The Mystery of the Millionaire

“We all should have paid more attention to your hunch about Laura. Speaking of Laura,” he continued, “I think we’d better stop here and go the rest of the way on foot.” He stepped on the brakes to slow the car, then pulled it to the side of the road not far from Mr. Lytell’s store.
    “Yes,” Trixie agreed. “If they know we’re here, they might make a run for it, and I don’t know if we could stop them. Mark McGraw is a pretty tough customer.”
    “You think they’ll get Laura’s car back before they go,” Honey guessed.
    “Of course they will,” Jim interjected. “That’s an expensive piece of machinery. They’d never leave it behind.”
    “I don’t think they’ll leave the rest of Mr. Lytell’s money behind, either, if they can help it,” Trixie said solemnly.
    Jim and Honey both turned to Trixie with looks of startled realization, but their friend was already scrambling out of the car. They got out, too, and followed her, hurrying silently down the road and up to a back window of the store. The shade was down, but faint rays of light escaped at the sides.
    For a moment, they heard nothing. Trixie was beginning to wonder if her suspicions were once again wrong, when an angry curse came from inside the building. “This old safe might as well be made of granite. I can’t get it busted open.”
    Trixie felt Honey’s hand on her arm. Both girls had recognized Mark McGraw’s voice immediately. Trixie turned to look at Jim, and he nodded silently.
    “Well, then, let’s get out of here,” a woman’s voice said from inside the store. The poised tones of Laura Ramsey were gone. The voice was so shrill that it was barely recognizable.
    “Just give me a few more minutes with this safe,” McGraw insisted.
    “Your few minutes could cost us a few years in prison,” Laura Ramsey told him. “I say we get out of here now. This whole con has been a bust from the beginning. We should have tapped the Wheelers, like we’d planned.”
    “Lytell was a good mark, I tell you,” McGraw said. “I did a lot of nosing around before I decided to go with him. Wheeler was no good. He’s gone too much, for one thing. And he’s too smart. But all those rumors said Lytell had plenty of money stashed—and that he was dumb enough to fall for a con like ours. It was a perfect setup.”
    “If it was so perfect,” Laura Ramsey asked sarcastically, “why are we leaving town with three lousy grand?”
    “Because those rotten kids got in on the act. How was I to know they’d ride down that road before Lytell did the day I planted the wallet? Anyway, three grand isn’t bad for a week’s work. Lytell probably doesn’t have enough more to risk staying around for, anyhow. You did a great job of stringing them along, getting the extra thousand out of Lytell. It’ll tide us over until we can find another mark.”
    “All right, all right. Everything worked out just great. Now let’s get out of here!” Laura said shrilly.
    Trixie strained her ears for the sound of a police car, but she heard nothing. For the first time, she was aware that Honey was no longer at her side. She turned to look for her just as Honey reappeared, her finger to her lips to discourage questions.
    The back door to Mr. Lytell’s store opened and closed. The three Bob-Whites remained frozen in the shadows of the bushes, wondering frantically what they could do to keep the two con artists from getting away before the police arrived.
    Impulsively, Trixie darted forward, just as Laura Ramsey and Mark McGraw went past the bushes on the way to their cars. “Hi,” she said brightly. “Were you looking for Mr. Lytell?”
    The two culprits froze for a moment. Then Laura Ramsey resumed her poised, rich-girl attitude and returned Trixie’s smile. “Why—why yes, we were, as a matter of fact. Mr. McGraw had some good news to report. He’s found my father. He’s... he’s taking me to him now. We were hoping to catch Mr. Lytell still at the store, but he’s not here. Have you... have you been here long?”
    Trixie’s temper was seething. She no longer felt like going along with Laura Ramsey’s game. “I’ve been here long enough,” she said grimly.
    Laura’s face hardened as she realized that they’d been found out.
    Mark McGraw showed no visible signs of emotion. Moving with a swiftness that seemed impossible for a man of his build, he surged forward and grabbed Trixie by one arm, pulling a gun out of his coat pocket with his