The Red Trailer Mystery

have found no trace of the luxury trailer, named the Robin." The announcer repeated several times the license plates on the Robin and on the tow car and then issued the warning, "All trailer owners are cautioned against parking in side roads or in the woods and are especially urged not to abandon their homes-on-wheels at any time unless they are parked in supervised trailer camps."
    "This whole business is making me rather nervous," Miss Trask said when they were seated at a table. "I feel terribly responsible for the Swan. If anything should happen to it, I’d never forgive myself, although I suppose it is heavily insured."
    "And it’s perfectly safe while were in Autoville," Honey said quickly.
    "Nevertheless," Miss Trask told her, "I’d like to take it back home as soon as possible. You two can inquire for Jim at Wilson Ranch tomorrow and at Rushkill Farms on Tuesday. Then I think we ought to try for an early start for Sleepyside on Wednesday morning."
    Honey and Trixie stared at each other in dismay. Only two more days, and they had so much to do!
    Honey immediately began to plead for more time, but Trixie had suddenly caught sight of the waiter, Jeff. He was clearing the soiled dishes from a table that some young people had just vacated, but he was working so slowly, stacking the plates with exaggerated care and wiping carefully at unseen spots, that Trixie became suspicious. And then she realized that he was listening to every word a man and woman at the next table were saying.
    The middle-aged couple had a map spread out in front of them, and while they sipped after-dinner coffee, they were discussing plans for a trip.
    "We can stop here for a swim before lunch," the man told his wife, pointing with a pencil. "That’s a lake, see? I get so hot driving in the heat of the day, I’d welcome a chance to cool off."
    The woman smiled. "Then why do we leave Autoville at all? There’s a lovely pool right here, Rob."
    Her husband chuckled. "You know perfectly well, Anna, that I’ve got to combine business with pleasure on my vacation. I must get that client in Tookerstown to sign the contract sometime this week. You don’t have to come with me if you’d prefer to stay here."
    "Of course I want to come," his wife said quickly. "But is it necessary to take the trailer? I’m sort of nervous since those robberies."
    "It’s not necessary," the man said, "but a lot more comfortable. We can eat whenever we like and change into bathing suits without having to look for bathhouses. Tookerstown is just a small village on a country road, and I doubt if we’ll pass an inn on the way."
    His wife laughed as they left the table. "We could, of course, take sandwiches, but I guess I’ve spoiled you with my home cooking."
    Trixie pretended to eat, but she was watching Jeff out of the corner of one eye. As soon as the couple left the cafeteria, he flipped a notebook out of his pocket and wrote something down in it.
    "So," Trixie thought, "that’s why he works in this restaurant. He listens to people’s plans so he knows just where they are going to park their trailers when they go on trips. I hope that man doesn’t leave his keys in the tow car when he and his wife go swimming. I’d like to warn him, but I know he’d only laugh at me."
    Later that evening when she was telling her suspicions to Honey, she said, "If only I could get hold of Jeff’s notebook! That would be all we needed to prove he’s one of the trailer thieves."
    Honey thought for a minute. "I don’t think any more trailers are going to be stolen for quite a while. Everybody’s going to be extra careful after those radio warnings. We simply mustn’t waste any more time on that mystery. Let the state troopers worry about it. We’ve only got two more days to look for Jim, and then we’ll have to go home."
    Trixie sighed. "Is Miss Trask still determined to go home on Wednesday?"
    Honey nodded. "She’s pretty nervous about it all and feels that when the gang discovers people are being careful of where they park their trailers, they’ll try some other way of getting them. Like hijacking."
    "Hijacking?" Trixie’s blue eyes grew round. "You mean hold up the drivers with guns and force them into the woods and tie them up while they steal the equipment?"
    "Miss Trask didn’t come right out and say that," Honey admitted. "But that’s what Í think will happen." She shuddered. "I hope the troopers catch that gang before we start back, and I tell you I’m