The New Year Dragon Dilemma

by Ron Roy

  “Sure.” Ruth Rose let Dink in. “Where’s Josh?”

  “Right here!” Josh said, stumbling into the room. His hair was a mess and he was rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “What’s up?”

  The kids grabbed pillows off the twin beds and sat on the rug.

  “Do we agree that Holden and Lily didn’t steal that ruby?” Dink asked.

  “I do!” Ruth Rose said.

  They both looked at Josh. His mouth was open in a huge yawn.

  Josh looked back at them, blinking. “Okay, I guess I go along with you,” he said. “But what about the crown the cops found in Holden’s buggy?”

  “Josh,” Ruth Rose said, “if Holden stole the crown, why would he hide it in his own bike? That would be pretty dumb, and Holden isn’t dumb! Somebody else must have put it there, knowing the cops would search.”

  “Okay, we agree,” Dink said. “Now we just have to find the real crook.”

  “Except for one teeny-tiny thing,” Josh said. “We don’t know who it is.”

  “I have one idea,” Dink said. “That guy with the laptop at the aquarium.”

  “Yeah, you said he had a drawing of the swan float on his computer,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Well, I think it was the swan float,” Dink said.

  “So how do we find this guy?” Josh asked. “He could be anywhere.”

  “I don’t know,” Dink said. “If you just stole a priceless ruby, what would you do?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t try to sell it,” Ruth Rose said. “The theft will be all over the newspapers and TV by tomorrow morning. It’s probably on the Internet right now!”

  “Know what I’d do?” asked Josh. “I’d hop a plane. No, I’d buy a boat and sail around the world!”

  A picture of a sailboat flashed into Dink’s mind. Where had he seen a sailboat? Then he knew.

  Dink threw a pillow at Josh. “You’re a genius!” he yelled.

  “I am?” Josh asked. He blinked. “Cool!”

  “Why is Josh a genius?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “Because he made me remember something about that guy in the aquarium,” Dink said. “First, he had a dark tan. And he had this long knife, the kind guys who go fishing a lot carry on them. And when I saw him last, he was walking toward the docks at Fisherman’s Wharf.”

  “I don’t get it,” Josh said.

  “There are boats tied up to the docks,” Dink said. “And a picture of a sailboat was the screen saver on his laptop. Guys, I think this guy keeps a boat at Fisherman’s Wharf!”

  “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 Tshirts.

  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.

  “Well, thanks a lot,” Dink said to the two men. “My dad is waiting outside, so we’d better get going. He gets really mad when I’m late!”

  Dink hustled Josh and Ruth Rose out the door.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” Josh asked. “Your dad doesn’t even know where we are. And he never gets mad!”

  “Follow me!” Dink said. He hurried toward the water, hoping the guy in the harbormaster shed wasn’t watching. Dink stopped when they reached a short dock. He stepped behind a row of tall blue recycling bins.

  “That’s the sailboat!” he said, pointing.

  Josh and Ruth Rose just looked at him.

  “The one I saw on that guy’s laptop in the aquarium!” Dink added.

  “How did you know it was here?” asked Ruth Rose.

  “I caught that guy Burk sneaking a peek at it,” Dink said. “After he told us he didn’t recognize Josh’s drawing, he looked right out the window at the boat.”

  The boat was moored about fifty yards out into the water. It was painted green, but some of the paint was chipped away. The sails were down, but Dink could see that they were dirty. Someone’s T-shirt was pinned to a rope, flapping in the breeze. A rubber dinghy was tied to the aft end of the boat.

  “I wonder if the laptop guy is out there,” Josh said.

  “I don’t know,” Dink said, wishing he had binoculars.

  Just then they heard a door slam behind them. They looked and saw a man leaving the harbormaster shed. He was hurrying toward the dock.

  “Duck!” Ruth Rose said. All three of them scrunched down behind the recycling bins.

  The man called Burk rushed past them and hurried out onto the dock. He was wearing a light-colored fisherman’s sweater. They watched him stop at the end of the dock.

  Less than a minute later, a man on the sailboat stepped into the dinghy, untied the rope, and started the motor. It took only a minute or two to reach the end of the dock. He and Burk began talking. The dinghy driver remained seated in his boat with the motor running. Burk stood on the dock, looking down at him. They both looked angry.

  “The guy in the boat is Laptop Man!” Josh whispered to his two friends.

  “I know,” Dink answered, keeping his voice low. “And I think Burk is the man I saw last night, running toward the swan float.”

  “He’s small enough to climb that little ladder,” Ruth Rose said. “And I’ll bet anything that piece of yarn you found came from his sweater!”

  “Right,” Dink said. “And when we saw the guy with the laptop at the aquarium, he was telling Burk to go to the swan float during the second fireworks. He even drew a picture for him. I’ll bet you he emailed it.”

  “So let’s arrest them!” Josh said.

  “We can’t prove they stole anything,” Dink said. “And even if we could, we have to tell the police.”

  “Why don’t we call them right now?” Ruth Rose asked. “You’ve got your cell phone, right?”

  Dink looked at Rut
h Rose. “What would we say?” he asked.

  “We could tell them we found a guy wearing a sweater that matches that piece of yarn,” Ruth Rose suggested.

  “Guys, something is happening!” Josh whispered.

  The man in the boat stood up. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out something small enough to conceal in one hand. He passed the object to Burk, who looked at it, then slipped it into his own pocket.

  “What did he give him?” Josh asked.

  “Could it be the ruby?” Ruth Rose asked. “There’s our proof!”

  “No, the ruby was bigger,” Dink said. “It’s about the size of an apple. And if Burk stole the ruby last night and gave it to Laptop Guy, why would he be giving it back to Burk now?”

  The man in the dinghy shoved off, heading out toward his sailboat. Burk turned and walked back the way he’d come. He passed within two feet of the recycling bins where the kids were hiding.

  “He doesn’t look happy,” Ruth Rose said.

  They watched him approach the harbormaster shed. But he didn’t go in. He kept walking toward the street.

  “Where’s he going?” Josh asked.

  “I don’t know, but wherever it is, we’re going, too!” Dink said.

  The kids let Burk get about a hundred yards ahead of them, then they followed. Away from the water, the fog was thicker, making it difficult to see him.

  Burk stopped at a street corner. He glanced at his watch, then looked around as if waiting for someone.

  “What’s he doing?” Josh asked.

  The kids were huddled next to a small food store that sold sandwiches. Delicious smells came through the open window.

  Burk looked at his watch again, then leaned against a sign.

  “Oh my gosh, look!” Ruth Rose said.

  The sign Burk was leaning on said CABLE CAR STOP.

  “He’s gonna get on a cable car!” Josh said.

  Just then they heard a rattling noise. A cable car was headed down the street, slowing. Burk raised an arm, and the car stopped. They saw him leap on.

  “We have to get on, too!” Dink said. “Let’s go!”

  “But he’ll see us!” Josh said.

  “Not if we get on the back,” Dink said. “See, there’s a little platform. Run!”