The Jaguar's Jewel (5 page)

“Now look!” Josh cried. “See, the letter opener is pointing
away
from the windows. It got turned around!”

“Why does it matter, Josh?” Ruth Rose asked.

“I don't know,” Josh said. “But someone picked up the letter opener while the lights were out, then put it down again.”

“Who was standing closest to it?” Dink asked, hitting “stop” and “rewind.”

“I think Dr. Pitts was,” Josh said. “He was standing right in front of the jaguar. The letter opener was a few inches away.”

“But why would he want the letter opener in the dark?” Ruth Rose asked.

Just then, they heard thumps outside the office door, like someone stomping on a carpet.

“Who's that?” Ruth Rose whispered.

Josh gulped. “Is the door locked?”

“I don't think so!” Dink whispered back. He swept a hand over the wall switches. The room darkened except for the small light over the fish tank.

“Look!” Josh whispered. Through
the frosted-glass window in the door, the kids saw a tall shadow.

They heard a click, and the doorknob turned.

“Hide!” Dink whispered. “James's office!”

The kids dashed into the small office. Dink left the door open a crack so he could see who entered.

It was Dr. Pitts.

Dr. Pitts stepped into the dark office. The kids watched him creep toward Uncle Warren's desk.

Suddenly, he switched on his flashlight. Turning slowly, Dr. Pitts played the beam around the room.

In James's office, Dink shrank back against the wall. He held his breath. Next to him, he could feel Josh and Ruth Rose trembling.

Dink dared to peek out again. The flashlight was now lying on the desk. Its beam made a yellow circle on the fish tank.

Dr. Pitts was crouched down, staring into the tank.

Suddenly, he swore. Dink watched Dr. Pitts grab his flashlight and shine it wildly around the room.

Dink froze and held his breath. When he peeked out again, Dr. Pitts was shining the flashlight beam at the floor, near his feet.

He bent over and touched something on the floor.

Dink thought about the water Ruth Rose had dripped there.

Dr. Pitts once more shone the flashlight's beam around the dark office. The light fell on James's door.

“Who's in there?” Dr. Pitts said.

Dink closed his eyes. He felt his
whole body grow cold. Ruth Rose let out a soft gasp.

Then Dink heard footsteps. Dr. Pitts was coming toward their hiding spot!

We have to get out of here!
Dink thought. He pressed himself against the wall—but suddenly the wall wasn't there!

Dink felt a strong hand grab his arm. Another hand went over his mouth. Struggling, Dink felt himself being dragged backward.

“Don't speak!” a hoarse voice whispered in his ear. “Come with me!”

Too frightened to resist, Dink let himself be led. He reached out for Josh and Ruth Rose but felt nothing.
Where were they?

“Down here, quickly!” the voice said.

Dink felt stairs under his feet. As he stumbled down, he smelled something familiar.

At the bottom of the stairs, a door opened. Dink saw light. He smelled onions.

He was in Yvonne's kitchen!

Then Josh and Ruth Rose piled into him. Yvonne released his arm and slammed the door shut. This was the same narrow door Dink had seen her close before.

“Come,” Yvonne said, putting a finger to her lips.

Yvonne rushed them toward the front of the restaurant.

“The thief is still up there,” she said. “I must lock the outside door. He will be trapped, no?”

She hurried toward the exit, but Dr. Pitts was already racing past the restaurant's window.

“He is gone!” Yvonne wailed. “Now we will never catch him!”

“It's okay,” Dink said, grinning. “I
have a feeling we caught him on video.”

“Video?” Yvonne asked. “I do not understand.”

“My uncle has a hidden camera in the office,” Dink explained.

He looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. “I hit the ‘rewind' button before we had to hide, remember? I'll bet the tape rewound to the beginning and started recording again before Dr. Pitts came in.”

“Not only that,” Josh said. “His fingerprints should be on the letter opener!”

“Letter opener?” Yvonne asked, looking at the three kids.

“I think I've figured that out,” Ruth Rose said. “When the lights were turned off, he must have used the letter opener to pry the jewel out of the jaguar's paws. Then he quickly switched in the fake and slipped the
real jewel into the fish tank.”

“But what does it matter, this camera and these fingerprints,” Yvonne said, “if he has the jewel?”

“But he doesn't!” Ruth Rose said. She opened her fist and showed the emerald to Yvonne.

“It was in the fish tank, and I got it out before he did!”

“How lovely!” Yvonne said, giving Ruth Rose a hug.

“Now what?” Josh asked.

Yvonne went for the wall phone. “Now we call the police!” she said.

Jean-Paul held up his water glass. “I propose a toast,” he said.

Uncle Warren and Yvonne raised their glasses.

“To three brave and smart kids!” Jean-Paul said, looking at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose.

“Hear, hear,” Uncle Warren said. “You put a crook behind bars and saved a priceless jewel from being stolen.”

“It all started with your telling me to
remember my cookie,” Dink told his uncle.

Dink's uncle smiled. “I knew if I gave you my key and reminded you not to trust what you saw, you'd figure it out.”

“Ruth Rose's cookie said she'd find a treasure in an unexpected place,” Josh said, “and she did!”

“And Josh noticed that the letter opener had been moved,” Ruth Rose said.

“Yeah, and Dink found the video recorder behind the books,” Josh said.

Dink smiled at Yvonne. “And thank goodness you rescued us!”

“When I came to give you more cookies, you were gone,” Yvonne said.
“Then I saw that doctor man sneaking into the downstairs door. I ran up the back stairs!”

“Why do you have those hidden doors?” Ruth Rose asked Dink's uncle.

“Many years ago, the Porter Museum was a private home,” he explained. “Old Mr. and Mrs. Porter's servants used that back stairway to go up and down. When the Porter home became a museum, the architects decided to leave the doors and stairway as they were.”

“I'm glad they did!” Josh said.

“When I'm away, Yvonne comes up to feed my fish,” Uncle Warren said.

Yvonne smiled. “And you thought perhaps I was the one who took the jewel, no?”

Dink blushed. “Yeah, but then I saw Regina Wu sneak into the building, so I thought it was her, too!”

Uncle Warren laughed. “She called a while ago and explained that,” he said. “She'd forgotten her umbrella and went back up to get it.”

“Uncle Warren,” Dink said, “why didn't you tell the police about the camera and the video?”

His uncle laughed. “I honestly forgot the camera was there!” he said. “Besides, I'm a dunce when it comes to anything electronic. James had it installed, but even he tends to forget about it.”

“The part I don't understand is how Dr. Pitts could switch the glass emerald for the jewel so fast,” Josh said. “And in the dark!”

“I'm sure he practiced,” Uncle Warren said. “And when he first came in, he must have spotted the letter opener on my desk.”

“So that's why he wanted us to put the jaguar down on the desk close to
the fish tank,” Dink said. “He knew he was going to slip the emerald into the water.”

His uncle nodded. “Yes, and then come back later to get it.”

“So when he told you to get a second opinion,” Ruth Rose said, “the jewel really
was
a fake. Because he'd just taken the real one, right?”

“Right,” Uncle Warren said. “And he almost got away with his scam.”

He smiled at his dinner companions. “But he didn't figure on three detectives hiding in James's office!”

Just then, they heard bells jingling outside the restaurant.

“Aha, our ride is here!” Uncle Warren said, standing up.

“What ride?” Dink asked. “Can't we walk back to your apartment?”

“We're not going right back, nephew,” his uncle said. “Come!”

He led everyone outside, where a large white horse stood waiting. The horse was harnessed to a buggy. All along the harness leather were small lights and bells.

A short man climbed down from the driver's seat. He wore a spiffy gray suit and a black top hat.

“Hello, I'm Alfie,” the man said, “and this lovely horse is Prince.”

“Climb aboard!” Uncle Warren said.

“Cool!” Josh said, hoisting himself into the buggy. “Where are we going?”

“Who cares?” Ruth Rose said, climbing in next to Josh.

Uncle Warren helped Dink up and then sat next to him.

“We are going to see New York City by night,” he said. “I don't want you to go home thinking all we have here is loud traffic and jewel thieves!”

He tapped on the back of the buggy.
“Take us away, Alfie!”

“
Au revoir!
” cried Yvonne and Jean-Paul from the sidewalk. “See you tomorrow!”

Alfie clicked his tongue at Prince, and the buggy began to move. Slowly, the horse clip-clopped down the street.

Dink sat back and gazed up at the sky. A billion stars blazed down at him. One star was larger than the others, and it looked green, like a jewel.

The green star blinked, then disappeared.

Dink laughed.