    Trixie and Honey exchanged wide-eyed glances. They might have to testify in court! “We’ll do that right