Spook Trap

The scene was ruined, and the club members were furious.

" Let’s get those rats! " Jack Billings exclaimed.

" Well need more light than this, " Ned warned. " We haven't much hope of finding them in the dark."

Hastily snatching up what flashlights were available, the whole group spread out into the woods, hoping to catch at least one of their tormentors. No lurking figures showed up in their flashlight beams.

Every now and then another taunting voice would jeer at them from the darkness. But always, it seemed just out of reach.

Ned heaved an angry sigh of frustration. " Oh, what's the use? This game of hide-and-seek could go on all night! "

Nancy said, " Wait, Ned! Shhh! The two had just made a mad rush to a spot where a voice seemed to be coming from, but had found no one.

They had a single flashlight between them. Only leafy underbrush and the tree trunks all around them were visible in its glow.

" Did you hear something? " Ned asked, lowering his voice.

" No, but I'm sure we made no mistake about the direction of that voice we heard, " Nancy replied with a puzzled frown. " There must be someone or something concealed around here, Ned! "

They stood silently for a while, listening. Ned swung his flashlight beam here and there, probing the darkness. Their wait seemed useless, and they were just about to move on when a shrill voice came from the shrubbery at their side.

Whirling, Ned aimed his light into the foliage.

" Look! " Nancy gasped.

There, hidden among the leaves, was a walkie-talkie radio propped among the branches of the shrubbery! Another loud jeer blared from the device as they stood looking at it.

" No wonder we couldn't catch anyone, " Ned said angrily, reaching for the walkie-talkie.

" Wait, don't move it! " Nancy said urgently, " I've a plan." Looking around, she added, " Ned, could we remember this spot well enough to find it again? "

" Sure, I guess so. But why? "

" Come on, let's get the others! I’ll tell you on the way." As they headed back toward the house, Nancy went on, " Where do you suppose whoever's doing this is broadcasting from? "

" Who knows? Probably somewhere in the woods close enough to see us. But they could be a mile away. It all depends on how powerful their sets are.

" So we might be wasting our time searching around here, " Nancy pointed out.

The two stopped near the mansion and called out to the others. Ned also waved his flashlight to catch their attention. Singly and in pairs, the rest of the club came walking back empty-handed and frustrated. Ned told them what he and Nancy had found.

" Ooh, Td like to get my hands on those wise guys, " Mike said. " Id teach them a lesson! "

Nancy said, " They've been clever. But we'll fool them. Let's pack up our equipment and drive away."

" You mean just give up? " Denise said. Other voices were raised in protest and disbelief.

" I don't mean leave for good, " Nancy explained. " I just mean drive far enough away to make them think we’ve gone for the night."

She pointed out that walkie-talkie sets were expensive, and that the hoaxers must have placed several around the mansion. " Surely, they won't go off and leave them, " Nancy reasoned. " So we'll sneak back on foot and catch them red-handed when they come to collect their sets."

The film club greeted her plan with a show of enthusiasm. They packed away their equipment and turned off all the lights in the mansion. Then Ned locked up the place. Piling into their cars, they deliberately slammed the doors noisily and started the engines with a roar, hoping to be heard by the hoaxers. But they drove only to the edge of the forest, where the entrance lane branched off from the North Road.

Parking quietly out of sight by the roadside, they took their flashlights and hurried stealthily back to the mansion.

" Spread out! " Ned hissed to the others. " And try not to be seen! "

He and Nancy retraced their steps toward the spot where they had found the walkie-talkie and crouched down in a clump of underbrush nearby.

Several minutes passed. Nothing was heard except the gentle sighing of tree branches in the evening breeze, the occasional call of a night bird, and the chirping of crickets. But presently, footsteps were approaching through the woods.

" Here they come! " Nancy whispered, clutching Ned's arm.

A voice spoke in the darkness. " All clear? "

" Sure, the house is dark, " another voice said. " They've gone."

" Okay, the funs over, I guess." A third speaker chuckled. " Let’s get our walkie-talkies and leave. I bet we really had em tearing their hair! "

In a moment, a darkened figure appeared through the trees, coming toward the spot where Ned and Nancy were hiding. He switched on a flashlight and shone it down among the shrubbery, looking for his walkie-talkie. As he bent down to pick up his set, Ned sprang out of the underbrush and grabbed him in one swift movement!

" Hey! " the searcher blurted in a terrified voice. But instead of releasing him, Ned twisted his arm behind his back so he could not get away.

Nancy shone the light on his face. It was the spotty-faced youth that she had seen talking to Gwen Jethro and Lenny Arthur on the street near Westmoor University.

" Ned, " Nancy cried, " he's from Burnside Tech! I remember him from the dance. He's in their film club! "

Meanwhile, the two other Burnside Tech students had been caught by the rest of the Westmoor group. One of them sheepishly admitted that he had been the intruder who slid down the porch roof. The spotty-faced youth, whose name was Cliff, had been with him.

" Gwen and Lenny told us what your film was about, " Cliff confessed, " so we decided to find out if it was as good as it sounded."

" And maybe keep us from finishing it before the deadline! " Jack Billings cut in belligerently.

The Burnside trio did not try to deny the charge. But they insisted that they knew nothing about the missing painting, the smoke bomb, or the fire. " Wed never do anything like that, honestly! " the apparent ringleader declared. " We just wanted to pester you enough to hold up your shooting schedule."

Nancy was inclined to believe him, as were most of the Westmoor group. " But, " Ned said, " that's not all you fellows did. We not only lost time due to your dirty tricks; we also wasted a lot of expensive film footage! "

" How about if we replace the wasted film? " Cliff said guiltily.

" And promise not to pull any more funny business, " the ringleader added. " Will that square things? "

The Westmoor club members agreed that they would be satisfied with these truce terms, so the Burnside trio was allowed to leave with no worse punishment than the derisive grins and jibes of their erstwhile victims.

After getting their cars and setting up their equipment once more, the film club resumed shooting. It was almost eleven o'clock before they were through, but by that time the night scene had been filmed successfully and everyone was happy with the results.

" Were still going to have to work double time though, to bring this in under the wire! " Ned told them.

The next day, Nancy put on jeans and a cotton print shirt and left early for the Grimsby Mansion. As she drove past Hugh Morston’s opulent estate, she saw him on the lawn, examining a big evergreen tree. On impulse, Nancy stopped and greeted him.

" Well, Nancy, " Hugh Morston said and smiled, " to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? "

Nancy related how she had seen him at the library on the previous evening, reading a magazine, and how the sight of Roger Harlow's photograph on the open page had caused her to stop and skim the article about his feud with Howard Ainslee.

" Forgive me if I seem snoopy, " she went on, " but do you mind telling me why you looked up that article? "

Morston seemed shaken by her question. " Just curiosity, I suppose, " he said with an awkward shrug.

" Why now? Did you know Howard Ainslee? "

" I didn't at the time of his trouble with Roger Harlow, but I've met him since." Mr. Morston seemed reluctant to say anything further, adding, " I really know nothing about the matter, beyond what we've both read."

But Nancy persisted. Smiling winningly at him, she said, " Mr. Morston, if you know anything at all that might possibly have a bearing on the Shooting Star case, it would be such a big help."

Hugh Morston's troubled expression relaxed and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. " Nancy, you could charm the birds out of the trees, I'm sure, " he said.

With a sigh, he went on, " Well, there's just one thing I can tell you. Ainslee recently moved into this area. Less than a month ago, he bought a house on the other side of Brookvale Forest."