Nancy Drew Files – Case 95 – An Instinct for Trouble
Nancy Drew Files – Case 95 – An Instinct for Trouble
Chapter One
Nancy!” Bess Marvin exclaimed. “Listen
-that’s Randy Dean’s new song, ‘Lonely Wil-
derness.’ ” She leaned forward and turned up
the volume on the car radio, then rolled down
her window.
And the trees sway against the blue, blue sky.
But there’s danger lurking nearby.
Yes, danger nearby.
“It’s like it was meant for us,” Bess said
when the song ended. “I mean, here we are,
with the trees swaying against the blue sky.”
Nancy Drew brushed a lock of shoulder-
length, reddish blond hair off her face. “Let’s
hope there’s no danger lurking nearby.”
“These mountains and forest are gorgeous,”
Bess said. “And Yellowstone is supposed to be
even better-one of the most beautiful places
on earth.”
It was a cool, crisp Wednesday in early May.
That morning Nancy and Bess had flown from
their hometown of River Heights to Jack-
son, Wyoming, where they had rented a car
for the drive north to Yellowstone National
Park.
“George would love this,” Nancy com-
mented as they passed a grove of aspen trees.
“Too bad she couldn’t come.” George Fayne,
Bess’s cousin, had been forced to pass up the
trip because of a long-planned visit to friends
in Boston.
“Bet you can’t wait to see Ned,” Bess said.
Nancy smiled broadly. Her boyfriend was
one of a small group of Emerson College
students who had been camping in Yellow-
stone for three weeks, studying the habits of
the yellow-bellied marmot, a small, furry
mammal common in the park. “I do miss him.
I just wish it hadn’t taken an emergency to get
us together.”
“Who was it who got hurt again?” Bess
asked.
“A graduate student named Brad Keeler,”
Nancy replied. “He was badly burned when a
propane stove exploded the night before last,
and Ned doesn’t think it was an accident.”
“Because all those marmot traps were sto-
len, right?” Bess said.
“Right. Over the last couple of weeks about
four dozen traps have disappeared. It hap-
pened gradually, and no one realized they were
missing because they were stored in several
different places,” Nancy explained. “But Brad
finally noticed and was starting to look into it
before that stove blew up in his face.”
“How awful!” Bess exclaimed. “What was
the study group doing with the traps, any-
way?”
“They used them to catch the marmots last
fall so they could attach transmitters to the
animals,” Nancy said. “That’s how the Emer-
son people keep track of the marmots’ move-
ments.”
“Neat,” Bess said. “But why would anyone
want the traps?”
“Ned thinks someone is planning to trap
marmots with them and smuggle them out of
the park, which is totally illegal,” Nancy an-
swered.
“But he doesn’t have any proof, so he called
you, since you happen to be not only the love
of his life but also an incredible detective,”
“Thanks for the compliment, but I’m really
worried about this case. This phase of the
Emerson study ends on Saturday. Ned says
that if any marmots vanish between now and
then, the study could be blamed. The third
phase of the project scheduled for this summer
would be canceled, and all the college’s work
would go down the drain.” Nancy sighed.
“Ned’s really upset.”
“You don’t think that someone from the
Emerson group could be involved, do you?”
“I’d hate to think it. But we’ve got to check,”
Nancy said solemnly as they passed a sign that
said South Entrance, Yellowstone National
Park.
Tall, slender lodgepole pines lined the road
on either side, their tangy scent filling the car.
The trees were so thick in some places that it
was like driving through a tunnel.
“I can’t wait to see the yellow-bellied mar-
mots,” Bess said.
Nancy grinned. “Ned said they look like
chubby, overgrown chipmunks, only with yel-
low undersides, which is how they got their
name. But most people call them whistling
marmots, because they communicate by mak-
ing high-pitched sounds.”
“They sound cute-” Bess began but
stopped abruptly.
A herd of brown elk appeared from among
the trees on the right.