Mystery of the Midnight Rider (Nancy Drew Diaries) by Keene Carolyn

Author:Keene, Carolyn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2013-05-07T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Mixed Messages

“BUTE? WHAT’S THAT?” GEORGE ASKED.

Mickey didn’t answer. He was already sprinting toward the door, calling out for the other grooms. “Nobody feed anything!” he shouted. “I’ve got to tell Dana about this. We’ll have to figure out if any of the other feed was tampered with.”

A couple of the other grooms rushed in. They seemed surprised to see us in there.

“What’s going on?” asked Jen.

“We’re not sure,” I told her. “Um, Mickey just noticed there was some extra stuff in one of the buckets.”

“Yeah, he called it bute,” George added. “What is that?”

“It’s a medication,” Jen replied. “It’s very common—sort of like aspirin for horses. Some of ours get it after a tough day of showing. Which bucket was it in?”

“Midnight’s,” Bess replied.

“What?” Jen exclaimed. “But that’s not right—Midnight isn’t allowed to have bute today!”

“Why not?” I asked. “I thought you said it was common.”

The groom looked distraught. “It is, but you’re not allowed to give it at the same time as certain other drugs,” she explained. “And Midnight is scheduled to get one of those other drugs tonight. If he ended up with both in his system and then got tested . . .”

She let her voice trail off. I could guess what she was thinking. Midnight was in enough trouble with the drug testers already, without another positive result to add to the mess.

“Anyway,” Jen went on after a moment, “I know there was nothing extra in that bucket an hour ago—I mixed all of this afternoon’s feed myself!”

She and the other groom started checking all the buckets. My friends and I took the opportunity to slip out of the feed room.

“So what do you think?” George asked as we wandered down the aisle. “Does this make Mickey a suspect?”

“Maybe,” I said. “It sounds like he wouldn’t mind one bit if Midnight got a vacation. And a drug suspension would be a sure way to do it.”

Bess nodded. “Especially since he was so quick to tell us that the theo-whatever stuff the test found wouldn’t hurt Midnight any. That makes it a likely choice for someone who’s worried about the horse’s welfare, right?”

“Good point.” I couldn’t help feeling dubious. “But if he’s the culprit, why would he just blurt all that info out to us? I mean, he pretty much handed us his motive on a silver platter.”

“Guilty conscience?” George suggested.

We’d reached the barn exit by then. Bess paused in the doorway, squinting against the sunlight streaming in from outside. “No, maybe Nancy’s right,” she said. “Mickey seemed genuinely surprised and upset when he saw that powder in Midnight’s bucket just now. Either he’s a really good actor . . .”

“Or he’s not the one who put it there,” I finished for her. “Besides, I just thought of something else. Mickey said it’s the trainer who gets suspended when a horse fails a drug test. Not the owner or rider. So Dana would be the one going down. Would Mickey really want to get his boss suspended from showing? Seems like that could be bad for his own income.

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