The Jaguar's Jewel (3 page)

“May I?” Using a jeweler's magnifying
glass, Ms. Wu examined the stone for a few minutes.

Then she removed a small bottle from her pocket and squeezed a drop of liquid onto the jewel. When the liquid dried, she wiped the stone with a cloth.

She shook her head. “He's right,” she said. “This is a glass replica.”

Uncle Warren fell back into his chair. “I am simply dumbfounded! Where did the switch take place? How? Who could possibly …”

“Pardon me,” Dr. Pitts said. “The lock on the door does not appear to have been forced. Who besides you has a key to this office?”

“Mr. James Pride, my assistant, for one,” Dink's uncle said. “And my friend Jean-Paul. He owns the restaurant next door to the museum. He let the delivery-men into my office yesterday.”

“So this Jean-Paul has a key?” Dr. Pitts asked.

Uncle Warren shook his head. “Not to keep. I lent him my key, since the crate was due while James and I were away from the museum.”

“So two people besides yourself had access to the jaguar, is that right?” Dr. Pitts asked. “Your assistant and your friend?”

“That is correct, but I assure you, neither of them has touched that statue. The idea is absurd!”

“Um, excuse me, Uncle Warren?” Dink said.

Everyone turned to look at Dink.

“Wouldn't there be fingerprints? I mean, if someone did take the real jewel, they'd leave prints on the fake one, right?”

No one spoke for a minute. Then Dr. Pitts smiled at Dink. “That's an excellent idea,” he said. “And I think we should ask the police to look for fingerprints. They will, of course, find mine.
But unless I miss my guess, no others.”

“Why do you say that?” Ruth Rose asked.

“Because, young lady,” Dr. Pitts said, “this thief was very clever. And clever thieves wear gloves.”

Uncle Warren nodded at the phone. “Please call the police,” he told Dr. Pitts. “They will prove that Jean-Paul and James are innocent!”

Dr. Pitts looked at Dink's uncle. “Excuse me, sir, but there is another suspect.”

“And who would that be?” Uncle Warren asked.

“Yourself,” Dr. Pitts said quietly.

Dink heard thumping footsteps on the stairs just before two police officers entered the office. They listened to the story, then “invited” Dink's uncle down to the police station to answer more questions.

“Mr. Duncan, will you ask Mr. Pride and Jean-Paul to come with us?” one of the officers asked.

“I will,” Dink's uncle said. “But believe me, this is a horrible mistake!”

The officer nodded, pointing to the statue. “We'll have to take this, too. We'll check it for prints at the station.”

“What about us?” Regina Wu asked. “Are Dr. Pitts and I free to go?”

“I have your addresses,” the officer said. “We know where to find you.”

“Of course,” Dr. Pitts said. He and Regina Wu left.

Uncle Warren walked over to Dink. “Don't worry, nephew, this shouldn't take long,” he said. “Stay with Yvonne until I get back.”

When he bent down to hug Dink, he whispered, “Donny, remember your cookie!”

James Pride locked the office, and they all walked down the stairs. The two officers carried the re-wrapped jaguar.

Jean-Paul hugged Yvonne, then joined Uncle Warren and James Pride
in one of the police cruisers.

Dink, Josh, Ruth Rose, and Yvonne watched them drive away in the rain.

“Come inside,” Yvonne said. “I will make something warm to drink. The men will be back in a jiffy, yes?”

She fixed the kids big mugs of hot chocolate. They sat at the window and watched the rain fall.

“Try not to worry,” Yvonne said. “When the men return, then we solve the mystery, yes?”

She left the kids and passed through a blue curtain into the restaurant's kitchen.

“This is so weird!” Josh said.

“It stinks,” Dink said. “I know my uncle wouldn't steal some dumb jewel!”

“But what happened to it?” Ruth Rose said. “
Someone
stole the real one!”

The kids sipped their hot chocolate
and looked through the rain-streaked glass.

Dink stood up. “I wonder where the bathroom is?”

“Ask Yvonne,” Ruth Rose said. “I think she's in the kitchen.”

Josh slurped up the last of his drink. “And see if she has any more hot chocolate!” he said.

Dink walked toward the back of the restaurant. He passed through the blue curtain into the kitchen.

A pile of chopped broccoli sat on the counter next to a bowl of peeled raw onions. He looked around, but Yvonne wasn't there.

He saw another blue curtain, so he peeked through it, looking for the bathroom.

Just then, he heard a noise. Dink turned around and saw Yvonne slip through a narrow door. When the door closed behind her, it disappeared!

Dink blinked his eyes. The door was gone! There was no frame, no knob, and no hinges. He shook his head. Was he seeing things?

Dink found the bathroom, used it, then hurried back to Josh and Ruth Rose.

“Guys, listen to this!” Dink told them about Yvonne and the vanishing door. “After she shut the door, it disappeared, honest!”

“Disappearing doors?” Josh scoffed.

“Maybe it's her private bathroom or something,” Ruth Rose said.

Suddenly, Dink remembered what his uncle had said to him. “When my uncle hugged me upstairs, he whispered, ‘Remember your cookie' in my ear.”

Josh grinned. “Maybe he was hungry,” he said.

“Or maybe he was telling you to remember the fortune
in
your cookie!” Ruth Rose said.

“I saved it!” Dink said. He reached into his jacket pocket.

“What …?” Dink pulled out his uncle's brass key ring. “Where'd this come from?”

“That looks like the key to your uncle's office,” Josh said.

“You're right!” Dink said. “He must have dropped it into my pocket when he hugged me!”

Dink reached back into his pocket and pulled out the slip of paper from his fortune cookie.

“ ‘Your eyes will play tricks on you,' ” he read.

“Your fortune is already coming true!” Ruth Rose said. “I wonder if mine will. I'm supposed to find a treasure.”

“Look!” said Josh suddenly. He pointed out the window. “There's that jewelry lady!”

Regina Wu hurried past the restaurant.
The kids watched her slip inside the green door that led up to Uncle Warren's office.

“Why is she going back up there?” Dink asked.

Just then, Yvonne came through the blue curtain. She was carrying a pitcher and a plate of cookies.

“More hot chocolate?” she asked. “And some of my special cranberry cookies!”

While Josh and Ruth Rose reached for the cookies, Dink stared out the window at the green door.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Regina Wu stepped back outside. She closed the door behind her, then hurried away from the building.

Dink watched her dash up the street, raising her umbrella.

He stared after Regina Wu.
What's going on?
he wondered.
Why would she go up to the office when she knows my uncle isn't there?

Suddenly, another thought struck him.
Unless she went up to the office
because
he isn't there!

Dink waited until Yvonne went back to the kitchen, then told the others what he'd just seen.

“But the office is locked,” Josh said.

“Maybe she has a key,” said Dink.

“Where would she get a key?” Josh asked. “You have one, and James Pride has the other.”

“The question is,” Ruth Rose said, “why did she go up there now, when nobody's around?”

Dink stood up. “We need to find out,” he said. “Maybe she left a clue! Let's go before Yvonne gets back.”

The kids hurried out into the rain. They scooted next door and slipped through the green door.

“Look,” Dink said, pointing at the carpet. “Wet footprints!”

They hurried up the stairs. At the top, they saw more wet spots.

Dink's hand was shaking so badly he could barely unlock the door. The office was dark except for the light over the fish tank. The only sound was the tank's bubbling filter.

“This place is creepy,” Josh whispered.

Dink checked the floor. “No wet footprints in here,” he said quietly.

“Maybe Regina Wu wiped her feet before she came in,” Ruth Rose whispered back.

“Maybe,” Josh said. “But why are
we whispering?” He flipped up the wall switches, and the lights, ceiling fan, and music all came on.

Dink squinted in the sudden brightness. “Okay,” he said, “let's look around.”

“For what?” Josh asked.

“I'm not sure,” Dink answered. “But Regina Wu came up here for some reason. Either she took something or she left something behind.”

“I'll go through the stuff in the crate,” Ruth Rose said. “Dink, why don't you check out James's office? Josh, you take the trash can.”

“Why do I have to go poking through the trash?” Josh asked.

“Because you're a good detective, and good detectives
always
check the trash,” Ruth Rose said.

“Cool!” Josh said. He headed for the trash can next to the desk.

Dink walked into Mr. Pride's office.
There was a small desk with locked drawers. A framed picture of three people stood on the desk. Dink recognized James Pride. The woman and child must be his wife and daughter, he thought.

Dink checked a gray file cabinet in one corner. It was locked. Then he ran his fingers across the bookshelves. He checked inside some of the books, not knowing what he was looking for. He even peeked under the rug. He couldn't
tell if anything was missing, and he found no clues.

As he started to leave, Dink suddenly noticed that one wall seemed different from the others. He stared at it, trying to figure out what looked odd about it.