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rounded the point, with Mrs. Ruff in the bow, arms crossed. As soon as she caught sight of them, she turned and said something to Leonard. He put the motor in idle and let the boat drift, fifty feet from the dock.
Mrs. Ruffâs angry voice ricocheted across the water.âMiss Stoneâs not here, and I told you kids yesterday that this is private propertyâ she shouted.
âThis is an emergencyâ Graham called back.
Mrs. Ruff ignored him. âYou had your warning. Iâm going to call the police right now. Youâre trespassing.â She turned to her husband. âHead back to shore, Leonard.â
âGood,â Graham called. âYou do that, Mrs. Ruff. And while youâre at it, youâd better let them know we found a skeleton in the castle.â
Leonard didnât need any more instructions when he heard that. He headed straight for the dock.
âIs this some kind of joke?â Mrs. Ruff said, as the bow nudged the side.
âI wish it was,â Graham said. âBut itâs the truth.â
âI donât believe you,â she said, heaving her bulk onto the dock. âYouâre just trying to get out of the trouble youâre in. Show me this skeleton.â
âNo, you go back and call the police first,â Graham insisted. They stood eyeball to eyeball. âIf you donât, the responsibility is on your shoulders.â
Reluctantly, Mrs. Ruff got back in the boat. âIâll call the police all right. But if youâre making this up, youâll be ââ Her threat was drowned out by the motor as Leonard opened up the throttle and the craft roared away.
TWENTY-FOUR
_
Sergeant Simpson, one-half of the Riverview Police Force â the larger half â eyed Daniel suspiciously. âNo kidding, officer, I just happened to tug the tail of this white horse,â Daniel was saying. âAnd the next thing I knew, a trapdoor opened.â He reached for the tail. âHere, Iâll show you.â
âWait!â the sergeant barked. âYouâll do it when I tell you to, not before.â Neil, watching from the door way, thought
he still doesnât believe us.
Sergeant Simpson had been like that from the moment he stepped out of the Ruffsâ boat and confronted the three boys on the dock â his attitudeinfluenced, no doubt, by Mrs. Ruffâs tale of her run-in with Graham the day before. Not helping was the fact that here were three teenage boys and, in the sergeantâs opinion, teenage boys were behind practically all of his problems in the town of Riverview.
Walking up to the castle, the sergeant had fired a stream of questions at them. âYouâd been warned by Mrs. Ruff that this was private property, so what are you doing here?â
âLooking for my aunt,â Graham said. âI told Mrs. Ruff that yesterday.â
âBut she told you your aunt wasnât here. How did you get in the castle?â
âBy the back door,â Graham said, boldly.
âMrs. Ruff swears that all the doors were securely locked when she left,â the sergeant said.
The boys looked at each other. âThe lock on the back door isnât much good,â Neil said. âI just touched it and it flew open.â
The sergeant stopped. âYou broke in! Thatâs a serious charge.â
Mrs. Ruff smirked.
âMy good man,â Graham said. Neil cringed â that wasnât exactly the best way to address Sergeant Simpson. He saw the sergeantâs look darken, but Graham went blithely on. âWe simply
had
to get inside. You see, I have reason to believe somethinghappened to my aunt while she was here. Sheâs disappeared and ââ
âYour aunt left,â Mrs. Ruff interjected. âI told you that yesterday. There wasnât a soul in the castle when I went home last night. Theyâre making all this up, Sergeant. Miss Stone left on a trip. As for all this
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