In a flurry of excitement, Margaret leapt from the kitchen table and shot straight for the front door; with her companions tailing close behind her.
As she reached the corner of the street, her shoulders sank, and her face clouded as she regarded the situation.
“What are we to do?”
Before Margaret could utter another word, Josh sprung down the street with great determination after the fading taillights, as they flickered out around the corner.
“We’ll get it back, don’t worry.” Jane Darcy reassured her.
“And what if we don’t!” Margaret said with a little shiver. “When father is angry, you can’t reason with him; and this will certainly make him blow his top!”
Only a few minutes had elapsed before they saw Josh’s silhouette come marching back up the sidewalk, in a very gloomy manner.
Josh rubbed his brown hair savagely, and expressed himself with bitterness.
“No dice; he’s gone.”
Margaret couldn’t help but feel a deep sinking inside, as she thought over the many possibilities that would follow.
“We can’t let a little thing like this stop us.” Jane said, with all the aplomb she could muster.
“This gang you girls have uncovered certainly mean business.”
Jane waved off Josh’s comment with her hand,
“First thing in the morning, we will report this to the police.” She stated flatly, “As for now, we had better put away those papers and start walking home. We’re a good ten miles away or so from Margaret’s home, or the camera shop; and we haven’t any time to lose.”
They returned the papers to the pantry drawer, and the most intriguing pieces of evidence they took with them. It had been an exhaustive experience; and Jane wished more than ever she were back home in Margaret’s quaint guest bedroom.
The night was dark; the neighborhoods were illuminated by the bright moon overhead and the streets seemed oddly vacant. They made up a very perturbed group, and there were little to no conversations as they plodded along.
As Jane stopped beneath a lamp post to check her watch, she squinted off into the darkness before them. Her eyes fell upon an almost familiar gleam in the black abyss, and she gasped. Straining to see the details surrounding the location, she shouted out:
“Look up ahead! It looks like a car went off the road!”
They hastened forth to stand on the shoulder of the road, and stared at the flattened grass which lead off into a myriad of bushes and overgrowth. Something large had forced its way through, and sat quietly in the still blackness of the night.
Josh pulled back a large nannyberry branch to unveil Margaret’s sedan; and she exclaimed in delight.
“Good golly! It’s in one piece!”
“Looks to be in pretty fine shape, too.” Commented Josh, brushing off the branches and broken leaves from the hood.
“Why would it be left here alongside the road?” Pondered Margaret.
“Whoever stole it, must have ran it off in this ditch, but for what purpose I’m unsure.”
“You know what they say; never look a gift horse in the mouth! It looks as good as new, if not mildly scuffed. Hop in Margaret and I’ll signal you out!”
As Margaret took her usual place behind the wheel, she enjoyed the sleek seats which she had begun to think she would never feel again. She felt for the key, but it was missing. She groped wildly in the dark, touching the various surfaces and running her hand across the floor; when she noticed a note pinned to the dashboard and the key dangling below it.
“Look here, Jane!” She called out, reaching for the note and shining her purse flashlight on it. She read aloud:
“You have 24 hours to hand over the photos, or else.”
Jane regarded the scrawled handwriting with thoughtfulness.
“Well, that’s that,” was her unspoken conclusion.
“Let’s get out of here, this place gives me the willies!”
It wasn’t long before they had smoothly guided the automobile out of the grassy trench and back onto the gravel road; delivered Josh to his camera shop to properly lock up for the evening, and departed for home themselves.
It had been a long journey; Jane and Margaret were both weary and strained from the day’s findings, and longed to turn in for the night. If the mystery could be stored on a shelf momentarily, and Jane could just relax and have fun for a change, she wouldn’t mind in the least.
It became increasingly difficult for Jane to dismiss the matter from her mind as she pulled back the crisp sheets and slid into bed. The unanswered questions seemed to hang in the air, and kept Jane awake as she pondered and sorted through them all.
Where was Trooper? Who had stolen him? Were all the unusual robberies caused by that same mysterious gang in the forest? Was Ted a dangerous criminal; and where could he be lurking in Pinecrest? What happened to Sadie, had she actually skipped town, or merely gone into hiding?
Did Zack’s strange behavior mean anything, or could it have been simply a coincidence? And what of the whistle, discovered on his desk? Was the owner of the jewelry store involved, or perhaps the man from the diner?
And then there was that frightening man in the dark, awaiting Sadie’s arrival; followed by that alarming message in Margaret’s sedan. “You have 24 hours to hand over the photos, or else.”
Jane’s consciousness left her slowly as she gradually drifted into a dream; when she awoke with a clammy start to a horrifying sound.