by Mclean, Hope
“You mean, when we make it to nationals,” Willow corrected her.
Ms. Keatley smiled and shook her head. “I’ll email your parents and arrange the trip for Saturday.”
Willow pumped her fist in the air. “Yes! Those Rivals won’t stand a chance.”
Erin laughed. “Admit it, Willow. You’re obsessed!”
The next morning, Jasmine and Lili were in Biology class together, watching a film about cell division. The room was dark, and the film flickered on a screen in the front of the room. Normally Jasmine would have taken detailed notes, but today she just felt like drawing another picture of the necklace in her notebook.
She was shading the large ruby when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she looked up to see her Biology teacher, Ms. Virani, standing next to her.
“Principal Frederickson would like to see you in her office,” she whispered.
Jasmine quickly gathered her books and made her way out of the classroom. Lili looked at her with raised eyebrows, but Jasmine just shrugged. She honestly didn’t know what was going on. Why would the principal want to see her? She had never gotten detention once in her whole school career; she’d never even been late.
She walked through the school’s spotless hallways to the main office, where the school secretary greeted her.
“You can go right in,” Ms. Ortiz said, nodding toward the principal’s door.
When she stepped inside, Jasmine was surprised to see her mom sitting in one of the red leather chairs in front of the principal’s desk.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, running to her mom. For a split second, she thought maybe something horrible had happened at home.
“Principal Frederickson called this morning and asked if your father or I could come down. Your dad’s working, so here I am.” Mrs. Johnson was a private music teacher, and her workday didn’t begin until three o’clock, when kids got out of school. She turned to Principal Frederickson with a quizzical look. “But I’m not sure what this is all about.”
Relieved, Jasmine took the seat next to her mother. Principal Frederickson still hadn’t said anything. She looked as stern as ever, with her perfectly curled dark hair, crisp white blouse, and black blazer. Jasmine couldn’t help noticing the shiny brooch she wore on her lapel. Were those emeralds?
Jasmine wanted to like Principal Frederickson, since she had brought the Jewels together, but she actually found her kind of scary. She was the whole reason Jasmine’s family had sent her to Martha Washington in the first place. She was a graduate of the school, too.
“I want you to have the influence of a strong woman in your life as you’re growing up,” her grandmother always said.
“But I have you and Mom,” Jasmine would answer. Her grandmother ran her own law firm in DC.
“That’s family,” Grandma Hunt would say. “You need influences in all areas of life. I like that woman. You can tell she knows what she’s doing just by looking at her.”
At this moment, Principal Frederickson looked pretty severe.
“Jasmine, I need to discuss a serious matter with you,” she said, looking Jasmine directly in the eyes. “It’s regarding the missing ruby necklace.”
“I know. It’s just awful,” Jasmine said.
“I was speaking with the librarian,” the principal continued. “And she says that you spend a great deal of time in the reading room.”
Jasmine nodded. “That’s right.” Why was Principal Frederickson bringing this up?
“And from what I’ve seen of the video footage so far, you spent quite a bit of time studying the ruby,” the principal went on.
Jasmine suddenly got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Wait one moment,” said Mrs. Johnson angrily. “You don’t think that Jasmine had anything to do with this, do you?”
“I didn’t say that,” Principal Frederickson said evenly. “I am just curious, that’s all. Perhaps Jasmine saw or heard something that might help us.”
“But I haven’t been in the library for days,” Jasmine protested, her voice rising with nervousness. “I just sketch it sometimes, that’s all. I didn’t notice anything about the theft. I was home on Friday night, and we went to a quiz bowl competition on Saturday. Ms. Keatley was with us.”
“And your team did a very good job there,” Principal Frederickson said. “We’re not certain, but it appears that the necklace was stolen between nine a.m. and one p.m. last Saturday. If that is true, then you couldn’t have stolen the necklace.”
She emphasized the word “stolen,” and Jasmine understood the implication: that maybe she still had something to do with the theft. Mrs. Johnson understood it, too, and she didn’t like it one bit.
“If you have any more questions for Jasmine, I suggest you contact our lawyer,” Jasmine’s mom said, standing up. “I can’t believe this, accusing a sixth-grade girl of being a jewel thief!”
“I am not accusing Jasmine of anything,” the principal said, then raised her eyebrows. “And if by your ‘lawyer’ you mean Rose Hunt, then please say hello to your mother for me. We are old friends.”
Mrs. Johnson relaxed a little bit. “So why are we here?”
Principal Frederickson looked at Jasmine. “I just wanted to see if Jasmine could help us in some way. But that’s obviously not the case.”
When they left the principal’s office, Jasmine’s mom gave her a hug. “That was a little scary!” she said. “I’ve never known Principal Frederickson to be so accusatory.”
Jasmine made an anxious face.
Then the bell rang. “You’d better get back to class,” her mom said. “Don’t worry about this, Jasmine. I’m going to call Grandma when I get home.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Jasmine said, feeling only slightly relieved.
It wasn’t easy for Jasmine to concentrate as the morning went on. She was glad when it became time for lunch and she could finally confide in her friends.
“So, Jazz, why’d you leave Biology?” Lili asked as they all sat down with their trays of salad and grilled chicken. “You missed a fascinating film. Not!”
“You guys won’t believe what happened,” Jasmine grumbled. She told them the whole story of her trip to the principal’s office.
“That is ridiculous!” Erin fumed. “How could Principal Frederickson think you had anything to do with this?”
“Keep your voice down, please,” Jasmine said, looking around. “I don’t want other people to know about this.” She took a deep breath. “She said there’s a lot of video footage of me in the reading room, looking at the ruby.”
“I guess that does seem sort of suspicious,” Erin admitted reluctantly.
“Well, I can kind of see where Principal Frederickson is coming from,” said Willow diplomatically. “I mean, you do spend a lot of time there. Maybe you did notice something strange, and you just can’t remember?”
Jasmine shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t. And besides, Principal Frederickson says they think it took place on Saturday, when we were at the Franklin quiz bowl. So how could I notice something if I wasn’t even there?”
“Well, it’s obvious that Principal Frederickson thinks you’re a suspect of some kind,” Lili said sympathetically. “That is so not fair!”
Then Erin grinned, and an excited look crossed her face. “I know how we can clear your name. We should find the real thieves ourselves!”
Lili looked skeptical. “Quiz bowl stars? Check. Generally awesome people? Check. Detectives? I don’t think so!”
“Come on,” Erin pleaded. “We’re smart, we make a great team, and Jazz needs us!”
For the first time since talking to Principal Frederickson, Jasmine felt the tight knot in her stomach begin to unravel. Her face brightened. “We could prove I’m innocent!”
“Lili’s right,” Willow said. “We’re definitely not detectives or anything. But it wouldn’t hurt to check things out or ask a couple of questions. We may find something the police missed. After
all, who knows this school or the ruby better than us?”
“I’d do anything to help Jazz out!” Lili said. “I’m in!”
As the bell rang, Jasmine thanked everyone. “I’m so lucky to have friends like you.”
They all picked up their trays. “We can talk more later,” Willow said before they left for their afternoon classes.
But the girls had a busy week ahead, starting with a quiz bowl practice after school that day. Ms. Keatley seemed more flustered than usual. She was wearing a teal oversized knit tunic with black leggings, and her long blond hair was sticking up in spots. The Jewels knew it meant she had been running her fingers through it all day, a sure sign she was stressed.
“Composer Ludwig van Beethoven composed how many symphonies for orchestra?” she asked.
Lili raised her hand. “Nine.”
“I’m sorry, Lili, that is wrong. The correct answer is …” she shuffled through the papers on her desk, then looked up sheepishly. “Nine. Oh dear. I’m sorry! This business about the ruby is just starting to really hit me, and I’m distracted. To think something like that could happen here!”
Erin gently nudged Willow in the side and looked at her with raised eyebrows. It was the perfect chance to ask some questions!
“It’s terrible,” Willow agreed. “But there’s something I don’t understand. Isn’t there a video recorder in the library? Wouldn’t whoever took the ruby be caught on tape?”
Ms. Keatley sighed. “You would think so. But the video camera went dead between the hours of nine a.m. and one p.m. It helps to narrow down when the ruby was stolen, but that’s about it.”
“Hmmmm.” Lili looked thoughtful. “Must have been a pretty high-tech thief to know how to disable the camera.”
Ms. Keatley glanced at the clock on the wall. “Enough about the ruby! I’m sorry I got us off on this tangent. Let’s get back to practicing.” She picked up a flash card from her desk.
“This German princess was named Sophie before becoming empress of Russia in 1762.”
“Catherine the Great,” Erin answered.
Ms. Keatley continued to ask questions of the girls, taking notes on areas they had trouble with.
“Great job!” she commended them after the practice hour was up. “It looks like you’re in great shape for the next quiz bowl in two weeks, where I think you’ll be matched with the Rivals for the first time. Of course, we’ll get in some more practices before then, and the Hallytown Harvest Festival Think Out is this Sunday.”
“Don’t worry,” Willow said. “We’ll be ready for them.”
Between Willow’s soccer practice, Erin’s guitar lessons, and Lili’s Japanese tutoring, it wasn’t easy for the girls to do any detective work. Thursday night, Erin impatiently texted her friends.
When r we going 2 start investigating?
We can talk Saturday at the museum, Willow typed back.
Cool with me! replied Lili.
Thx guys! Jasmine added.
* * *
On Saturday morning, the girls all met at the Metrorail train station at 8:30. Erin was yawning, Lili was snapping photos of fashionable people passing by, Jasmine was studying a guidebook, and Willow was sipping a yogurt smoothie.
“I hope Ms. Keatley’s not late,” Jasmine said worriedly, looking up from her book for their advisor. “The train will be here any minute.”
But Ms. Keatley came running up just in time. “Sorry, girls!” she said, catching her breath. “My cat, Max, decided to attack the coffee machine this morning, and I had a big mess to clean up. I hope we haven’t missed the train.”
“No, we’ve still got five minutes,” Willow reported.
The teacher relaxed. “That’s good. I find that taking the train is so much nicer than dealing with all the traffic and parking. So, is everyone excited for our trip?”
“I’ve been thinking about where we should go,” Jasmine said. “There’s a lot of ground to cover. This guidebook says that the museum holds more than fifty thousand aircraft and spacecraft.”
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Erin teased. “Willow will make you memorize them all.”
“Hey!” Willow protested.
Jasmine made a face. She didn’t think that was funny, either. Mostly because it was probably true! “So anyway, I thought we could narrow it down to some of the space exhibits. See? There’s Space Race and Exploring the Universe …”
She held out the guidebook for her friends to see.
“Cool,” Erin said. “And they’re right next to the food court.”
The train pulled into the station with a rush of wind. They quickly boarded and took their seats.
The girls were eager to talk about the ruby, so they were grateful when Ms. Keatley put in her earbuds to listen to classical music. Erin and Lili leaned over the backs of Willow’s and Jasmine’s seats so they could talk.
“All right,” Erin said. “So what’s the plan?”
Willow held up her smartphone, and Jasmine took out a notebook.
“Well, I was thinking …” they both said at the same time, and then they laughed.
“Figures you both have plans,” Erin said. “Whaddya got?”
“Well, I just made some notes about what we know,” Willow said. “Just the facts. We know the ruby was stolen between nine and one. And we know the thief was smart enough to disable the video camera.”
“I had that, too,” Jasmine interjected. “And then I made some notes about what we should do next. Like maybe we should take a good look at the library reading room. See if we find any clues.”
“Exactly! We need to look for clues,” Erin said. “I’ve always wanted an excuse to get one of those big magnifying glasses.”
Willow flipped through her screen, looking at her schedule. “What about lunch on Monday? If anyone asks, we can say we’re doing research on a paper or something?”
Erin frowned. “Do we really have to miss lunch?”
“I’ll bring some extra cucumber sushi,” Lili offered. “You can eat that real fast.”
“Mmm, sushi,” Erin said with a nod.
With the plan set, the girls settled back to enjoy the train ride. Within thirty minutes, the tree-lined suburbs of Hallytown gave way to the National Mall in Washington, DC, as the train slid underground. After they exited Union Station, Ms. Keatley led the way toward the Mall.
“This place is awesome,” Erin said as they walked along the pathways of the grassy green promenade. “It’s got all the best of the city in one place. There’s the Lincoln Memorial on one end, the Capitol Building on the other, and tons of museums in between.”
“And don’t forget the Washington Monument,” Jasmine added. “Eighty-one thousand tons of marble, granite, and … some other blue stone.” She frowned. “I should know that.”
“It’s blue gneiss,” Ms. Keatley said, and the girls looked at one another.
“One of these days, I hope I have an encyclopedia for a brain like you do,” Erin told her.
The teacher smiled, pleased. “Oh, I just read a lot, that’s all,” she said.
Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Air and Space Museum sat in the center of the National Mall. From the front, the modern-looking building was a tower of steel and glass flanked by two even taller marble buildings. Lili stopped in front of the sculpture at the foot of the main stairs. It was a gleaming, gold-colored, stainless steel spire that came to a sharp point at the top. Circling the point was a cluster of starbursts made from thin rods.
“I soooo heart this!” she said, gazing up at the top. “Wouldn’t it make an amazing hat?”
“It’s called Ad Astra, which means ‘to the stars,’” Jasmine said, reading from the guidebook.
Inside, the girls were greeted by another amazing sight: the Apollo 11 command module. They walked around the cone-shaped spacecraft, trying to gaze inside the glass windows.
“I can’t believe they fit three astronauts in there,” Willow said, reading the
information plaque by the display.
“At least it’s bigger than my bedroom,” Erin joked.
“We should head to the Space Race exhibit,” Jasmine suggested. “It’s just down the hall.”
“There sure is a lot of science in here,” Erin remarked as they walked through the crowded halls. “Maybe next time we could go to the National Museum of American History. You get to learn about actual people there, not just boring machines.”
“Astronauts are people,” Ms. Keatley pointed out. “And there’s tons of history in the Space Race exhibit. It tells the story of how the United States and the Soviet Union both tried to become the first nation to land a human on the moon.”
“I know,” Erin said. “I guess I just like my history old, you know?”
They quickly reached the exhibit, and Jasmine immediately got out a notebook and started taking notes and pictures. She wanted to make sure that the next time Willow counted missed answers, they weren’t science ones.
There was a lot to look at, from Skylab, one of the first US space stations, to a test model of the Hubble Space Telescope. Not to be outdone by Jasmine, Willow began taking notes, too.
“It says that the Hubble circles around the Earth every ninety-seven minutes, at a speed of five miles per second,” she muttered as she wrote. “So that’s twenty-nine thousand miles every trip. Impressive.”
“There goes Willow. Showing off her math genius again,” Erin teased.
While Willow and Jasmine took notes, Lili wandered around with wide eyes, fascinated by the design of the spacecraft and other equipment. Only Erin quickly grew bored. She stepped back into the hallway, drawn by the smells of fried food wafting from the food court. As she walked closer to the museum’s restaurants, she heard a familiar French accent coming from the other side of the lunar module.
“This is not the best museum at all.” It was definitely Isabel from the Rivals. Curious, Erin slowly made her way around the module until she got close enough to see them.
Erin recognized Ryan and Isabel. They were talking to the two other Rivals teammates: Veronica Manasas and Aaron Santiago. Veronica was shorter than the rest of them and wearing jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. Her black hair was pulled into a ponytail. Aaron looked pretty spiffy for a Saturday in a button-down shirt.
