The Secret of the Unseen Treasure

in the flower business named Finlay,” the man said. He raised his voice without taking his eyes off Trixie and Honey. “Let that flower arrangement go for now,” he called to his redheaded helper. “Take your coffee break.”
    Without looking up, Ann Rinehart pulled off her smock, grabbed her purse, and hurried out the back door.
    The man stepped to one side and gestured toward the office. “Get in there. We’ll see if the name you want is in the phone book.”
    The door chime knelled softly. Trixie turned and saw Mart. Saved by the bell! she thought with relief.
    “We got the wrong flower shop, Mart!” she exclaimed loudly. “Are all the others waiting in the car? Come on, Honey, we’ll have to scout around town. Maybe we’ve got the wrong town! Thanks for your offer to help, Mr. Manton.” Mart picked up his cue. “I didn’t think this
    was the right place,” he said. He opened the door. “Let’s go.”
    Trixie and Honey hurried out of the shop. Walking rapidly toward the comer, Trixie resisted the urge to look back.
    “You came just in time,” she told Mart. “But how—”
    “I saw you two go off by yourselves,” Mart said. “Since you weren’t staying with Miss Trask, I figured you were up to something. I just followed you.”
    “This is one time I’m glad you did,” Trixie admitted.
    “I was watching through the window,” Mart said. “It looked like you wanted out of there in a hurry. What was going on?”
    “I think he’s the man who tried to set the fire,” Trixie said. “There was a gray car parked out back. Maybe we ought to go around the block and take a look at it.”
    “Are you kidding?” Mart asked. “After that little act back there? Besides, I’m supposed to be keeping your wild geese under control, remember?”
    “The day of the arson attempt,” Trixie declared, “a gray car was backed into the bushes and against a small tree.”
    “So maybe there are some scratches on it,” Mart said. “That doesn’t prove anything. Most cars have scratches and nicks.”
    “I don’t think that man is a florist at all,” Trixie stated. “His hands weren’t stained green like Ann’s were.”
    “I noticed that, too,” Honey said. “He was going over the books. It looked like Ann was doing all the real work.”
    Trixie nodded agreement. “And he wasn’t the least bit interested in us until he heard Debbie’s sister mention Sleepyside.”
    “Then he dropped what he was doing and came out of the office,” Honey said. “The way he looked at us!”
    As they approached the shopping center parking lot, the B.W.G.’s saw the camp bus unloading. A cheerful crowd of adults and young people exchanged greetings.
    “Don’t you dare say anything about this to Miss Trask,” Trixie warned Mart. “Honey and I will bring the other Bob-Whites up to date later on.”

    During the ride back to Sleepyside, Jim and Brian told about their two weeks at the camp for underprivileged children. Brian, in addition to being a tent leader, had assisted in the doctor’s tent, where he helped treat cuts, poison ivy, and stomachaches.
    “There weren’t many serious medical problems,” Brian said. “But we did have one near-drowning. Luckily, Jim got to the boy as he was going under for the third time. And Jim revived him with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He’s the camp hero!”
    Everyone in the B.W.G. station wagon cheered, even Miss Trask.
    Jim was embarrassed. “He was swimming when he shouldn’t have been. It’s a tough way to learn a lesson, but he learned. A couple of other boys in my tent admitted that they had been planning some extra swimming, too. They changed their minds pretty fast. What’s been happening around here... anything?”
    Mart winced. Trixie eyed him sternly, then began telling Jim and Brian about happenings of the last two weeks. She told about Dan discovering the sabotaged water pump, but didn’t mention the man named Al Finlay.
    “That’s about all,” Trixie concluded. “Now that you’re back, we can have a meeting at the clubhouse tomorrow. If I think of anything else, I can tell everyone about it then.”
    The following morning, after completing their chores, Trixie, Brian, and Mart walked to the B.W.G. clubhouse on the Wheeler estate. Honey, Jim, and Di met them there.
    Honey motioned Trixie aside and whispered, “Dan couldn’t make it to the meeting today. I talked to him last night. I didn’t mention the flower shop, but I asked him to