The Mystery of the Phantom Grashopper

spotting Bobby’s tree house, back away from the road.
    When they reached the old ROAD ENDS sign, they saw tire tracks leave the road and go off into the woods. “Here’s just where I saw the bell tower man,” Trixie said, standing at the end of the road.
    “There are two different sets of tracks leaving the road,” Brian pointed out. “Whoever hid the weather vane must have used two cars—one to bring it here, and another to take it back.”
    They followed the tire marks into the woods to a spot that was extra thick with leaves. The remains of what had been a wide, high pile of leaves were still visible.
    “The wind didn’t pile those leaves up like that,” Trixie asserted. “Somebody raked them in to bury Hoppy.”
    Everyone bent down and scanned the ground for more clues. Reddy bounded around among them, his long ears flopping and his big feet sending the leaves flying. Finding a stick, he loped up to Trixie, wagging his tail and ready to play.
    “Good boy, Reddy,” Trixie said automatically. She was down on her knees, hunting close to the ground for clues.
    Reddy pawed Trixie’s arm insistently and dropped the stick beside her, demanding attention.
    “Okay, Reddy, you win,” Trixie said. She picked up the stick. “Jeepers!” she exclaimed. “This isn’t a stick—it’s metal. It looks like it belongs to Hoppy somehowl”
    The others crowded around to examine the weathered piece of metal Trixie held in her hand. Reddy pushed his wet nose between Jim and Brian, keeping an eye on his “stick.”
    “You’re right,” Brian said. “I think that’s a piece of the spire from the weather vane.”
    “Here’s what happened,” Trixie conjectured quickly. “Sammy drove down here with Hoppy in the back of his old yellow truck and hid him under a pile of leaves. That was the ’critter’ that frightened Mr. Pony.”
    Mart scratched his head. “Why didn’t Sammy just get out of town with the weather vane right away?”
    “I think I’ve figured that out now,” Trixie said. “Hoppy would be in plain sight in the back of the pickup truck. Even wrapped in canvas, he wouldn’t be too hard to recognize. I’ll bet that Sammy had already arranged to hide Hoppy here and have a partner pick Hoppy up later.”
    “Sounds logical,” Jim said. “But how would the partner have known when or where to come? They would have needed some sort of signal....”
    “Gleeps,” Trixie said. “The radio!”
    “Huh?” Mart questioned.
    “The song,” Trixie said, her face lighting up with the realization. “The signal to come and get Hoppy was a song played on WSTH—’Meet Me in St. Louis’! Moms said that someone requested that song over and over on the day after the storm, remember?” Brian snapped his fingers. “That’s it!” he exclaimed excitedly.
    Trixie brushed her hair away from her forehead. “I didn’t get the connection until just now,” she admitted. “I never knew this was Louis Road until I saw Regan’s sign.”
    “The bell tower man must be Sammy’s partner,” Honey guessed. “He was supposed to meet Sammy here and take Hoppy away in his car.”
    Jim looked thoughtful. “Then why didn’t they take the weather vane and leave?” he asked.
    Trixie pondered. “I’ll bet they decided it would be easier to take Hoppy back and collect the reward than to try to get him out of town.”
    Brian looked smug. “And there was another signal,” he said, “for Sammy to tell his partner that their plans were changed.”
    The others looked at him, bewildered.
    Brian smiled. “Remember when we went to WSTH to announce the reward?” he asked. “The receptionist said someone kept calling and requesting the same song over and over again that day.”
    “ ’St. Louis Blues!” Honey exclaimed. “Brian, I’m sure you’re right!”
    Jim nodded toward the piece of metal in Trixie’s hand. “With that and the other things Bobby found, we have proof that the weather vane was hidden here. But we still don’t have any proof of Sammy’s involvement.”
    “Yipes,” Trixie said, suddenly turning pale. “I just had a terrible thought.”
    “What’s that?” Jim asked.
    “Well,” Trixie said, “if we assume that Sammy stole Hoppy, and that the bell tower man is Sammy’s partner, then that involves Miss Lawler, too.” Honey gasped. “You’re right, Trixie. Because we saw Miss Lawler and the bell tower man together— and it looked like they knew each other.”
    Brian shrugged.