"I know that," Nancy replied grimly. "That's why I have to stop them now."
Robbins rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Finally he said, "Well, all right, but on one condition-you call me the second anything starts to go down. I don't want to take any chances."
"I understand," Nancy told him.
He made a call. "One of the rangers over at Tower Junction has a tent he can lend you. He'll be passing by here in half an hour, so he'll drop it off. Okay?"
"Great," Nancy replied. "Thanks a lot. I guess I'll go get Bess and drop her by the campsite, then come back."
She started to get up, then sank back down in her seat. "There's one more thing. You've got two park maintenance men named Richard and Piker. I saw them talking to the Turkowers. That's just one of the things that makes me suspicious of them. How well do you know them?"
Martin leaned back in his chair and gazed toward the ceiling. "If you mean personally, I hardly know them at all," he finally said. "As far as their work goes, no complaints about them."
Nancy looked at Martin earnestly. "I know this is slightly irregular, but could I please see their personnel files?"
Martin frowned. "I'm sorry. Nancy. Those files are confidential."
"Oh, of course, I understand," Nancy replied. "I wouldn't dream of asking you to do something that's against the rules. But you have the right to consult their files, don't you?"
"Of course I do," Martin said.
"And if you looked through them and noticed anything that might be important for me to know, it would be only natural to mention it, wouldn't it?"
A slow smile spread across his lips. "That's so," he said, getting up and crossing to a bank of gray metal file cabinets. He scanned the labels on the drawers, then opened one near the bottom and pulled out two olive-colored hanging file folders. "Here we are," he said. "Richard Geismar and Piker Slattery."
He opened the first of the files and glanced through it. Next he looked at the second one. "That's funny," he said. "These two guys both grew up in Ashland, Idaho. That's a little town about forty miles west of the park. They were born in the same year, too."
He flipped back and forth between the two files. "Odd," he continued. "Their job records are practically identical."
"Would you mind if I check one or two of their references?" Nancy asked. "I'd need to use your phone."
"I think that would be all right," Martin said. He grabbed a scratch pad and scribbled a couple of names and addresses on it, then passed it over. "Here are the most recent references."
Nancy dialed, but the first number Martin gave her was disconnected. She tried the next one.
"Hopper and Wade Construction," a polite voice said. "May I help you?"
Nancy put on her most professional voice.
"I hope so. I'm calling from the National Park Service in Yellowstone." She gave Martin an apologetic look, but he just grinned. She turned her attention back to the phone, telling the woman that Richard and Piker were looking for jobs and had listed Hopper and Wade as a reference.
"Gee, I'm sorry, but I don't recognize the names," the woman said. "Just a minute, let me punch them into our computer." Nancy held her breath as the woman put her on hold. Finally, she heard a click over the line. "I'm sorry, but we don't have a record of anyone with either of those names. Are you sure you have the right company?"
"Yes," Nancy replied. "Well, thanks very much." She hung up. "Richard and Piker lied on their applications," she told Martin.
"That's enough to get them fired. It's strange -we usually check references," Martin said. "But it doesn't prove that they're poachers- only liars. Come on, I'll get those sleeping bags and air mattresses for you."
They loaded the gear into the trunk, then Martin said, "I'll see you later," and went back inside.
At the hotel Nancy found Bess sitting in the lobby, wearing a blue work shirt and well-cut blue denim overalls. "I'm all ready to go camping," she announced. "At least, as ready as I'll ever be."
"What's with the Turkowers?"
"The desk clerk told me they went off for a day-long hike through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone," Bess replied dutifully.
"I wonder if that's where they really are," Nancy said, then explained that she'd gotten mattresses and sleeping bags from Martin but had to go back for the tent. "I'll drop you off at the campsite first," she went on a little tensely. "I want you to keep track of the professor."
Fifteen minutes later Nancy watched Bess trudge up the path to the campsite, two sleeping bags slung over her shoulder and a suitcase in her left hand.
Back at the ranger station. Nancy found a very grim Martin Robbins. "I checked out the other references those clowns gave," he reported. "Every one of them a fake. They're out of here first thing Monday morning whether you turn up anything against them or not. My next job will be to find out how they got through the hiring process in the first place. The system is supposed to prevent this kind of thing."
"This place is deserted," Bess told Nancy back at the campsite. "Everyone went off to the feeding stations to pack up."
"What about Trainey?" Nancy asked.
"That's the weird thing," Bess replied. "I went up to the command post a while ago and noticed the professor riming through a stack of photos. When he got to one of them, he got livid. I mean, his face turned bright red and he stalked off to his tent, then hopped into a Jeep and blew out of here." She stared at her friend. "What do you think it means?"
"I have no idea," Nancy replied.
"Jack acted strange, too," Bess continued, frowning. "I asked him to help me feed Spike, but he brushed me off. I don't understand it. Just last night he was saying he could get really serious about me and today you'd think I had the plague."
"I don't know quite how to say this," Nancy said slowly, "but Jack has been more or less flirting with me, too."
"Really?" Bess's eyes grew round with surprise.
Nancy nodded.
Bess was silent for a long time. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she shook her head and angrily wiped them away. Finally she said, "You must think I'm a real idiot, falling for such a total phony. He was faking his interest in me the whole time, wasn't he?"
Nancy shook her head. "He's very convincing,"-she said. "And maybe he is sincere in a way. He may be one of those guys who doesn't feel good about himself unless he's got somebody falling in love with him. So he convinces himself that the lines he's passing out are true."
Bess straightened up, then put on a smile. "Believe me, from now on I'm staying away from him."
"Come on, Bess," Nancy said to change the subject. "This is the perfect opportunity to search Trainey's tent."
Bess became alarmed. "But he might come back at any time!"