Curio stared at them, stalks of hay sticking out of his
mouth. “Gilly was braiding him for the show. See?”
Nancy pointed to the needle and thread still dangling
from his mane.
Texel rubbed his chin. Shadows ringed his eyes, and
Nancy figured he hadn't gotten much sleep, either.
“Can you hold the horse for me? I want to check his
hooves,” he asked her.
“What for?”
Texel swung around to look at her. “Now, Miss
Drew, haven't you figured out what happened yet?
This here horse must have kicked that girl. Not much
of a contest when it's a thousand pounds of critter
versus a hundred pounds of human.”
Nancy's jaw dropped. “Curio? He wouldn't hurt a
flea.”
“I've squashed plenty of fleas myself, and I'm a
pretty nice guy.” Texel flipped open the latch. “Get a
rope. I want to have something to report to the police
when they come.”
Speaking softly, Nancy went into the stall. Curio
nuzzled her palm, looking for a treat. She knew there
was no way the horse would have purposely kicked
Gilly.
“I'll pick up the hoof for you,” Nancy said after
attaching the lead. “It will prove that Curio's a lamb.
He would never have kicked Gilly.”
“Maybe not on purpose.”
Standing next to Curio's right flank, Nancy ran her
hand down his hind leg. Curio immediately picked it
up. She cradled his hoof in her left palm. Bending,
Texel inspected the horseshoe.
“There's our proof.” He pointed to a crusted brown
spot. “Looks like blood to me. A steel shoe combined
with a powerful kick to the head would knock anyone
out. I'm surprised it didn't kill her.”
Slowly Nancy set down Curio's hoof. “Something
must have scared him, or else it was just a freak
accident,” she protested.
“Maybe. We'll let the police decide,” Texel said as
he left the stall. From outside the barn Nancy could
hear the shrill whine of sirens. She gave Curio one last
pat, then unhooked the lead. As she latched the door,
Texel said, “Now, is there anything you want to tell me
before the cops get here and start stomping around?”
He studied her face. “Like what you were doing here at
five-thirty in the morning after being up almost all
night chasing horse thieves?”
Nancy hesitated. She wasn't ready to tell him that
Gilly had wanted to confide something about the theft
of Aristocrat. If Curio had accidentally kicked Gilly,
that information wouldn't matter. But she did think it
was important to tell him about the person who had
fled from the barn. He or she could be a witness—or
maybe could have provoked the horse into kicking the
groom.
“I came to help Gilly get the horses ready. When I
realized she was hurt, I knew I'd better move Curio,”
Nancy explained. “I was leading him down the aisle
when I saw someone dart out of a stall and run around
the corner to the other side of the barn. It all happened
so fast that I couldn't see who it was. The person got
away in a car that I sort of recognized.”
Texel raised one eyebrow, but when someone came
into the barn and hollered, “Texel, what's going on
around this place?” he put a finger to his lips and said,
“Finish telling me later.”
Turning, he faced two uniformed police officers
striding down the aisle. One was a woman with a badge
over her pocket. The other was an older man who had
hailed Texel.
“Just drumming up a little business for you, Yates,”
Texel greeted the older officer. “Only I think this was
an accident.”
“Yeah?” Yates shook hands with Texel, then slapped
him on the back. “So you wrapped up the case for us,
huh?”
Texel gestured to the stall. “The girl's in there. The
EMTs are getting ready to transport her to the
hospital. She got a nasty blow on the head. Looks like a
horse kicked her.”
“Any witnesses?” the other officer asked, pulling a
pad from her shirt pocket.
“Not yet. Miss Drew here found her.”
“Did someone call Klaus Schaudt?” Nancy asked
Texel.
He shook his head. “I'll leave that up to the police. I
don't need that man breathing down my neck just yet.”
“Hey, let us in!” Nancy heard an irate voice boom
down the aisle. Michael and Lee Anne stood in the
doorway of the barn, where they'd been stopped by a
police officer.
“That's Michael Raines,” Nancy told Texel. “He's
Curio's rider. The girl is Lee Anne Suna. I think you
met them last night when Aristocrat was stolen. They
both work for Klaus.”
“Right.” Texel stuck a toothpick in his mouth and
began to chew on it. Nancy wondered if he was
pondering the same thing she was—was there a
connection between last night's theft and this
morning's incident?
Just then one of the EMTs came out of the stall.
“We're ready to transport her, but first I need to find
out a few things about the patient.”
“Lee Anne and Michael would be the ones to ask.”
Nancy pointed to the pair, who were talking to the
police officer at the door. The EMT headed toward
them at a brisk pace.
Five minutes later the other two EMTs brought
Gilly out. She was strapped to a stretcher, her face as
white as the bulky bandage wrapped around her
forehead.
Nancy bit her lip, holding back a sob. Would Gilly
be okay?
Turning, she followed them down the aisle. She
wanted to tell Lee Anne and Michael what had
happened, but the EMT was still talking to them. As
Nancy approached, the EMT put away his sheet and
left with the others. When the ambulance roared off,
Lee Anne turned to Nancy.
“Gilly's really hurt!” she exclaimed, the blood
rushing from her face. “But what . . . how?”
Michael glowered at the officer. “What do you mean
we can't go in the barn right now? What authority do
the police have to keep me from my horses? I've got to
compete this morning.”
“Texel thinks Curio might have accidentally kicked
Gilly,” Nancy explained. “There was blood on his
horseshoe.”
For a second Michael stood speechless. Then he
snorted. “That's crazy. I'm going to find Klaus. He'll
straighten this out.” Turning, he stomped off.
Nancy watched him go. He'd never once mentioned
Gilly, she realized.
“I can't believe it,” Lee Anne said. “First Aristocrat,
now Gilly.” She raised her eyes to Nancy. “Do you
think she'll be okay?”
“I wish I knew.” Nancy stepped outside the barn and
walked away from the doorway, then motioned for Lee
Anne to come closer. “I have to tell you that
I think I
saw Michael's station wagon roar out of here right after
I found Gilly.”
Lee Anne stared at Nancy in disbelief. “So what if it
did? What's that got to do with Curio kicking Gilly?”
“Do you really think Curio kicked her?” Nancy
asked.
Lee Anne shook her head, but then her eyes
narrowed. “Wait a minute. You don't think Michael
had anything to do with Gilly's accident, do you? That's
even crazier than accusing Curio!”
“Nancy.” Texel came striding out of the barn. Lee
Anne glanced from Nancy to Texel. Without another
word, she left in a huff.
Nancy just stared as Lee Anne stomped away. If she
said anything to Texel about Michael, Lee Anne would
never forgive her.
Taking Nancy's elbow, Texel steered her farther
from the barn. “What else were you going to tell me?”
He kept his voice low.
Nancy took a deep breath. No matter what Lee
Anne's reaction was, Nancy had to inform Texel about
the station wagon.
“The car I saw zooming out of the parking lot was an
old station wagon. It looked like the one Michael
Raines was driving when we all went out to dinner last
night.”
“Did you see it when you first drove in?” Texel
asked.
“No. But it was pretty dark, and the wagon could
have been parked in the lot with all the trailers and
vans.”
“Good.” Texel dipped his head.
He was about to go, but Nancy stopped him with a
hand on his arm. “Now you have to tell me what's
going on,” she said.
“That's fair. I told the officers you'd seen someone
run from the barn, so just in case the horse didn't kick
the girl, we're checking around.” Texel eyed her. “Do
you have any idea why someone might want to hurt
Gilly?”
Nancy nodded. It was too late to keep Gilly's secret.
“Last night Gilly begged me to meet her this morning.
She said she knew something about the theft of
Aristocrat.”
Texel jerked his head up in surprise. “The theft?”
“Yes. Only when I got here it was too late to find out
what she meant.”
“That complicates things.” Texel rubbed his hand
over his chin, scraping against his rough whiskers. “So
you think there's a connection?”
“I wish I knew,” Nancy said, suddenly gloomy. A
horse had been stolen and a girl knocked unconscious,
and she had no idea who was responsible.
“Hey, Texel!” Yates hollered.
Nancy and Texel swung around to see what was
going on. Yates was standing in the doorway of the stall
that High Hills used as a tack room. “I think I've got
something.”
Nancy and Texel hurried to the stall. Yates stood in
front of a tack trunk. Printed on the side of the trunk
was a name: Michael Raines, High Hills Farm. With
gloved fingers, Yates reached behind the tack box and
pulled out a rasp—a long metal bar with a rough
surface. When he held it up, Nancy gasped.
The edge of the rasp was covered with blood.
10. Caught
“We should be able to match the blood on this rasp
with that of the victim,” Yates explained. “Maybe we'll
even be lucky and lift some fingerprints.”
Texel looked at Nancy. “And the tack box belongs to
Michael Raines? Interesting. Nancy, tell Sergeant
Yates what you saw this morning.”
“So the person might have run from this stall?” Yates
asked after Nancy repeated her story.
Nancy nodded.
“I think we'd better find Raines,” Yates told Texel.
The police officer was carefully putting the rasp into an
evidence bag.
“Let me in!” an insistent voice resounded along the
aisle. Nancy recognized Klaus Schaudt's voice. “Texel!
Tell this officer I demand to be let into my barn.”
Texel jerked his head toward the bellowing. “That's
Klaus Schaudt. You'd better tell your officer to let him
pass,” he told Yates.
A minute later Klaus strode down the aisle, Michael
and Lee Anne behind him. “What is the meaning of
this?” he demanded.
“Mr. Raines,” Texel said, ignoring Klaus. “This is
Sergeant Yates from the county police department. He
needs to ask you a few questions.”
Yates pointed into the stall. “Is this your trunk?”
“Yes,” Michael said without even looking into the
stall.
“Do you keep a metal rasp in your tack box?”
Michael's expression grew wary. “Yes. Sometimes I
need to file a hoof or reset a shoe if a farrier isn't
available.”
“What are you getting at?” Klaus insisted.
Yates ignored Klaus. “Mr. Raines, where were you
between four and five-thirty this morning?”
Michael's wariness changed to annoyance. “In my
room. Asleep.”
“Alone?”
Michael set his mouth in a firm line. “I don't think I
need to answer any more questions.”
Just then the female officer came jogging into the
barn and motioned Yates over. Nancy watched as they
had a whispered conversation before Yates turned back
to Michael.
“Mr. Raines, we'd like you to come down to the
police station to answer some questions.”
Klaus threw his shoulders back. “Not until you tell
us what's going on.”
“It seems we have a contradiction here,” Yates said.
“Mr. Raines claims he was in his motel early this
morning. However, a temporary guard at the booth,
Andy Brackett, reports checking his pass at exactly five
this morning as Michael drove in.”
All the blood drained from Michael's face. “That
can't be,” he replied.
“No!” Lee Anne clapped a hand over her mouth,
stifling a cry. Nancy looked away, unable to face Lee
Anne. Michael was rude and overly competitive, but
would he go after Gilly?
As the two officers led Michael away, Lee Anne gave
Nancy an anguished look. Then she ran after Klaus,
who was right behind the officers, declaring, “This is
absurd! We'll have you back in time for your first test,
Michael.”
When they left, Texel muttered, “What a
nightmare.”
Nancy agreed as a sudden wave of sadness and
exhaustion hit her. Just then she saw Ned silhouetted
in the barn doorway. Quickly she ran to greet him. She
had never been so happy to see anyone in her life.
“Lee Anne wants us to pick her up at the police
station,” Bess said at breakfast.
After leaving the barn with Ned, Nancy had headed
back to the motel for a shower. When Bess woke up,
Nancy had explained everything to her. Bess had
immediately called the police station and asked for Lee
Anne, who was waiting there for news about Michael.
Now it was ten o'clock, and Nancy, Ned, and Bes
s
were waiting to be served pancakes in the motel coffee
shop.
“I didn't think Lee Anne would want to see me
again,” Nancy replied.
“It wasn't your fault you saw the station wagon
leaving,” Ned pointed out. “And you didn't find the
rasp behind the tack trunk.”
Nancy sighed. “I know.”
“Lee Anne says the police are trying to connect
Michael to the horse theft,” Bess said.
Nancy nodded. “Texel said he was going to toss that
theory out to Yates. After all, if Michael did attack
Gilly, the police need to figure out why.”
“If he was involved in Aristocrat's theft and Gilly
found out, she could have ruined his riding career
forever.” Ned sipped his orange juice.
“That certainly would give him a motive to assault
Gilly,” Bess agreed glumly. “I'm just glad she's okay.”
An hour earlier they'd called the hospital. Gilly was
still unconscious, but there was no internal damage and
she was expected to recover soon.
“Let's hope Lee Anne will tell us where she and
Michael were last night,” Nancy said. “If he has an alibi
for the time of the theft, he could be cleared.”
Just then the pancakes were served. They smelled
heavenly.
Half an hour later they reached the police station.
Lee Anne met them at the front door. Her eyes were
red from crying.
“The police haven't charged Michael with any
crime,” she explained. “But Klaus says they will. He's
already called a lawyer.”
“I'm so sorry.” Bess handed her a tissue.
Lee Anne blew her nose. “They matched the blood
on the rasp with Gilly's. They also found Michael's
prints on the rasp handle”—she raised bloodshot eyes
to Nancy—“but Michael says he was in his room
asleep.”
“If he was alone, there's no one to back up his alibi,”
Ned said.
“But why would he go after Gilly?” Lee Anne
countered. “That doesn't make sense.”
Putting an arm around Lee Anne's shoulder, Bess
led her toward Nancy's Mustang. “Come on. You need
something to eat and then a nap. None of us got much
sleep last night.”
Ned grinned sheepishly. “I did. I slept through
everything.”
Nancy yawned. “Good. You can drive and think. My
brain's numb.”
“Don't say that, Nancy.” Lee Anne stopped and
faced her. “I need you to help prove that Michael's
innocent.”