Read Online 095 An Instinct for Trouble by Carolyn Keene - Free Book Online Page A

time Nancy had seen him happy.
    Bess turned to Nancy and said, “Come on, let’s go check out a few sights while the light’s still good. We’ll have plenty of time to eat dinner and change before the square dance.”
    Nancy sighed and said, “I’ll probably skip the dance.”
    Bess gave her a sharp glance, then replied, “We can discuss that later. Right now, what do you say to a waterfall?” Without waiting for an answer, Bess hooked her arm in Nancy’s to lead her down to the car.
    After a few minutes of driving. Nancy said, “Bess? I think somebody’s following us. A dark blue car’s been right behind us the whole time.” All at once the car pulled off at a scenic overlook.‘“So much for that,” Nancy said with a laugh. “I guess I’m getting paranoid.”
    Bess reached over to touch her shoulder.
    “Nancy?” she said in a tentative voice. “Are you positive that the professor is involved in the poaching?”
    “Positive? Of course not,” Nancy replied, surprised by the question. “I don’t have evi-
    dence to prove it either way. Brad says he saw him just before his accident-but he wasn’t positive. And then there was that Phi Beta Kappa key.”
    “Then he is your chief suspect.”
    “Well,” Nancy said slowly, “no one is in a better position to set up a poaching operation than he is. …”
    “What happens if we don’t find the missing marmots?” Bess asked. “Or if more of them disappear?”
    “I guess the study will be ruined-and so will the professor’s career,” Nancy answered.
    “So poaching and selling marmots wouldn’t exactly solve his problem,” Bess went on. “In some ways, it would only make it worse.”
    Nancy nodded. “I see what you mean, Bess.” Nancy’s thoughts were churning. Was she focusing too hard on Trainey? In that case she owed Ned an apology-if she could ever get him to listen to it.
    She slowed the car down. “There’s a sign for the falls,” she announced.
    After finding a spot in the crowded parking area. Nancy and Bess followed a sawdust-
    covered path through the woods. As they walked, they heard a low, persistent rumble in the distance. When they emerged from the trees at the base of the falls, the sound was overwhelming.
    Bess tapped Nancy’s arm. Nancy turned and saw her friend’s lips moving but couldn’t hear anything above the roar of the water. Bess pointed up the path and raised an eyebrow.
    Nancy nodded and followed her friend to an observation platform perched a dozen feet above the river, just beyond the reach of the spray.
    She craned her neck to peer up at the top, where the water cascaded over a ridge of red and yellow volcanic rock. The constant mo-
    tion of the water made her feel a little dizzy, so she clutched the railing for support.
    Bess leaned her head close to Nancy’s.
    “Would you like the binoculars?” she shouted, holding them out. Nancy took them and could see the individual droplets of water splashing into the river. Along the banks, bright wild-
    flowers grew.
    A large group of sightseers jostled onto the platform behind Nancy. Two middle-aged women pushed up and flanked her. As her gaze swept farther down the riverbank, she noticed a man with black hair. Frowning, she focused the binoculars to get a clearer image. She let out a gasp because she was looking at Dan Trainey, who was holding a marmot trap!
    Nancy focused in tighter and realized that Trainey was talking to someone who was part-
    ly hidden by a tree trunk. All she could make out Were the other person’s hands gesturing to Trainey.
    She wanted to get a better view, so she started edging her way along the railing. She had almost reached the comer of the platform when someone shouted, “Look! A red-tailed hawk!”
    As the crowd on the platform surged for-
    ward, Nancy felt someone put both hands on her back and give her a powerful shove. A moment later she was falling over the rail into the swirling river below.

Chapter Ten
    Nancy gasped as she hit