The Secret at Solaire by Carolyn Keene Page A

“There’s a good chance she was swept downstream by the flood. But Search and Rescue still hasn’t found any trace of her.”
    â€œBut who would have kidnapped Kim?” Bess asked. “And why?”
    â€œKim was trying to give me some sort of information about Solaire,” Nancy said slowly. “I think someone wanted to make sure she never told anyone anything.”
    Bess ran a brush through her straw-colored hair. “I can’t believe someone from the spa would get involved in a kidnapping,” she said. “That’s crazy!”
    â€œMaybe,” Nancy agreed. “But what if Alain had been at the falls at the same time we were?”
    â€œAlain doesn’t wear anything like that shirt,” Bess said. “He usually wears workout clothes.”
    â€œActually, I haven’t seen anyone here wearing a flannel shirt,” George admitted. “The sun’s been too hot. Just about everyone wears T-shirts or polo shirts or tank tops.”
    â€œThat’s true,” Nancy said with a sigh. “If there was another person down at the falls, it could have been someone totally unconnected to Solaire. Which makes this even more of a mystery,” she added.
    â€œMaybe we should go to the police,” George suggested.
    â€œThe police already know about Kim’s disappearance,” Nancy reminded her. “Jacqueline said they’ve been working with the Search and Rescue team, looking for her.”
    â€œBut they don’t know what’s going on here at the spa,” George pointed out.
    â€œNeither do we,” Nancy said glumly. “And we have no real evidence whatsoever. I need more information before I can go to them.”
    Later that afternoon, the three girls sat near the edge of the pool, talking. The day was getting cooler, and they were the last guests remaining by the water.
    â€œIt’s just too beautiful to go indoors,” Besssaid contentedly. “I’m even thinking I need some outdoor exercise. Maybe I’ll sign up for a riding lesson tomorrow.”
    â€œOh!” Nancy exclaimed suddenly.
    â€œOh, what?” George asked.
    â€œHank Meader, that’s what.”
    Bess dangled one leg in the cool water. “What about him?”
    â€œYesterday, after we got back from the falls, I saw Hank by the fountain, talking to Alain,” Nancy explained. “Anyway, Rhonda Wilkins came up to him, all upset because she’d scheduled a riding lesson with him, and he’d missed it. Hank told her it was because he’d been out buying horse feed that morning, and the fan belt on his pickup truck broke.”
    â€œSo?” George asked.
    â€œSo Hank wasn’t where he was supposed to be yesterday afternoon. Maybe he wasn’t buying horse feed, either,” Nancy said. “Maybe he was really at Tanque Verde Falls.”
    Bess applied more sun block and took a drink of bottled water. “I don’t know, Nan,” she said doubtfully. “That sounds a little farfetched to me. Why don’t you believe Hank’s story?”
    â€œIt’s just a hunch,” Nancy admitted with a smile. “To tell you the truth, this theory does sound a little crazy, even to me.”
    â€œWas Hank wearing a plaid shirt?” George asked.
    Nancy shook her head. “No, blue denim. But it was a long-sleeved shirt, and Hank dresses kind of like a cowboy. He’s definitely the type who’d own a plaid shirt. He could have been down at the falls, and then changed before coming back here.”
    George stretched out on one of the lounges. “Not that I understand why Hank Meader would want to kidnap Kim, or how he could have been standing there and escaped the flood . . . but how do we find out if he owns a blue and brown plaid shirt?”
    â€œWell, I’m pretty sure he lives on the grounds of the spa,” Nancy said. “There’s a small adobe house that