Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
A cab-driving thief is on the loose!
Mr. Jansen stood back. He looked at his parents and asked, “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Granny said. “The cab driver just told us to get out of his cab. So we did.”
“You should have seen him drive off,” Gramps added. “Someone should have given him a ticket for speeding.”
Granny told the police officers, “We were looking for another cab when I realized he had our luggage and the two birthday gifts we brought along. It’s all in the trunk of his cab.”
Gramps said, “That’s why he drove off so fast. And that’s why he left us far away from anyone who could help us. He didn’t just want us out of his cab. He wanted to keep our luggage and gifts.”
The Cam Jansen Adventure Series
DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE YOUNG CAM JANSEN SERIES FOR YOUNGER READERS!
PUFFIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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First published in the United States of America by Viking,
a member of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2000
Published by Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2002, 2005
Text copyright © David A. Adler, 2000
Illustrations copyright © Susanna Natti, 2000
All rights reserved
eISBN : 978-1-101-07602-6
RL: 2.0
http://us.penguingroup.com
For my niece
Ayelet Dora Adler
Chapter One
Quack! Quack!
“The ducks look hungry,” Cam Jansen said to her parents. “Let’s feed them.”
“We didn’t bring bread,” Cam’s mother told her.
“And it’s getting late,” Cam’s father added. “It’s almost time for dinner.”
Cam looked at her watch. It was getting late, but not late enough. She had to keep her parents at the park a while longer.
Cam looked around. People were sitting on benches. An old man and woman walked by. They were holding hands. There were ducks on the lake. A boy and his mother were riding in a small boat. “Let’s walk around the lake,” Cam suggested, “or rent a boat.”
“No,” Mr. Jansen told her. “We must get home.”
Cam’s parents started toward the parking lot. Cam didn’t. She blinked her eyes and said, “Click.” Then she closed her eyes and called to her parents, “Give me a memory quiz. Ask me how many ducks are on the lake. Ask me how many people are sitting on benches.”
Mr. Jansen turned and said, “OK. How many ducks are on the lake?”
Cam has a photographic memory. It’s as if she has a mental camera with pictures in her head of whatever she has seen. When Cam wants to be sure to remember something, she blinks her eyes and says, “Click.” Cam says “Click” is the sound her mental camera makes when it takes a picture.
With her eyes still closed, Cam looked at the picture she had in her head. She counted the ducks.
The boy in the boat threw a pebble into the lake.
Quack! Quack! Quack!
Six ducks flew off.
“There are twelve ducks,” Cam said with her eyes still closed.
“I’m sorry,” Cam’s father told her, and smiled. “There are only six ducks swimming on the lake.”
Cam opened her eyes and counted the ducks.
“I was wrong!” Cam said. “But I clicked! I’m never wrong when I click!”
“Six and six are twelve,” Mr. Jansen joked. “Maybe your mental camera took a double exposure.”
“Don’t tease Cam,” Mrs. Jansen told her husband. Then she said to Cam, “There’s nothing wrong with your camera. When you clicked there were twelve ducks in the lake. Some of them flew off.”
Cam’s real name is Jennifer, but when people found out about her amazing photographic memory, they nicknamed her “The Camera.” Soon her nickname was shortened to “Cam.”
Cam looked at the many people sitting on benches. She blinked her eyes and said, “Click.” Then she closed her eyes.
“Now ask me about the benches,” Cam said. “Ask me about the people sitting on them.”
Mr. Jansen asked, “What color is the shirt of the man sitting on the bench close to the lake?”
Cam smiled. “You’re trying to trick me,” she answered. “There’s a woman sitting on that bench. She’s wearing a blue jacket, a blue-and-green striped shirt, and white pants. Her hair is red, like mine, and she’s wearing a scarf.”
“You’re right,” Mr. Jansen said. “You really do have an amazing memory. Now let’s go home.”
Cam opened her eyes. She looked at her watch.
“Oh, no!” Cam said. “It’s so late. Let’s hurry home.”
As they walked to their car, Mr. Jansen said to Cam, “At first, you wanted to stay here. Now you’re in a rush to get home. You’re acting funny.”
“I’m just acting hungry,” Cam told her father. “I want to go home and eat dinner.”
“Maybe we should go to a restaurant,” Mrs. Jansen said when they were in the car.
“Oh, no!” Cam said. “Let’s eat at home. We have egg salad and spinach left from lunch. That’s what I want.”
Mrs. Jansen turned and looked at Cam. “At lunch you said you hated egg salad and spinach. You are acting funny.”
They drove for a while. Then they turned the corner onto their block.
“It’s Sunday,” Mrs. Jansen said as they got close to their house. “Why are so many cars parked here? What’s going on?”
Chapter Two
Cam was right behind her parents as they walked from the car to the front of the house. Mr. Jansen opened the door.
“Surprise!”
The hall and living room were filled with friends and family. Many of them were wearing party hats. Some were blowing noise makers. There were lots of Happy Birthday! and Congratulations! signs.
Cam’s parents looked around. They were both smiling.
Cam and the party guests sang, “Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Jane and Barry. Happy birthday to you.”
“This is such a surprise,” Mr. Jansen said.
“All our favorite people are here,” Mrs. Jansen added.
Cam’s friend Eric Shelton was at the party. So were his parents, with his t
win sisters, Donna and Diane, and his baby brother, Howie.
“Excuse me, please. Excuse me,” Mr. Shelton called out. He carried in a large cake.
The cake was covered with pink icing. “40 and 40”was written in blue icing in the center of the cake.
Mr. and Mrs. Jansen’s fortieth birthdays were during the week, just a few days apart.
“Whose idea was this?” Mrs. Jansen asked.
“It was Cam‘s,” Eric said. “She planned the party. She kept you at the park so we could set everything up.”
Mrs. Jansen’s parents were at the party. She hugged and kissed them. She hugged her friends.
“Surprise! I’m here!” Cam’s aunt Molly called out.
She hugged Mrs. Jansen and said, “I’m really surprised to be here. I travel so much that sometimes I don’t know where I am.”
“Molly works for an airline,” Mrs. Jansen explained to the people nearby.
“Granny and Gramps are coming, too,” Cam told her father.
“They should be here soon,” Mr. Shelton added. “Their flight should have landed about an hour ago.”
Aunt Molly said, “My flight landed this morning. I know where I am today. I’m here. But I don’t remember where I was yesterday.”
“I’m just happy you came to our party,” Mrs. Jansen told her.
“Me, too,” Cam said.
Mr. Shelton called out, “Let’s eat,” and everyone followed him into the dining room.
Mr. Shelton set the cake on the table. There were also plates of cookies, baby carrots, and celery sticks. There were bowls of pretzels, and popcorn, too.
Mrs. Jansen cut a slice of birthday cake and gave it to Aunt Molly. She was about to cut another slice when the phone rang.
Mr. Jansen lifted the receiver and said, “Hello.”
He listened for a moment. Then he said, “Oh, my. That’s terrible.” He listened some more and said, “We’ll be right there. Meanwhile, you call the police.”
“That was Granny. She and Gramps were robbed,” Mr. Jansen said as he hurried to the door. “They’re alone in the airport parking lot, and I’m going to get them.”
“I’m going, too,” Mrs. Jansen said.
Chapter Three
Cam’s parents hurried out of the house. Cam and Eric followed them.
Mr. and Mrs. Jansen got into the front seat of the car, closed the car doors, and drove off. They were in too much of a hurry, and too upset, to notice that Cam and Eric were in the back.
“It’s our party. I was just cutting the cake when we left,” Mrs. Jansen said as they turned the corner. “Maybe one of us should have stayed.”
“They’re our friends,” Mr. Jansen said. “They understand.”
“And my father is good at cutting cake,” Eric said.
Cam’s parents turned. They saw Cam and Eric sitting in the back.
“You shouldn’t be here. You should be at the party,” Cam’s mother told them.
“I want to see Granny and Gramps,” Cam said.
“And there’s a thief to catch,” Eric said.
“And maybe there’s a mystery to solve,” Cam added. “You know I love solving mysteries.”
They were driving on a highway now. There was a large green sign ahead, pointing the way to the airport.
“We’re going to the airport to pick up Granny and Gramps. Nothing else!” Cam’s father said sternly. “If there’s a mystery, the police will solve it.”
They were at the airport now. They drove through a short tunnel under a runway. Then they drove on a winding road through the airport. On one side, people were hurrying to board planes. On the other side was a large parking lot.
“Look for them,” Mr. Jansen said. “Granny said they’re in section four of the parking lot.”
There was a path for people walking to and from the parking lot. The light above it had turned red. Mr. Jansen stopped the car and people walked past.
“Look for them,” Mr. Jansen said again.
There were so many people crossing in front of their car that Cam couldn’t see everyone.
The traffic light changed to green. Cam, Eric, and Cam’s parents kept looking for Cam’s grandparents.
Honk! Honk!
The driver waiting behind their car wanted to go.
Mr. Jansen lowered his window. “Granny! Gramps!” he called.
The people closest to the car turned, but they weren’t Cam’s grandparents.
Honk! Honk!
“I’m parking in section four,” Mr. Jansen said. He drove to the parking lot entrance.
Mr. Jansen drove to the gate. He pulled out a time card. The gate went up and he entered the lot.
“Granny! Gramps!” Mr. Jansen called as he drove slowly through the lot.
“Granny! Gramps!” Cam called.
The airport was noisy. Planes were landing nearby. Horns were honking. No one heard Mr. Jansen and Cam.
It was a very large lot. The parking spots closest to the path were taken. Mr. Jansen drove to an almost empty part of the lot. He parked against the fence.
Mr. Jansen hurried out of the car. Cam and Eric were about to follow him when Mrs. Jansen stopped them.
“Don’t run ahead,” she told Cam and Eric. “This airport is a big place. I don’t want you to get lost.”
Cam, Eric, and Mrs. Jansen started toward the path. Then Mrs. Jansen stopped.
“I’m depending on you and your photographic memory,” she told Cam, “to remember where our car is parked.”
Their car was parked between a small red sports car and a gray van loaded with luggage. Cam stood back so she could see the Jansens’ car, the sports car, and the loaded van. She blinked her eyes and said, “Click!”
Chapter Four
There were lots of people on the path. Many of them had luggage. When Cam, Eric, and Mrs. Jansen got close to the path, Eric whispered to Cam, “Let’s look for the thief, too.”
“That’s a good idea,” Cam whispered back.
A man wearing a dark suit and red bow tie rushed past. Cam looked at him, blinked her eyes and said, “Click!”
Cam looked at a man with long blond hair who was wearing a dark blue jacket. She blinked her eyes, and said “Click!”
She looked at a woman running past. The woman had her long brown hair in a pony-tail. Cam blinked her eyes and said, “Click!” again.
Mr. Jansen was in the middle of the crowd. “Where are they?” he asked. He was upset. “This is section four of the parking lot, and my parents are not here!”
Rrrrr! Rrrrr!
A police car entered the lot. Its lights were flashing and its siren was blaring. Mr. Jansen held up his arms. He waved wildly to the police and they drove over.
“Were you the people who called us? Were you robbed?” the policewoman driving the car asked.
“My parents were robbed,” Mr. Jansen answered. “They called us and said they were in section four. But we can’t find them.”
“This is a very large parking lot,” the policeman sitting next to the driver said. “The thief probably drove your parents to an empty part of the lot before he robbed them. That way, your parents couldn’t call out to anyone and the thief could escape.”
“Get in the back,” the policewoman said. “We’ll find them.”
Cam, Eric, and Cam’s parents squeezed into the backseat of the police car.
The airport had just one parking lot. The side closest to the terminals was filled with cars. Beyond that, the lot was empty. The policewoman drove to the far end of section four.
“Look over there,” the policeman said.
Two people were sitting by the fence. As the police car got closer, Cam shouted, “There they are!”
“Yes,” Mr. Jansen said. “Those are my parents!”
Chapter Five
When the car stopped, Mr. Jansen hurried to his parents. Cam, Eric, Mrs. Jansen, and the police officers were right behind him.
Mr. Jansen hugged and kissed his parents.
“Hi, Granny. Hi, Gramps,” Cam said. Then she and her mother hugged them, too.
Mr. Jansen stood back. He looked at his parents and asked, “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Granny said. “The cab driver just told us to get out of his cab. So we did.”
“You should have seen him drive off,” Gramps added. “Someone should have given him a ticket for speeding.”
Granny told the police officers, “We were looking for another cab when I realized he had our luggage and the two birthday gifts we brought along. It’s all in the trunk of his cab.”
Gramps said, “That’s why he drove off so fast. And that’s why he left us far away from anyone who could help us. He didn’t just want us out of his cab. He wanted to keep our luggage and gifts.”
Granny said, “When we realized we were robbed, I called you on my cell phone.”
“I’m Officer Taylor,” the policewoman said as she took a pen and pad from her pocket. “Can you describe the man?”
“Of course I can describe him,” Granny answered. “He wasn’t polite. He was greedy and not honest.”
“Please,” Officer Taylor said. “Tell us what he looks like.”
“Is he tall or short?” the policeman asked. “Is he fat or thin? What color are his eyes? His hair? What is he wearing?”
Cam’s grandparents looked at each other. They thought for a moment.
“We never saw his face,” Granny said. “He sat in the front seat of the cab and he never turned to look at us.”
Officer Taylor asked, “Can you describe the cab?”
“It was yellow,” Gramps said, “and there were candy wrappers on the floor.”
Officer Taylor closed her pad and put it back in her pocket.
“There are hundreds of cabs here,” she said. “They’re all yellow and probably all have candy wrappers on the floor. Without a better description, we can’t help you.”
Cam Jansen and the Birthday Mystery Page 1