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

front door closed, there was a knock at the back door. Trixie opened it, and Jim stepped inside the kitchen.
    “The gang’s all here, I see,” he said, looking around at his fellow Bob-Whites. “I was beginning to feel absolutely abandoned at home. I decided to come over and get filled in on what happened last night—and to remind everyone that we ought to be putting signs on the Model A this very minute.“
    “Gleeps!” Trixie shouted, clapping her hand to her forehead. “I’d forgotten all about our rummage sale. We’d better get going!”
    “First things first,” Jim said firmly. “You owe me an explanation about the events of last night.”
    “And I owe Bobby two stories, which I’m going to go and read to him right now,” Honey said. “I hate to keep going over the story of the accident time after time,” she added, almost apologetically, as she hurried up the stairs.
    Sitting down at the kitchen table, Trixie, Mart, and Brian told Jim the details of the breakdown of the car, the meeting with the stranger, and the hit-and-run accident.
    When they finished, Jim’s eyes were clouded with worry. “I feel sort of responsible for what happened,” he said. “After all, Mr. Burnside told us that the car was temperamental. It was stupid of me to just take off in the station wagon. I ought to have driven along behind the Model A, to make sure you made it home all right.”
    “There’s no way that’s your fault, Jim,” Brian told him. “I took responsibility for getting the Model A home. If I hadn’t been so sure I could handle it, I would have asked for an escort. So it has to be my overconfidence that’s to blame.”
    “I think we’d just better stop blaming ourselves,” Trixie said spiritedly. “Sergeant Molinson said so just a few minutes ago. The driver of that van is responsible. We’re not.”
    “This is a different kind of responsibility, Trixie,” Jim said. “I’m talking about the fact that the four of you were alone and frightened on a deserted street, and that you witnessed a really horrible accident. If I’d followed you in the station wagon, that might not have happened. Perhaps it wouldn’t have prevented the hit and run directly, though—especially if, as you say, the driver hit the victim intentionally.“
    “Do you mean you believe my theory about the hit and run?” Trixie asked excitedly. After so much doubt from Honey, Brian, Mart, and Sergeant Molinson, she was thrilled at the thought that Jim might not think her story “ridiculous.”
    “I believe you believe it,” Jim said. “I’ve seen your hunches be right too many times to dismiss this one totally. I think that what the sergeant said is correct, though: At this point, it doesn’t really matter whether the hit and run was intentional or not, because it was a criminal act either way. What’s important is that the police will probably look for some connection between the driver and the victim—once they find out who the driver and the victim are. ”
    Trixie nodded, but the corners of her mouth were drooping. She’d hoped for real backing from Jim. That wasn’t what he’d given her, but she knew it would have to do for now. There was no way of proving her hunch to anyone.
    “Well, I think it’s high time we turn our attention back to the rummage sale,” Jim said. “Now that we have the Model A to sell and the other antique cars to draw a crowd, it seems to me we ought to work even harder to make sure the sale is as successful as possible.
    “Since I’ve had some time on my hands, last night and this morning,” he continued, “I took the liberty of forging ahead with the project. I called the Sleepyside Sun and told them the antique car show had been added to the sale. The reporter I spoke with was really excited—it turns out he’s an old-car buff himself. I’m sure we’ll get a good write-up in the paper because of him.”
    “Oh, Jim, that’s terrific!” Trixie crowed.
    “I also went over