Read Online The Mystery of the Millionaire by Julie Campbell - Free Book Online

at one another. Honey nodded slightly, so Trixie cleared her throat and began to speak, telling the detective what she had told Laura Ramsey the day before. She proudly included her deductions about the length of time the wallet had been on the ground and the elimination of robbery as the motive, because of the presence of the hundred-dollar bill.
    McGraw didn’t acknowledge her cleverness, however. “Did you look for tire tracks on the shoulder of the road?” he asked.
    Trixie looked at Honey, who shook her head. “No,” Trixie said.
    “Too bad,” McGraw grunted. “How about signs of struggle—stones kicked up, grass matted down, anything like that?” He looked up at Trixie, who once again shook her head. “Too bad,” he repeated. “It’s also too bad you weren’t more careful with the evidence,” he said, pulling the wallet out of his shirt pocket and holding it up for them to see. “Nice smooth leather like this would take fingerprints pretty well. But now that it’s been handled by everyone and his uncle, there’s no point in even trying.”
    Trixie swallowed hard. She had looked forward to learning from a real detective, but what she was learning was that she still had an awful lot to learn. “Is there anything else we can do?” she asked timidly.
    The detective wrote a few more words, closed the notebook, and returned it and the pencil to his pocket before he spoke. “Yup, there are a couple of things you could do to help me. First, I’ll need a deposition.”
    “A what?” Honey asked.
    The detective sighed. “A deposition,” he repeated slowly. “Just write down everything you’ve told me, plus anything else you can remember that you haven’t told me. Make it as clear and concise as you can. If this case ever gets to court, your testimony will be important. So I want you to get everything down now, while it’s fresh in your minds.”
    Trixie and Honey exchanged wide-eyed glances. They might have to testify in court! “We’ll do that right away,” Honey said. “Is there anything else?”
    The detective thought for a moment. “Well, I want all of you to be alert for any strangers in town. There’s a chance that someone is holding Ramsey somewhere near here, and if that’s the case, they’ll need to come into town for supplies, food, things like that. If you spot anyone, let me know. It would also help if you could give me a map of this area, pointing out any places where someone might be holding a captive—abandoned buildings, caves, places like that.”
    “Oh!” Laura Ramsey’s gasp drew everyone’s attention.
    “I’m not saying that’s likely,” McGraw said gruffly, “but it’s a possibility. I have to check out every angle right now, if only to throw out the wrong ones.”
    “I—I understand,” Laura said bravely.
    The detective stood up and picked up his suit coat. He hooked one finger under the collar and flung the coat over his shoulder. “I’ll be in touch,” he said. Then he turned and left.
    “Very businesslike,” Mr. Lytell said, giving the detective his highest praise. “Too expensive, though. Guess I’ll be going.” The storekeeper nodded at the others and left the room.
    Laura Ramsey stood up. “I think I’ll go to my room for a while,” she said.
    Jim nodded his understanding, and Honey asked her if she wanted anything. Laura shook her head and left the room quickly. Jim followed her out the door.
    “Let’s go to my room and start working on our assignments right away,” Honey said.
    Trixie nodded. “I hope we do a better job with them than we did of finding the wallet,” she said unhappily.
    “There were a lot of things we didn’t think of,” Honey admitted. “But at least we found it—and found it soon after it was lost. I’m sure that’s a big help right there, Trix.”
    “That’s true,” Trixie said, brightening. She stood up. “Let’s get to work.”
    Honey took two legal pads of lined, yellow paper and two pencils from the