me sort in which to register the deed to
the land."

"But he wouldn't tell you the name," Rick guessed.

"Correct. My guess is that he would use a dummy of some sort, perhaps
even Collins himself as nominal owner of the land."

Scotty offered, "People don't buy land unless it has some value for
something. Can't you think of any way in which your land has value?"

"I'm afraid not. I've tried to puzzle it out, with no success. The field
itself is all right, if fertilized and limed, but the rest is worthless
for farming. There isn't even an access road. The road leading into the
picnic area and across the creek to the house is my own property. It's a
private road."

Rick kept wondering about the radioactive ore. "Could there be any
minerals worth mining?"

"Not even that, Rick. Except for the igneous outcropping in which the
mine is located, this whole valley is sedimentary rock, probably for a
depth of several hundred feet. Even the foothills are the same kind of
rock. They were moved upward from what is now the valley during a shift
in the earth's crust. The faults in the formation show this clearly."

"The whole business is tied together somehow," Rick said with
conviction. "So far we've been trying to follow threads. We come across
other threads that seem to run crossways, but that's because what we're
trying to see is a whole piece of cloth, not just the threads. So far we
don't know if the cloth is a whole suit or just a handkerchief."

"The metaphor is a little obscure, but I get your meaning, and I agree."
Dr. Miller drew to a stop in the driveway of his home. "Suppose we have
a late morning bit of refreshment and use our heads instead of our
legs?"

At the scientist's request, the girls produced a snack of toast and jam
with iced tea and soft drinks. Mrs. Miller begged to be excused from the
council because of housework to be done, but the others gathered in the
living room to explore the mystery from every angle.

Dr. Miller led the discussion. The scientist was obviously intrigued by
the problem, even though he had let the boys handle things in their own
way. As he explained with a twinkle, "Rick and Scotty have reputations
as detectives to maintain. I'm a poor, simple physicist. No one expects
me to solve this mystery. So the boys have to be given first chance to
bring the ghost to bay."

Barby sniffed. "You're all pretty sure the ghost is a fake."

"And you're not," Rick observed. "I guess we'll