121-The Mystery in the Old Mine by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T15:13:49+00:00

Chapter 9

Cave-in!

"Frank!" Joe called out, rushing back downstairs. "Garth! I think I found something."

Frank and Garth came running out of the building across the way. "What?" Frank asked breathlessly.

"There's a stash of food in a locker upstairs," Joe told him. "I bet you anything it belongs to Liz."

Joe led Frank and Garth back inside the building and upstairs to where the lockers were. When Frank saw the cans of food and the bottles of water, he stopped dead in his tracks. Garth eagerly reached for one of the cereal boxes, but Joe stopped him.

"We'll want to dust for prints," Joe warned. "You shouldn't touch anything." Using the end of his shirt to carefully remove one of the cans, he gingerly put it in his pocket. "We brought our fingerprinting kit along. I'll dust this can when we get back to your house."

Garth nodded excitedly. "No problem." He pointed to the box of cereal. "I guess I got carried away. That's Liz's favorite granola."

"Bingo," Joe said, his excitement rising. "She's been here, I'm sure of it."

"Finally we're getting somewhere," Garth said, a smile lighting his face for the first time in days.

"Finding this food pretty much kills the kidnapping angle," Frank admitted. "It seems unlikely that someone would abduct Liz and then lay in a stash of her favorite food."

"Radford owes us an explanation about how and why he didn't find this locker," Joe remarked.

"The sheriff says he searched these buildings," Garth said. "And the tunnels running underground from here. Back at the diner he told me and Frank he's convinced Liz left town - on her own, and voluntarily. He's about to give up his investigation." Garth pounded his fist against the lockers in a burst of anger. "I can't believe him! If Liz left town, why did she stash this food? I think he just doesn't care about finding her. That's what I think."

Frank looked troubled. "There's another possibility - one we haven't thought about yet," he said slowly. "We have to consider that maybe Sheriff Radford doesn't want us to find Liz."

Joe had been poking through another locker. He froze as he realized what his brother was suggesting. "You mean Radford could have had something to do with Liz's disappearance?" he asked, straightening up.

Frank nodded. "And all this time we've been telling him everything about our investigation."

"Whoa, hold on," Garth protested. "Radford may be lazy, but I can't believe he's a crook. I've known him since I was a kid!"

"There's another thing," Joe put in. "Whoever it was who came to get the notebook at the covered bridge, it sure wasn't Radford. That guy was skinny. Sheriff Radford would have made three of him."

"Hey, you're right," Frank agreed. "But he could have an accomplice. But, then again, he did send some officers to try to catch the kidnapper - even if he put them at the wrong end of the bridge." Frank was silent for a moment. Then he said, "I suppose that could have been deliberate, though."

From outside came the noise of a car door slamming.

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