Horse Thief (8 page)

“Look,” Lisa said reasonably. “We’ll just leave her on the list for now because we don’t know anything. But I don’t really think five hundred dollars would solve Denise’s tuition worries.” Her friends nodded uneasily.

Stevie changed the subject. “How about Veronica?” she reminded them. “She has the motive—she wants to
get even with Phil for his teasing—and she had the opportunity, since she could have easily slipped back into the office after we helped Mo with her tack.”

“She’s done worse things before,” Carole said quietly. Veronica’s behavior had often gotten herself, her horses, and The Saddle Club into a lot of trouble.

“So Veronica’s on the list as well. What about the Mendenhall riders?” Lisa said.

“We don’t really know anything about them,” Carole said thoughtfully.

“We know that Celeste and Kurt are pretty unpleasant,” answered Lisa, “and that Mo thinks Celeste is capable of some awful things.”

“Right,” said Stevie. “The same Mo who wouldn’t give Max any kind of an explanation about all that yelling, so now he’s annoyed at us!”

“I saw Celeste before her turn in the rally, and she was looking like she would do anything to win,” Lisa said. She told Carole and Stevie about Celeste’s smug satisfaction at the effect of the theft on the other riders.

“That means we can’t rule out Howard, either,” said Carole. “We’ve already seen that Howard will do practically anything for Celeste. Maybe even steal.”

Stevie clapped her hands together. “Enough talking—more action!” she declared. “We’ve got our suspects, and now we’ve got to get that money back for Max and
CARL. We have to investigate people while they’re here, now, at the scene of the crime. The trail is still fresh, although it’s getting colder by the second. Sooner or later, the guilty party will reveal herself.”

Lisa knew that Stevie’s “herself” referred to Veronica. When it came to suspecting Veronica of wrongdoing, Stevie had a one-track mind, and she wasn’t going to forget Veronica’s accusation of Phil anytime soon. Lisa herself wasn’t so sure. Her friends hadn’t heard Celeste and Howard talking. And everyone had seen the panicked look on Denise’s face. Nobody knew anything about Kurt. No, it wasn’t a sure thing, much as Stevie wanted it to be. There was work to be done, and Lisa was the one to parcel it out.

“Carole, can you find out what’s going on with Denise and Veronica?” she said. “Stevie will take Celeste and Howard while I check out Kurt and Mo. We’ll then take our turns in the second round of the rally and report to each other at lunchtime. Same Saddle Club place, same Saddle Club time. Got it?”

Stevie and Carole nodded. Then they all split up and hurried to begin their investigation.

S
TEVIE LOOKED FOR
Celeste and Howard in the indoor ring, where the visiting horses were waiting between rounds. At first she didn’t see them, because the ring
was pretty crowded. Then she spotted them in the far corner, huddled together and whispering. At least, Howard was huddling and whispering. Celeste appeared to be her usual icy, detached self. She was hard to read because she never seemed to show anything—except perhaps an occasional flicker of contempt for Howard’s devotion, which wasn’t enough to keep him from waiting on her hand and foot.

Stevie sidled up to them. They definitely looked guilty, she thought. Their heads were close together, and Howard was speaking in low tones and darting furtive glances around him. She wished she could lip-read and understand what they were saying.

If she could just get closer, she might be able to overhear their conversation. Trying to look casual, she picked up a tick of hay and looked for a hungry horse. A bay hitched next to Ghost seemed a likely candidate. Stevie was a few steps away, almost near enough to overhear the pair from Mendenhall, when a loud voice suddenly hailed her. “Hey, Stevie, have you seen Phil?” asked A.J.

Celeste and Howard looked up, startled. Howard looked embarrassed and turned his eyes to the ground. Celeste looked at Stevie, who had gone bright red and looked plainly guilty to be caught so close to them. “Were you spying on us?” she asked angrily.

“Me? Spying? No way!” Stevie said as positively as she
could. “I was just bringing some hay over here for good old, uh, Horse,” she said, stumbling for a name and patting the horse’s neck. She dropped the tick of hay on top of the pile of hay that was already there. So much for that ruse. Time to try something else.

Stevie took A.J. by the arm. “A.J., do you know where Phil is?” she asked. “I thought I saw him over here, but I guess I was wrong.”

A.J. got even more confused as Stevie led him away. “That’s what
I
just asked
you
,” he reminded her.

“Shhh,” hissed Stevie. When she got far enough away from Celeste and Howard, she dashed off, leaving a bewildered A.J. behind.

“Girls,” he muttered.

L
ISA WANDERED THE
stable grounds, looking for Kurt. The other riders were also milling around, mingling with each other and the parents who had come to watch. The second round was due to begin in fifteen minutes, and Lisa overheard animated discussion about who had done well in the first round. She passed by the refreshment table and snagged a cookie—lunch seemed far away, and she didn’t want to investigate her suspects on a completely empty stomach.

While munching her cookie, Lisa spotted Kurt, standing off by himself underneath a tree. His expression, as usual, was moody and glum. Lisa tried to get closer to
him, but she was hampered by the crowd at the refreshment table. After his behavior that morning, she knew he would not be particularly interested in her company—or anyone’s company, for that matter.

Just as she got close to the tree, Kurt glanced around and quickly strode off. Lisa followed, trying to look casual as she traced his path but not feeling casual at all. She lost him inside the stable and then searched the tack room, all of the stalls, and even the locker room. Kurt’s bay horse, Simon, was standing tethered in the indoor ring with a large stack of hay in front of him, but Kurt was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

Lisa sighed. She didn’t think she was cut out for this spying business. Her first suspect and she had lost him! Plus, she couldn’t help feeling irritated that she was doing it. She and Carole and Stevie had really looked forward to the dressage rally, and now they were spending all their time chasing after a thief. She wanted to quit the investigation, but she also wanted to find Max’s money and clear Phil’s name.

She went to look for her other suspect, Mo, even though she felt foolish doing it. Mo was so nice, it just didn’t seem possible that she could be capable of stealing.

She found Mo giving Indy an in-between grooming in a stall.

“Hi,” Mo said to Lisa. “Max was nice enough to let me
use some brushes here. He’s so great. I wish the owner of Mendenhall was half as nice.”

Lisa smiled with pride. Pine Hollow’s riders all loved Max, even though he was strict, and it didn’t surprise her that Mo recognized what a great person he was. It was hard to believe that someone had stolen from him and, almost worse, from a charity.

“We think Max is great, too,” she told Mo. “But don’t tell him. We don’t want him to get a swelled head.”

“Do you need some help with Prancer?” Mo asked eagerly. “I could give you a hand after I finish up here.”

Lisa shook her head. “No thanks,” she said. “I’m, uh, in the middle of something, so I’m not doing any additional grooming right now. I’ll see you later, okay? Good luck with the next round.”

“See ya,” answered Mo, returning to her task.

As Lisa walked away, she felt relieved. Mo wasn’t a thief. She cared for her horse; she liked Max; she was just like Lisa and her friends. Confidently, Lisa crossed Mo’s name off the list of suspects.

C
AROLE DIDN
’
T HAVE
to look hard to find Veronica. As usual, she was overseeing someone else’s work on her horse. Veronica and Denise were in Danny’s stall. Denise
was working. Veronica was not. This didn’t qualify as suspicious, just normal.

Carole didn’t mind spying on Veronica. Experience had taught her that Veronica was capable of some pretty rotten acts, so suspecting her in a theft of money that Veronica couldn’t possibly need didn’t even feel awkward. Suspecting Denise was another thing altogether. Carole swallowed hard to overcome her distaste for the spying she was about to do. Without letting either Veronica or Denise see her, she quietly opened the door to the next stall, which was fortunately empty, and ducked inside.

She heard nothing out of the ordinary. That is, Veronica was complaining, as usual, about something to do with Danny, and Denise was doing all the work.

“Well, you’ll just have to braid Danny’s mane all over again,” Veronica snapped. “Red just didn’t do it right the first time.”

“Mmmm-hmmm,” answered Denise.

Carole was surprised. Even though Denise was always tactful, she was also pretty firm with Veronica. It was unlike her not to defend Red against Veronica’s whining.

“I specifically asked Red to bring a light gray yarn for Danny’s mane,” continued Veronica. “This yarn is
medium
gray. Doesn’t he know the difference?”

Again, Denise murmured a noncommittal reply. Carole shook her head in disgust and quietly eased out of the stall. She had discovered nothing except that Denise was still acting weird. And that made Carole feel weird, too. She fervently hoped that her suspicions about Denise were wrong.

L
ISA LED
P
RANCER
into her stall. The first half of the dressage rally was over. She, Carole, and Stevie had ridden well in the second round, which involved medium gaits, walk-canter transitions, counter-canters, half-turns on haunches, and other second-level figures. Stevie had managed to put her worries about the investigation aside, and she and Belle had competed beautifully, with grace and precision. The three girls were meeting for lunch to compare notes about their suspects. But first they had to take care of their horses.

Lisa removed Prancer’s bridle and gave her some water. She left the saddle on, with the girth loosened, for the afternoon session of the rally. Then she dug into her jacket pocket and held out a fistful of carrot sticks.

“Here, Prancer,” she said softly. “I brought some treats for you.”

Prancer nosed her fingers, then suddenly gobbled down the carrot sticks, almost nipping Lisa’s fingers off in the process. Lisa quickly drew her fingers back. “What is wrong with you?” she asked in dismay. Normally Prancer was a polite horse, with manners that were almost dainty. Now she was butting Lisa with her nose, trying to get more treats.

“I don’t have any more,” Lisa told Prancer sternly. “Especially not for a horse that acts as greedy as you do. What has gotten into you, Prancer?” The horse, after discovering that Lisa wasn’t handing out more carrots, started shifting restlessly and nosing around her stall.

Lisa sighed. She was starting to think that Prancer’s behavior was a bigger mystery than who stole the money. She went to join Carole and Stevie.

O
UTSIDE WAS A
colorful scene. Almost all the families had brought picnic lunches for the lunchtime break, and most of the riders were eating brown-bag lunches with their teams. People were good-naturedly angling for the best picnic spaces, crowding together under shady trees.

The Saddle Club met at their favorite lunchtime spot, the grassy knoll overlooking Pine Hollow’s schooling ring and the paddocks beyond. Carole spread out a large blanket
to sit on so that they wouldn’t get grass stains on their riding breeches.

Stevie waved at her parents and brothers, who were sitting with the Marstens. Phil’s parents still looked concerned and upset about the scene earlier that morning, and Stevie hoped her parents could cheer them up. Just thinking about Veronica’s accusation made her angry all over again. Why would Veronica say that? Even by Veronica’s standards, that was low. Stevie shook her head. She could only hope that Carole or Lisa had learned something that might help.

“I wonder where Phil is,” she commented.

“Probably eating with his team,” said Carole. “And we would be, too, if it weren’t for this theft.” The three girls munched their sandwiches in gloomy silence. Then Stevie became all business.

“Time to debrief each other,” she announced. “I saw Celeste and Howard together, and they were clearly plotting something. They had their heads together and were whispering. Well, Howard was whispering. She was mostly glaring. But it was definitely a
secretive
glare.”

“Did you hear what they were saying?” asked Lisa, taking a bite of her peanut butter sandwich.

“No,” admitted Stevie, “but they
looked
really guilty.”

“So did Kurt,” said Lisa. “Before I could approach him, he ran away. And I couldn’t find him anywhere after that.”

“Was he running away from you?” Carole asked.

“I don’t think he even saw me,” Lisa said.

“Guilty!” Stevie declared.

“Look, this is not enough to go on,” reasoned Carole, taking a juice box out of her lunch bag. “We need more than someone just looking guilty. We need
proof
.”