Kate

by Janice Thompson

  “If you take pictures through the glass, he’ll see you,” McKenzie whispered.

  “I won’t stand up to take the pictures…and I’ll turn off the flash so he won’t see anything. Watch and see.” Still kneeling, Kate lifted the camera to the bottom of the glass window. “Say a little prayer, McKenzie.”

  “Trust me, I’ve been praying ever since we left our cabin.”

  Kate snapped several photographs, holding the camera at different angles.

  “Now what?” McKenzie asked.

  “Now we look at the pictures.” She quickly scrolled through the pictures she’d just taken. Several weren’t very good. But a couple of them showed a large fossil plate.

  “Yep, that’s him all right,” Kate whispered. “I wish I could zoom in the photo to see if that fossil plate is real or not.”

  “Can we do that on your computer?” McKenzie asked.

  “Yes, but I don’t want to go back to the cabin just yet.” She patted her backpack. “I brought my fingerprint kit. I need to get inside to lift some prints and see if they match the ones on the fossil plate in Philadelphia.”

  “How can we get in there with someone working?” McKenzie whispered. “It’s impossible.”

  “Maybe he—or she—will leave. You could distract him and I’ll go inside.”

  “Distract him?” McKenzie asked. “H–how?”

  “Go to the window on the other side of the room and tap on it. He’ll go to the window and I’ll slip in and do my work.”

  “Kate, that’s scary.” McKenzie paused, and then said, “Okay, okay. I’ll do it. But I’m not happy about it.”

  She slipped out of the back door into the darkness. Kate peeked through the glass pane into the room where the man worked in the shadows. After a few moments, she heard McKenzie tapping on the window and saw the man look up from his work. Unfortunately, he didn’t head toward the window…he came toward the door!

  Kate ran into the parking lot. She called out to McKenzie and soon the two of them were standing in silence at the back of the building in complete darkness. Her heart pounded so loudly she could hear it in her ears. Still, they hadn’t gotten caught. That was good.

  “Why is it suddenly so dark out here?” McKenzie whispered.

  “Someone turned out the light,” Kate responded. “Maybe he’s trying to spook us.”

  “Well, it’s working!”

  The girls stood frozen in their tracks. After a while, they heard a sound at the back door and realized the man—whoever he was—had gone back inside.

  “I guess we’re safe,” McKenzie said with a sigh. “But I’m all turned around now that it’s so dark out here. What about you?”

  “Yeah, me too.” Kate took a couple of steps to her left. “I think our dorm is this way,” she whispered. “Isn’t that right?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  They took a couple of steps together and crashed into a trash can. Kate held her breath, hoping no one would notice.

  “I don’t think we’re going the right way,” McKenzie whispered. “How will we ever find our way back to the dorm now, Kate?”

  “Hmm.” Kate paused. “Oh, I know! I have a GPS tracking system on my phone. It’s really detailed, so I think it will guide us.” She turned it on and within minutes they were headed the right way. Though they bumped into a few things on the way to the cabin, the girls finally made it back safely.

  “I don’t ever want to be scared like that again!” Kate whispered as they entered the cabin.

  The girls tiptoed to their bunks, careful not to wake the others. Kate bumped her toe on the edge of the bed and almost yelped, but stopped herself. If only she could stop her hands from shaking and her knees from knocking!

  After fetching her laptop and a bag of chips, she gestured for McKenzie to meet her in the bathroom. There, she plugged her camera into her laptop and downloaded the photos. She opened a photo of a fossil plate.

  “That’s what I wanted to see,” she whispered. “That plate.”

  She zoomed in…close…closer…closer…until she finally got a good look at the fossil plate.

  “Hmm.” McKenzie shook her head. “When you zoom in on it, it doesn’t look like the others in the museum.”

  “No kidding.” Kate opened her bag of chips. “But it looks just like the one I spilled water on that day I was with my teacher. Look here.” She searched her computer until she found the copies of the photos she’d taken with her camera that day at the museum. She placed the photos side by side. Sure enough, they looked alike!

  “The fossils Grumpy Gus is shipping are fakes, just as we suspected,” Kate said, taking a bite of a salty chip. “No doubt about that. And I’d guess they’re made out of brown sugar, just like these.” She pointed to the photo of the ruined fossil plate.

  “So it’s true.” McKenzie bit her lip. “He’s shipping fakes. But how do we know he made them, or even knows they’re fake?”

  “Ooo, look at this one!” She pointed to a picture that showed a man’s legs. A man wearing blue jeans. “Does Gus wear jeans? I can’t remember.”

  McKenzie shrugged. “I don’t know. I never paid attention.”

  “I wish we could’ve gotten in the room so I could’ve gotten those fingerprints.” Kate sighed, and pressed a couple more chips in her mouth.

  “Maybe we can do that tomorrow.” McKenzie yawned. “But can we talk about this in the morning, Kate? It’s really late and I’m so tired.”

  “What in the world are you girls doing up in the middle of the night?”

  Kate looked sheepishly at Megan. “Oh, we, um…”

  Megan knelt beside her and looked at the computer screen. “And what were you talking about? You found out something about the fake fossils?”

  “Sort of.” Kate’s heart began to thump. She wanted to tell Megan everything…but could she trust her? It was getting harder to know who to trust.

  “We have some pictures of someone packing fake fossils to be shipped out,” she explained. “We’re not sure who it is, but we’re sure the fossils are forged. They look just like the brown sugar ones my teacher and I discovered back home in Philly.”

  “And where did you get these photos?”

  “Well, we…um…” McKenzie’s gaze shifted to the ground.

  “From the cleaning and shipping room,” Kate explained. “I took the pictures.”

  Megan’s brow wrinkled. “Surely you weren’t really outside in the middle of the night.”

  “Well, we, um…” Kate sighed.

  “Look, I’m all for crime solving,” Megan said. “But remember the one rule I told you not to break? You’re not to go off by yourself. It’s too dangerous. And to go off by yourself at night makes it even more dangerous. We have coyotes here.”

  “I know.” A shiver ran down Kate’s spine. “We heard them.”

  “Well you’re very fortunate to be back in one piece,” Megan said. “But you broke a quarry rule, and I’m really disappointed in you.”

  Kate’s eyes filled with tears right away. “I’m sorry, Megan. And I’m sorry about going outside too. It was a little scary, being out there all alone. We should have asked you to come with us, but I didn’t really want anyone to know what we were doing until we had the proof.”

  “And this is your proof?” Megan asked, pointing to the computer screen. “Pictures of someone packing fossils?” She examined the photo again. “I’m not even sure who that is, to be honest.”

  “Don’t you see?” Kate said. “We know the fossils are forged. And we know Gus is the one who usually packs them. Doesn’t that make him guilty?”

  Megan shook her head and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t like to accuse anyone without proof. And if I’m going to accuse anyone of anything tonight, it’s going to be you two. You broke the rules. I have no choice but to tell Conner and my dad and let them decide if you should be reprimanded or not.”

  “R–reprimanded?” Kate’s eyes filled with tears. “Really?”

/>   “Well, yes. There are always consequences for our actions, Kate. You broke the rules.”

  “I—I suppose so.” She began to cry. “I’ve never done anything like this before, Megan. I’m so sorry. But we have to figure this out by tomorrow because my teacher is going to lose her job.”

  “You can’t fix everything for everyone, Kate,” Megan said. “Some cases aren’t yours to solve.”

  Some cases aren’t yours to solve.

  Kate dropped into bed, Megan’s words tumbling in her head. Maybe her counselor was right. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to solve this.

  But if she wasn’t, why did she feel as if she was?

  She squeezed her eyes shut, but kept hearing the sound of the coyotes howling, which caused her to tremble all over again!

  With images of a man in blue jeans still floating through her brain, Kate finally fell into a troubled sleep.

  Digging Deeper

  Early the next morning Kate got a phone call from Sydney. Still half-asleep, she answered. “H–hello?”

  “Kate, you won’t believe it!”

  “What is it, Sydney?”

  “I called that museum in Vancouver,” Sydney explained. “Well actually, my mom called for me. She told them our suspicions about the stingray fossil and guess what?”

  “The one they have on display is a fake?” Kate asked.

  “That’s right. It’s a fake!” Sydney squealed. “So the real one is still out there…somewhere. Oh, and guess what?”

  “What?”

  “When we asked them who authorized the fossil to come to them, they didn’t have a name. They just said it was a man from Stone’s Throw Quarry who set the whole thing up.”

  Kate sighed. “Well, that could be anyone.”

  “I know. But we’re getting close, Kate. I can feel it!”

  “All I feel”—Kate let out a long yawn—“is tired! But thanks for calling, Sydney. This is our last day, so we have to figure this out right away!”

  They ended the call and Kate took a shower. Then she and McKenzie searched for Joel. They found him in the dining hall, eating breakfast alone. Most of the others weren’t awake yet.

  Plopping down at the table, Kate said, “I need to talk to you.” She eyed one of his doughnuts, which he gave to her. She popped it into her mouth, enjoying the gooey sweetness. “Yum.”

  “What do you need to talk about?” Joel looked curious and pressed another doughnut into his mouth.

  “We have some news for you.” McKenzie sat on the other side of him.

  Kate told him all about Sydney’s call—every last detail. The more she talked, the more upset Joel got.

  “Wait.” He stood and began to pace the room. “You’re saying that not only is my stingray missing, someone has forged it and sent the forgery to a museum in Canada?”

  “That’s right.” Kate nodded, feeling a lump rise up in her throat. “But stay calm, Joel.”

  “How can I stay calm? I’m never going to get the internship now. Maybe Mr. Jenkins will think I faked the fossil myself. Maybe he’ll think I’m behind this.”

  “No one will suspect you,” McKenzie said.

  Kate paused. “Well that’s not completely true. I actually suspected him.”

  “W–what?” Joel said.

  She told him about Mrs. Smith’s forged fossil and he stared at her, his eyes narrowing.

  “You thought I had something to do with that, Kate? You think I would forge fossils and sell them?”

  “Well, I…” She shook her head. “Oh, I don’t know, Joel. I was confused. You have access to the room where this is taking place. And you have motive.”

  “I—I do?” He looked confused.

  “Well sure,” Kate said. “You’re trying to get that internship. I thought maybe you would do anything to get it.”

  He raked his fingers through his hair and then stared at them once again. “I’d do almost anything to win the internship, but not that. I wouldn’t stoop to illegal activity. Besides, I love the Jenkins family. I would never put the quarry at risk. Never.” His voice shook with emotion, and Kate suddenly felt awful for accusing him in the first place.

  “Let’s just forget I said anything about it, okay?” Kate said. “Will you forgive me for suspecting you?”

  “Well sure,” he said. “But if you suspect me, maybe others do too.”

  Megan walked into the room just then. “What are you kids talking about? You look pretty intense.”

  “Megan, we’re getting more clues ab out the fake fossils,” Kate explained. “And I’m more curious than ever about who is doing this. We found out that Joel’s stingray fossil, which turned up at a museum in Vancouver, was also forged, just like the ones at the museum in Philly.”

  “Oh no.” Megan sat down. “I wonder if my dad knows.” She shook her head. “If we don’t get this straightened out, our quarry will have a bad reputation. We can’t risk that. People all over the country love us, and we want them to know they can trust us.”

  “There’s really only one way,” Joel said. “We have to figure this out…and fast!”

  “Yes, camp ends this afternoon,” Kate reminded them. “So we have to work super fast.”

  “I’ll tell you what…” Megan shook her head. “I probably shouldn’t do this, but I’ll help you kids figure this out. I’ll do it to help my dad…and you.”

  “That’s awesome, Megan,” Kate said. “But how?”

  “Easy. We’ll walk straight into the clean and prep room and see for ourselves. I’ll take you there, but we’ll have to wait until late this afternoon while the others are at the excavation site.”

  “We…all four of us?” McKenzie asked.

  “Well sure. All you had to do was ask,” Megan said. “I would have taken you there all along.”

  Kate slapped herself in the head. “I don’t believe it. You’re so great, Megan. I thought you would be mad at us after last night.”

  “What did you do last night?” Joel asked.

  Kate filled him in and his eyes grew wide. “You went outside in the dark? With all the coyotes hanging around?”

  “Y–yeah,” McKenzie agreed. “We didn’t know about the coyotes or we wouldn’t have gone.”

  “We think we’ll figure this out once we get in the room,” Kate said. “Is it okay to bring my camera and some of my other gadgets?”

  “Sure.” Megan shrugged. “I don’t see why not.” She paused a moment, then looked at the girls. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Yes.” McKenzie and Kate both spoke at the same time.

  “Do you think Gus is the one doing this?”

  Kate shrugged. “Maybe.”

  The wrinkle in Megan’s brow grew deeper. “Well, before you judge him too harshly, I think you kids need to know something about him.”

  “O–okay.” Kate gave her a curious look.

  “Here’s the deal,” Megan said. “About two years ago when my dad first met Gus, we fell in love with him…and his wife, Jeannie. She was bubbly and fun and always made us laugh.”

  “I didn’t know Gus was married,” Joel said. “I’ve never met his wife.”

  Megan paused. “Gus and Jeannie were on a road trip to Colorado, carrying some expensive fossils from the quarry where he used to work. Gus was driving the car at the time, and they had a terrible accident late at night.”

  Kate gasped. “Really? What happened?”

  “A driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit Gus’s car. Jeannie was badly hurt.”

  “Oh Megan, that’s awful!” Kate said.

  “Yes. She spent a long time in the hospital—several months. She’s been in a rehab facility ever since. Gus goes to see her every day. I understand the hospital is very expensive.”

  Kate looked at McKenzie and mouthed the word, “Wow!” Maybe Gus forged the fossils and sold them to make the money he needed for his wife’s care.

  “On top of all this, the quarry he used to work for fired him because the fossils he
was delivering were ruined in the accident.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair,” McKenzie said. “Why would they fire him when the accident wasn’t his fault?”

  “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.”