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Authors: David A. Adler

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BOOK: The Mystery of Stolen Diamonds

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A man and a woman looked up. It was the couple Cam had seen leaving Parker's Jewelry Store. They were sitting in worn, old-fashioned easy chairs. There was a small table between them.

“You said there were two of them,” the sitting man snapped. “Where's the other one?”

“He wasn't out there,” the Runner said.

“Great! Everything was perfect until you get yourself followed. Well, watch this kid. Don't let her get away.”

The Runner nudged Cam and Howie into a corner. He stood there watching them. Cam looked at the thieves and was frightened.

“Let's divide this stuff and get out of here,” the sitting man said.

He took a large baby rattle out of his pocket. It was the rattle he was carrying as he left the store. He screwed off the top and carefully emptied the contents onto the table.

“Wow!” the woman said.

That was exactly how Cam felt. The rattle was filled with diamonds. They sparkled as the man started to count them.

“One, two, three ...”

Cam held Howie close and looked around the room. In the back, pulled away from the wall, were a few large bookcases. There were windows behind the bookcases. And there was an open door, which led to another room.

Cam looked at the thieves. Something was missing. She whispered,
“Click,”
and tried to remember what it was.

The baby,
she thought.
Where's the baby?

Then Cam noticed something on the floor wrapped in a pink blanket. It was a large doll. Cam realized that there never was a baby. That's why the couple hadn't been carrying any of the things Eric's mother packed in the insulated bag. The thieves had taken the doll along so they would look like a family. And the rattle was a good place to hide the diamonds.

The man was still counting. “Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty ...”

Cam looked at her watch. It was 12:30.
Where's Eric?
she thought.
Maybe he can't get the police to come.

“Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one. We got eighty-one diamonds,” the man announced.

“Let's see now,” he said as he did some figuring on an old newspaper. “That's eighty-one divided by three. Hmm. That gives each of us twenty-one. No, that's not right.” He did some more figuring.

“Twenty-seven,” the woman said. “We each get twenty-seven.”

The Runner left Cam's side and went to get his diamonds.

I can't wait for Eric,
Cam thought.
This is my chance.

She held Howie tight and ran to the door in the back of the room. She slammed the door shut as if she were leaving the room. Then she jumped behind the nearest bookcase.

“Get her!” someone yelled.

Cam hoped her trick would work. She couldn't see what was happening, but she heard doors opening and closing and a lot of yelling.

“Find her!”

“I'm looking.”

, “Check the back room.”

The trick did work. The thieves thought she had left the room. They were looking all over the house for her.

Cam knew she couldn't stay behind that bookcase forever. Eventually the thieves would find her. She looked at Howie. His eyes were open.
Or you might cry,
Cam thought.

There was a window behind the bookcase. Cam tried to open it. She couldn't. It was jammed.

The window behind the next bookcase was open, but to get to it Cam would have to run past a large open area. Cam didn't know if anyone else was in the room. She was afraid to run out in the open.

Someone ran past the bookcase.

“What about the kitchen?”

“I've already looked there.”

“Look again.”

Howie began to stir.
Oh, no!
Cam thought.
He's getting ready to cry!

Chapter Seven

T
he bottle!
Cam thought.
I should have taken it along. That would keep him quiet.

Then Cam had an idea. She gently pushed the tip of her finger into Howie's mouth. The baby was quiet as he sucked on Cam's finger.

Cam heard footsteps. One of the men was standing very close.

“You check the cellar,” the man yelled. “I'll look in here.”

Cam heard the man move slowly around the room. Then it was quiet. Cam wondered where the man had gone.

“Psst ... Psst.”

The sound came from behind. Cam was afraid to look.

“ Psst ... Psst. Over here. Hurry.”

It didn't sound like one of the thieves. Cam turned. Through the open window behind the next bookcase she saw the head and shoulders of a policeman. He was signaling for Cam to run over and climb out.

Cam held Howie tightly. She ran past the open area, then squeezed into the small space between the window and the bookcase. She handed Howie to the policeman. Then she climbed out and jumped to the ground.

Eric ran up and took Howie in his arms. Howie looked at the policeman, then at Eric, then back at the policeman. Then Howie started to cry.

Cam smiled. “Boy, am I glad he didn't do that inside!”

“Yes, I'm sure you are,” the policeman said.

Another policeman ran up to them. He was carrying a megaphone.

“How many of them are in there?”

“Three. Two men and a woman.”

“That's what your friend told us.”

Cam and Eric went behind one of the police cars. “I'm sure glad you're all right,” Eric said. “I got back here as fast as I could.”

The policeman held the megaphone to his mouth. “This is the police. The house is surrounded. Come out with your hands up.”

Cam looked around. The house
was
surrounded. She saw about fifteen policemen and four other police cars parked around the house.

“Come out with your hands up and you won't get hurt.”

The back door opened. First the woman came out and then the two men. They all had their hands up. The policemen handcuffed them and led them into one of the police cars.

Chapter Eight

One of the policemen drove Cam, Eric, and Howie back to the shopping mall. Howie's carriage was tied to the roof of the car.

“You must be âThe Camera,' ” the policeman said to Cam. “Your friend told us about your amazing memory.

“Well, it's lucky you were in the mall,” the policeman went on. “Those thieves had us baffled. Mr. Parker told us there was only one thief. So, of course, we chased the one man who ran. Mr. Parker was lying on the floor. Those two old ladies were facing the wall. None of them saw the thief join up with a woman and pretend to be part of a young family out shopping.”

The policeman drove the car through the shopping mall parking lot. He parked it right in front of Parker's Jewelry Store. Eric's mother and sisters were waiting for them. So were the two old women.

As soon as the police car stopped, Eric's mother ran over and opened the door. She quickly took Howie in her arms.

“Eric and Jennifer, it's one oâclock. Where have you been?”

“Your mother has been worried sick,” the old woman with the cane said.

“These two are heroes,” the policeman said, pointing to Cam and Eric. “They helped us capture the gang that robbed the jewelry store.”

“You know,” the woman with the cane said, “there was a nice young couple in Parker's when the store was robbed. I remember that cute baby they had. Well, someone should tell them the robbers have been caught. They may be worried.”