with me.â
âNow, thatâs an offer I have to accept,â Fenton said. âSo, why donât we head over to your office? You can give us a map of the park and show us where the thefts have taken place.â
âAnd we can talk about Kidwell,â Frank said, âand the other suspects.â
Frank and Joe drove the car to the office, with Fenton and Grish following in Grishâs truck. When they arrived, Kidwellâs blue pickup was parked outside the office, and Kidwell was sitting on the steps, waiting.
âThereâs our man,â Frank said to Joe. âHe must be here to try to get his job back.â
Grish and Fenton pulled up next to Kidwellâs truck. The ranger got out and said, âMorning, David. Whatâs up?â
Kidwell stood up and looked from the Hardys to Grish. âI think we need to talk,â he said.
âI think so, too,â Grish said. âWould you mind waiting out here for a few minutes?â he said to the Hardys. They nodded. âThanks,â said Grish, and he and Kidwell went into the office and closed the door. Frank and Joe stood beside the steps, and Fenton leaned on Grishâs truck.
Joe said, âDo you think Grish will give him his job back, after Kidwell attacked him like that?â
âIâm not sure I would,â Fenton said. âBut maybe Grish knows something we donât know. Maybe Kidwell is under some kind of personal pressure.â
âOr maybe Grish wants to have Kidwell around so we can keep an eye on him,â Frank said.
Joe stepped up onto the porch and strolled past the window. Inside, Grish was sitting at his desk, with Kidwell standing on the other side. Kidwell was talking earnestly about something while Grish listened, his hands folded.
âIt looks like theyâre really talking,â Joe said. âI think Grish is going to give him another chance.â
âGood,â Frank said. âThat means we can keep an eye on him.â
âYou know, I was thinking about that,â Fentonsaid. âIf the cactus thieves work mainly at night to avoid being seen, then Kidwell and his accomplices probably wonât do anything incriminating in the daylight.â
âHe might scout around during the day for specimens to steal,â Frank said.
âYes, he might,â Fenton said. âIn which case you guys might want to tail him. On the other hand, it might be more worthwhile to spend some time thoroughly checking out the other theft sites.â
âMaybe Grish will have them laid out on a map,â Joe said.
The office door opened, and Kidwell walked out. Without looking at the Hardys, he strode straight to his truck, got in, and drove away.
When the Hardys went inside, Grish said, âWell, I decided to let him stay on. He apologized for blowing up yesterday and said he really needed the job. Since he put it that way, I said yes. I was also thinking that heâll be easier to track if heâs still working here.â
âThatâs what we were thinking, too,â Frank said. âDo you know where heâs headed? Joe and I can catch up with him and keep an eye on what he does.â
âIâll show you on the map,â Grish said.
âAnd while youâre at it,â Joe said, âwhy donât you give us an idea of where the thefts have occurred, so we can look at those sites?â
âAs a matter of fact,â Grish said, âI told David toclean up one of the vandalized areas this morning. Weâve been trying to repair them as quickly as we can.â
He reached into a drawer and pulled out a map of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Unfolding it on his desk, he said, âThis is a topographic map. As you probably know, all these squiggly lines show how steep the terrain is, so you can tell where the mountains are, the flattest places, and so forth.â
âWeâve worked with topo maps before,â Joe