own money into this study.”
“Yes,” Nancy said. “But once the extension
comes through, he’ll be reimbursed.”
“That’s just it,” Brad said unhappily. “I
found a letter from the Department of Interior
in his tent. There won’t be any extension.
Trainey’s application was turned down.”
“What!” Nancy exclaimed. “That’s terri-
ble. That means the professor’s out all that
money.”
Brad nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“Wow!” Nancy thought for a moment. “You
know Professor Trainey pretty well, don’t
you?”
Brad nodded. “I think so. I’ve worked with
him pretty closely for a couple of years.”
“Could he be desperate enough to try to get
his money back by selling marmots?” Nancy
asked.
Brad hesitated for a long time, “I guess
he could try to recoup his losses,” he said,
sighing.
“Does everyone know that you drink a lot of
coffee?” Nancy went on.
Brad grinned, glad to change the subject.
“Sure. Everybody kids me about always hav-
ing a cup of the stuff glued to my hand.”
“So it would have been a safe assumption
that at some point in the evening you would
light the stove to boil water?”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“What time did you get to the hut that
night?”
“About seven-thirty,” Brad replied.
Nancy nodded thoughtfully. The daily as-
signments were posted outside the command
post shed, so everyone would have known that
Brad was monitoring feeding station 1. Alicia
left the hut around six-thirty. That left the
place empty for an hour-plenty of time to
sabotage the stove.
“I understand that you and Professor
Trainey have the only keys to the command
post,” Nancy said, turning her thoughts to how
the poachers could have gained access to the
computer that monitored the marmots’ sig-
nals.
“Technically, I guess that’s true.”
Nancy was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“We had a spare that we kept hidden under a
rock near the door-in case we lost the oth-
ers.” Brad laughed. “I guess it wasn’t such a
great place to hide it, because one morning
about two weeks ago we couldn’t find it.”
Nancy’s eyes widened.
Just then a nurse came in to change Brad’s
bandages. Nancy got up and said, “Well, I
guess I’d better go. You’ve been a great help.”
As she drove back to the inn, Nancy’s mind
was spinning. Who’d taken the key to the
command post? Was it someone unconnected
to the study group-like the two maintenance
men. Piker and Richard?
She felt uneasy every time she thought of
them, especially since she’d caught them in the
parking lot at the hotel with the Turkowers.
Was it possible that the professor, Piker and
Richard, and the Turkowers were all involved
somehow? It seemed a strange group of people
to be working together. Still, she needed to
keep her eye on them all.
When Nancy opened the door to her room,
she found Bess, bubbling over with enthusi-
asm. “I had a fabulous morning! Upper Geyser
Basin was amazing. Did you know that Yel-
lowstone sits in the middle of the crater of a
gigantic volcano?” She paused and glanced
around. “You don’t suppose it could erupt
again, do you?”
“I doubt it, Bess.” Nancy laughed. “What
did you find out about the Turkowers?”
Bess wrinkled her forehead. “Gerald must
have shot about a hundred pictures, and Edith
never stopped talking about her neighbors
back in California. But I don’t think they’re
tourists at all. In fact, I’m now betting they’re
in charge of kidnapping the marmots.”
Nancy turned that around in her mind. She
had been thinking of the Turkowers as buyers
who might lead her to the poaching ring. What
if Bess was right, though, and they were the
sellers instead?
“But wait,” Bess added. “I haven’t told you
my most exciting news. Guess who’s coming to
Yellowstone Park?”
“Smokey the Bear?” Nancy suggested.
Bess threw a pillow at her.
“Okay,” she said. “I give up.”
“You’ll never believe it,” Bess cried, her eyes
wide with excitement. “Randy Dean!”
Chapter Seven
Really? Randy Dean here?” Nancy said.
“Are you sure?”
Bess nodded emphatically. “Uh-huh. The
ranger told us this morning. He’s coming to
make a television special about the impor-
tance of leaving animals in their natural envi-