The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Auto Graveyard (5 page)

Barry dashed to the school building and called not only Chief of Police Bruno but also Squire Grizzly and Papa Bear. That's because the eight missing cars included Papa's red roadster and all four of the cars the squire had entered in the show.

Squire Grizzly and Papa Bear reached the athletic field even before Chief Bruno. Papa was out of breath because he'd run all the way from the tree house. But the squire, who had ridden in one of his chauffeured Grizzillacs, had plenty of breath. “Stolen!” he roared. “My four finest classic cars! This is an outrage!”

Papa just looked sadly out at the empty space where his red roadster had been. The squire put an arm around his shoulders and said, “Cheer up, friend. You lost a car, but
I
lost
four
.”

“But you must have twice as many cars in your collection,” answered Papa.

“
Thrice
as many,” the squire said proudly.

“I just lost my entire collection,” Papa said. “Besides, my family has no way of getting around now.”

Just then Mama and the cubs came running up. In his panic, Papa had run way ahead of them. Now they stood panting, staring at the spot where their car had been.

Squire Grizzly realized the Bears were in much worse shape than he was. He offered to loan them a Grizzillac with a chauffeur. Papa and Mama accepted gratefully.

Then the squire turned to Chief Bruno, who had just arrived. “How will you catch these crooks?” he demanded.

Mayor Honeypot spoke up in support of his chief of police. “That'll be difficult, Squire,” he said. “By now the thieves must be gong lawn. Er, I mean, long gone.”

“Oh, no, they aren't,” said the chief. “The state police have been watching all the roads out of town. And they have orders to stop any classic cars going out of Beartown until the car show is over.”

“Maybe the thieves aren't outsiders,” suggested Brother. “Maybe someone from Beartown did it.”

“Yes, and I know who!” cried Squire Grizzly. “Ralph Ripoff! Once again that sleazy swindler has lived up to his name!”

Chief Bruno shook his head. “I don't think so, Squire,” he said. “Ralph's just a small-time con artist. He could never pull off a multimillion-dollar car theft.”

“But he might be involved,” insisted the squire.

Chief Bruno frowned and scratched his head. He was in a tough spot. He and Officer Marguerite had their hands full with the car show. There was no way they could investigate a major crime at the same time.

“Okay, here's what I'll do,” said the chief. “For today, I'll deputize the Bear Detectives to search Beartown for the stolen cars. They know the area as well as anybody. They can share the squire's loaner car. And I'll give them a police radio so they can contact me at any time.”

Brother and Sister had been standing there with sad looks on their faces, thinking about their stolen car and how bad Papa and Mama must be feeling. But now their eyes lit up. Riding around in a chauffeured Grizzillac to investigate the Great Car Robbery! Cool!

“The Bear Detectives reporting for duty!” they chorused.

“Good,” said Chief Bruno. “First, I want you to pay Ralph a visit and see what he knows. After that, check out all the places where the cars might be hidden: garages, warehouses, unused factories.”

“Right, Chief,” said Brother. “We'll go get Lizzy and Cousin Fred right away. And we'll make Barry an honorary Bear Detective for the day. His car knowledge might help us solve the case.”

Chapter 7

Searching for Clues

The Bear Detectives added Bonnie Brown to their group—that was Brother's idea, of course—and headed for Ralph Ripoff's houseboat. The chauffeur parked the limo at the edge of the woods, and the cubs went the rest of the way on foot.

When the cubs told Ralph about the Great Car Robbery, his eyes grew wide. “No kidding?” he said. “That's wonderful! Er … I mean, that's
terrible!
”

It was obvious that Ralph knew nothing about the robbery. When Brother told him that Squire Grizzly had suspected him, he smiled. “Why, that's a great compliment,” he said. “Make sure you thank the good squire for me. But I could never pull off a big operation like that. I can only admire it from afar.”

“That's what Chief Bruno said,” Sister added.

Ralph looked a little hurt. “That doesn't surprise me,” he muttered. “The chief never had any respect for my work.”

“Well, thanks for your time,” said Brother as the Bear Detectives left the houseboat. “Would you keep your ear to the ground and let us know if you hear anything?”

“Waste of time,” said Ralph. “It's been my experience that the only thing you get from keeping your ear to the ground is a dirty ear.”

The Bear Detectives spent the rest of the day crisscrossing Beartown. Every time they found a likely spot to search, they parked the limo far away and walked the rest of the way to avoid suspicion. They searched every garage, warehouse, and abandoned factory they could find. But not a single stolen car turned up.

Finally, after their last warehouse search on the outskirts of town, they headed for home. Brother radioed Chief Bruno from the limo and told him that their search had failed. Just as Brother switched off the radio, Barry pointed to an open field and cried, “Stop the car!”

“What is it?” asked Brother.

“That old, empty barn over there in the field,” said Barry. “We haven't searched it yet.

“You go, Barry,” said Brother. “I'm tired.” So was everyone else.

The cubs watched Barry cross the field and disappear into the barn. Moments later, he came out and started walking back to the car. As he crossed a dirt road that ran past the barn, he stopped in his tracks. He bent over and looked at something in the road. Then he waved excitedly. The cubs hopped from the car and ran to him.

“Look!” Barry said, pointing at the muddy road.

“Tire tracks,” said Cousin Fred. “So what? They could have been made by any one of hundreds of cars.”

“Oh, no, they couldn't!” said Barry. “The pattern of the tread is from a classic car. The cars in the show all have custom-made tires that look exactly like the original tires!”

“Gee, that's right!” said Brother. “Papa's almost didn't get made in time for the show. All he talked about the last few days were those stupid tires.”

Barry dashed to the limo and came back with a thick book. “With this I can pinpoint the exact make of the car that made these tracks,” he said.

Sister leaned over to look at the book's title and did a double-take. “
Tires of the World?
” she said. “Are you kidding? There's a whole book about
tires?
”

Barry just stared at her. “Are
you
kidding?” he said. “This is only the first volume of five!”

“Well that speaks
volumes
about you car nuts,” muttered Sister.

But the others were thankful for Barry's passion for cars. Within seconds, he had determined that the tracks were from a 1927 Bearcedes touring car.

“Wow,” said Cousin Fred. “I guess that proves it. Where do you think this road goes?”

Brother looked off down the road. “Out toward Birder's Woods,” he said. “I can see it in the distance.”

“Maybe the classic cars are hidden in Birder's Woods!” said Sister.

“Only one way to find out,” said Bonnie. “Let's follow the tracks.”

After Brother told the chauffeur to wait in the Nature Walk parking lot at Birders Woods, the Bear Detectives followed the Bearcedes tracks. But the tracks didn't go into Birder's Woods, after all. They went around
behind
Birder's Woods and wound up at …

“Parts R Us,” said Sister, reading the sign on the locked gate that stood before them.

“This dirt road goes to the back gate of Two-Ton's auto graveyard!” said Cousin Fred.

“It's the perfect place to hide stolen cars,” said Barry. “You could dirty them up and put them out there with all those wrecks. No one would ever know.”