by Ron Roy
“Well, let me know what you dig up,” said Andy. “Boy, I’d like to get my hands on the creep who did this. My little sister cried all night!”
The kids walked back to Woody Street.
“Let’s stop and check in with Mrs. Davis,” Dink suggested as they passed her house. “We should tell her about the other missing animals.”
When Mrs. Davis opened her door, she had a big smile on her face.
“Oh, I’m so glad to see you three!” she exclaimed. “You’ll never guess! A man just called. He said he found Mozart! He’s bringing him here at six-thirty. Isn’t that lovely?”
“That’s great.” Dink looked at Josh and Ruth Rose in surprise.
“I want you three to be here, since you were kind enough to look for him,” Mrs. Davis continued. “Afterward, we’ll have some of my strawberry shortcake to celebrate!”
“Super!” Josh said.
“We’ll see you at six-thirty,” Dink said with a wave.
The three started home.
Josh grinned. “I guess Mozart wasn’t kidnapped after all.”
“I guess not,” Dink said. He looked at Ruth Rose. She wasn’t smiling.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” she finally said. “How did he know who to call? How did that man know who Mozart belonged to?”
Dink shrugged. “Maybe he found him near Mrs. Davis’s house and asked one of her neighbors.”
“Or,” Ruth Rose said, “maybe the guy who called is the same guy who took Mozart.”
“But that doesn’t make sense,” Dink said. “Why would someone steal a canary on Thursday and return it the next day?”
“For the reward,” Ruth Rose said with a frown. “This guy steals pets, then returns them for money.”
Dink and Josh just stared at Ruth Rose.
They walked the rest of the way home in silence.
Dink and Ruth Rose sat on Dink’s front porch. They’d just finished dinner and were waiting for Josh.
Ruth Rose sighed.
“Tiger hasn’t come home yet?” Dink asked.
She shook her head.
“Cats can be pretty mysterious sometimes,” Dink said. He wanted Ruth Rose to feel better. “Maybe she’s visiting a cat buddy somewhere.”
Ruth Rose looked down. “She’s never stayed away like this.”
Suddenly Dink noticed that Ruth Rose had forgotten her headband. Her curly hair was hanging in her eyes.
Just then Josh came running down Woody Street, carrying his sketch pad. He jogged across Dink’s lawn.
“Did Tiger come back yet?” he asked.
“No,” Ruth Rose said, standing up. “Come on, let’s go see who brings Mozart back.”
A few minutes later, they were ringing Mrs. Davis’s doorbell. Ruth Rose had a determined look in her eye. “If this guy has cat scratches on his hands, I’m calling Officer Fallon.”
Mrs. Davis opened her door dressed for the occasion. The green gem in her necklace sparkled in the evening sunlight.
“I hope you’ve brought your appetites,” she said. “To help us celebrate Mozart’s return, I’ve made some shortcake.”
Josh grinned. “I might be able to eat a small helping.”
Mrs. Davis laughed. “Oh, pooh, Joshua Pinto. I’ve seen what you can do to a batch of my cookies.”
They walked into the living room. Mozart’s empty cage sat on the piano.
“It will be so good to hear Mozart sing again,” Mrs. Davis said.
The doorbell chimed. “He’s here!” Mrs. Davis hurried to the door.
A thin young man stood smiling on the front porch. He was dressed neatly in a white shirt, dark pants, and blue suspenders.
The man held a small box with holes poked in the sides. “I’m Fred Little,” he said. “Here’s your canary.”
Dink looked at the man’s hands as he passed the box to Mrs. Davis. Not a single claw mark. He shot a look at Ruth Rose.
“Thank you, Mr. Little,” said Mrs. Davis. “Won’t you step inside?”
Mrs. Davis introduced him to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. Then she opened the box and lifted out her canary.
“Well, Mozart, how was your vacation?” She gave the canary a quick kiss and placed him in his cage.
Everyone paused to watch Mozart hop around, then settle down to preen his feathers.
“Mr. Little, I can’t tell you how grateful I am,” Mrs. Davis said. “But how did you know where to bring him?”
Ruth Rose kicked Dink in the ankle.
Fred Little smiled. “I had to do some detective work,” he said. “I called the pet shop today and asked who in town owned a canary. A nice woman told me your name, so I looked you up in the phone book.”
“That must have been Mrs. Wong,” Dink said. “We talked to her today, too. About Ruth Rose’s missing cat. When did you call her?”
The man stared at Dink. “I don’t remember exactly,” he said. “It was right after I caught the canary.”
Mrs. Davis clapped her hands. “How thoughtful of you to go to so much trouble! Will you accept a reward?”
Ruth Rose glanced at Dink with a smirk on her face.
The man smiled at Mrs. Davis. “You’re very kind,” he said. “But no thanks. It’s reward enough seeing your little bird back home again.”
Dink snuck a quick look at Ruth Rose. She looked confused, and Dink could understand why.
If he won’t take a reward, then he didn’t steal Mozart. And if Mozart didn’t get kidnapped, maybe Tiger didn’t either, Dink thought.
“Then will you at least have a cup of tea and a cookie?” Mrs. Davis asked.
“That’ll be fine,” he said. “May I use your bathroom?”
“Down the hall on the right,” Mrs. Davis said. “Kids, will you help me in the kitchen?”
While Mrs. Davis boiled water and arranged her silver tea service, the kids put cookies on a tray.
“He didn’t take the reward,” Ruth Rose whispered, frowning. “I can’t believe I was wrong!”
“I don’t know, Ruth Rose,” Dink said. “There’s something fishy about this guy. Why didn’t Mrs. Wong tell us he called her?”
“We saw Mrs. Wong in the morning,” Josh reminded them. “Fred Little must have called her later.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” Dink said.
“But I have this weird feeling I’ve seen Fred Little somewhere before,” Josh said.
“Around here?” Ruth Rose asked.
Josh shrugged. “I’m not sure. I can’t remember.”
“What are you three whispering about?” Mrs. Davis called. “I’ll need some helping hands in a minute.”
When they were all seated around the card table, Mrs. Davis poured five cups of tea. “Are you just passing through, Mr. Little? I haven’t seen you in town before.”
“I’m here looking for a job,” Fred Little said.
“So you might settle in Green Lawn? Wouldn’t that be wonderful!”
Fred Little smiled. “It’s a nice town.” He glanced around the living room. “You sure have a lovely home, Mrs. Davis.”
“Why, thank you. When my husband was alive, we traveled a great deal,” Mrs. Davis said. “We brought back something special from each country we visited.”
Fred Little left a few minutes later, and the kids helped Mrs. Davis clean up. “Still have room for shortcake?” she asked, grinning at Josh.
“Sure do!” he answered, picking up his sketch pad.
Josh began to draw a picture of Fred Little’s face. “I just wish I could remember where I’ve seen this guy before.”
That night, a thunderstorm sent the kids running from their tents into their houses.
It was still raining the next day, so they decided to play Monopoly at Dink’s house.
“Ruth Rose, it’s your turn,” Josh said.
“I know,” she said, staring out Dink’s window. “I can’t concentrate. Tiger is out there in the rain.”
Dink and Josh just looked at each other.
“If Fred Little didn’t take the pets, then who could it be?” Ruth Rose asked. She came and plopped herself down at the Monopoly board.
Dink thought a moment. “If we could figure out why someone was stealing animals,” he said, “maybe we could figure out who was doing it.”
Ruth Rose picked up her stack of Monopoly cash. “I still think it’s for money,” she said. “When people get kidnapped, it’s usually for ransom money, right?”
The boys nodded.
“But no one who’s lost a pet has gotten a ransom note,” Josh said.
“Not yet, anyway.” Ruth Rose tossed her play money onto the table. “I’m going home. Mom put an ad in the paper, and I want to be there if anyone calls about Tiger.”
The two boys watched her put on her coat and head out into the rain.
“I’ve never seen her act so mopey,” Josh said after the door closed. “She doesn’t even argue with me anymore!”
“Yeah, and have you noticed she’s not wearing one color either?” Dink pointed out. “I hope Tiger comes home soon.”
That night the rain cleared up, so Dink and Josh slept out in the tent again.
The next morning, Ruth Rose woke them up. She was wearing cut-off jeans and an old T-shirt. Her untied sneaker laces were muddy from dragging.
“Read this, guys,” she said, and she shoved the Sunday Morning Gazette under Dink’s nose.
One paragraph was circled in red crayon. Dink and Josh stumbled out of the tent and sat at the picnic table.
The paragraph was under LOCAL AREA CRIMES. Dink scanned it quickly, then read it out loud:
“Two Green Lawn homes were burglarized last night, Officer Charles Fallon has reported. The homes of Dr. and Mrs. Michael Pardue and Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Gwynn were entered by persons unknown. Several items of value were taken. Police are investigating.”
Dink looked up. “Wow! First they lose their pets, then someone breaks into their houses. I think that stinks!”
“And I think they’re connected,” Ruth Rose said. “Don’t you see, it is about money! Someone is taking pets, then breaking into the same houses.”
“But why would someone need to steal a pet before robbing a house?” Dink asked.
“And not only that,” Josh added, “but what about you and Mrs. Davis? Your pets disappeared, but your houses weren’t broken into.”
“He’s right, Ruth Rose,” Dink said. “Why just two houses and not all four?”
Ruth Rose frowned at Dink and Josh. “I don’t know,” she said.
“We should try and find out. Let’s go see the Pardues and the Gwynns again. Maybe the burglars left some clues!”
They hurried over to Thistle Court and rang the bell. Mr. Gwynn came to the door in his bathrobe.
“Oh, hi, kids! Mrs. Gwynn told me you stopped by Friday. Guess what? Yesterday afternoon, someone found our parrot and returned him!”
Ruth Rose stared at Mr. Gwynn. “Archie was returned yesterday?”
Mr. Gwynn nodded. “To celebrate, I took the family out for dinner and a movie. But when we got back home, we discovered we’d been robbed. The rats took my coin collection.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dink said.
“May I ask who returned your parrot?”
“A nice young woman,” Mr. Gwynn told the kids. “She said she’d caught Archie eating seeds under her bird feeder.”
“Did you invite her into your house?” Ruth Rose asked.
Before he could answer, Dink blurted out, “Did she see your coin collection?”
Mr. Gwynn’s mouth dropped open. “Are you suggesting…Oh, my you could be right!” he said. “The collection was in the living room where we sat and talked. Do you think she came back and stole it?”
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose looked at one another. Ruth Rose had her “I told you so!” look on her face.
“It sure seems that way, Mr. Gwynn,” Dink said.
The kids thanked Mr. Gwynn, then raced all the way to the Pardues’ house. Out of breath, Ruth Rose rang the bell.
Mrs. Par due came to the door. “Hi, gang, what’s up?” she said.
Ruth Rose asked, “By any chance, did someone bring your rabbit back yesterday, before your house got robbed?”
“Why, how did you know?” Mrs. Pardue asked. “A nice young couple called and said they’d found Violet in their garden. They brought her home yesterday afternoon.”
Dink explained how the Gwynns’ parrot had also been returned before they were robbed.
Mrs. Pardue’s eyes got wide. “Of course! That couple came in and had a cold drink with us. Dr. Pardue offered them a reward, but they refused it.”
“What did they steal?” Josh asked.
“Several pieces of my good jewelry,” Mrs. Pardue said. “Some of it was left to me by my grandmother.”
Ruth Rose thought for a minute. “Did they ask to use your bathroom?”
“Yes, the woman did,” Mrs. Pardue answered. “She could have snooped in my bedroom at the same time. I feel so foolish!”
The kids said good-bye and headed for Main Street.
“I knew it!” Ruth Rose said. “The pet-nappers and the robbers are the same people!”
“Boy, what a dirty scam,” Josh said. “You steal someone’s pet, return it to get a guided tour of the place, then come back later to take what you liked.”
“Talk about a double whammy,” Dink said, shaking his head.
“I think it’s gonna be a triple whammy,” Ruth Rose said. “What about Mrs. Davis?”
“What about her?” Josh asked. “She hasn’t…oh, my gosh!”
“That’s right,” Ruth Rose said. “I’ll bet anything that Mrs. Davis’s house is next!”
“Or your house could be next,” Dink reminded Ruth Rose.
Ruth Rose shook her head. “They didn’t return Tiger, so they didn’t get inside my house. Come on, we have to tell Officer Fallon!”
They ran down Main Street to the police station.
“Does he work on Sunday morning?” Josh asked as they hurried up the steps.
“We’ll find out in a minute,” Dink said.
The kids almost bumped into Officer Fallon coming through the door.
“Were you kids coming to see me?” he asked. “I was just heading for Ellie’s.”
“Officer Fallon, we figured out the burglaries!” Ruth Rose cried,
He looked at her. “Oh? Then we’d better go back inside.”
Sitting at his desk, Officer Fallon picked up a pencil. “I’m listening,” he said.
Ruth Rose told him their theory about how the pet-nappers came back later to return the animals, then rob the houses.
Officer Fallon smiled. “I think you’re right on the button,” he said. “I figured out the same thing.”
“Did you know that Mrs. Davis’s canary was returned, too?” Ruth Rose asked. She looked at Dink and Josh. “We think her house will be robbed next!”
Officer Fallon raised his eyebrows. “Well, now, that is news. I didn’t know about the canary. When was it returned?” he asked, writing something on his pad.
“Friday night,” Josh said. “Some guy called up and said he’d found Mozart. He brought him over while we were there.”
Officer Fallon’s eyes widened. “Tell me about this man, Josh,” he said quietly.
Josh described Fred Little while Officer Fallon took more notes.
“Can you arrest Fred Little before he breaks into Mrs. Davis’s house?” Ruth Rose asked.
Officer Fallon tapped his pencil and squinted one eye at the kids. “Officer Keene and I have been looking for whoever returned the Gywnn and Pardue pets. We want to question them about the pet-nappings and the robberies. Now we will start looking for Fred Little, too.”
He leaned forward on his elbows. “But we have no evidence that these people have done anything wrong. The same goes for Fred Little. True, he returned the canary and got inside Leona Davis’s house. That’s the same pattern as the
other two burglaries, but it’s not a crime.”
“You can’t arrest him?” Josh asked.
Officer Fallon shook his head. “Even if I knew where to find Fred Little, I have no proof that he’s planning a crime.”
“But we have to do something!” Ruth Rose said.
“You’ve already done a lot,” Officer Fallon said. “I didn’t know that Leona Davis got her bird back. You’ve given me a good lead. Officer Keene and I really appreciate your help, kids.”
He walked them to the door. “Don’t worry we have a few tricks up our sleeves.”
“I still think we should do something,” Ruth Rose said when they were outside.
“Well…” Josh said. “The circus is leaving tomorrow, and we do have those free tickets Officer Fallon gave us…”
Dink laughed. Together, he and Josh talked Ruth Rose into visiting the circus for a few hours.
They watched a few animal acts and bought popcorn.
Ruth Rose didn’t feel like going on any rides, so they decided to go into the clown tent again.
Two clowns dressed as firefighters were running around, bumping into each other while a small cardboard building “burned.”
Smoke and fake flames were shooting out of a window. A woman clown was screaming, “Help! Save me!”
Some of the kids in the audience started yelling, “Save her, mister! Up there, save her!”
The firefighter clowns got tangled up in their own hoses, making everyone laugh and yell even louder.
Suddenly a clown dressed like Superman appeared on stilts. He wore a blue shirt under a red cape. Bright yellow suspenders held up the skinny blue pants that hid his stilts.
Superman flapped his cape and snapped his suspenders. Then he marched over to the burning tower and saved the woman. All the kids in the audience yelled and clapped.
Dink noticed that Ruth Rose was hardly even looking. He nudged Josh, and they left.
“I’d like to get me some stilts,” Josh said. He walked stiff-legged and snapped invisible suspenders. “Do circuses ever hire kids?”
“Yeah, to feed to the tigers,” Dink said, which reminded him of Ruth Rose’s Tiger. He looked at her. “Do you want to come over and finish the Monopoly game?”