The Pet Show Mystery

guiltily, thinking for a moment that Brian had somehow guessed at her suspicions of Paul Gale and his phony foundation. Then she realized she’d misunderstood. “Oh. No. The foundation wasn’t—I mean, there was no foundation behind the sabotage. None at all.”
    Jim’s gaze had become more and more suspicious. Trixie felt that she had to get away immediately or risk being trapped. I can’t take the time to explain everything that’s happened, she thought. It would take too long, and then I’d never catch up to Honey and Norma.
    “Well, listen,” she said out loud, “I just doubled back here to drop the dog off. Now I have to meet Honey. She’s downtown, working on something. It’s a surprise so I can’t tell you much about it, except that it’s connected with the pet show.” Which is true, she thought, since it was the pet show sabotage that led us to Paul Gale and David Llewelyn. “We’ll catch the second bus home,” she added. “Don’t bother to wait for us.”
    She turned and walked as decorously as she could away from the school. It was only when she was out of sight that she began to run. The cold air hurt her lungs, but she was too eager to find Honey and Norma to stop running.
    There was no sign of the two girls, or of David Llewelyn, anywhere on the block in front of the World Anti-Hunger Foundation.
    On a hunch, Trixie headed for the cafe. There she found the three people she was looking for.
    Norma had just finished transferring her information to David Llewelyn. “The woman laughed after Paul Gale made the remark about ice,” Norma was concluding. “Then she came out of the back room. She seemed surprised to see me. When I told her I wanted to talk to Paul Gale, she told me he wasn’t in and that I’d better come back some other time. So I left.”
    “That proves it, doesn’t it?” Trixie asked excitedly.
    “It’s proof enough for me,” David Llewelyn said.
    “Isn’t it proof enough for a judge?” Trixie asked.
    David Llewelyn shook his head. “Not all by itself.”
    Norma looked disappointed. “I didn’t really help, then, did I?”
    “Why don’t you wire her?” Trixie suggested. “It didn’t work when I tried it, because I was hoping to get him to confess to something he hadn’t done. But Norma could use his own words against him. That would be a lot more effective.”
    “It would also be a lot more dangerous,” the investigator said.
    “If I do it, is there a chance I’d get real evidence against Paul Gale?” Norma asked.
    “There’s a chance,” David Llewelyn told her.
    “Then I’ll do it,” she said.
    Trixie looked admiringly at Norma. She has a lot of courage. I guess she’s shown that all along, going out in the cold every day, but this is different.
    “Would you like us to go with you, Norma?” Honey asked.
    “Oh, would you?” the girl responded eagerly.
    “Of course, we would,” Trixie said.
    David Llewelyn took the microphone from his pocket. There was no place to conceal it on Norma’s open-necked blouse and vest, so he clipped it to the hood of her parka, where the fur concealed it. He explained again that he would be taping the conversation. “Keep him talking until you’re absolutely sure you’ve got the evidence,” he said. “If we move in too soon, we’ll probably lose him for good.”
    Norma nodded solemnly.
    “Remember, don’t put yourselves in any danger,” he said. “I’d rather lose Paul Gale than lose you. Understand?”
    Norma gulped and nodded.
    David Llewelyn and the three girls left the booth and walked outside. The investigator faded from sight, while Trixie, Honey, and Norma headed for the foundation office.
    The assistant was once again alone in the main room.
    “I’d like to talk to Paul Gale,” Norma said.
    “He isn’t here,” the woman said curtly.
    “Not even in the back room?” Norma asked. “This is important. It’s about birdseed.” She made the last statement in a voice loud enough to carry through the closed door to the back room.
    Paul Gale’s assistant looked shaken. “I’ll, uh, see if he’s available,” she said.
    She disappeared through the door. The girls heard a rumble of low conversation, but they couldn’t pick out any of the words. In less than a minute, the assistant was back. “Mr. Gale will see you,” she said, holding the door open for them.
    The back room was comfortable but not lavish. There was a large desk with a swivel chair, a couch, and an armchair, as