Carolyn Keene - An Instinct for Trouble

Nancy was silent, and Ned guessed the reason. "You're not listening to me, are you?"

"I'm listening," Nancy said. "But I have to check him out, and what Brad said makes him a suspect." When Ned didn't respond, she continued. "Of course I'm investigating everyone."

Nancy hoped for a goodbye kiss, but Ned simply opened the door and walked away. Without a word, he passed Bess as she returned to the car.

" Brrr!" Bess said, climbing into the passenger seat. "Did you and Ned just have a fight?"

Nancy swallowed back tears but didn't feel like talking on the drive back to the hotel. Bess was quiet, too, until they turned in to the parking lot. Then she said, "Let's go watch Old Faithful ."

Nancy would have preferred to lie down with a book, but she laughed and said, "Okay, Old Faithful it is!"

The girls went through the lobby and followed a path to the geyser.

"Come on," Bess urged. "I see two spots on that bench over there. We'd better grab them."

They sat down and studied the center of attention, a four-foot-high cone that looked like a shrunken volcano. Small puffs of white steam trailed lazily upward from it. Suddenly there was a rumbling sound as if a truck were passing. Water bubbled up over the surface of the cone and shot at least a hundred feet into the air. Finally, after two or three minutes, the column of water slowly sank and then vanished.

"Wow!" Bess exclaimed.

Nancy just smiled.

Touching her arm, Bess said in an undertone, "Look over there. See the guy with all the camera equipment? That's Turkower."

Nancy saw a couple in their forties. The man was tall, with salt-and-pepper hair and a mustache. He had two expensive-looking cameras around his neck and a leather camera bag over one shoulder. Mrs. Turkower could have just stepped out of a beauty salon.

"Come on, Bess," Nancy urged. "I want to meet them."

The two girls strolled around the geyser and stopped next to the Turkowers. Nancy took the photocopied article about the marmots out of her pocket.

"Excuse me," she said politely. "Did you drop this? I looked for you earlier, but you'd already gone upstairs."

"So that's where it went," the woman said with a tittering laugh. As she accepted the sheet of paper she added, "Thanks for returning it."

"I'm Nancy Drew and this is my friend Bess Marvin."

"Gerald and Edith Turkower here," the man replied. "Smile!" he said suddenly. Before Nancy and Bess could react, he raised the camera and took three quick shots of them.

"I wasn't ready!" Bess protested.

"Gerald, really!" Edith admonished. "He's such a camera nut."

"I couldn't help looking at that article," Nancy said casually. "Those whistling marmots are so cute! Wouldn't it be fun to have one as a pet?"

"Oh, yes," Edith replied. "I know a woman back home who has three of them."

"Edith likes owning unusual things," Gerald said, shooting a keen glance at Nancy.

"I know there are lots of them here in Yellowstone. But isn't it illegal to take animals out of a national park?" Nancy asked, sounding naive.

Gerald nodded. "Sure." Then he smiled knowingly. "But there are ways around that."

Nancy's heartbeat quickened. Did this couple want to buy a marmot? Or were they somehow involved in the poaching scheme? She decided to dangle a little bait and see if one of them took it. "I might consider it, but only if I was sure I wouldn't get into any trouble."

"Nobody likes trouble," Gerald said. To Nancy's disappointment, he didn't say more before they wandered off.

"What do you think, Nan?" Bess asked. "Could they be stealing the marmots?"

Nancy frowned. "They seem more like buyers than sellers," she said. "But either way, we'll keep an eye on them."

Somewhere downstairs a clock chimed. Nancy glanced at her wrist. Eleven o'clock. She was lying in the comfortable brass bed in her hotel room.

She realized that she had had her book open to the same page for almost half an hour. The thought that kept running through her mind was that Ned cared more about Professor Trainey than he did about the truth. Suddenly she couldn't stand it any longer and put her book down, stood up, and got her jacket from the closet. A little fresh air, maybe a drive, would clear the cobwebs from her mind, she thought.

Nancy headed outside. The night was cold and crisp. As she walked toward the parking lot, she heard voices that sounded familiar. Just then the headlights of an incoming car swept across a small group of people about fifty feet away. Nancy ducked behind a parked car.

Edith and Gerald Turkower were deep in conversation with Richard and Piker, the two park maintenance men. Nancy crouched down and began moving between cars to get close enough to hear them. But the group broke up before she got there. She went back to her room and tried to sort out her thoughts. The only link she could think of between a rich California couple and two Yellowstone maintenance men was poaching.

Would any of them know how to track the marmots on the computer? Nancy doubted it. Someone in the camp had to be involved. Someone like Dan Trainey.

Nancy was still thinking when the door opened and Bess rushed in, her face aglow.

"The disco was great!" she exclaimed. "And it wasn't even crowded. We had lots of room to dance. You should have come."

Nancy smiled. "Next time."

"Jack is really something!" Bess fell into a chair. "He is totally dedicated to his work and knows absolutely everything about the park. I just hope I can get him as interested in me as he is in whistling marmots," she finished with a laugh.

Nancy smiled. "I get the feeling you had a good time," she said, then couldn't help sighing.

Bess stared at her. "What's wrong. Nan?"

"It's just that Ned's upset because Dan Trainey is on my list of suspects. I guess he thinks his friends should be exempt from my investigating them."

"That's ridiculous," Bess said. "Ned knows better than that. Nancy. He's just tired and stressed out. He'll feel different tomorrow."

Nancy shook her head. "I hope so," she said.

"Hey, I know," Bess continued. "There's going to be a square dance tomorrow night here at the hotel. Jack asked me to go with him. Why don't you and Ned come, too? We'll have a great time!"

"Good idea," Nancy said, feeling uncomfortable. That was the same dance that Jack had offered to take her to just a few hours before. Sure, he had been fooling around, but still.. . Was Jack one of those guys who had to charm every girl he met? If so, Bess was letting herself in for grief. Judging by the gleam in her eye, this was not the time to give her any warnings.

As Nancy and Bess were finishing their breakfast the next morning, Edith Turkower came over to their table. "We're doing a ranger-guided tour of Upper Geyser Basin ," she announced. "Gerald and I thought you might like to come along."

Nancy gave Bess a gentle kick on the ankle and said, "I can't, but I know Bess would love to."

As Edith walked away, Nancy said softly, "Keep a close eye on them, Bess. It's important."

"No problem," Bess replied.

Once Bess left the table, Nancy decided to go to the Gardiner hospital to see Brad again.

She headed for her car. Lost in thought, she was already climbing a steep grade on the mountain road that led to Gardiner when she noticed a van close behind her-too close. It seemed to be tailgating her. She pressed harder on the gas pedal, but the van kept pace with her.

The road wound between a sheer wall of rock on the left and a deep ravine on the right. As they came around a long curve, the van pulled out to pass. Nancy edged over toward the ravine to give it more room, but instead of going ahead, the van stayed next to her. Alarmed, Nancy hit the brakes to let the other vehicle move ahead. Instead, the van slowed.