by Janice Hanna
“I don’t know.” Megan shook her head. “But my father felt sorry for Gus and gave him the job here. And even though he’s kind of grumpy, we love him very much. He’s like a grandfather to me.”
Megan started to go on but got distracted by the other campers entering the dining room. Megan headed off in search of Conner.
After she left, Kate turned to McKenzie and Joel. “What did you think of that?”
“Megan obviously thinks Gus is innocent,” McKenzie said. “She feels sorry for him because of what happened. I don’t blame her. It’s a sad story.”
“Yes, but …”
Joel’s eyes narrowed. “I think there’s more to the story than meets the eye.”
“He has motive,” Kate said. “And he obviously needs money.”
“Exactly.” McKenzie nodded.
“And he does work in that room all alone.” Kate’s tummy rumbled. “I guess we can talk more about this over some food. I’m so busy solving mysteries that I don’t have time to eat. That’s inexcusable!”
They all laughed.
After breakfast, the campers headed across the parking lot. Kate saw Gus entering the back door of the building. Something about seeing him troubled her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. It was probably the story Megan had told about what had happened to his wife.
Watch out, Kate, she scolded herself. Don’t start feeling sorry for him!
Still, something about seeing him today put things in a new light. She pondered that for a minute, trying to make sense of her feelings.
Suddenly Kate snapped her fingers as she realized what had been bothering her so much. “McKenzie!”
“What?”
“Did you see Gus just now?”
“Sure.” McKenzie shrugged. “What about him?”
“Did you notice what he was wearing?”
McKenzie’s eyes grew wide. “Now that you mention it, yes. He was wearing the quarry uniform—brown pants and a tan shirt.”
“Not blue jeans,” Kate said. “The person in the picture I took last night was definitely wearing jeans.”
“Yes, but that picture was taken in the middle of the night,” McKenzie said. “So he probably doesn’t wear his uniform when he goes to the quarry in the middle of the night to pack the forged fossils. In fact, it’s more likely he would wear regular clothes if he’s doing something sneaky.”
“I suppose.” Just one more thing for Kate to think about. But with so little time left, her thoughts were now tumbling around in her head faster than she could keep up with them. If she and McKenzie ever needed prayer … now was the time!
The Plot Thickens
Just after breakfast, when the others went to watch a video on the quarry’s history, Megan led the way to the prep room. “It’s quiet in here during this time of day. Gus does most of his work during the afternoon.”
“And in the middle of the night,” Kate added.
“The middle of the night?” Megan looked at her curiously. “Are you saying that because you think it was Gus in the pictures you took last night?”
Kate nodded. “Yes.”
“Well we don’t know that for sure,” Megan said. “And remember the story I told you about Gus. We need to assume he is innocent until proven guilty.”
“Okay.” Kate sighed. Still, she would prove once and for all that Gus did this. Maybe. “Megan, do you mind if I use my fingerprint kit?” Kate asked when they were inside the room.
Megan shrugged. “I don’t mind. But remember, Kate, lots of people come in and out of this room, not just Gus. So any prints you lift might belong to other people.”
Kate nodded. “I know. I just need to compare the prints to the ones on the fossil plate back in Philadelphia.”
She reached in her backpack, pulled out the fingerprint kit and went to work. “Oooh, this is the perfect spot!” She pressed the fingerprint tape down on the table and lifted a perfect print. Kate could hardly wait to compare it to the ones from the ruined fossil back in Philly.
“Here’s another one, Kate.” McKenzie pointed to a shipping label on a wooden crate. “Might as well get it, too!”
They spent the next five minutes lifting all sorts of fingerprints. Megan watched at the door, in case anyone decided to come in the room.
Just as Kate finished with the last print, she heard a familiar voice.
“What are you girls doing in here?”
Conner. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too upset that Megan had let them in the room.
Megan flashed a smile. “Oh hey, Conner. What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be with the kids?”
“I had something to take care of first.” He looked at her curiously. “Aren’t these girls supposed to be watching the video, too?”
“I’ll send them in there when we’re done,” Megan said with a nod. “Something came up and I needed to …”
“Needed to what?” He drew near, a concerned look on his face.
“Well I offered to help the girls with something.”
Kate tucked the fingerprint kit into her backpack. No point in saying too much.
Just then, the door to the room opened and Grumpy Gus stepped inside. Kate’s breath caught in her throat. Oh no! Caught!
“What’s going on in here, a party?” he asked. “You people filling my workspace for some reason?”
“Well actually, we were …” Megan stopped before finishing her sentence.
“She’s giving us a tour,” Kate said.
“You know how I feel about kids in my work space.” Gus looked grumpier than ever. “I don’t like them in here.”
“Yes, get these campers out of here, Megan,” Conner said. He gave her a warning look but Kate still had a couple of questions that needed to be answered, so she jumped right in.
“Can I ask you a question?” She drew near Conner. “What happened to Joel’s stingray fossil? It’s disappeared from the museum.”
“It has not,” he said with the wave of a hand. “I had a request from a museum in Vancouver, so I asked Gus to send it.”
“I packed it up a week ago and shipped it,” Gus said. “Why are you asking?”
“Oh, no reason.” Kate shrugged and tried to look calm, though her insides were trembling. She didn’t mention that the fossil in Vancouver was a fake.
“You kids get on out of here,” Gus said. “I have work to do and I can’t do it with you underfoot.”
As he shooed them out of the room, Kate had a brilliant idea. She deliberately left her backpack sitting on the floor next to the lab table. Following Megan out of the back door, she tried to still her shaking hands. She whispered the verse that Elizabeth had given her—the one about being able to do all things through Christ who strengthened her—and took a deep breath.
They stepped out into the bright sunlight and Kate planned her next words. She started with two simple ones: “Oh dear.”
“What is it, Kate?” Megan looked her way.
“I, um, I left something in the room.”
“What?” Megan asked.
“My backpack,” she said. “I left it. It’ll only take a minute.”
Megan held open the door and Kate ran back inside.
“What are you doing in here, kid?” Gus said, looking her way. “I told you that I have work to do.”
“Oh, I know.” She flashed a smile. “I just came back to get my backpack. Sorry.”
Gus grunted and walked to the other side of the room to lift a packing crate. Kate took advantage of the fact that his back was turned and reached inside her backpack, quickly pulling out the tiny digital recorder. She set it in the corner behind a stack of trays and positioned it to face Gus’s worktable.
Oh, I hope this works!
She glanced across the room at Gus, who was now heading her way. “Get on out of here, kid. I don’t need you leaving stuff in here for me to trip over.”
“Yes, sir.” She lifted her backpack to show him that she was ready to leave and he gru
nted again. She was pretty sure she heard him mutter something about kids always getting in his way, but she didn’t take the time to listen. No, she had something else to take care of now. Something very important.
She raced back outside, and approached McKenzie and Megan, now out of breath. “I—I need to go back to the cabin and look at these prints,” she said. “Is that okay?”
“Yes. I’ll walk you there. Then McKenzie and I will join the others in the video room. What are you thinking, Kate?”
“I need to figure out if the fingerprints match. And then, um …” She fiddled with her backpack, growing nervous.
“What?” Megan asked.
“Then I need to figure out a way to get back in the shipping room to fetch my video camera, which I just hid behind some trays.”
“Brilliant, Kate!” McKenzie clapped her hands together.
Megan laughed. “Wow. You really have done this case-solving thing before, haven’t you?”
Kate nodded. “I have. But this time is a little more nerve-racking!”
They walked back to the cabin together, and then Megan
and McKenzie headed to the video room. Kate pulled out her fingerprint kit and examined the prints she had taken that day at the museum. Then she compared them to the ones she had taken today.
The ones from the lab table were a perfect match. Bingo! So were the ones from the shipping crate. Obviously the same person who packed the crate was the one who had forged the fossils, right?
Hmm. She paused to think about that. Like Megan said, more than one person worked in the shipping room. How would she ever know for sure whose fingerprints these were? She would have to print each person who worked in the room. In fact, she would have to print every person who ever went in that room.
Kate pulled out her cell phone and took several pictures of the fingerprints and sent them by picture message to Alexis. “Maybe her uncle can run these prints and tell us who committed the crime,” Kate said to herself.
She put all of the items back in her backpack. Then she leaned back against the pillows and began to pray.
“Lord, if You want me to solve this case, I’m really, really going to need Your help. I know the prints match, but I don’t know whose prints they are. Lord, can You show us who did this? Was it Gus? Or was it someone else?”
As she continued to pray, Kate’s eyes grew heavy. She drifted off into a hazy sleep. She woke almost an hour later! “Oh no! What have I done?” Just as she scrambled
to her feet, her phone rang. She looked at the number, recognizing it right away. Elizabeth.
Kate answered with a quick, “Hello?”
“Kate, I was praying for you this morning,” Elizabeth said. “And I felt like I was supposed to call and tell you to be extra careful today. I have the strongest feeling someone is pretending to be something they’re not.”
“Like that Jacob and Esau story,” Kate said. “You know what? I think you’re right. I’ve been wondering about something all morning long.” She quickly told Elizabeth her suspicions and her friend agreed to pray. In fact, she decided they should stop to pray, right then and there. Over the phone.
“Lord, You know who did this,” Elizabeth prayed. “And You know the truth from a lie. We ask that You give Kate and McKenzie wisdom to know the difference today. Help them solve this case, Lord. Amen!”
“Amen!” Kate echoed.
By the time she hung up the phone, she felt energized to finish what she had started. She would figure out who was Jacob and who was Esau. And when she got it figured out, she’d know exactly who had forged those fossils … and why!
Putting the Pieces Together
Kate spent the rest of the morning at the excavation site with Megan and the other campers. Conner didn’t come because he had other work to do, so it was a quiet day with the boys and girls working together. No competition this time.
Kate really enjoyed her last day digging for fossils, but her mind was on other things. She couldn’t stop thinking about the video camera she’d left in the workroom. And she couldn’t stop thinking about Gus’s brown pants. Something about all of this left her feeling very confused. Mixed up. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if they’d had the wrong person all along.
A thousand thoughts rolled through her brain, but only one really made sense. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. But how could she prove it? Only one way. Alexis’s uncle would have to prove that the fingerprints belonged to the right person.
“Hey, what’s up with you today?” Joel asked, drawing near. “You’re really quiet. That’s not like you.”
“I, um, have a lot on my mind.” She happened to notice
he was wearing blue jeans. Then again, so were all of the other boys. And Conner. She remembered seeing him in blue jeans earlier today. Then again, he never seemed to wear the quarry uniform, did he?
When the kids took a break for lunch, Kate saw Mr. Jenkins cross the dining hall. Like most of the others, he wore blue jeans. However, she no longer suspected him. After much thought and prayer, she felt he could be trusted. She rose from her place at the table and met him on the opposite side of the room, away from the other campers.
“Mr. Jenkins, I think I’m getting close to figuring this out, but I need your help one more time.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure I know who’s been forging the fossils, and I think the proof is in the workroom.”
“What kind of proof?”
“Hopefully a video of someone doing something suspicious. But we won’t know for sure until I look at the video. I was wondering if you’d go retrieve my camera for me. I would like to go back to the cabin to watch it after lunch.”
“Of course.” He nodded. “Now, where is this camera you’ve hidden?”
“I hid it behind several trays.”
“Very crafty!” He grinned. “Okay. I’ll go in there and get the camera, but give me a few minutes. I have to talk to Megan first.” He disappeared into the kitchen and was gone several minutes. Then Kate watched him walk across the
dining hall toward the workroom. She prayed he would be able to get the camera without anyone noticing.
Sure enough, he came out a few minutes later with a paper lunch sack in his hand.
“I think this is yours,” he said, placing the lunch bag on the table.
Kate grinned and whispered, “Thanks.”
“What is that?” McKenzie asked, taking the seat next to her. “Did you pack your lunch?”
“Not exactly.” She giggled then whispered, “It’s my video camera.” She looked up as Conner entered the dining hall and sat with the boys. “Come with me to the cabin, McKenzie. We still have a case to solve.”
They ran across the parking lot together, straight to their cabin. Once inside, Kate plopped on her bunk. She could hardly wait to watch the video. She tried to click on the camera, but it wouldn’t come on.
“Don’t tell me!” she groaned. “The battery is dead. I should’ve thought of that. I left it running for too long.”
“Did you bring the charger?” McKenzie asked.
“Yes, but it will take awhile to charge.” She scrambled off the bunk and looked through her duffel bag until she found the charger. Plugging it in, she sighed. “Everything seems to be taking so long.”
“Remember, patience is a virtue!” McKenzie said. “Good things come to those who wait.”
“I’m just not very good at waiting.” A few minutes latershe checked the camera and it came on. “Awesome!” With her fingers trembling, she rewound the camera to the beginning.
“Ooo, what is that?” McKenzie asked, pointing at the screen.
“Well you can see the edge of the trays,” Kate said. “I hid the camera behind them. So we’re not going to be able to see much, but maybe we’ll hear something suspicious.”
She listened closely as a man’s voice rang out.
“That’s Gus,” she
said.
“Who’s he talking to?”
“Hmm.” Kate listened a bit closer. “Sounds familiar.” Another moment later, she recognized the other voice. “Oh, that’s Conner.”
“Gus is saying something to him, but I can’t make it out.”
Kate backed up the video and listened closely. Off in the distance, faint as a whisper, she heard Gus say, “Conner, I’m surprised you’re still going strong today. Didn’t you work through the night?”
McKenzie’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. “No way! Conner was the one in the room last night?”
“Sounds like it.” Kate’s stomach began to get butterflies. This confirmed what she had been thinking all morning. She kept watching and listening to the video, hoping to learn more.
“What is Conner saying?” McKenzie asked. “I can’t make it out.”
“Sounds like Conner is telling Gus to take a break. Telling him that he will take over for a while.”
“Ooo, I think I heard the door close,” McKenzie added. “Do you think Gus left the room?”
“Maybe, but look.” Kate pointed at the screen. “You can see a man’s legs, but I’m not sure whose they are! The picture is fuzzy.”
McKenzie squinted and took a closer look. “That has to be Conner. Gus is wearing his uniform today, remember?”
“Oh right!” Kate watched as the man in the blue jeans walked by. For a while the room grew silent. Then she heard Conner speaking again. This time his words were a lot clearer, thank goodness.
“Who is he talking to?” McKenzie asked. “There’s no one in the room with him.”
“Maybe there is!” Kate whispered. “Maybe someone else came in.” She listened closely as Conner said something about fossils.
“Ooo, I know!” McKenzie snapped her fingers. “He’s talking to someone on the phone. Has to be, because we can only hear what Conner is saying, not what the other person is saying.”
“I think you’re right,” Kate agreed. “But it’s hard to tell what he’s talking about.”
They listened a little bit longer, and Kate gasped when she heard Conner start to laugh. He said something that sounded like, “We got away with it.”
