Free The Hidden Valley Mystery by Susan Ioannou Page B

the police caught up with Johnny, he claimed he was just a late-night jogger cutting across the golf course to his house. But while he talked, without even realizing, he bent down and scratched. Later, when Gunnar explained, the police knew for sure they had their man.”
    Tuan tightened his fingers around the mesh. “But how did you get out of the tree, Gunnar?”
    “When Johnny saw lights bobbing through the woods, he panicked and ran. Meanwhile the dog was jumping up and down the tree trunk, snarling, and ready to chew me up for its dinner.” Gunnar’s eyes widened. “It was scary,” he admitted. “But I used the command again that Mike told me. ‘Queen, sit’ didn’t work, but ‘King, sit,’ did. The dog just eased back on its haunches. I waited, to be sure it was really calmed down. Then I heard two high-pitched whistles. The dog jumped up and took off toward the mansion. I never saw it again.”
    “The same thing happened to me!” Mike cried. “But who freed Walt from his chain in the basement!”
    Freddy crossed his legs. “I was standing in the driveway at the Parks and Rec centre, when the police led in Walt. They sat him in the back of a squad car with Johnny. I heard Walt bragging that Queen freed him, after all. When she smashed through the basement window, Walt pointed to the key Johnny had thrown to the far corner. He commanded her to fetch him the key in her mouth, and he unlocked the chain. But when Lou and Johnny ran back to get the dog, he pretended he was still locked up. As soon as he figured they were deep in the woods, he ran to the driveway, and whistled both dogs to come back. He locked them in the rear of the van, jumped in, and tried to take off.”
    Mike shook his head. “Another double-cross.”
    “That’s just what Johnny said, too.” Freddy brushed back the hair from his forehead. “But they didn’t know. Gunnar already took care of that possibility.”
    Gunnar chuckled. “You remember, I told you how I undid the van door so Queen could later jump free?”
    “No,” Tuan shook his head, “but that’s O.K.”
    “Anyway, joker,” Gunnar continued, “I also let air out of all four tires. By the time Walt figured out why the wheels were wobbling and squeaking along the gravel, it was too late. He heard voices, and saw lights through the trees. He left the dogs locked in the rear and bolted up the hill behind the mansion on foot. But when he burst onto the road, the police at the barricade grabbed him.”
    “And,” Freddy nodded, “with that black eye Lou gave him before, he looked even more suspicious.”
    “But not half as bad as Lou,” Gunnar added. “That tumble down Dead Man’s Cliff really shook him up—plenty of scrapes and bruises as he slid, and a goose egg on the back of his head from hitting a fallen branch at the bottom.”
    “Tell me about it,” Mike shivered. Vividly he still remembered his own terrifying skid down that cliff. Nothing could have been worse.
    The cruiser doors swung open. One on either side of Gunnar, both policemen slid in.
    “O.K., fellows,” said Officer Powchuk, turning the key in the ignition, “we’ll stop at the station for a few questions to write up my report. Then I’ll take you all home. Meanwhile Mrs. Lindstrom will phone your parents that everything’s under control.”
    My parents! Mike thought. In all the excitement, he completely forgot about his mother. Earlier that evening, when he dashed out to meet Gunnar and Freddy, “Be home at 11:00, Mike,” she had called. Who knew what time it was now?
    CHAPTER 18 – A Surprise
    Three weeks had passed since Mike and his friends helped catch the counterfeiters. Mike had enjoyed his trip to the police station, answering questions amid the hustle and bustle and ringing telephones, and meeting the Chief of Detectives. Tuan liked the high-tech computer network. Most of all, Freddy and Gunnar wanted to see where criminals were locked up.
    Officer Powchuk showed them down to