Mark Travis

Robbers: Dan Ballantine Mystery Number 19 Mark Travis

Publisher Marketing: They should not have robbed Horatio. They should not have come to his camp site after dark wearing black jeans, black hoodies, black ski masks, and tan combat boots. They should not have threatened Horatio and his son with sawed-off shotguns. They should not have stolen their money and stuff. Horatio's motto is: Don't be a victim! He asks his friend, private investigator Dan Ballantine, to help him find the robbers. Though he doubts their chances for success, Ballantine agrees to help and travels to his friend's home in Reno. During their next robbery, one of the robbers kills a popular Ely, Nevada, businessman. Horatio and Dan travel to the small eastern Nevada town, question a few people, and develop a pair of suspects. By the time they can convince a Sheriff's detective to accompany them to the suspects' place of employment, the robbers have abandoned their jobs and left town in a camper truck towing their dual-purpose motorcycles. Horatio and Dan chase the robbers and soon learn of a suspicious incident near the Dacey Reservoir eighty miles south of Ely. They talk to the victim who believes he hit one of the robbers when he fired a twenty-two pistol into the desert darkness after them. While stopped for fuel in Overton, Nevada, Horatio and Dan see a motorcyclist on a dual purpose bike. He wears black jeans, a black hoodie, and tan combat boots. Horatio follows him on his own bike but crashes. The hunters believe the robbers are camped in the area, and they develop a plan to find them. Contributor Bio:  Travis, Mark Travis is the Monitor's editorial page editor. He received the 2000 Editorial Writer of the Year Award for small dailies from the New England AP News Executives' Association.