Kate and the Wyoming Fossil Fiasco (10 page)

Kate spent the rest of the morning at the excavation site with Megan and the other campers. Conner didn’t come because he had other work to do, so it was a quiet day with the boys and girls working together. No competition this time.

Kate really enjoyed her last day digging for fossils, but her mind was on other things. She couldn’t stop thinking about the video camera she’d left in the workroom. And she couldn’t stop thinking about Gus’s brown pants. Something about all of this left her feeling very confused. Mixed up. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if they’d had the wrong person all along.

A thousand thoughts rolled through her brain, but only one really made sense. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. But how could she prove it? Only one way. Alexis’s uncle would have to prove that the fingerprints belonged to the right person.

“Hey, what’s up with you today?” Joel asked, drawing near. “You’re really quiet. That’s not like you.”

“I, um, have a lot on my mind.” She happened to notice

he was wearing blue jeans. Then again, so were all of the other boys. And Conner. She remembered seeing him in blue jeans earlier today. Then again, he never seemed to wear the quarry uniform, did he?

When the kids took a break for lunch, Kate saw Mr. Jenkins cross the dining hall. Like most of the others, he wore blue jeans. However, she no longer suspected him. After much thought and prayer, she felt he could be trusted. She rose from her place at the table and met him on the opposite side of the room, away from the other campers.

“Mr. Jenkins, I think I’m getting close to figuring this out, but I need your help one more time.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure I know who’s been forging the fossils, and I think the proof is in the workroom.”

“What kind of proof?”

“Hopefully a video of someone doing something suspicious. But we won’t know for sure until I look at the video. I was wondering if you’d go retrieve my camera for me. I would like to go back to the cabin to watch it after lunch.”

“Of course.” He nodded. “Now, where is this camera you’ve hidden?”

“I hid it behind several trays.”

“Very crafty!” He grinned. “Okay. I’ll go in there and get the camera, but give me a few minutes. I have to talk to Megan first.” He disappeared into the kitchen and was gone several minutes. Then Kate watched him walk across the

dining hall toward the workroom. She prayed he would be able to get the camera without anyone noticing.

Sure enough, he came out a few minutes later with a paper lunch sack in his hand.

“I think this is yours,” he said, placing the lunch bag on the table.

Kate grinned and whispered, “Thanks.”

“What is that?” McKenzie asked, taking the seat next to her. “Did you pack your lunch?”

“Not exactly.” She giggled then whispered, “It’s my video camera.” She looked up as Conner entered the dining hall and sat with the boys. “Come with me to the cabin, McKenzie. We still have a case to solve.”

They ran across the parking lot together, straight to their cabin. Once inside, Kate plopped on her bunk. She could hardly wait to watch the video. She tried to click on the camera, but it wouldn’t come on.

“Don’t tell me!” she groaned. “The battery is dead. I should’ve thought of that. I left it running for too long.”

“Did you bring the charger?” McKenzie asked.

“Yes, but it will take awhile to charge.” She scrambled off the bunk and looked through her duffel bag until she found the charger. Plugging it in, she sighed. “Everything seems to be taking so long.”

“Remember, patience is a virtue!” McKenzie said. “Good things come to those who wait.”

“I’m just not very good at waiting.” A few minutes latershe checked the camera and it came on. “Awesome!” With her fingers trembling, she rewound the camera to the beginning.

“Ooo, what is that?” McKenzie asked, pointing at the screen.

“Well you can see the edge of the trays,” Kate said. “I hid the camera behind them. So we’re not going to be able to see much, but maybe we’ll hear something suspicious.”

She listened closely as a man’s voice rang out.

“That’s Gus,” she said.

“Who’s he talking to?”

“Hmm.” Kate listened a bit closer. “Sounds familiar.” Another moment later, she recognized the other voice. “Oh, that’s Conner.”

“Gus is saying something to him, but I can’t make it out.”

Kate backed up the video and listened closely. Off in the distance, faint as a whisper, she heard Gus say, “Conner, I’m surprised you’re still going strong today. Didn’t you work through the night?”

McKenzie’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. “No way! Conner was the one in the room last night?”

“Sounds like it.” Kate’s stomach began to get butterflies. This confirmed what she had been thinking all morning. She kept watching and listening to the video, hoping to learn more.

“What is Conner saying?” McKenzie asked. “I can’t make it out.”

“Sounds like Conner is telling Gus to take a break. Telling him that he will take over for a while.”

“Ooo, I think I heard the door close,” McKenzie added. “Do you think Gus left the room?”

“Maybe, but look.” Kate pointed at the screen. “You can see a man’s legs, but I’m not sure whose they are! The picture is fuzzy.”

McKenzie squinted and took a closer look. “That has to be Conner. Gus is wearing his uniform today, remember?”

“Oh right!” Kate watched as the man in the blue jeans walked by. For a while the room grew silent. Then she heard Conner speaking again. This time his words were a lot clearer, thank goodness.

“Who is he talking to?” McKenzie asked. “There’s no one in the room with him.”

“Maybe there is!” Kate whispered. “Maybe someone else came in.” She listened closely as Conner said something about fossils.

“Ooo, I know!” McKenzie snapped her fingers. “He’s talking to someone on the phone. Has to be, because we can only hear what Conner is saying, not what the other person is saying.”

“I think you’re right,” Kate agreed. “But it’s hard to tell what he’s talking about.”

They listened a little bit longer, and Kate gasped when she heard Conner start to laugh. He said something that sounded like, “We got away with it.”

“Did he really just say ‘we got away with it’?” McKenzie asked. “Or am I imagining things?”

“That’s what I thought he said, too!” Kate nodded. She pushed the rewind button on the video camera and played that part over again. Sure enough, it really sounded like those were his words. She rewound it and played it once more, this time slowing down the speed. “Weeee … goooooooot … a … way … with … it.” Plain as day!

After that, Conner’s words were a little muffled, but the girls could understand part of it, especially when he said, “Meet me in the parking lot at three, but watch out. Some kids are snooping around, so we have to be careful this time.”

McKenzie gasped. “Oh Kate!”

After that, the screen went black.

“Must be when the battery died.” Kate let out an exaggerated sigh. “But at least we know Conner is up to something here.”

“I just don’t believe it!” McKenzie looked stunned. “Why Conner? He’s got a great job here at the quarry. Paleontologists make a good living. Why would he need to forge the fossils and sell them illegally?”

“I don’t know. But I’ve had a funny feeling all morning that he’s our bad guy. He’s been pretending to be something—or someone—he’s not.” Kate filled McKenzie in on Elizabeth’s phone call earlier this morning and McKenzie looked stunned.

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” Kate nodded. “So I’ve been praying all morning that God would reveal the truth, and now I’m pretty sure He has. Just one last thing we have to do. We have to pray that Alex’s uncle is able to run the fingerprints through the computer before we leave the camp today. Otherwise we won’t be able to prove anything.”

“Maybe we can,” McKenzie said. “Come with me.” She grabbed Kate’s hand and ran in the direction of the dining hall. Once inside, she passed the other kids and went into the kitchen. The cook looked over at the girls with a surprised look on his face.

“What’s up, kids?”

“I just have a quick question,” McKenzie said. “Might sound kind of silly, but has anyone who works at the quarry ever come into the kitchen to borrow any brown sugar?”

“Brown sugar?” The cook shrugged. “Yeah. Why?”

“Do you remember who?”

“Well sure,” he said. “Conner. It’s the funniest thing. I’ve never heard of anyone who uses brown sugar in his coffee, but Conner does. He seems to love just nibbling on the stuff, too. So he’s always in here looking for sugar.”

“Bingo!” Kate yelled. She grabbed McKenzie by the hand and they ran out of the kitchen, hollering “Thank you!” to the cook as they ran.

“What do we do now?” McKenzie asked.

Kate glanced at the clock. “Hmm. It’s two o’clock. Dad should be here at three to pick us up.”

“That’s the same time Conner is going to pass the real fossils off to whoever he was talking to on the phone,” McKenzie whispered. “What do we do now?”

“Now we tell Mr. Jenkins,” Kate said. “And then he calls the police. Looks like the Camp Club Girls have found their man!”

Kate and McKenzie found Mr. Jenkins in the dining hall chatting with several campers.

“Could I talk to you again, sir?” Kate asked anxiously.

“Well sure, Kate.”

“In your offie?” she said. “And please bring Megan.”

“Well sure.” He leaned over with a twinkle in his eye. “I have a feeling you’re going to share some big news.”

“The biggest news ever!” she whispered in response.

Minutes later Mr. Jenkins took a seat at his desk, and Megan sat in a chair nearby. Kate and McKenzie paced the room.

“What is it, Kate?” Megan asked. “You’re making me nervous!”

Kate glanced at the clock on the wall—2:10. “We don’t have much time. We have to call the police.”

“Police?” Megan asked. “Why?”

Kate pointed to Mr. Jenkins’s television. “Do you mind if I plug in my video camera so I can show you something?”

“Be my guest.”

Seconds later, they were all watching the video together. Dismay filled Megan’s voice. “Oh, I don’t believe it! Not Conner! He’s my friend! I trusted him!”

“Looks like he fooled us.” Mr. Jenkins reached for the phone and dialed 911. Kate could hear him talking to the police. She hated to interrupt, but felt it was important.

“Mr. Jenkins, tell them to come a couple of minutes after three. You need to catch him in the act if you want the charges to stick.”

“Good idea.” He nodded and conveyed his wishes to the police, who agreed to come at five minutes after three.

“What do we do now?” McKenzie asked.

“Conner is teaching the final session in the dining hall,” Megan said. “Let’s all go back in there and act like nothing is unusual. Just be ourselves.”

“This will be the best acting job of my life!” Kate said. She looked at Mr. Jenkins and Megan and said, “But I am sorry that the bad guy turned out to be one of your employees. I’m sure this is really hard to hear.”

“It is,” Mr. Jenkins said. A puzzled look crossed his face. “I’m so disappointed. I’ve been mentoring Conner for years. He’s like a son to me. It breaks my heart that he would steal from me.”

“I just can’t believe he was pretending to be something he wasn’t all of this time.” Megan shook her head and brushed away some tears. “I will never understand that.”

Kate thought of the story of Jacob and Esau once again.

How interesting that Conner was a fake, just like the brother in the story!

The girls walked into the dining hall and took their seats at the table. Conner looked at them with a troubled glance as he saw Mr. Jenkins and Megan enter the room behind Kate and McKenzie.

“He’s nervous,” Kate whispered. “I think he knows something’s up.”

She listened as he gave his final speech—something about the work paleontologists were doing with fossils around the world—but was distracted when a text message came through on her phone. She tried not to look obvious as she opened the phone, but it was hard! Kate almost swallowed her bubble gum when she read the text from Alexis: K
ATE, THE PRINTS DON’T BELONG TO
G
US
. T
HEY BELONG TO
C
ONNER
. H
E’S BEEN IN TROUBLE FOR SOME PETTY THEFT BEFORE
, SO
THE FINGERPRINTS WERE IN THE COMPUTER SYSTEM
.

Kate passed the phone to Mr. Jenkins, who sat behind her. He read the words and pursed his lips, then passed the phone back to her.

When the session came to an end at 2:45, the campers were dismissed to load their gear and prepare for their parents’ arrivals. Kate grew more excited by the moment. Any time now, the police would be here. And her father. She prayed for God’s protection over everyone involved.

At exactly 2:55 she and McKenzie walked to the front

parking lot with Mr. Jenkins and Megan nearby. She smiled as a familiar RV pulled into the parking lot.

“Hey, my dad brought the RV!” McKenzie said. “Cool.”

“Perfect to hide behind!” Kate added.

They greeted their family members. Dex looked excited to see them. So did Biscuit, who jumped up and down.

“Be still, boy,” Kate said. “We don’t have time for you to go crazy right now!”

“Did you have a good time girls?” Kate’s father asked.

“Did you figure out who forged the fossils?” Dex added.

“Yes,” Kate whispered. “But we can’t really talk about it yet.” She looked up at her father. “Dad, we need to stay a few more minutes. I promise it won’t take too long.”

He shrugged. “If it will help you girls out, sure.”

Kate looked across the parking lot as an unfamiliar car pulled up. She watched Conner emerge from the trees on the far side of the parking lot with something large in his hand. A briefcase, maybe?

“McKenzie, look!” She reached for her camera and snapped pictures.

“Kate, what in the world is happening?” her mother asked.

“I promise I’ll tell you everything!” She kept taking pictures. “But right now we have to wait on the police!”

“The police?” Mrs. Phillips fanned herself.

The man in the car pulled close to Conner and popped open his trunk. At that moment, Mr. Jenkins headed their way. Kate prayed for his protection. When he arrived next to Conner, the men began to argue. Kate watched in horror as Conner ran toward the trees. She glanced at Biscuit and hollered, “Biscuit! Go get him, boy!”

Biscuit the Wonder Dog took off running across the parking lot. He caught up with Conner just as a patrol car pulled into the parking lot, sirens wailing. Biscuit grabbed hold of Conner’s jeans with his teeth and held on for dear life.

“Let go of me, you dumb dog!” Conner yelled. He shook his leg and Biscuit bounced a little, but held on tight, yanking this way and that.

Seconds later the police caught up with Conner. One of them patted Biscuit on the head. “Good boy, puppy,” he said, scratching him behind the ears.

“His name is Biscuit the Wonder Dog!” Kate called out. “He’s a crime-solving dog!” She took a few steps toward the officers, but they gestured for the kids to keep their distance.

“Stay over there,” the officer called out. “We’ll get statements from you after.”

Kate nodded. She knew better than to interrupt a crime scene! Biscuit ran to her and she hugged him.

“Good puppy, Wonder Dog!”

She and McKenzie peeked around the edge of the RV, watching the police arrest Conner. As they did, several of the other campers drew near.

“What in the world is going on?” Lauren asked.

“Yeah, why are the police talking to Conner?” Patti asked.

Joel simply shook his head, a sad look in his eyes. Finally he whispered, “I don’t believe it. I really don’t believe it. I thought Conner was a great guy.”

Kate shrugged. “Even really great people make mistakes.”

“And this was a big one!” McKenzie added.

The police now put Conner in the back of the patrol car with the other man and pulled out of the parking lot. Mr. Jenkins walked toward the campers with a sad look on his face.

“You’ll never believe what the police just found in Conner’s trunk,” he said.

“Brown sugar?” McKenzie and Kate spoke in unison.

“Actually, they did find traces of brown sugar, but that’s not what I’m talking about,” Mr. Jenkins said. “They found the actual stingray fossil and a little black book with phone numbers of the people Conner has been selling the real fossils to. It’s an underground ring of fossil thieves.”

“I knew it!” Kate turned to McKenzie with a smile. “The Camp Club Girls were right! He was selling the real fossils to make money.”

“Have you ever heard of an artist named Jean Van Horn?”

“I have,” Megan said, her eyes growing wide. “He’s Conner’s best friend.”

“Well apparently he’s been using the real fossils for artwork. It’s a common practice, but not one that many people know much about. They take the fossils and turn them into art masterpieces, then sell them for hundreds ofthousands of dollars. The stolen fossils are so beautifully disguised when the artist is done with them that they’re not even recognizable.”

“Wow.” Kate shook her head. “That’s amazing.”

“Thankfully Conner confessed to the officer,” Mr. Jenkins said, looking at Kate. “And when I asked him about the fossils that were supposed to be sent to your teacher’s museum in Philadelphia, he promised to tell the police where they are.”

“Yea!” Kate hollered. “Mrs. Smith’s job is saved!”

“Thanks to you girls.” He smiled at Kate and McKenzie. “You’re the real heroes here.”

“Nah.” Kate felt her cheeks turn warm with embarrassment.

Mr. Jenkins nodded. “Yes you are! And I should offer a reward for those fossils.”

“Oh no, sir!” Kate said. “We didn’t do this for a reward. We did it to help you and so my teacher could keep her job at the museum.”

“Then at least let me offer you kids some ice cream before you go,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “It’s the least I can do!”

All of the campers went back inside the dining hall for ice cream sundaes. As they ate, Megan drew near, still looking a little sad.

“I still can’t believe it was Conner. He was my friend.” She sighed.

“I’m sure you’re really disappointed,” McKenzie said.

“I am.” She paused. “You know, all of this talk about fake fossils has reminded me of something.”

“What’s that?” Kate looked her way.

“Well the Bible says we’re supposed to let our yes be yes and our no be no. In other words, we’re supposed to be who we say we are. No faking it.”

“Ah.” Kate nodded.

“Just seems like so many people say they’re Christians, but don’t really act like it. Or maybe sometimes they fake it when they’re around their church friends, but when they’re at school or hanging out with another crowd, they act differently.”

“I know what you mean,” McKenzie said. “One of my friends from church is like that. I’ve tried to talk to her about it, but she still keeps on pretending when she’s around the kids at church. I see what she’s like at school, and she’s really different.”

“Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned from this fossil fiasco,” Megan said with a sigh. “Maybe God is trying to show us that it’s so important to be the real deal. Genuine.”

Kate nodded. “No fakes!”

“That’s right.” Megan nodded. “No fakes. You know why? Because it dishonors Him when we pretend to be something we’re not. And if we think others won’t notice, we’re wrong! People are pretty good at spotting fakers.”

“That’s true,” McKenzie said.

Kate noticed Joel standing to the side, very quiet, staring at the ground.

“You okay, Joel?” she asked, drawing near.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean? You know everything!” She gave him a warm smile.

“No I don’t.” He shook his head. “I mean, I know some things. Scientific things. Things about fossils. But I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I go to church on Sundays with my mom and dad. And I even go to Sunday school. But mostly it’s to make my parents happy, or to hang out with friends. I’m not really going for any reason other than that.”

“Wow.” Kate paused before responding. At least he was being honest about it! “You know what, Joel?” she said at last. “I’m really proud of you. You didn’t have to tell me that. You could have just gone on pretending. But you were honest.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” He took a seat, looking more defeated. “But watching you and McKenzie the past few days has shown me something. You two are the real deal. You really love God. It’s obvious.”

Kate got a happy tingly feeling all over. “Thank you, Joel.”

He paused, then gave her a hopeful look. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, you two aren’t fakers, but I am.”

“Ah.” Kate didn’t say anything more. She wanted to give him a chance to finish.

“I don’t want to fake it anymore,” Joel said.

“Have you ever asked Jesus to live in your heart?”

McKenzie asked, drawing near. “If you give your heart to Him, He will show you how to live a real Christian life, one where you don’t have to pretend.”

Joel shook his head. “No, I never did that. I just go to church, like I said.”

“Well going to church isn’t what makes you a Christian,” Kate explained. “The only thing that really gives you a real relationship with God is making Jesus Lord of your life. When you do that, everything becomes
very
real, trust me!”

McKenzie nodded. “She’s right, Joel. You won’t have to fake it anymore.”

He gave her a curious look. “So, um, how do I do that?”

“You can pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart,” Kate explained.

He shrugged. “I, um … well, I don’t know how to do that.”

Kate smiled, and thought about Elizabeth at once. Elizabeth would say, “Kate, don’t ever be afraid to stop what you’re doing and pray for someone, even if it’s in a public place.”

With a happy heart, Kate did just that.