The Mystery off Old Telegraph Road

without their knowing about it?
    She heard the grinding sound as the driver put the engine in gear and the groaning noise of the heavily loaded vehicle starting to move forward.
    Suddenly the glare of floodlights pierced the darkness, and she heard a familiar voice call, “Stop that van and come out of there. This is the police.”
    Trixie looked at Nick in astonishment and saw that he looked as surprised as she felt. The van jerked to a stop. Trixie cautiously opened one of the back doors and peeked around its edge. She watched the big man crawl slowly out from behind the wheel, his hands raised over his head.
    The other man hesitated a moment, then yanked open the door, jumped to the ground, and started to run across the clearing.
    “He’s getting awayl” screamed Trixie. Heedless of her danger, she clambered out the back of the van and scrambled to the ground, with some confused idea of giving chase to the counterfeiter.
    “Are you crazy?” yelled Nick Roberts. “You’ll get yourself killed!”
    The counterfeiter had almost reached the woods when another figure emerged from the shadows and caught the fleeing man with a flying tackle. “I’ve got him!” Trixie heard a familiar voice shout. It was Jim Frayne!

Explanations • 17

    THE TWO SCUFFLED BRIEFLY, then Sergeant Molinson ran over and pulled the counterfeiter away, leading him to a waiting patrol car, where his accomplice slouched sullenly in the backseat.
    After a quick examination of the contents of the van and a few words with Nick Roberts, Sergeant Molinson turned to one of the policemen he had with him. “You drive that load of evidence to the station,” he ordered. Just before he drove away in his own car, he called out to Trixie, “I have a few things to say to you later, young lady!”
    Jim had stood up and was dusting himself off after the scuffle. “Oh, Jim, are you all right?” Trixie asked anxiously, running up to him.
    Jim looked at Trixie and started to reply, then did a double take. “I think that’s supposed to be my line, Trixie,” he said, laughing. “But since you ask, I’m fine, thank you.” His green eyes turned serious. “How are you? That’s the more important question.”
    For the first time, Trixie had a chance to stop and think about how she felt. She was shaking like a leaf, she realized, and there was a lump in her throat that wouldn’t go away no matter how hard she swallowed. Overall, though, she couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so good. “I—I feel just great, Jim, now that you’re here. But how—”
    “How did we deduce the whereabouts of our peripatetic sibling?” Mart asked as he, Brian, and Honey walked up behind her. “Elementary, my dear Beatrix.”
    Trixie jumped as she heard Mart’s familiar voice, then gave a happy cry and threw her arms around each Bob-White in turn.
    “We got home from the movie to find you missing, and we immediately got worried because it was already after dark,” Brian explained. “We called Honey, to find out if you were with her. You weren’t, of course, and she began to worry, too. She and Jim came over in the station wagon immediately. By that time, we’d already discovered that your bike was gone.”
    Trixie nodded guiltily as Brian told the story, which was so much like the one she’d imagined when she was tied up in the cellar of the abandoned house. I had them all so worried, she thought. 1 feel just awful about that. Thank heavens, in real life they figured out where I was. “How did you find me?” she asked aloud.
    “I defer to your distinguished colleague,” Mart said, bowing low to Honey.
    Honey blushed as they all turned their attention on her. “Well, Trixie, your bike was gone, and it’s the night before the bikeathon, so it didn’t take much detective work to figure out that you were somewhere along the route. Why I thought immediately of this abandoned house, I’m really not sure. I guess it just seemed the most likely spot, since it is abandoned, and since it’s the rest stop you’ll be at tomorrow morning.” Honey gave up trying to explain and simply shrugged. “Maybe it’s just because I know you so well, Trixie,” she finished.
    Trixie hugged her friend gratefully. “I’m glad you do, Honey,” she said. “If you hadn’t been here, with the police— Who called the police?”
    Mart and Brian looked at Honey and Jim, and Honey and Jim looked at Brian and Mart. No one seemed to know. Finally Mart grinned. “I