The New Year Dragon Dilemma

by Ron Roy

  “He took the crown,” Lily said. “The man who grabbed me.”

  Everyone except Dr. Worthington was watching Lily. She pushed her hair out of her face and sat up straighter.

  “I was standing on the box, throwing candy,” she said. “Then I heard fireworks, and I was confused. We already had the fireworks before the dragon started walking. So I just looked up at them like everyone else. Suddenly someone climbed over the side of the float.”

  She pointed to the top of the ladder. “It was a man wearing a dragon mask,” she went on. “He pulled me down on the floor and took off my mask. Then he sprayed something in my face. It was awful, and it hurt my eyes. I felt him pull the crown off me. Then he put the bag over my head. I … I don’t remember anything after that.”

  Dink’s mind flashed back a half hour. They were all watching the dragon “walking” along the parade route. One of the pairs of legs crawled out from under the dragon and hurried away in the other direction. Toward the swan float.

  “Um, I think I saw him,” Dink said.

  Everyone looked at him.

  “You saw who attacked Miss Chen?” Officer Feist said.

  Just then another police officer thudded up the ramp and into the middle of the swan float. “What’s going on?” he asked the two officers.

  They explained the situation.

  “Okay,” he said, “but let’s finish this at the station. There are a few thousand unhappy people out there, and they want their parade!”

  “We have to go to the police station, too?” Josh asked.

  “That’s right, son,” the officer said. “Where are your parents?”

  “My dad’s back at our hotel,” Dink said. “We’re staying at the Bayside.”

  “You’d better call him,” Ruth Rose said.

  Everyone started to leave the float. Dink noticed that Holden and Lily each had a police escort. Dr. Worthington walked alone, but the third officer was keeping an eye on him. One by one, they walked down the ramp.

  “Let’s take the easy-peasy way,” Josh whispered to Dink.

  “He means the ladder,” Ruth Rose said.

  Dink was standing next to the ladder’s top rung, where it came up the side of the truck bed. He put his hands on the ladder and looked down. They were about six feet off the road. Flower blossoms partly covered the ladder rungs. It looked slippery.

  “I’ll take the ramp,” he told Josh and Ruth Rose. But his fingers had touched something soft on the top rung. He looked and saw a piece of white yarn.

  Dink pulled the yarn off the rung and examined it closely. Under the lights, it looked curly and silky. Dink thought of the yarn his mother used when she knit scarves and sweaters every winter.

  He had seen a white sweater only minutes ago, on Holden.

  Dink slipped the yarn into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He hit speed dial for his father’s number.

  A half hour later Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were sitting around a table in a small room at the police station. The floor was gray concrete. The walls were painted the color of pea soup. There were no windows.

  Dink’s father stood behind them. He shook his head and smiled at the three kids. “I never expected to be invited to a police station tonight,” Mr. Duncan said.

  “Sorry, Dad,” Dink said. “We never expected someone to rob Miss Chinatown’s crown!”

  Officer Feist walked into the room. She carried a small tape recorder, which she set on the table.

  “This won’t take long,” she said, turning on the machine. “I just want to record your statement about the man you saw running toward the swan float, Donald.” She placed a pencil and notebook on the table next to the recorder.

  Josh giggled. “We call him Dink,” he said. “Or Dinkus.”

  Officer Feist grinned. “And what do we call you?” she asked.

  “Josh.”

  “Joshua, actually,” Ruth Rose said. She nudged Dink’s arm.

  “Don—I mean Dink, tell me what you saw,” Officer Feist said.

  “We were watching the dragon,” Dink told her and the tape recorder. “You know how all those people were underneath, carrying it along. Some of them were fooling around, running up and putting their heads inside the dragon’s mouth. Well, one of them left. He—well, it could have been a she, I guess—anyway, this person came out from under the dragon and ran toward the back. He or she wasn’t very tall, I remember.”

  “So this person could have been a small man or woman, or a kid?” Officer Feist asked. “Exactly how big was this person?”

  “Like Josh,” Dink said. He nodded at his friend. “Skinny legs, too.”

  Officer Feist looked at Josh. “Would you stand up, please, Joshua?”

  Josh stood up.

  “How tall are you, Joshua?” Officer Feist asked.

  “Almost five feet,” Josh said. He tried to stand taller.

  “How was this person dressed?” Officer Feist asked Dink.

  Dink closed his eyes. He saw the dragon and the hundred pairs of red legs. “Well, everyone under the dragon was wearing red pants,” he told Officer Feist. “But the person I saw had on a sweater, too. It looked white or yellow under the light. I …”

  Suddenly Dink stopped. Maybe the yarn in his pocket hadn’t come from Holden’s sweater! There were two white sweaters! He pulled it out of his pocket and placed it on the table. He explained where he’d found it.

  “Do you think the guy who stole the crown left this behind?” Dink asked.

  Officer Feist poked at the snippet of yarn with her pencil.

  “There are lots of ways this could have gotten there,” she said. “Dozens of people climbed that ladder when they were decorating the float.” She smiled. “In fact, I have a sweater in my closet that this could have come from.”

  “But it could also have come from the person Dink saw, right?” Dink’s father asked.

  Officer Feist nodded. “That’s right, Mr. Duncan.” She opened a drawer in the table and took out a small see-through evidence bag. Using the tip of her pencil, she pushed the yarn into the bag and sealed it. They all watched her write something on the outside of the bag.

  “All of the people who carried the dragon are being searched and questioned right now,” Officer Feist said. “The floats and the dragon have been returned to the warehouse. They’ll be kept there under police guard until we get to the bottom of this.”

  “Will you try to match the yarn I found with what they’re wearing?” Dink asked.

  “Absolutely,” Officer Feist said. “I’ll have one of my detectives run it over immediately after this interview.” She pushed the OFF button on the tape recorder. “When are you folks planning to return to Connecticut?”

  “Day after tomorrow,” Dink’s father said. “Tuesday. Will that be a problem?”

  Officer Feist opened her notebook and made a note. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said. “But I don’t think you’ll need to change your travel plans.”

  She stood up. “Now you can all go to your hotel and get a good night’s sleep,” she said.

  Officer Feist held the door open. Dink’s father left first, with Josh and Ruth Rose right behind. Dink followed them all down a long hallway.

  “Dink!” someone called out. Holden came out of a room on Dink’s right. He was escorted by two police officers Dink hadn’t seen before. Each held one of Holden’s arms.

  Holden’s black hair was messed up. His eyes were red and swollen. “They’ve got Lily!” Holden cried. “Tell them we didn’t steal anything!”

  Josh, Ruth Rose, and Dink’s father all turned back to stare.

  Dink stopped in his tracks, stunned. Holden and Lily were being arrested!

  The officers marched Holden past Dink and around a corner in the hallway.

  Dink hurried to catch up to his father, Josh, and Ruth Rose. He passed another room, where he heard crying. He looked through the open door and gasped.

  At a small table, Lily sat between an older
Chinese man and woman. Dink figured they were Lily’s parents. The couple sat as still as statues, staring at their daughter.

  Lily was sobbing as Officer Goodman placed handcuffs around her slim wrists.

  It was dark outside the police station, so Dink’s father stopped a cab and they all got in. Dink sat in the back, between Josh and Ruth Rose. His father sat next to the driver.

  “Do you think they did it?” Josh whispered to Dink and Ruth Rose.

  “But Lily was tied up with that sash thing,” Ruth Rose said. “And she had that bag over her head.”

  “Maybe the cops think Holden tied her, to make it look like someone else did it,” Josh said.

  Dink remembered the few minutes that Holden had disappeared during the parade. He’d told the kids that he’d gone to use one of the portable bathrooms. Had he been lying?

  Dink also remembered the look on Holden’s face when they found Lily tied up. That look was no lie!

  “I believe Holden,” Dink said. “Did you see his face when we found Lily hidden under that box? He was really shocked, guys.”

  The cabdriver pulled up in front of the Bayside Hotel. Dink’s father paid him, and they all went inside. The concierge, Mr. Alderson, smiled from behind his desk.

  “Good evening, folks,” he said. “How was your day, kids?”

  “Fine, thank you,” they all murmured. No one wanted to mention what happened at the parade.

  The elevator took them to the third floor. The Bayside was the kind of hotel that offered its guests small apartments as well as single rooms. Dink’s father had rented an apartment with three bedrooms, a living room, and a tiny kitchen.

  Josh opened the refrigerator. “There’s nothing to eat,” he announced.

  “What would you like, Josh?” Mr. Duncan asked. He winked at Dink and Ruth Rose behind Josh’s back. “A juicy steak with mashed potatoes? Fried chicken? Spaghetti and meatballs?”

  “Yes!” Josh said, grinning at the others. He threw himself on the sofa and picked up his sketchbook.

  “I heard some of what you kids said in the cab,” Dink’s father said. “Do you really think Holden and his girlfriend stole the crown?”

  “It would have been pretty easy,” Josh said. “He and Lily could have cooked it all up together. There were so many people, and all those fireworks going off. Holden could have climbed into the float with Lily, and they could have faked the robbery.”

  “But what if Lily hadn’t been chosen as Miss Chinatown?” Ruth Rose asked. “What if the other girl was chosen?”

  “Then they could have robbed the crown off her head instead!” Josh said. “Only it was Lily, so their plan was perfect.”

  “I don’t know,” Dink’s father said. “Holden seems like a decent kid.”

  “I agree with you, Dad,” Dink said. “Plus, he was so surprised that she was under that box. How could he fake that?”

  “Don’t forget he’s studying acting in college,” Ruth Rose reminded them. “Maybe he was only pretending to be surprised.”

  “But what about that person I saw running away from the dragon?” Dink asked. “And heading right for the swan float?”

  No one had an answer. The four sat and thought. Josh turned pages in his sketchbook and picked up his pencil.

  “Dad, can we help Holden and Lily?” Dink asked his father after a moment. “I mean, is there anything we can do?”

  Dink’s father stood up. “I don’t know, son,” he said. “But I’ll call the police station. Maybe I can help Holden and Lily get a lawyer. After all, I hired Holden to take you kids to the parade.”

  Dink’s father walked to his bedroom.

  Ruth Rose scooted over next to Josh. “What’re you drawing?” she asked.

  “Just parade stuff,” Josh said.

  “Can I look?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “Sure, Nosy Rosy,” Josh teased. He tilted the sketchbook so she could see.

  “Josh, these are so good!” Ruth Rose said. “Look, Dink!”

  Dink stood behind the sofa and looked over Ruth Rose’s shoulder. Josh had made several small drawings on one of the pages. One was a man’s face that Dink thought was supposed to be Dr. Worthington. Josh had also made sketches of two sea lions, the dragon’s head, and Holden’s Green Machine. Dink smiled at the three small figures sitting in the passenger seat. It was Josh, Ruth Rose, and himself.

  At the bottom of the page, Josh was drawing what looked like some kind of flying animal. It was a sort of furry box with wings.

  “What’s that?” Dink asked.

  “It’s supposed to be the swan float,” Josh said. “But it’s not finished.”

  Ruth Rose giggled. “With curly hair?” she asked.

  “Duh, that’s not hair,” Josh said. “Those are the flowers on the float!” He made a few marks with his pencil. “Here are the swan’s wings, and here’s Miss Chinatown throwing candy, and here’s—”

  “Wait a minute!” Dink cried. He jumped over the back of the sofa, landing next to Josh. He grabbed the sketchbook and pointed to the drawing. “This looks like the same picture that guy at the aquarium was drawing on his laptop!”

  Dink plucked Josh’s pencil from his friend’s fingers. He made a few lines on the side of Josh’s rectangle. “See, that guy’s drawing had these lines, too. I think they were meant to be that little ladder on the side of the float.”

  “Why would some stranger be drawing the swan float?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Just then Dink’s father came into the room. “I have some bad news,” he said. “The police searched Holden’s apartment and his Green Machine bike. They found the crown. It was hidden inside a compartment under the passenger seat on Holden’s bike.”

  The three kids sat with their mouths open. No one said a word. Traffic hummed outside. The wall clock ticked. Dink felt his heart racing.

  “Did they find the ruby?” Dink asked.

  His father shook his head. “The ruby had been removed from the crown,” he said. “Both Lily and Holden have been arrested and charged with the theft.”

  Dink felt sick to his stomach. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that someone else, not Holden and Lily, had stolen the ruby. And that someone was trying to make Holden and Lily look guilty.

  Dink’s mind went back to the guy with the laptop inside the aquarium. Why had he been drawing a computer picture of the swan float? Unless he knew that Miss Chinatown would be wearing a priceless ruby in her crown and he planned to steal it? Geez, had Dink been sitting right next to the thief?

  Dink told the others what he was thinking. “I have a funny feeling about that guy,” he said.

  “And I have a funny feeling about the person you saw running from the dragon,” Dink’s father said. “Maybe he’s our crook.”

  “I just thought of something,” Ruth Rose said. “Remember what Lily said about the fireworks? She said she was surprised when the second fireworks went off. She told us that everyone looked up toward the sky, and that’s when the guy jumped into the float and sprayed something in her face.”

  Ruth Rose sat up straight. “Do you think someone set off the second fireworks so people would take their eyes off Miss Chinatown?” she asked.

  “Oh my gosh!” Dink said. “The second fireworks! I’m so dumb! The guy in the aquarium was talking on his cell phone after we sat down. I thought I heard him say ‘the second tire works,’ but now I think what he really said was ‘the second fireworks’! It all makes sense. That guy was planning the robbery with whoever he had on the phone! And the drawing of the swan float on his laptop was part of the plan!”

  Ruth Rose said, “So he was telling someone to snatch the crown off Lily during the second fireworks, when everyone was looking up at the sky, not at her! And that someone might have been the person we saw leaving the dragon and running toward the swan float!”

  “But what about the cops finding the crown in Holden’s buggy?” Josh asked.

  “It could have been put there by
the real crooks,” Dink said. “To make it look like Holden had hidden it.”

  “That would mean that the crooks knew Holden had such a buggy,” Dink’s father said. “And where to find it after they took the crown.”

  “Right,” Dink said. “It would have been easy to find Holden. He drives that thing all over town! He even has a website with a picture of his bike!”

  “And now Holden and Lily are in jail,” Josh said.

  “Did you get them a lawyer?” Dink asked his father.

  “I didn’t need to,” Mr. Duncan said. “Lily’s parents wanted to call their own attorney. He arrives tomorrow morning.”

  “So they have to stay in jail?” Ruth Rose asked. “That’s not fair!”

  Dink’s father sighed. “No, it doesn’t seem fair,” he said. “But don’t forget that a valuable ruby has been stolen. And even if we think Holden is innocent, the crown was found in his bike. The police seem to think that’s enough to charge Holden with the crime.”

  “But the police don’t know Holden,” Ruth Rose said. “We do, and we think he’s innocent!”

  “Well, we might be able to prove that Holden is innocent,” Dink’s father went on, “if we can prove that someone else is guilty.” He looked at his watch. “But now it’s time for bed, kiddos. There’s nothing we can do tonight.”

  A half hour later, Dink lay in his bed staring at the dark ceiling. Josh was across the room in the other bed, lightly snoring. Nothing could keep him awake!

  “Prove that someone else is guilty,” Dink’s father had said. Then that’s what we’ll do! Dink decided. But how? We need a plan!

  Dink climbed out of bed and opened the door. Across the hall, he saw a strip of light under Ruth Rose’s door. She must be reading, he thought.

  Dink tapped lightly on her door. She opened it, wearing yellow pajamas with blue kangaroos jumping all over the flannel. “Are you awake?” Dink whispered.

  Ruth Rose grinned. “No, I’m asleep,” she said. “What’s going on?”

  “Can I come in?” Dink whispered. “I don’t want to wake my dad.”