Nancy Drew Files – Case 95 – An Instinct for Trouble

little later I was sorting the mail at the ranger

station when I came across a letter from

Trainey about the marmot study. I saw my

chance right away and volunteered to serve as

liaison to the project.”

“And you managed to get Richard and Piker

hired as maintenance men in spite of their

forged references,” Nancy guessed.

“You hear that, guys?” Jack said mockingly.

“She’s onto you.”

“Come on, enough chitchat,” Richard said.

“Let’s pack up and get out of here.”

Anger flashed across Jack’s handsome face.

“I’m the one who makes the decisions around

here,” he growled. “Get those cages into the

truck. I’ll make our guest comfortable.”

While Piker and Richard started carrying

cages out of the cabin, he took some rope and

tied Nancy’s wrists behind her back, then

tugged her toward a door in the comer of the

room.

“Hey, Prof,” he called, shoving it open,

“here’s some company for you.”

Trainey was sitting on the floor of the small

storeroom, his hands tied behind his back. His

face was caked with dried blood from a gash

on his forehead. “Are you all right?” she asked

as Jack pushed her down beside him.

He nodded. “I’m sorry they got you, too,”

he said in a low voice.

“I’m sorry we got either of you,” Jack cut in.

“I don’t like complications. I did my best to

convince you to stay out of our way. But you

wouldn’t listen, so you have to pay the price.”

Keep him talking, Nancy told herself. “How

did you manage to steal so many marmots?”

she asked.

“Easy!” Jack bragged. “I had Piker and

Richard steal some cages, then I got a printout

of the transmitter signals. I knew the counts

were done in the afternoon, so we started

trapping right after dark on Tuesday and

worked all night. We hauled them up here and

removed the transmitters long before the col-

lege crowd was even awake.”

“You missed Spike,” Nancy commented.

“Spike,” Jack spat out. “That friend of

yours is really something. She is cute, though,

I’ve got to give her that.”

Nancy wanted to punch him.

Just then Piker and Richard returned for

more cages. As they gathered up a second load,

Professor Trainey asked, “Why did you try to

kill Brad?”

Jack scowled. “I didn’t,” he said, robbing

the scar on the back of his hand. “All I wanted

to do was discourage him, so I rigged the

stove.”

“But you were giving a slide show during the

time it was sabotaged,” Nancy said.

Jack gave her a self-satisfied smile. “Hey,

that’s right. I guess I didn’t do it after all!”

Nancy thought quickly. “Alicia used the

stove to make hot chocolate at about six-

thirty, and Brad came on duty at seven-thirty.

So the stove had been rigged by then.”

Jack leaned back against the door frame.

“You’re pretty good. Nancy. But you should

have checked that out more. The narration for

the show was taped. I started it, then slipped

back to the campsite.”

Nancy nodded.

“Borrowing the professor’s coat and hat was

a nice touch, you’ve got to admit,” he went on.

“If anyone saw me, they’d suspect it was him.”

“Except for the fact that one of the time-

lapse cameras caught you leaving the hut,”

Trainey said dryly. “The moment I saw it, I

realized it was you who had tampered with the

stove.”

Nancy turned to Trainey. “How? I found the

picture in your tent but couldn’t tell who it

was.”

“I had an advantage over you. Nancy,”

Trainey explained. “I remembered that Jack

had been bitten on the nose by a marmot and

wore a bandage for a few days.”

“The white spot!” Nancy gasped. “So that’s

what it was.”

There was a loud crash outside, and Jack

rushed out the door.

The moment he was out of sight. Nancy

started struggling against her rope. Pain shot

through her wrists, and she could tell she was

getting nowhere. “How did he capture you?”

she asked Professor Trainey.

“Sheer stupidity,” he replied. “When I saw

that picture, I got mad and rushed off to find

him. I met up with him at feeding station two,

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