by Erika McGann
‘This?’ she said, turning in her wheelchair so she could show me the bracelet up close. ‘I got this for my birthday … hmm, ten or twelve years ago now. Isn’t it lovely? And the ring? You’ve a good eye.’ She winked. ‘Won’t tell you how much, but this one’s worth a pretty penny.’
‘You like jewellery then?’ I said, writing it all down in my Top Secret notebook.
‘Ooh, I love it,’ she replied. ‘But most of it isn’t expensive – just this ring. I’m always losing things, you see, but my daughter gets me more. I’m like a magpie – I’ll go for anything shiny!’
‘Is that right? Thanks very much for your time, Ms Barnes.’
I knew exactly what had happened. Edwina Barnes had spotted the gold locket around Carmella’s neck and swooped in like an evil bird. It was an open and shut case.
‘It was George Murray,’ Nicholas said when the Bubble Street Gang met up at the fountain. ‘George Murray stole the locket.’
‘It was Edwina Barnes,’ I said, frowning. ‘I’m sure of it.’
‘Did Edwina Barnes have a feud with Carmella that started over a favourite table in the dining room and has been going on for years?’
Definition of feud: a fancy word for a big, long fight (I’m pretty sure). Definitely the sort of word Nicholas would use.
‘No,’ I said, ‘Edwina Barnes is not having a feud with Carmella – as far as I know – but she will go for anything shiny. She said so herself.’
‘It was George Murray.’
‘Lex,’ I said, getting impatient, ‘who’ve you got?’
‘Em …’
Lex looked down at her notepad. I noticed there were very few notes on it.
‘Did you question anybody?’ Nicholas asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Did you interrogate anybody?’ I asked.
‘Em … I did learn a lot about Mr Kane’s dogs. They were all terriers, and he used to do all the dog shows–’
‘Urgh, Lex! You were supposed to be ruthless in your questioning. Not talk about their hobbies!’
‘I’m not good at being ruthless.’
I looked at Nicholas.
‘We’re going to have to question Lex’s list again.’
‘Don’t bother,’ said Nicholas. ‘I’m telling you, it was George Murray.’
‘I’m going inside,’ I snapped. ‘There are loads of residents we haven’t even checked out yet.’
‘Well, I’m staying out here.’ Nicholas sat down on the edge of the fountain. ‘It’s nice and sunny, and I’ve already found the thief.’
I marched past him in such a hurry I nearly knocked over Carmella. She was walking the path around the garden and had stopped to smell a bunch of yellow roses growing near the door.
‘Hey, Carmella.’
‘Hello, deary, hello!’
She looked much happier. I wondered if she’d forgotten about her locket. I decided not to remind her.
‘Nice roses,’ I said instead.
‘Don’t you just love the yellow ones?’
‘Sure.’
I wasn’t really listening. Edwina Barnes was making her way into the centre; a carer was pushing her chair from the garden to the door. As they went through the doorway something small dropped to the floor. A green bead from the fancy cardigan Ms Barnes was wearing. I automatically moved forward to go pick it up, but someone else was much faster. A quick hand shot from behind the doorframe and snatched the bead from the carpet.
‘Bye bye, deary,’ Carmella said as I ran past her.
‘Oh, sorry, bye, Carmella.’
I saw him. But only his back as he went through to the main hall. He wore a blue jumper.
By the time I reached the main hall there were a number of blue jumpers, pottering between the sitting room, hall and dining room.
I had a suspect. A real suspect. But which one of them was it?
Chapter Ten
‘What was George Murray wearing?’ I said, a little out of breath after running back into the garden. ‘A blue jumper?’
‘No,’ said Nicholas, ‘a brown jacket.’
‘Then it wasn’t George Murray.’
I told Lex and Nicholas about the bead-snatcher. They both agreed it was a good lead.
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘We’ve got suspects to question. Any man in a blue jumper.’
It turned out blue jumpers were quite popular among the men in Shady Oaks.
‘And where were you exactly half an hour ago?’ I said, trying not to yawn as I questioned the millionth blue jumper (at least it felt like the millionth).
‘Choir practice,’ the blue jumper replied.
That was an alibi I could check out, and he didn’t look worried.
Definition of alibi: when someone says you did something bad, but you totally couldn’t have because you were at the cinema with your cousin or something, and you have the ticket to prove it.
‘Thank you for your time,’ I said, striking his name off in my notebook.
‘That’s it,’ said Nicholas, ‘that’s all of them.’
‘Then we’ve already questioned him,’ I said, ‘and he was too clever to give himself away. We need a new plan.’
‘What kind of plan?’ asked Lex.
‘A set-a-trap-for-him kind of plan.’
‘You mean like covering a hole in the ground with leaves and stuff so he’ll fall in?’ Lex said. ‘That sounds mean. And what if he gets hurt?’
‘Not a booby trap, Lex, we’re not going to hurt anyone.’
‘You mean set him up,’ said Nicholas.
I smiled. ‘Exactly.’
Lex’s dad came to pick up Lex and Nicholas five minutes later (Nicholas had acting class, and Lex had running club), so I was left to set up the locket thief on my own.
I borrowed a shiny trinket from Carmella – she let me have a silver hair pin with sparkly stones in it – then I walked around the centre looking for blue jumpers. As soon as I spotted one I’d make sure I was in his eye-line, then I’d accidentally (on purpose) drop the hairpin and walk away. I was so good at it, Nicholas would have been proud of me. I even spied on each suspect without giving myself away, by using a little hand mirror. I’d hold it in the palm of my hand, low down and hidden by my fingers, then I’d point it behind me as I walked away. I could see exactly what the blue jumper was doing. It was genius.
But not genius enough. None of the blue jumpers snatched the hairpin. Two of them did pick it up, but only to tap me on the shoulder and give it back.
The blue-jumpered locket thief was clever. But that was fine with me. I like a challenge.
The Bubble Street Gang hadn’t forgotten about Operation Scavenger Hunt (updated name: Operation Catch the Cheating Cheaty Cheaters – not everyone had agreed to the updated name though. Nicholas suggested Operation Weather Vane instead, but I don’t think it’s as good). I was still convinced the Na-Sa-Ji Club were guilty of stealing the weather vane.
‘But how can we prove it?’ asked Nicholas. ‘The weather vane is long gone, and none of them would ever admit it to us.’
It was a tough case.
‘We should examine the crime scene,’ I said. ‘There might be some evidence left behind.’
I was so hoping we’d find Nathan’s Star Wars wallet, or Sasha’s earring, or Jim’s … I couldn’t think what Jim might have dropped by the shed, but I was still hoping he’d dropped it.
In the driveway of Rowan Tree Manor the recycling bin had been left out. It was overfull.
‘Look,’ Nicholas said, lifting the lid a little. ‘The weather vane was new.’
On top of the bin was a flattened box with a photo of the crow-shaped weather vane on the front.
‘Forty centimetres wide,’ I said, reading the dimensions on the side of the box. ‘Difficult to hide that down your jumper without bits poking out.’
‘I didn’t notice Nathan looking pointy.’
I scowled and snapped the bin lid shut.
‘We’ve only started investig
ating. Come on, let’s go ask if we can check out the shed.’
We rang the bell and Graham answered the door with a big smile.
‘Well if it isn’t the Puzzle Pals! How’re you three doing?’
I cringed at our awful team name (sorry, Lex), then got on with the mission.
‘Hi, Graham,’ I said. ‘We were wondering if we could have a quick chat about the weather vane–’
‘Oh, I am sorry about that. Shocking business really. Who’d steal a weather vane? It’s not like it’s worth much. Looks like it went missing early on in the game too – only two teams got a photo of it in the end.’
‘Really?’ asked Nicholas. ‘Which two teams?’
‘Hmm, now let me think.’ Graham scratched his chin. ‘There was the Spaghetti Yetis, and then … that’s right, The Time Lords. That was the winning team, wasn’t it?’
‘Yeah,’ I said, with a twinge of pain in my chest. ‘Time Lords won.’
I could feel Nicholas looking at me.
‘Would you mind if we had a quick look at the shed?’ I quickly asked Graham. ‘We’re pretty good at solving mysteries – we might be able to figure out where the weather vane got to.’
‘Ooh, a band of investigators, are you? That sounds like fun. Knock yourselves out. It’s dinner time for the dogs, so they’re in their kennels – won’t bother you.’
‘That’s great, thanks Graham.’
As we jogged around the house and through the gardens towards the shed, Nicholas was still looking at me. But it was Lex who said it.
‘The Na-Sa-Jis didn’t get a photo of the weather vane. So that means they didn’t steal it.’
‘They still could’ve stolen it,’ I said, not wanting to let it go. ‘Just to stop us winning.’
‘Doesn’t make sense,’ said Nicholas. ‘You know it doesn’t. If they stole it, why not just take the photo first?’
I sighed. It didn’t make sense.
‘Let’s just check out the crime scene first,’ I said, ‘before we make any final decisions.’
The crows in Rowan Tree Manor were not your usual kind of crows. Firstly, they were not scared of scarecrows (during the scavenger hunt some of them were sitting on the scarecrows in the pumpkin patch), and secondly, they weren’t at all scared of people either.
When we arrived at the shed there were crows on the roof, on the fence behind the shed, and on the ground. And not one of them moved. They turned to look at us, and they flitted around a bit when we got closer, but none of them flew off.
‘Is it just me,’ said Lex, ‘or are crows kind of scary?’
These fearless ones with shiny, black feathers and shiny, black eyes were kind of scary. I liked them.
Me, Lex and Nicholas tiptoed around the creepy crows – they watched us like they knew exactly what we were doing – searching for something of Nathan’s or Sasha’s or Jim’s. We didn’t find anything.
‘We should take a look at the roof,’ I decided, ‘to see if there’s any damage. Either one of them climbed up there, or they knocked the weather vane off by throwing something at it – rocks maybe.’
‘I don’t like the crows,’ Lex said, knowing she’d be the one that would have to climb onto the roof.
‘They’re fine,’ I said, clasping my hands to give her a leg up. ‘They’re nice, look … with their lovely black beady eyes. That don’t blink.’
Lex was shaking a little as I boosted her up onto the shed roof.
‘Any damage up there?’ I called.
‘Hang on.’
There was silence for a few seconds. As Lex inspected the roof, I watched a crow pick up a skinny bit of metal in its beak and poke it into a tiny hole in a log that ran along the bottom of the shed. It needled out a little insect, then dropped the little metal bar and ate it.
‘Aren’t you clever,’ I whispered.
‘No,’ Lex’s voice suddenly called out, ‘no damage. There’s the little stand thing with teeny hooks for the vane to fit into, but it’s not dented or anything.’
‘Have a look for anything they might have dropped up there,’ I said, ‘a button or a torn bit of a jumper … or a hair. Anything.’
‘A hair?’ Nicholas raised an eyebrow.
‘I could examine it under my microscope,’ I said.
‘I can’t see anything like that,’ said Lex. ‘Just a few leaves … and crows.’
‘Face it,’ said Nicholas, ‘the Na-Sa-Jis didn’t do it.’
He was right. But it hurt.
‘Fine,’ I said. ‘But if it wasn’t Nathan, then who?’
Nicholas reached up to grab Lex’s feet as she slid down from the roof.
‘It’s not easy getting up there,’ he said. ‘And whoever did it had to be quick so they wouldn’t be seen.’
‘Okay,’ I said.
‘Bianca? Or one of her team?’
‘They did win,’ I said. ‘And they are all taller than us.’
‘Worth checking it out?’ said Nicholas.
‘Oh yeah,’ I said, feeling better already. ‘We’re coming for you, Time Lords.’
Chapter Eleven
Back at Shady Oaks Lex’s fairy village and Nicholas’s red garden were both ahead of schedule (and I, of course, was trying to get away from Nathan again, if only for a few minutes), so we asked Mr Freebs if we could go visit some of the residents before our class finished up in the garden for the day. Mr Freebs said that was fine (because he didn’t know we were also planning on doing a little investigating during the visit).
I’m normally extremely clever – that’s why I’m a genius detective – but I had a minor brain blip that day.
Definition of brain blip: when your brain kind of hiccups and doesn’t work properly for a second, and you do or say something stupid that you wouldn’t normally do or say.
‘If all three of us set the shiny trinket trap,’ I said to Lex and Nicholas as we walked through the main hall, ‘then there’s a chance the locket thief will fall for one of them.’
‘You mean try setting a trap for every single man in Shady Oaks?’ said Nicholas. ‘There’s way too many of them, Cass, it would take hours.’
‘Not for every one,’ I tutted. ‘Just the ones in blue jumpers.’
‘That was Saturday. Do you not think he might have changed his clothes?’
Blip.
That was my brain blipping. Of course he would have changed his clothes. There was no telling what the blue-jumpered locket thief would be wearing now.
‘Umm …’ I mumbled.
Nicholas didn’t say anything. He just gave me a look like he felt sorry for me because I was so dim.
‘I’ll come up with something else,’ I snapped. ‘You guys go look for anything suspicious while I have a think.’
‘What do you mean, suspicious?’ asked Lex.
‘You know … anything.’
‘Just wander around, looking for anything,’ Nicholas said.
‘Yes, Nicholas.’
He gave me another look as he and Lex walked away. I was a bit embarrassed and annoyed, so when I got into the sitting room I kind of flopped into a chair and sighed out loud. How did I not think of the locket thief changing his clothes since the weekend?
‘Are you alright?’
Edwina Barnes was sitting next to me.
‘I’m fine, thanks,’ I said, ‘I’ve just been a bit stupid.’
‘Well, I was just about to head to the dining room for a piece of cake. Would some cake cheer you up?’
‘Thanks,’ I said, ‘but I’m okay. Plus, I don’t have much time. I’ll have to go back to school soon.’
‘Alright, pet. Well, you have a nice day.’
I sighed again as Ms Barnes and her carer, Lucinda, left the room. They bumped into a nurse on the way out, and something clattered to the floor with a flash of silver. It was the nurse’s badge – the flash was the silver clasp – and a hand shot out to grab it just as it hit the floor.
‘Oh,’ the short man said, realising wh
at it was and handing it back, ‘this is yours. I thought it was … never mind.’
Ms Barnes’s. He thought it was some shiny trinket of Ms Barnes’s that she wouldn’t miss; something he could steal and get away with it.
There he was. The locket thief.
I ducked behind water coolers and dodged tea trolleys as I followed the short man down the hallway.
He turned right past the dining room, and then left into one of the wings of residents’ rooms. I had ducked behind the corner at the turn of the corridor, but popped out just in time to see the door of Room 25 close behind him.
I could have questioned him alone, but since I’d been an absolute genius and spotted the thief all by myself, I wanted Lex and Nicholas (especially Nicholas) to be there when I got the full confession.
‘Are you sure about this?’ Nicholas said as the three of us stood outside Room 25 a few minutes later.
‘Positive,’ I replied, and knocked firmly on the door.
‘Hello. Can I help you?’
The man who answered couldn’t have looked sweeter. He had a little bowl of dyed brown hair sitting on top of his head, and big grey eyes that made him look like he was permanently smiling. But I wasn’t fooled.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘We’re … carrying out an investigation on the premises, and we’d like to ask you a few questions.’
‘Oh yes,’ the man said. ‘I remember you. Please come in.’
‘That sounded very official,’ Lex whispered to me as we went in.
I smiled.
‘What’s the investigation about again?’ the man asked.
‘We’ll ask the questions, sir, thank you.’ I put on a stern expression and consulted my notebook with all the blue-jumpered people’s names. ‘You are Mr Adrian Klein. Is that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you have been a resident at Shady Oaks for two years, is that correct?’
