The Case of the Diamond Dog Collar (7 page)

“It was your idea,” I said.

Tessa made her mouth into an
O
.

“Wait a sec,” I said.

“What?”

“If it's real, we're gonna want to scream, right?”

Tessa nodded. “
Oh
, yeah.”

“But we can't,” I said. “If the president's kids start screaming in the middle of the night . . .”

“Good point,” Tessa said. “So how ‘bout if we scream silently?”

“Pinky promise,” I said. We hooked our fingers.

Tessa took a breath. “Here goes.” She put one of the diamonds next to her face, made her lips into an O again and exhaled. I leaned close, and together we looked.

No fog.

No fog?

The diamond was real!

We closed our eyes, we opened our mouths, we pumped our fists—and we screamed!

Silently.

To somebody watching, it would've looked like the sound was on mute.

After that, Tessa and I took turns testing the other diamonds. And guess what? They were real, too. Every single one.

Hooligan must have been super tired because Tessa and I sneaked the collar back onto his neck without waking him. After that, the two of us were so excited there was no way we could go back to sleep.

So instead we brushed our teeth, washed our faces, got dressed, and made our beds. Ready to face the day, I looked at the clock on my bedside table.

It was four in the morning!

“Now what are we supposed to do?” I asked.

“Let's wake up Mom and Dad. This is big news!”

I shook my head. “We can't do that. Mom's tired already, and she has a country to run.”

“Then let's look at your notes again,” Tessa said. “Now that we know it couldn't have been ground up, we really have to find that diamond.”

Instead of telling you every word Tessa and I said for the next three hours, I am going to summarize the important parts:

• Sometimes diamonds are cut more than once.

• Diamonds break compost grinders.

• Famous diamonds are priceless and worthless.

And

• The diamonds on Hooligan's collar test real.

This brought up three fat questions:

• Did the person/dog who sent the collar to Hooligan know it had real diamonds?

• If yes, why had he/she lied?

• And why was someone sending Hooligan diamonds at all?

At seven, Granny came in to wake us. You can imagine the look on her face when she saw us up and dressed. “What in the world . . .?”

“Well it
took
you long enough!” Tessa jumped off the sofa. “Come on. We have something to show you.”

Shaking her head like we were crazy, Granny followed us into Hooligan's room. All three of us knelt down. All three of us looked in his crate.

All three of us saw it was empty!

“DOES what you want to show me have to do with Hooligan?” Granny asked.

“
Duh!
” Tessa said.

“Mr. Bryant took him out for a romp with Cottonball before Canine Class,” Granny said.

“But that doesn't start for another hour!” Tessa said.

Granny shrugged. “He said there was no traffic this morning so he got here early. Come on and eat your breakfast. What's all the excitement anyway?”

It seemed lame just to tell Granny the diamonds were real. We wanted to prove it. Tessa said, “If it's okay, we'd rather tell you later.”

“Suit yourselves,” said Granny. “But remember you've got church this morning—right after Canine Class.”

On our way to the kitchen, Tessa tried to argue: “We have to interview Mr. Mormora after class! It's really important!”

Granny's look said: Mr. Mormora can wait. God can't.

“Oh,
fine
,” Tessa said.

“Meanwhile,” Granny said brightly, “it's time to name the canary.”

It was Nate's turn. And for once he had come to breakfast on time.

“I propose ‘Serinus,' ” he said.

“Se-whatziss?” Tessa asked.

“The Latin name for canary is
Serinus canaria domestica
,” Nate said.

Granny cut bagels in half and put them in the toaster. “Sounds too much like sinus,” she said, “and that gives me a headache.”

Nate didn't seem too disappointed. “Did you know most male canaries sing all the time?”

“Maybe this guy would sing more if he had a name,” Tessa said. “The last time he really sang out was on Friday—right before Hooligan went crazy.”

“That reminds me of something,” I said. “When Hooligan went crazy on Thursday? Remember how those birds outside were yakking? You could hear them over the helicopters.”

Tessa nodded. “I do remember. Only what does that have to do with anything?”

Granny set down our toasted bagels and glasses of orange juice. We thanked her. I got out my notebook and wrote down about the singing canary and the yakking birds.

“I have no idea what it means,” I told Tessa. “But it's another strange coincidence.”

By the time Nate, Tessa and I got down to the South Lawn, Mr. Mormora was already there, and the puppies were starting to arrive. From beyond the fountain, Mr. Bryant, Cottonball and Hooligan were walking toward us.

Tessa and I still hadn't told anyone about the diamonds on the collar. And keeping it to herself was driving Tessa crazy. Finally, she couldn't stand it. “Nathan, can you keep a secret? Hooligan's diamonds are real!”

Nate's mouth opened, like for a second he believed her. But then he started to argue: “They can't be. . . . The letter said . . . Who would send Hooligan real diamonds?”

Mr. Bryant by now was a few yards away. “Hello, girls. Hello, Nate.” And a second later, Cottonball was threading his leash around Tessa's ankles while Hooligan, tail wagging, jumped up and tried to knock me over.

“
Sit.
” I said.

Cottonball ignored me but Hooligan—future Top Dog—did as he was told.

“We can prove it, Nathan!” Tessa danced her ankles out of the tangle then bent down to undo Hooligan's collar.

Only there was one small problem.

The diamond collar was gone!

In its place was Hooligan's boring old brown collar—the one we had replaced when Empress Pu-Chi's gift arrived.

Tessa fell back on her bottom. My heart went thud. But before we could ask Mr. Bryant about it, Mr. Mormora called Canine Class to order.

THE Canine Class topic for the day was “stay.”

And that—besides how Hooligan was perfect again—is pretty much all I remember. Otherwise, I was much too sleepy and much too distracted to pay attention.

Where was the diamond collar?

And something else was bugging me, too.

The collar had either disappeared in the night when Hooligan was in his crate or in the morning when Mr. Bryant was walking him. Could Mr. Bryant have taken it? Was it possible he knew the diamonds were real, too? Was it true he got to our house early because traffic was light—like he told Granny?

That wasn't a very good reason.

Mr. Bryant is Tessa's and my friend. But his daughter did need money. . . .

I shook my head trying to get the thoughts inside to make sense. Something didn't seem right.

Anyway there was no time for questions. The moment
Canine Class was over, Dad herded Tessa and me toward the White House.

“But Dad!” Tessa protested. “Look!” She pointed at Hooligan's neck while we walked.

I thought we'd have to explain, but Dad understood right away. “That's strange. Where's the gift from the empress?”

Tessa got dramatic and waved her arms the way she does. “It's more than strange, Dad! Because it turns out the diamonds are
real!
”

Dad didn't argue like Nate did. He only raised his eyebrows. “When did you notice the collar was missing?”

Tessa took a breath. “Last night before bed I drank a glass of milk? And maybe my stomach was gurgly? Because in the night—”

Dad interrupted. “Short version.”

“It was there about three thirty this morning,” I said. “And gone at seven.”

Dad's eyebrows stayed up. “Okay—you can explain in the car. You two go ahead and get dressed. Mom's in the Oval Office. I'm just going to touch base with her.”

Mr. Ng met us outside the Dip Room.

“Good morning, Cameron. Good morning, Tessa. It's a beautiful day, don't you think?”

“Is it?” I hadn't even noticed, but he was right—blue sky and warm sun.

“Look, Mr. Ng! Hooligan's new collar is gone!” Tessa handed him Hooligan's leash. “And you know what else? The diamonds—”

“Tessa!” I said.

Tessa blinked. “What?”

But I couldn't tell her not to tell Mr. Ng right in front of Mr. Ng. It would be rude. “Nothing,” I said. “Except we have to go. Come on.”

“Have a good day, girls!” Mr. Ng called. And Hooligan woofed the same.

“Why did you make me be quiet?” Tessa said on the stairs. “Is Mr. Ng a suspect?”

“I don't know who's a suspect,” I said. “But it can't be smart to tell everybody a bazillion dollars worth of diamonds are missing from the White House.”

Tessa started to argue, but the words dissolved in a big, fat yawn. I think we were both grumpy from no sleep.

Like I said, the plan was for Mom to go to church with us, but a few minutes later when Tessa and I climbed into the car, we got another surprise. Only Dad and Malik were waiting.

Dad saw we were disappointed. “She's very sorry, girls. But something came up.”

“Is it bad?” Tessa asked.

“I hope not,” Dad said.

“What about Granny?” I said.

“She's going to another church today. A friend invited her.”

Aunt Jen and Nate never go to church with us. They go to a different one that has mostly Korean people. That's because Nate was born in Korea, and Aunt Jen adopted him when he was a baby.

Our church is near Dupont Circle. So while we drove, Tessa told Dad the long version—how we tested the diamonds and sat up half the night. Dad didn't say much, but he listened carefully.

I complain about church sometimes, but really I like it. Instead of Sunday School, Tessa and I sit in the pew with our family. It's nice to be together. And anytime I get bored, there are the pretty windows to look at. Another part I like is hymns. Tessa sings loud, and I sing on key.

AT lunch, we got our first lucky break.

We didn't have to go looking everywhere for Mr. Mormora. He sat down to eat with us!

Only it seemed rude to interview a person who was eating a tuna melt. Wouldn't he get indigestion? So Tessa and I made a date to talk to him later.

Lunch was in the family dining room upstairs. The tuna melts came from the White House kitchen. They are Dad's favorite, and I like them, too, but they're messy. When I eat one the mayonnaise flies.