“That’s okay,” Terri said. “The raid wasn’t much fun, but watching Cam solve another mystery was.”
“Click!” Gina said. “Now I’m solving a mystery.”
“Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!” Gina said.
Gina took a deep breath and said, “That’s all. I’m out of film.”
“And it’s time to get ready for dinner,” Fran said.
Cam and the other girls in G8 followed Fran to their tidy bunk. They washed their hands and got ready for dinner.
“Just wait till after dinner,” Fran said. “Our night activity will be so exciting.”
“Are we going on a raid?” Betsy asked.
“No,” Fran answered. “One raid is enough. We’re going on a scavenger hunt.”
After dinner, Sadie Rosen came to G8’s bunk. She gave the girls in G8 this list of things to find:
“I have a balloon,” Terri said. “That’s an air bag.”
Gina took a pen and pad from her night stand. She drew a circle on the paper and said, “This pen writes green.”
“But that’s blue ink,” Fran said.
“Wait,” Gina told her. “Watch it write green.”
With her blue pen, Gina wrote the word green.
Cam, Terri, and the other girls in G8 laughed.
“And I’m an old camera,” Cam said. “I’m ten years old and I have a photographic memory. That’s just like a camera.”
“Aren’t scavenger hunts fun?” Fran asked.
“Camp is fun,” Cam said. “It’s lots of fun!”
Cam JanSen
The Basketball Mystery
CHAPTER ONE
“Hey! Quiet down!” Danny shouted. He was standing on a chair in the dining room. “I can’t hear myself think!”
“That’s good,” Betsy shouted to him from her seat at the next table. “It’s better if you don’t think. I’ve heard enough of your riddles.”
“Hey, you didn’t hear this one. What did one baby ear of corn say to the other?”
Betsy didn’t answer.
“It said, ‘Where’s pop corn?”’
“Sit down,” Jacob told him.
Cam, the other girls in G8, and all the other children at Camp Eagle Lake were in the dining room. They were waiting for their dinners. It was near the end of Cam’s third week in camp. Soon she would be going home.
“What’s for dinner?” Betsy asked.
“I know what’s for dinner tomorrow night,” Terri said. “The last night in camp is banquet night. We get hot dogs or steak or chicken or hamburger or turkey. We get whatever we want. It’s like a restaurant.”
Fran and Gina came out of the kitchen. They each held a large round tray.
“What’s for dinner?” Betsy asked again.
“Food,” Fran answered. “Good food.”
Fran and Gina rested their trays on the edge of the table.
Fran said, “We have tuna fish or chicken, spinach or carrots, and baked potatoes.”
“I’ll take the chicken,” Betsy said. “No one likes tuna fish.”
“I do,” Cam said. “Kitty does.”
Fran took off the platters of chicken and tuna fish and bowls of spinach, carrots, and baked potatoes. One by one, she gave them to the girls in her group.
Cam and her friends talked while they ate. When dinner was done, Cam put a little leftover tuna fish in a napkin. She put the napkin in her pocket.
When she got back to her bunk, Cam looked for Kitty. But Kitty wasn’t in her usual place on the porch.
Cam put the tuna-fish-filled napkin on her night stand. Then she sat on her bed and thought about all the fun she had had in camp. She was sorry the three weeks were almost over.
“The basketball courts have lights,” Terri said to Cam. “Let’s shoot some hoops. This may be our last chance. Tomorrow night is the banquet.”
“Sure,” Cam said. “But first, I want to feed Kitty.”
She took the tuna fish. Then Cam and Terri told Fran where they were going.
“Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,” Cam called once they were outside the bunk. Cam opened up the napkin and held it out.
“I wonder where she is,” Cam said.
“Maybe she’s not hungry. Or maybe someone else is feeding her,” Terri said. “Let’s just play basketball.”
Cam closed the napkin and went with Terri to the basketball courts. There, under the lights, was Kitty. Eric and Jim, the sports counselor, were there, too. It was Eric’s turn to help Jim. Both Jim and Eric had brooms. They were about to sweep the courts. Jim and a helper swept the courts every evening after dinner.
Eric was petting Kitty.
Jim said, “Sometimes Kitty comes here at night. I think it’s the light that attracts her.”
Cam gave Kitty the tuna fish.
“I’m going home soon,” Cam told Kitty. “I’ll miss you.”
Meow!
Kitty quickly ate the tuna fish. Then Cam told Jim that she and Terri wanted to play basketball.
“I want to play, too,” Eric said.
“Here,” Jim said, and gave Eric a key. “Get a basketball from the sports shed.”
The others watched Eric walk slowly across the road to the shed. He stopped there for a moment and ran back.
“Everything is gone!” Eric told Jim. “When I got there, the door was open and all the sports equipment was gone.”
CHAPTER TWO
“That can’t be true,” Jim said. “I locked the shed just before dinner, and everything was there.”
They all hurried to the shed. The door was open. The padlock had been cut. It was on the floor. Inside, Jim’s papers and empty boxes were everywhere. There was broken glass from the framed picture that had been on Jim’s desk. And all the sports equipment was gone.
“Sadie Rosen will be upset,” Jim said. “The equipment was new. There were prizes, too, for the banquet, and my computer.”
“Don’t worry,” Terri said, “Cam will find out who stole all your stuff. She’s good at solving mysteries.”
Eric corrected her. “Cam and I will find out,” he said. “We solve mysteries together.”
Jim collected his papers. Cam, Eric, and Terri looked for clues.
“Maybe the thief dropped something,” Eric told Terri. “Maybe he stepped in mud and left footprints.”
Jim picked up a sheet of paper and said, “Look at this. It’s a list of all the equipment. There were twelve new basketballs, four dozen softballs, one dozen new bats, and lots more. My computer was new, too, and all the prizes for the banquet were taken.”
“The thief must have loaded it all in his car and taken it out of camp,” Terri said. “If he did, he drove right past Barry. We just have to ask Barry who left camp during dinner.”
“Great!” Cam said. “Let’s go.”
“Please,” Jim said. “Wait just a moment for me.”
Jim put the papers he collected into an empty box. Then he said, “Come on, Kitty. Come with us. There’s broken glass on the floor. You can’t stay here.”
Kitty was by the door. She was licking the padlock.
“Come on, Kitty,” Jim said again. Then he picked her up and carried her.
Barry was sitting in the booth by the camp entrance. He was reading a book. Jim knocked on the window.
“Hey, Jim,” Barry said. He showed Jim his book. “You should read this. It’s great. It’s all about Babe Ruth. He was a baseball player.”
Jim said, “I know who Babe Ruth was. What I want to know is who left camp during dinner.”
“Dinner,” Barry said and looked at his clipboard. “One car left during dinner and one truck came in. Sadie Rosen left at five fifty. She went to get the movie she’s showing tonight.” Barry leaned forward and whispered, “And the plumber came. There’s a problem with the toilets in bunk B6.”
“Did the plumber drive a truck?” Terri asked.
“Of course she drove a truck,” Barry answered. “She has lots of tools and pipes and p
lungers. She needs all those things for her work. She’s still here.”
“Let’s go to B6,” Jim said. “Maybe the plumber has lots of basketballs and baseball bats, too.”
“Basketballs? Baseball bats?” Barry said. “Why would a plumber need those?”
Jim and the others didn’t answer. They were already on their way to B6.
CHAPTER THREE
“Look!” Terri said, and pointed. “There’s the plumber’s truck. It’s big enough to hold lots of sports stuff.”
A small truck was parked in front of bunk B6. Cam, Eric, Terri, and Jim hurried across the baseball field. Jim put Kitty down. Then he tried to open the back door of the truck. It was locked.
“Are you looking for me?” someone asked.
Cam and the others turned. A tall woman was standing behind them. She wore overalls, a T-shirt, work boots and a baseball cap. She was holding a large metal toolbox.
“We’re looking for basketballs and baseball bats,” Cam said.
“I don’t have any of those,” the woman said as she walked past Cam and the others. She opened the back door of her truck and put her things inside.
Jim held the door open.
“May I look inside?” he asked.
“Sure,” the woman said. “Lots of people are curious about plumbing. But it’s just about keeping the water running, stopping leaks, and sometimes installing boilers for heat. That’s what I do.”
There were lots of pipes and tools in the truck, but no sports equipment.
“Do you know what I just did in there?” the woman asked, and pointed to bunk B6. “I just cleared a clogged toilet. Do you know what it was clogged with? Carrot sticks! I didn’t ask why there were carrots in the toilet. I never ask. I just clear the clog and go home.”
“Thank you,” Jim said, and closed the back door of the truck.
“Once I found a math test. A boy had balled it up. He dropped it in the bowl and flushed. It was all wet when I got it out. But do you know what? His mother opened it up to see his grade on the test.”
“Thank you,” Jim said again.
“His mother wasn’t angry that he stopped up the toilet,” the plumber said. “But she was real angry about the test grade. Oh, I could tell you lots of stories.”
“We’re looking for basketballs,” Eric said.
“Oh, I never found one of those in a toilet. It wouldn’t fit through the pipes.”
The plumber petted Kitty.
“One day, I’m going to write a book,” she said. “I might call it Peeks at Leaks or Pipes and Gripes.”
She got in her truck. “Look for my book,” she said as she drove off.
Jim said, “The only other person who came in or left during dinner was Sadie Rosen. She wouldn’t steal basketballs and my computer.”
“Is there a back way into camp?” Cam asked.
“You can go through the woods,” Jim told her.
They followed Jim to the woods just beyond the baseball field. It had rained earlier in the day. The ground was soft and wet.
Jim said, “Look for foot or tire prints.”
They all walked along the edge of the woods from the end near the baseball field to the road.
Once they reached the road, Eric said, “There’s nothing here. There’s no path wide enough for a car or truck to ride on.”
“There are lots of footprints,” Terri said. “They’re from this afternoon, when we played baseball here. But none of them leads into the woods.”
There were several benches along the side of the road. Jim sat on one. He put his head in his hands and said, “We didn’t find any clues. Everything is just gone.”
Meow!
Kitty rubbed her back against Jim’s leg.
“No, it’s not just gone,” Cam told him. “We did learn something. We learned that the sports equipment didn’t leave the camp through the front entrance or through the woods. So it must still be here. It must be hidden.”
Jim looked up.
“That’s right,” Jim said. “Now where in camp could someone hide basketballs, soft-balls, baseball bats, my computer, and all those prizes?”
CHAPTER FOUR
“This is like a math problem,” Terri said. “First we have to see what we know and then find out what we don’t know.”
“We know lots of stuff was stolen,” Eric said.
“And we know it’s still somewhere in camp,” Terri added. “We just need to know where.”
“This isn’t helping,” Jim said. “I don’t need problems. I need answers. I need to know where to find my things.”
Meow! Kitty said, and licked Cam’s hand.
Cam petted Kitty.
Jim said, “I also need to know what to do without all the sports equipment. The end-of-camp tournaments are tomorrow.”
Meow!
Cam took her hand from Kitty. Her palm was wet. Cam wiped her hand on her shirt.
“She’s licking your hand,” Eric said. “It must taste like the tuna fish you fed her.”
“That’s right,” Cam said, and looked at Kitty.
Cam looked at her hand. She thought for a moment and said, “Eric, you may have done it again. You may have helped me remember a very important clue.”
“What clue?” Terri asked.
Cam didn’t answer. Instead she closed her eyes and said, “Click!”
She said, “Click!” again.
“What are you looking at?” Eric asked.
“I’m looking at Kitty by the sports shed,” Cam answered.
Cam opened her eyes. “I just remembered that when we left the shed, Kitty didn’t want to go. Jim had to pick her up and carry her.”
“So what?” Jim asked. “She’s not heavy.”
“But why didn’t she want to leave?” Cam asked as she stood. “I’m going back to the shed to find out.”
Jim picked up Kitty again. He followed Cam, Eric, and Terri to the shed.
“Please,” Cam said, “put Kitty down.”
Jim put Kitty down by the entrance to the shed. Kitty went back to the padlock. She started to lick it.
“When we went to talk to Barry, Kitty was licking this lock,” Cam said. “That’s why Kitty didn’t want to leave the shed.”
“But why?” Eric asked. “It’s just a metal lock.”
Jim took the padlock from Kitty. He smelled it.
“It’s metal,” he said, “but it smells like fish.”
“Tuna fish,” Terri said. “Cam, you had tuna fish in a napkin. You must have touched it.”
“But I didn’t,” Cam said. “None of us did. We just looked at the lock and saw it was cut. The last person to touch it must have been the thief.”
“And there must have been tuna fish on his hands,” Eric said, “or the smell of tuna fish.”
Terri said, “We know the thief is still in camp. All we have to do is figure out who in camp has the smell of tuna fish on his hands.”
“Well,” Eric said. “It can’t be one of the campers. We were all eating dinner when the thief broke into the shed. And a camper wouldn’t have a place to hide that sports stuff.”
“And the counselors were all with their groups,” Terri added.
“Maybe Barry did it,” Eric said, “He wasn’t in the dining room.”
“Barry has been at Eagle Lake for a very long time,” Jim said. “I think he’s Sadie Rosen’s uncle or cousin. He wouldn’t steal from the camp.”
“But that’s everyone,” Terri said.
Meow!
Jim looked at Kitty. Then he said, “No, it isn’t. There’s still the kitchen staff. They prepared the chicken and tuna fish. But when dinner was being served, one of them could have snuck off and cut the lock. And if the thief prepared the tuna, his hands would have a fishy smell.”
Jim rubbed his chin. “If I’m right, and the thief works in the kitchen, I think I know just where the sports equipment is hidden.”
“Where?” Eric asked. “Where could someone hide all th
ose basketballs and baseball bats?”
“I’ll show you,” Jim said. “Follow me.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Jim walked across the baseball field, through the dining room, and into the kitchen. Cam, Eric, Terri, and Kitty followed him. Jim stopped in front of a large metal door. He pulled on the door handle, but it didn’t open.
“It’s locked,” Jim said.
“But it’s a refrigerator,” Terri said. “Why would anyone keep basketballs in a refrigerator?”
“It’s a big walk-in refrigerator,” Jim said. “The butcher comes to camp every morning and delivers meat and fish. It’s put in here. In the afternoon, the cook makes dinner. Then the refrigerator is empty. The thief could have sneaked out during dinner, stolen the sports equipment, the prizes, and my computer and hidden it all in here. Later tonight, when everyone is asleep, he can load it in his car and drive away.”
“Should we hide here and wait for the thief to unlock it?” Eric asked.
“No,” Jim answered. “I’ll get Sadie Rosen. She has a key to the refrigerator. When she opens it, we’ll find out if I’m right.”
Jim took a cell phone from his pocket. He was about to make a call when the kitchen door opened. Kenny, one of the kitchen workers, came in. He was holding a key.
“Oops!” he said.
Kenny started to turn. He was about to leave the kitchen.
“Wait!” Jim said. “Why did you come in here?”
“I thought I was hungry, but I’m not,” Kenny answered.
“Is that the key to the refrigerator?” Jim asked.
“Is it? I don’t know,” Kenny said.
Jim took the key from him. He put it in the lock just beneath the refrigerator door handle. He turned the key and opened the door.
“Basketballs,” Jim said. “Baseball bats, soft-balls, tennis balls, hockey pucks, prizes, and my computer. They’re all nice and cold.”
“Why is that stuff in the refrigerator?” Kenny asked.
Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries Page 4