Read Online The Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell - Free Book Online Page A

perfectly well, Anna, that I’ve got to combine business with pleasure on my vacation. I must get that client in Tookerstown to sign the contract sometime this week. You don’t have to come with me if you’d prefer to stay here."
    "Of course I want to come," his wife said quickly. "But is it necessary to take the trailer? I’m sort of nervous since those robberies."
    "It’s not necessary," the man said, "but a lot more comfortable. We can eat whenever we like and change into bathing suits without having to look for bathhouses. Tookerstown is just a small village on a country road, and I doubt if we’ll pass an inn on the way."
    His wife laughed as they left the table. "We could, of course, take sandwiches, but I guess I’ve spoiled you with my home cooking."
    Trixie pretended to eat, but she was watching Jeff out of the corner of one eye. As soon as the couple left the cafeteria, he flipped a notebook out of his pocket and wrote something down in it.
    "So," Trixie thought, "that’s why he works in this restaurant. He listens to people’s plans so he knows just where they are going to park their trailers when they go on trips. I hope that man doesn’t leave his keys in the tow car when he and his wife go swimming. I’d like to warn him, but I know he’d only laugh at me."
    Later that evening when she was telling her suspicions to Honey, she said, "If only I could get hold of Jeff’s notebook! That would be all we needed to prove he’s one of the trailer thieves."
    Honey thought for a minute. "I don’t think any more trailers are going to be stolen for quite a while. Everybody’s going to be extra careful after those radio warnings. We simply mustn’t waste any more time on that mystery. Let the state troopers worry about it. We’ve only got two more days to look for Jim, and then we’ll have to go home."
    Trixie sighed. "Is Miss Trask still determined to go home on Wednesday?"
    Honey nodded. "She’s pretty nervous about it all and feels that when the gang discovers people are being careful of where they park their trailers, they’ll try some other way of getting them. Like hijacking."
    "Hijacking?" Trixie’s blue eyes grew round. "You mean hold up the drivers with guns and force them into the woods and tie them up while they steal the equipment?"
    "Miss Trask didn’t come right out and say that," Honey admitted. "But that’s what Í think will happen." She shuddered. "I hope the troopers catch that gang before we start back, and I tell you I’m not going to investigate any abandoned barns."
    Trixie giggled. "We probably won’t have a chance to, unless there’s one on the Wilson Ranch."
    It had stopped raining during dinner, and now the moon was shining palely through a veil of clouds. "Let’s sit out on the step for a while before we go to bed," Trixie said. "I don’t feel a bit sleepy now."
    Miss Trask had stayed behind at the cafeteria to talk with some friends she had made while the girls were out riding that morning. "I’d like to go for a swim," Honey said as they strolled past the pool. "But I guess it’s too late for that."
    They covered the wet step of the Swan with their raincoats and sat down to wait for Miss Trask. Suddenly Trixie grabbed Honey’s arm.
    "Quick," she whispered. "Look at that man in the Autoville uniform on the other side of the pool." Honey stared across the park. "What about him? He’s just one of the attendants."
    "I know," Trixie said, "but just a minute ago he took off his cap to shake the water out of it, and you should have seen his hair. It’s as bushy as a fox’s tail!"
    Honey blinked. "Do you think he’s the man you heard talking to Jeff before dinner?"
    "That one wasn’t in uniform," Trixie said, "but, of course, he wouldn’t be when he was off duty."
    Honey stood up, shivering. "Let’s go inside," she begged. "He might have seen you on the veranda when you were spying on him."
    Trixie frowned. "I wish he’d turn around so we could see his