The Swimming Pool Mystery

by Martin Widmark

  Santa Claus clutched his sack to his chest. Maya could see that the sack was actually not totally empty.

  The police chief continued seriously, “Wouldn’t Santa Claus like to lead the dance around the Christmas tree?”

  The other swimmers clapped, and Santa Claus put down his sack.

  “It’s time,” said the police chief. “Everyone on their feet!”

  Everyone sitting on the benches stood up. That’s when Maya discovered it:

  “My medal!” she shouted. “Who took my swimming medal?”

  Maya looked first at Bert Anderson. He had been sitting right next to her after all. But Bert shook his head.

  “Was it you?” asked Maya.

  Bert shook his head again. Then he pointed to his throat and closed his lips tightly.

  “What do you mean?” asked Maya. “I know very well that you want a swimming medal.”

  Bert pointed to the water and then pretended to shiver. Then he pointed to his throat again.

  “He’s trying to say that he got a sore throat from walking around in the water,” said Jerry. “And that now he can’t talk.”

  “Not being able to talk doesn’t mean you can’t open your mouth!” said Maya. “Open up!”

  Once again, Bert shook his head. And now he rolled his eyes and groaned.

  “You can’t fool me!” said Maya.

  “Come on, everybody!” shouted the police chief from over by the Christmas tree.

  “I’ll get the truth out of you one way or another,” Maya whispered angrily to Bert.

  The police chief stood by the tree holding Santa Claus’s hand.

  “Let’s start with ‘Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer,’” said the police chief.

  But he didn’t get any further before the whole hall was filled with a loud wailing noise. Ellen the receptionist came running out of the girls’ changing room.

  The lifeguard leaped forward immediately and stood in front of the others. With her hands on her hips, she said, “That’s the fire alarm. Stay where you are. I will take care of it.”

  As she ran past Ellen Aspen, she smiled at her reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Ellen, I’m on top of it.”

  Maya, Jerry, and the others held their hands over their ears until the alarm was switched off.

  Soon the lifeguard ran back into the hall again. She stopped by a trash can and peeled something off her fingers. All eyes were on her.

  When she joined the group by the tree, she looked upset.

  “It was a false alarm. There’s no fire. But . . . I have something awful to tell you . . .”

  CHAPTER 5

  The Thief Among Us

  “Someone has emptied the lockers,” Kate said with a sob.

  “What do you mean?” groaned the police chief.

  “All the lockers are open and empty. We’ve been robbed.”

  “This is unbelievable,” roared the police chief. “Doesn’t crime ever take a vacation? Follow me!”

  All of the swimmers left the pool area. Well, almost all of them.

  “Help!” called Rocky after them. “My swimming trunks!”

  “You’ll have to wait,” said the police chief, clutching the trunks. “I must investigate a crime!”

  In the changing rooms Maya, Jerry, and the police chief quickly pulled on their clothes. Outside by the lockers everyone could see that Kate’s announcement was true: The lockers were open and empty.

  “Nobody is to leave the building until the thief is caught,” said the police chief. “And that means nobody!”

  “It must have been somebody who has a key,” said Jerry. “There are no signs of a break-in.”

  “Don’t forget: There’s a master key in the staff room,” said Maya.

  The police chief walked over to the main doors and tried to open them.

  “Locked,” he said. “In other words . . .”

  “The thief is still among us,” said Maya as she looked at everyone crowding into the front hall.

  The residents of Pleasant Valley squirmed uncomfortably.

  “Okay,” said Maya. “Somebody snuck in from the pool, took the key, and then opened the lockers.”

  “When Ellen and Rocky came into the hall, everybody was there,” continued Jerry.

  “Let’s think,” said Maya. “Who left the hall after that? And who could have gotten into the staff room where the spare key is kept?”

  The police chief scratched his head. Then his face brightened and he turned to the lifeguard:

  “You left the hall, and you have the key to the staff room.”

  “Me?” spluttered Kate.

  “‘I’ll go and lock the doors,’ you said. ‘So that nobody else can come in.’ That’s what you said. At that point you could have easily looted the lockers.”

  “You think I had something to do with this? You’re out of your mind!”

  “Maybe more mindful than you think,” replied the police chief craftily.

  He narrowed his eyes to slits and commanded, “Open the door to the staff room!”

  Kate did as the police chief said.

  “And now, in the name of the law, open your locker.”

  Kate opened it. Jerry, Maya, and the police chief looked in her locker. They saw a jacket, a pair of shoes, and a candlestick with a candle . . . but no stolen goods.

  Maya looked more closely at the candlestick.

  “Why do you have a candlestick in your locker?” she asked.

  Kate hesitated a few seconds.

  “Oh, that . . . I used it during a staff holiday party a few days ago.”

  Maya looked more closely at the candle. She saw that it was a little sooty and that the wax was soft at the top.

  “But there are no stolen goods here!” said the police chief. “Did anyone else leave the hall?”

  Jerry and Maya looked at one another. They both realized it at the same time:

  “Santa Claus!”

  “He sneaked out just after Kate,” said Jerry.

  “And his sack wasn’t empty,” said Maya. “Even though he said there were no more presents.”

  The police chief looked out into the hall. He soon spotted the mysterious Santa Claus cowering in a corner.

  “Come here, Santa Claus,” said the police chief. “And bring your Santa sack with you!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Unmasking Santa

  “Why did you leave the hall?” asked the police chief sternly.

  “I wanted to get more Christmas presents to hand out,” squeaked Santa Claus from behind his mask.

  There is something familiar about that voice, thought Maya. She was sure she had heard that voice before, but she couldn’t remember where.

  “And where were you going to get the presents from?” continued the police chief.

  “The workshop, of course,” replied Santa Claus.

  “The workshop?” asked the police chief.

  “Yes, Santa’s workshop. Where else do you think they make presents?”

  And those crosses on his swimming trunks, wondered Maya, they remind me of something, too.

  The police chief looked at Jerry and Maya, puzzled. Jerry took over.

  “What have you got in your sack?”

  “Nothing,” Santa Claus replied quickly.

  “Turn the sack upside down and shake it,” said Jerry.

  Santa Claus hesitated but then shook his sack very carefully.

  Santa Claus shouted something unusual when Ellen said that Rocky had arrived, thought Maya. He said “Finally!” And something else . . .

  “Turn the sack upside down and shake it properly,” said Jerry firmly.

  When Santa did as he was told, something fell on the floor. With a little clatter, a pair of scissors landed in front of the police chief’
s feet.

  “Why do you have scissors in your sack?” he asked.

  “Because . . . because . . . ,” Santa Claus began. “Because someone might need them when they want to open their present?”

  “Hallelujah!” thought Maya. That’s what he shouted! “Hallelujah!”

  Now she knew who was hiding behind the mask!

  “I think you’re lying,” said Jerry.

  “No, I’m not,” replied Santa Claus.

  “The Bible says,” began Maya, “that you must not lie.”

  “Um . . . ,” said Santa Claus.

  “Remove your mask, Father John!” said Maya.

  “Father John?” said the police chief.

  Santa Claus took off his mask.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” groaned the police chief, when he saw the priest’s face.

  “He’s not so easy to recognize without his black robe,” said Maya.

  “Nor walking around wearing nothing but swim trunks in the middle of winter,” said Jerry.

  “What a strange day,” said the police chief. “A priest in swim trunks and an Olympic diver without!”

  “Maybe Rocky Bolinder should borrow Father John’s trunks,” joked Jerry.

  The priest jerked around at the mention of Rocky’s name. He was shaking with anger. And then suddenly Jerry understood how the two pairs of trunks were connected!

  CHAPTER 7

  Can I Go Home Now?

  “You cut the waistband in Rocky’s swimming trunks, didn’t you?” Jerry said to the priest.

  The priest didn’t answer.

  “You followed Kate the lifeguard when she left the pool area,” continued Jerry.

  The priest hitched up his swimming trunks and confessed, “I didn’t mean to cut up Rocky’s swimming trunks.”

  “So . . . ,” said the police chief. “What did you mean to cut up?”

  “Those pictures plastered all over the reception desk,” said the priest.

  “The pictures of Rocky?” said Maya in surprise. “What for?”

  “Because it’s the holiday season,” replied Father John.

  “I don’t understand,” said the police chief. “Because of the holidays?”

  “We should spend this time of year being humble and doing things for others,” said the priest bitterly. “Not worshipping some celebrity diving champion.”

  “So you were headed to the front desk, but saw that the door to the staff room was open?” said Jerry.

  The priest nodded.

  “I saw the lifeguard lighting a candle over there,” said the priest, pointing to a table.

  “A candle?” asked Maya.

  “Yes. She had wrapped a red napkin around the candle. It made me think of the special candles in the church at this time of year.”

  “And then you saw Rocky’s swimming trunks?” prompted the police chief.

  “I saw a gym bag on a chair,” the priest tells them. “I crept quietly into the room and went a bit closer. It said ROCKY BOLINDER—DIVER, on the tag. When the lifeguard left, I cut them and stood behind an open locker to keep out of sight.”

  “But I don’t understand,” said Jerry. “Why did you shout hallelujah when Rocky came into the pool?”

  “I shout hallelujah when I’m happy,” Father John said.

  “Happy?” asked the police chief.

  “I was happy that the diver had arrived, so that I could show people what the holiday season was really about.”

  “Oh, so that’s it,” said the police chief uncertainly. He wasn’t really following the priest’s logic.

  Jerry sighed heavily. “We’re back to square one. We don’t know anything.”

  Maya was thinking about the candle that Kate had lit.

  “Can I go home now?” asked the priest.

  “Well, I guess so,” said the police chief. “We seem to be stuck. What a day! Thefts, swimming trunks that were tampered with, and the fire alarm. Oh dear, oh dear.”

  “The fire alarm . . . wait a moment!” Maya suddenly shouted. “I think I know what happened!”

  CHAPTER 8

  Yes, Yes, Yes, I Confess!

  The police chief and the others looked at Maya.

  “Do you remember whether the candle was lit when you left this room?” Maya asked the priest.

  “Yes, it was lit,” the priest replied straightaway.

  “Are you sure?” asked Maya.

  “I’m absolutely sure,” replied the priest. “I remember thinking that lit candles should be in a church or in homes, where we should all be at this time of year. It was strange that there was a lit candle in a changing room.”

  “If that’s the case, I know who is guilty!” said Maya with a smile.

  “You do?” said the police chief and Jerry at the same time.

  “Kate the lifeguard!” said Maya.

  “How dare you accuse me!” said Kate.

  “Look,” said Maya.

  She took the candlestick and placed it on the table. Then she looked around and found a pack of red napkins. She tied a napkin around the candle.

  “What do you think would happen,” said Maya, “if I lit the candle?”

  “In a little while the napkin would catch fire,” said Jerry.

  “And what would happen then?” asked Maya and pointed up at the ceiling above the table where the candle was.

  There was a fire alarm there, its light flashing.

  “Well done, Maya!” said the police chief. “You have solved the case.”

  “And I am sure, said Maya, “that if we look in the trash can in the hall, we will find the candle wax that you picked off your fingers when you switched off the alarm and put out the candle flame.”

  “You are the culprit!” said the police chief with his hands on his hips.

  He took a step closer to the lifeguard.

  “Yes, yes, yes!” she yelled. “I confess! I lit the candle and tied a napkin around it to set off the fire alarm.”

  “Yes, we got that. Now show us the stolen goods,” said the police chief more loudly.

  “I don’t have any stolen goods!”

  “But . . . ,” said Maya. “If you didn’t steal the wallets and phones, why did you set off the fire alarm?”

  “Because . . .”

  “Yes!

  “Because I wanted to impress . . .”

  “Ellen,” said Jerry. “Didn’t you?”

  Kate blushed.

  “‘I don’t understand why Rocky Bolinder is coming to Pleasant Valley,’” Jerry said, repeating Kate’s earlier words. “‘He’s not that great of a diver.’”

  “It was silly of me,” admitted the lifeguard. “But I was jealous. Ellen used to think I was the best diver in town.”

  “Is that what you do when you want to show that you are a better diver?” asked the police chief. “Set off a fire alarm? That’s utterly irresponsible.”

  “It was irresponsible . . . I’m sorry,” whispered Kate, looking at the floor.

  “So then there is only one person left,” said Jerry.

  “Ellen,” said Maya. “But why would she have robbed the lockers?”

  The police chief walked over to Ellen’s locker and opened it. At the bottom of the locker was a box. The police chief took it out.

  “I imagine we shall find the answers to all our questions in this box,” he said.

  Then Ellen Aspen suddenly punched the police chief in the stomach. She grabbed the box from him.

  “Give it to me!” she said. “It’s mine!”

  She ran out of the staff room. The police chief fell to the floor.

  “In the name of the law, stop her!” he cried.

  CHAPTER 9

  Catching a Thief

  Bert was standing by the mai
n door. He seemed to be explaining to the other swimmers that he couldn’t talk. He was pointing to his throat and his mouth.

  “Stop that thief!” shouted Jerry.

  Bert spun around but didn’t have time to get out of the way. Ellen Aspen ran straight into him.

  Bert coughed and out of his mouth flew . . . Maya’s swimming medal!

  “I knew it!” shouted Maya.

  Ellen dropped her box and the cover fell off. Jerry ran over to see what was inside. He shook his head when he saw what it contained.

  “It’s nothing but a bunch of letters!” he said.

  The police chief walked over. He was rubbing his stomach. “That was a real low blow.”

  Jerry and Maya could hear that he was actually rather impressed.

  “Now we’ll find out what Ellen is so desperate to hide,” continued the police chief.

  He groaned a little as he bent down and picked up the letter on the top.

  “‘To my beloved Ellen—that I love more than melon,’” he read.

  “Put them back!” hissed Ellen.

  “It rhymes,” said the police chief appreciatively, without taking any notice of the furious Ellen.

  He carried on reading:

  “‘If you really love me, my little dove, then fly with me to Hawaii.

  “‘I will be in Pleasant Valley this December, and have a plan for the two of us to be together.

  “‘Here’s what you need to do: During my diving demonstration, take the microphone and tell everyone how fantastic I am—that will be the easy part! While you are talking, sneak over to the lockers and empty them. Everyone will be watching me perform, and nobody will notice that you have left the pool, especially if they can hear your voice over the speakers the whole time.’”

  “Very clever. I have to give you that,” said the police chief as he carried on reading the rest:

  “‘Put the loot in my gym bag and put everything in my car. I will give you the key when I get to Pleasant Valley. When you have locked the valuables in my car, put the car key on the left hand front tire. When the demonstration is over, you and I will fly to Hawaii.