The Jaguar's Jewel (4 page)

Then he realized what it was: this wall had no bookshelves, no file cabinets, no pictures, no anything! It was completely bare.

Dink stepped closer and ran his fingers over the striped wallpaper. Just above his head, he felt a thin crack. He followed the crack with his fingers until he felt another crack, this one running down toward the floor. Two feet in the opposite direction, a third crack ran to the floor. The cracks were almost hidden in the wallpaper.

Dink jumped back as if his hand had been burned. “Guys!” he shouted.

Josh and Ruth Rose came running into James's office.

Dink showed them his discovery. “I think it's a secret door!” he said.

He tried to force his fingers into the cracks, but the door wouldn't budge.

“If there were stairs behind this wall,” Ruth Rose said, “they would lead right to the secret door in Yvonne's kitchen!”

Josh's eyes opened wide. “That
would mean she could get in here without a key!”

“Do you think she was coming here when I saw her downstairs?” Dink asked.

“Maybe she met Regina Wu!” Ruth Rose said. “Yvonne could have let her in.”

“Maybe,” Dink said, walking back to his uncle's office. “But why? We gotta keep looking. Did you find anything in the trash, Josh?”

“Zilch,” Josh said.

On the floor where Ruth Rose had been sitting was a pile of packing peanuts. She had unwrapped each artifact, then put it aside.

“All I found was the same treasures we looked at yesterday,” she said. “I don't think anything is missing.”

The kids continued to search. Behind curtains. Under the Oriental
rug. They pulled out everything from every desk drawer. They even dug in the dirt in the potted plants next to the windows.

“Nothing but a secret door that doesn't open,” Josh muttered.

“And we can't check out the door downstairs with Yvonne in the kitchen,” Ruth Rose said.

“So now what?” Josh asked.

“I don't know,” Dink said. He looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. “But my uncle is counting on us to find something up here, and I'm not gonna stop till I find it!”

“But we've already looked at everything,” Josh said, flopping down on the rug.

Ruth Rose walked over to the fish tank and picked up the container of food.

“That's weird,” she said. “There are already some flakes floating on the water. Did one of you guys feed the fish?”

“I didn't,” Dink said.

“Me neither,” said Josh.

Ruth Rose looked at the food floating on the top. “Well, someone did.”

“Maybe it was the fish fairy,” Josh said.

“OH MY GOSH!” Ruth Rose screamed.

“What's the matter?” Dink asked. Josh jumped to his feet, and he and Dink hurried over.

“Look what's on the bottom!” Ruth Rose said. She pointed down through the water.

Josh put his nose up against the glass. “Looks like a bunch of rocks to me,” he said.

Ruth Rose frowned. “Somebody go turn out the lights,” she said.

Josh gave Dink a push. “Go ahead, Dinkus!”

Dink hurried over to the wall and flipped down the switches. The music,
fan, and lights all went off.

Ruth Rose pointed at the bottom of the tank. “See that glowy green rock? I think it's the jewel!”

Dink elbowed Josh aside and looked at the stone. “No, it's too big,” he said. “The emerald was like a golf ball, remember?”

“Things always look bigger underwater,” Ruth Rose said. “Your eyes are playing tricks on you again, Dink!”

Ruth Rose reached down and plucked the green rock out of the tank. Water dripped onto the floor as she wiped it on her jeans.

Out of the water, the rock didn't look anything like the other rocks in the fish tank. In the tank light, the rock shone a lustrous green.

“Wow!” Dink said. “It's beautiful!”

“How did it get in there?” Josh asked.

“I guess the thief dumped it in,” Dink answered.

“But why would the thief do that?” Josh asked.

Ruth Rose shook her head. “Maybe he needed a quick place to hide it.”

Dink nodded. “James
was
here early this morning. Maybe we caught him in the act!”

“I'm turning on the lights,” Josh
said. He headed for the wall switches.

“Stop!” Dink said suddenly. “What's that sound?”

“What sound?” Josh asked as he turned on the fan, music, and lights.

Dink walked over and flipped the switches down again. “Now listen,” he whispered in the darkness. “Hear it?”

“I think I do,” Ruth Rose said. “Like a little buzzing.”

“Maybe it's the fish tank,” Josh said.

Ruth Rose clicked off the bubbler. “Nope, I still hear it,” she said.

“Now I hear it, too,” Josh said. “What can it be? Everything's turned off!”

“I'm going to turn on just the lights,” Dink said.

When they could see, the kids began prowling around the office.

Dink stopped in front of the bookcase. “Guys, it's louder over here!”

Josh giggled.
“The Case of the Buzzing Books!”
he said.

Dink stood on tiptoe and ran his hands over the shelves. He felt a small button and pushed it. Suddenly, a shelf slid open. “Look!” he cried.

“Hey! Those books are fake!” Josh said. “It's a hidden compartment!”

The space behind the fake books held a small TV set and VCR. With the compartment open, the buzzing was louder. Then the VCR clicked, and the noise stopped.

“It was rewinding,” Josh said. “It must have come to the end of the tape. My dad's machine does the same thing.”

“Yeah, but rewinding
what?
” Dink asked.

Then the VCR clicked again. The kids watched as a red light came on and the numbers on the machine's face started counting up—:01, :02, :03 …

“Hey!” Josh said. “Now it's recording!”

“Maybe your uncle has it for security,” Ruth Rose said.

“You could be right, Ruth Rose,” Dink said. He glanced at the ceiling. “There must be a camera somewhere in the office.”

“Do you think we're on a video?” Ruth Rose said. “Let's take a peek!”

“Good idea!” said Josh.

Dink quickly rewound the tape to the beginning, then turned on the TV and hit “play” on the VCR.

An image came on the screen. For a moment, the tape showed them standing in front of the TV and VCR.

“Cool!” Josh said.

Then the picture jumped and changed. Now the office looked empty and dark. They watched as the office door opened and James Pride walked in.

“This must be earlier today,” Ruth Rose said. “James got here before us.”

“Maybe it recorded him stealing the jewel!” Josh said.

They watched James walk over and switch on the lights. Then he took off his raincoat and walked into his own office.

The kids looked at each other. James hadn't gone anywhere near the crate.

“Hit ‘fast forward,' ” Josh said. “We can scan ahead.”

Dink pushed the button, and the tape began whirring fast. The picture on the screen flickered.

“Look!” Ruth Rose said. “Something's happening!”

Dink quickly pressed “play.” The tape slowed, and the kids saw themselves and Uncle Warren walk into the office.

They watched as they met James
Pride. Then Uncle Warren let in Dr. Pitts. The crate was opened again, and Dr. Pitts checked the contents of each package.

“Now we take the jaguar out of the crate,” Dink said.

“And the doc tells us it's a fake,” Josh added.

Ruth Rose pointed at the screen. “And here he takes out his flashlight.”

“And Dink and I pull the shades and shut off the lights,” Josh said.

The picture went black.

The next thing they saw was the light from Dr. Pitts's flashlight. Then it went out.

“This is when you found the flashlight for him,” Ruth Rose told Josh.

A minute later, Dr. Pitts had the light in his hand again and was shining it on the jaguar's jewel.

Then the lights came back on. Regina Wu soon showed up, and then
the police came. The tape showed everyone leaving the office.

Dink reached out to hit the “stop” button.

“Wait!” Ruth Rose said. “What about Yvonne and Regina Wu?”

“Oh, yeah,” said Dink. “Good thinking, Ruth Rose.”

They watched the empty office for a while. Dink was about to scan ahead when the door to James Pride's office opened and Yvonne walked in!

“The secret door
does
connect to Yvonne's kitchen!” Ruth Rose said.

They watched as Yvonne walked across the office—straight toward the fish tank! When she got there, Yvonne made kissing noises at the fish. Then she picked up the fish food, sprinkled some into the tank, and turned around and left.

The kids looked at each other. “I guess she's not the thief,” said Josh.

Ruth Rose turned back to the TV. “What about Regina Wu?” she asked.

They watched the tape for a few more minutes, but Regina Wu never appeared. Eventually, they saw themselves come through the office door.

Dink stopped the tape and hit the “rewind” button.

“I wonder why your uncle didn't tell the police about this tape?” Josh said. “If they watched it, they'd at least know that James and Yvonne didn't steal the jewel.”

Dink nodded. “Yvonne didn't know the jewel was in the fish tank,” he said, “so I'll bet Jean-Paul didn't put it there.”

Dink looked sad. “And if Regina Wu couldn't even get in the office …”

Ruth Rose let out a gasp. “That means—”

“That means my uncle is the only other suspect,” Dink said.

Josh's mouth fell open. “Your uncle's the thief?” he asked.

“Josh!” Ruth Rose scolded. She turned to Dink. “Your uncle isn't the thief,” she said. “He never had a chance to take the jewel. We were with him when he opened the crate, and he sure didn't take it on the tape we just saw.”

Dink felt sick even thinking that his uncle might have stolen the emerald. “What about when we turned out all the lights?” he asked.

“But that was so quick,” Ruth Rose said. “I don't see how he—”

“Guys! The desk!” Josh said suddenly. “Look at it! Do you see anything different?”

Dink and Ruth Rose looked at Uncle Warren's desk.

“What do you mean?” Dink asked. “There's nothing but the blotter and the letter opener, the same as yesterday and this morning.”

Josh hit the “play” button on the VCR. He fast-forwarded until the tape showed the room and everyone in it.

“There!” he shouted a moment later. “Look at the letter opener. The tip is pointing toward the windows, right?”

“Yeah, so what?” Dink said.

“Wait a sec and you'll see.”

In the film, the lights went out. After Dr. Pitts finished shining his flashlight on the jewel, the lights came back on.