The Secret of the Unseen Treasure

close to home. That explains the swimming this afternoon. Not that I don’t enjoy swimming, but—”
    “You had something else in mind?” Trixie asked.
    “Mrs. Elliot,” Honey replied. “I’d sure like to go back and check on her, to make sure everything is all right. But Miss Trask thinks we’re trying to get too involved.”
    “I know what you mean,” Trixie said. She told Honey about her father’s remarks at supper.
    Honey sighed. “They tell us they ‘know how we feel’ because they were young once. Then they turn right around and refuse to understand how we feel. Trixie, I just know that something is wrong at Mrs. Elliot’s.”
    “How do you know?” Trixie asked.
    “It’s just a feeling. Has Dan been in touch with you?”
    “No,” said Trixie in a puzzled tone. “Why do you ask?”
    “There’s something very strange about his attitude.”
    “I noticed that yesterday when he said we should stay out of it and leave everything to Sergeant Molinson,” Trixie agreed. “That’s not like Dan. He’s usually as interested in a case as we are.”
    “Oh, he’s interested all right,” Honey declared. “But not in the usual way. Listen: I went to the stable last night to help Regan bed down the horses. Dan was there. He often drops by to visit his uncle. But I got the feeling this was more than a casual visit. Dan went out of his way to talk to me about what happened at Mrs. Elliot’s.”
    “So?” Trixie prompted.
    “He tried to make it sound offhand, but he was digging for something, if you know what I mean.”
    “Yep!” Trixie understood. “Just like Moms or Dad does when they’re trying to get me to own up to something that they’ve already found out about.”
    Honey laughed. “Miss Trask, too. But, anyway, that’s what Dan was doing. In an offhand sort of way—that didn’t fool me for a minute— he wanted to know if we had seen something about that man that we would recognize again. Then he started asking about the car, still trying to sound casual. Were we sure it was a gray car? Didn’t we notice anything else about it? What make was it? What color were the license plates? Things like that.”
    Trixie frowned. “That sounds like he had a definite car in mind.”
    “That’s the feeling I got, too!” Honey exclaimed.
    “Did you try to find out what Dan’s theory is?”
    “He must have known I was going to try. He suddenly remembered that he had something else to do. As he left, though, he said again that we ought to leave it to Sergeant Molinson. Miss Trask was out walking and overheard that part. I tried to tell her my feelings about Dan, but she said that he was right and that we should keep out of it.”
    “I know. I’ve heard that, too,” Trixie commented dryly.
    “So Miss Trask laid down the law about staying close to home.” Honey sighed. “I guess we’ll just have to sort of work under cover.”
    “Underwater, since we’re going swimming,” Trixie said. “See you at the lake this afternoon if it’s okay with Moms.”
    As she hung up the phone, Trixie saw her mother in the doorway.
    “The vegetables are waiting to see you do something about the weeds,” Mrs. Belden said. “Please take Bobby with you. Hell help you keep your mind off other things.”
    “Oh, Moms!” Trixie tried to explain. “It’s just that-”
    “I know,” Mrs. Belden said patiently. “I don’t want anything else to happen to Ethel Elliot, either. But there’s nothing to suggest that anything else will happen. If we act as if we expect something, we’ll only cause the poor dear needless worry.”
    After finishing their chores, Trixie, Brian, and Mart headed for the lake on the Wheeler estate. They wore their swimsuits under their clothes, since someone often got pushed into the water before he or she had a chance to change. At the boathouse, Mart made a lunge for Trixie, but she dodged out of the way and he splashed into the lake. Laughing and shouting, the others got out of jeans and shirts before joining him in the water.
    The Water Witch, Jim’s large rowboat, was their diving platform and resting place—for as long as anyone could keep from being thrown overboard.
    When Di arrived, there was a contest to see who could stay underwater the longest. Jim lasted for two minutes. Surprisingly, Di almost matched that time. Brian was a close third, and Mart was next. Trixie and Honey tied for last place.
    “The girls should have won,” Brian said as everyone except