Meg Mackintosh and the Mystery at the Soccer Match (5 page)

Meg shook her head. “It's just not hard evidence. All it proves is that Heather was at the table, not that she stole something from it.”

“Well, I have a hunch,” said Alex. “Come on, I'll prove it.”

Meg studied the photo, then followed Alex curiously. “Maybe he's a better detective than I thought,” she said to herself. “I think his hunch could be right.”

Alex led Meg up to Heather. “Congratulations on
winning the match. It's too bad we can't find the prize medal,” he said.

“Yeah,” said Heather. “Maybe it will turn up.”

“Maybe the player who took it will give it back,” said Alex.

“What do you mean?” said Heather. She couldn't look Alex in the face. Her own face turned bright red.

“I think you know what I mean,” said Alex. “Why don't you just give it up now?”

“I don't have it, honest!” cried Heather.

“She's telling the truth,” Peter butted in. “She doesn't have it.”

“How can you be sure?” asked Alex. “Unless you took it yourself, that is!”

“No, really … I …” Peter trailed off.

“Peter, what's going on?” Meg glared at him. “You'd better explain — fast.”

“Alex is right about one thing — Heather
did
take the medal. I saw her hiding it,” Peter said. “But I talked her into returning it and I saw her put it back.”

“I saw where she hid it, too,” agreed Meg.

WHERE DID HEATHER HIDE THE MEDAL?

“You put it in your shinguard!” exclaimed Meg. “There's the tip of the striped ribbon showing near your knee in the photo!”

“I'm sorry,” Heather cried. “I wanted to win so much. It was wrong and so stupid. I hid the medal in my shinguard while Peter and I were at First Aid. But I felt bad about taking it,” she sobbed. “I put it back just a little while ago.”

“Heather, you'd better explain this to the others,” said Meg.

“Go on, tell them.” Peter nudged Heather as people gathered around the table.

“Did you find it?” asked Heather's dad.

Heather hesitated. “It should be right here; I put it back in the case.” She snapped it open.

“What happened? It's not here!” Heather began to cry. “I did put the medal back, honest.”

“HEATHER! I can't believe you'd steal something!” Heather's dad acted shocked.

“Maybe she felt that she had to,” Carmen muttered under her breath. “Her dad's pretty pushy.”

“I bet she still has it,” said Alex.

“But why would she lie about it now?” wondered Meg as she took another photograph of the awards table. She compared it to the first photograph of the scene and jotted down the differences.

WHAT DIFFERENCES DID MEG NOTICE?

“Don't look so glum, Meg-O,” said Peter. “You played a good game — the Hawks were doing great until the second half.”

“I'm not sad about losing. You deserved to win,” said Meg. “I just want to figure out what happened to the gold medal. Did Heather put the it back because she realized the Panthers were going to win it anyway?”

“No, honest, she said she was putting it back no matter what.” Peter noticed a piece of paper next to Meg's knapsack. “Hey, here's that secret message. Give me your pencil and I'll finish it up.”

Meg fumbled in her knapsack. “Can't find it,” she said and handed him her pen instead. “You're pretty smart, do the puzzle in ink!”

“Gee, thanks,” joked Peter.

But Meg wasn't listening. Suddenly she realized she had missed two important clues. She grabbed her magnifying glass and examined her photos again. “Just as I thought!” she said. “Something that
should
be in the first photo isn't there, and something that
shouldn't
be in the second photo is!”

WHAT CLUES HAD MEG MISSED?

“Why isn't the gum wrapper in the first photo?” Meg wondered out loud. “And what's my pencil doing in the second one? That's why you have to solve the code in ink!”

“How can you be sure it's your pencil?” asked Peter.

“It's got my teethmarks on it!” But before Meg could explain further, two paws landed on her notebook. It was her dog, Skip. She had been taking Gramps for a walk around the soccer field.

“Good match, kids,” Gramps said. “Too bad you both couldn't win. But then you would have to tie, or be on the same team, or some such. Oh, never mind. Hand me your camera and I'll take your picture.”

“Cheesedoodles,” Meg and Peter chorused, smiling as Gramps clicked the shutter.

Suddenly Skip yanked her leash out of Gramps's hand and charged off to play with Farley.

“Come on, girl” Meg called. She caught up to the dogs and grabbed them both by their collars — one in each hand.

“Hold on, I'll take a photo of the pups, too,” Gramps said.

“What about the mystery, Meg-O,” Peter reminded her. “You said there were two things about the photos that were odd — what else?”

“Actually, there are four careless clues,” said Meg, as she watched the instant photos develop.

WHAT ARE THE FOUR CARELESS CLUES?

“I'll explain in a minute,” Meg told Peter as she re-examined her notes and photos.

“But first, it's time to award the gold medal,” said Meg.

“What do you mean? It's missing,” Peter said.

“Not anymore,” Meg answered. “I just figured out who took it, why, and where they put it.” Meg snapped her notebook shut and pointed. “It's someone standing over there.”