The New Year Dragon Dilemma (7 page)

“So if we go back there, we might be able to find his boat?” Ruth Rose said. “Then we could find him!”

Dink nodded. “After we find him, we’ll tell the police, and maybe they’ll question him. At least they’ll have another suspect!”

They heard a knock on Ruth Rose’s door. “Enough chatting, you three night owls,” Dink’s father said. “Boys, get to bed, please.”

“Okay, Dad!” Dink called. Then he whispered to Josh and Ruth Rose, “Tomorrow we find Mr. Laptop!”

The next morning Dink’s father made oatmeal with raisins for himself and the kids. “I have meetings most of this morning,” he told them. “I had asked Holden to take you to see the Golden Gate Bridge, but that’s out now. Any plans?”

“We’re going to try to prove Holden isn’t the crook!” Dink said. Then he noticed the look on his father’s face, a look he knew. “Don’t worry, Dad, we won’t do anything dangerous.”

“And I won’t be dragged back to the police station?” Mr. Duncan asked.

Dink shook his head. “Promise!” But to himself Dink said,
I hope not!

“Oh, speaking of that, I had an early phone call from Officer Feist,” Dink’s father said. “No luck finding the ruby. They searched all one hundred people who were walking the dragon.”

“Do they know which one I saw running toward the swan float?” Dink asked. “That could be the crook!”

“The police told me they’d love to talk to that person,” Dink’s father said. “But not one of the dragon carriers admitted to it. He or she cleverly kept the mask on.”

“Are Holden and Lily still in jail?” Dink asked.

“Holden is,” Mr. Duncan said. “Lily is underage, so the Chens’ attorney convinced the police to let her go home. She can’t leave her parents’ house for any reason until the crime has been solved.”

“Bummer,” Josh said.

Dink’s father looked at his watch. Then he took a fast sip of coffee and stood up. “Will you kids take care of these dishes?” he asked. “I have to jump on a cable car in ten minutes!”

Dink rinsed the bowls and spoons while Ruth Rose and Josh got ready to leave. With his hands in the water, Dink tried to remember details of the boat he’d seen on the man’s laptop. It had been a sailboat, but that was all he could remember. Why hadn’t he looked more closely at that screen saver?

Five minutes later they were in the elevator heading for the lobby. Dink’s cell phone was in his pocket. Ruth Rose had her backpack. Knowing her, Dink was sure she’d have a Swiss Army knife, a camera, and at least one guidebook or map. Josh carried his sketchbook.

Mr. Alderson was arranging a stack of newspapers for hotel guests to grab on their way out. “Good morning, kids,” he said. “Is your friend Mr. Wong picking you up in his green buggy?”

Dink just stared at the man. He wasn’t sure how much he should say.

“No, he’s being detained elsewhere,” Josh piped up.

Dink stared at Josh. Detained? Dink figured Josh had heard that word on some TV show.

“Oh, then can I help you with transportation?” Mr. Alderson asked.

“Yes, how do we get to Fisherman’s
Wharf from here?” Dink asked.

“That’s an easy one,” Mr. Alderson said. He unfolded a map and put his finger on a spot. “This is us, the Bayside Hotel.” Then he moved his finger along streets until it rested at Fisherman’s Wharf. “Walk outside, take a left, and go to the first corner. You’ll see a brown and white sign. It’s where the cable car stops. It will take you right to the wharf. It’s about a twenty-minute ride.”

“Thanks a lot!” Dink said. The kids headed for the door.

“Um, excuse me,” Mr. Alderson said. “The cable cars are six dollars for each of you, I believe. Do you have passes?”

“I think Holden has them,” Dink said.

Ruth Rose patted her backpack. “I have money,” she said. “My parents told me San Francisco was expensive.”

“No need to spend your money,” Mr.
Alderson said. He pulled three passes from his desk and handed them to the kids. “These let you use any cable car or bus in the city. Have fun!”

“We will!” Dink said. They thanked him again, then hurried through the exit.

While they waited for the cable car, Ruth Rose checked her map. “Look, here’s Pier 39,” she said. “That’s right next to the sea lions.”

“Dude, how do we find this guy’s boat?” Josh asked Dink.

“I have no clue, dude,” Dink said as a cable car slowed at their stop.

Ruth Rose showed the passes to the uniformed conductor, and they boarded the cable car. It rode along a track in the street, clanging its bell whenever they came to an intersection. It was too noisy and windy for talking, so the kids just hung on and watched the scenery go by. When the car plunged down the steep street, they all yelled.

“Twenty-two minutes,” Ruth Rose said as the kids hopped off at Fisherman’s Wharf. All of the other people on the car were headed in the same direction, so the
kids just followed along. Three minutes later they were in front of the aquarium.

The morning was cool and breezy. Dink could smell the sea lions, but the fog hid them from view. The kids walked closer to the water. Now they could see and hear the sea lions. The huge creatures were barking and flopping on top of each other on the docks. A few of them slipped into the water. Tourists posed for pictures with the sea lions in the background.

“There are the boats,” Dink said. He pointed to several that were tied to the end of docks. Some were moored farther out in the water.

“But which one are we looking for?” Ruth Rose asked.

“It’s a sailboat,” Dink said. He tried to remember what he’d seen on that guy’s laptop screen saver. “I think it was green … or blue.”

“Great,” Josh said. He flipped open his sketchbook. “Maybe this will help.”

“What, you drew the boat?” Dink asked. “Josh, you’re awesome!”

“I know I’m awesome, but I didn’t draw the boat,” Josh said. “I drew the guy we saw in the aquarium. If we can’t find his boat, maybe we can find him.”

He pointed to a drawing of a man’s head. Dink looked at the small sketch. “But I thought this was Dr. Worthington,” he said.

Josh shrugged. “Nope, this is the guy who was sitting at the table near us yesterday,” he said. “Remember, he had an
M
tattooed on the back of each hand. Maybe M&M’s are his favorite candy.”

“Now I know why I thought Dr. Worthington looked familiar!” Dink cried. “He looks just like the laptop guy! They could be related.”

“Dr. Worthington has white hair and
a skinny mustache,” Ruth Rose said. “The laptop guy is bald.”

“Wait a sec.” Josh pulled a pencil from his pocket and added hair and a mustache to the drawing.

“You’re right,” Ruth Rose said. “Now he looks just like Dr. Worthington!”

“It’s pretty creepy if they’re related to each other,” Dink said. “One had a drawing of the swan float in his computer, and the other is the manager of the parade!”

“Maybe Dr. Worthington is a crook, too,” Josh said.

“Do you remember how mad he was when the parade got stopped last night?” Ruth Rose asked.

Dink nodded. “Yeah, I do remember. But then when we found Lily and he knew the crown had been stolen, he stopped yelling. In fact, he looked kind of sad.”

“How do we find the boat?” Josh asked. “We can’t go out on the docks or the sea lions will gobble us up!”

“They eat fish, not tourists,” Ruth Rose said. “But I have an idea. There
must be an office around here where they keep track of all the boats that come and go. We can show them Josh’s picture of the guy we saw in the aquarium. If he keeps a boat here, they might know him.”

“Great idea,” Josh said. “Wait a minute.” He erased the hair and mustache from his drawing.

“Give him a tan,” Dink suggested.

Josh darkened the man’s face. “How’s that?”

“Perfect,” Dink said. “It’s Laptop Man again.”

The kids walked around. The sun was getting brighter through the fog, but they didn’t see anything that looked like an office for boaters.

“I have an idea,” Ruth Rose said. “Wait here.” She ran over to a guy selling balloons. Dink and Josh watched her talking to him. Then she ran back.

“The office is on the fuel dock,” she told them. “That’s where the boaters buy gas.”

“Where’s the fuel dock?” Dink asked.

Ruth Rose pointed. “Way at the end of that pier,” she said. “He said the sea lions don’t like the smell of gas, so they stay away.”

The kids hiked to the pier. Some of the fog disappeared and the sun came out. At the end of the pier were two gas pumps outside a small white building. A sign on the door said
HARBORMASTER
.

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose opened the door and walked inside. The room was tiny and hot. Two men sat at desks, typing on computers. Both were in T-shirts.

Pictures of boats decorated the walls. A row of hooks held a few jackets and sweaters. A heater in the corner hummed and threw out too much warmth for such a small space.

“Help you?” one of the men asked. He had dark hair and a tanned face. The man didn’t get up, just swiveled his chair around. The other man kept typing.

Dink’s mind raced, searching for something to say. Why would three kids walk in asking about some guy whose name they didn’t even know? Dink shot a look at Josh, who stood there holding his sketchbook.

“We’re looking for someone,” Dink said finally. “We, um, met him in the aquarium yesterday. He was working on a cool laptop. My dad wants to buy me one, so I was wondering if …” Dink felt his face go red.

“Here’s his picture,” Josh said, jumping in. “I draw everyone I meet.” He thrust his sketchbook toward the man. “We think he has a boat here somewhere.”

The man squinted, then took the sketchbook and showed it to his companion.
“Take a look, Burk,” he said. “I don’t recognize this dude.”

The man named Burk glanced at Josh’s drawing, then shook his head. “Nope, never saw him, either.” He handed the sketchbook back to Josh. At the same time, Dink noticed the man take a quick look out the window. Then he went back to working at his computer.

Dink turned to see what Burk had been looking at. Through the window, Dink could see sun and blue sky. He also saw a green sailboat moored to a buoy.