Mystery of the Star Ruby (5 page)

“I think it’s because of Jessie’s incredible find,” he replied.

“How does it feel to discover a treasure?” Jonathan asked Jessie.

She sat down, embarrassed at all the attention. “It could have been any of us. The ruby just happened to be in my bucket—it was just luck.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Sybil asked, passing the basket of Italian bread. Today was spaghetti day.

“I was thinking, suppose we sell the stone and buy books for that library that was struck by lightning,” Jessie suggested. “But it’s a family decision.”

“That’s a great idea!” Benny said. “Let’s do it!”

The others agreed.

“Jessie’s stone is bigger than yours,” Sybil said to Donald. “
And
it’s a star ruby. Unless somebody finds a bigger star ruby than Jessie’s, she will win the contest.”

“It isn’t over until it’s over,” Donald said levelly.

After lunch, the kids went hiking again. When the afternoon shadows grew long, they headed back to the cabins.

Violet unlocked the door to her and Jessie’s cabin. She immediately spotted a white envelope lying on the rug just inside the door.

“This has your name on it,” she said, handing it to Jessie.

“It must be from Grandfather,” Jessie said absently as she opened the envelope. Then she gasped.

“What is it?” Violet asked.

Wordlessly, Jessie showed the note to Violet.

WISE UP AND GO HOME—OR ELSE! read the crudely lettered message. It was unsigned.

“I guess Mr. Knight was wrong about the ruby protecting me,” Jessie said in a worried voice. “I have made an enemy, after all.”

Then another thought occurred to her.

What if the ruby I found has put us
all
in danger?

The girls told the boys about the note on their way to dinner.

“Let’s not mention it to Grandfather,” said Violet. “It would just worry him.”

“We can solve this case ourselves,” Henry said confidently. “We’ve figured out lots of mysteries before.”

In the dining room, everyone was excitedly chatting about the contest. There was only one more day left.

“I sure wish that star ruby had been in my bucket,” Sybil said wistfully. “I’ve been coming here for years and have never found one.”

“Maybe you will tomorrow,” said Benny. “Maybe we’ll all find star rubies!”

The others laughed as they ate hamburgers and fries.

It was too dark and cool to linger outside after dinner. Even though the days were hot, late-summer nights in the mountains were chilly.

The Alden children went back to Violet and Jessie’s cabin to discuss the mystery.

They passed Jessie’s note around.

Henry noticed something about the paper.

“It’s been ripped from a notebook,” he said. “One of those little ones with three rings.”

“Jonathan carries a notebook like that,” Benny remembered. “He keeps his lists in it.”

“That’s right,” Violet said, nodding. “But why would he send us a threatening note? He seems so nice.”

“We can’t rule out anyone as a suspect,” said Jessie.

Just then there was a shout outside.

Henry ran to the door. “It’s Mr. Knight!”

“Hey, everybody!” Cecil Knight called. “Come see this!”

Doors to all the cabins were flung open and guests streamed out onto the lawn. The Aldens ran out, too.

Strange globes of light hovered in the sky over the mountain. Everyone oohed and aahed.

“Those are the same lights we saw our first night here!” Benny exclaimed.

“They do look like flying saucers,” Sybil remarked, tipping her head back.

“Now that I’ve seen them better,” Jonathan muttered, “I think the lights are a trick of the atmosphere.”

Seen them better?
Violet wondered. When had Jonathan seen the lights before?

Just as suddenly as the lights appeared, they vanished behind the crest of the mountain. The show over, the guests filed back inside their cabins.

When Jessie walked into their cabin, she sensed something was wrong.

Her backpack was on the floor where she had left it.

But the outer pocket was unzipped.

She dug through it frantically.

“Violet!” she cried. “The ruby is
gone!
”

Violet rushed over. “Oh, no! Are you sure?”

Jessie turned her backpack upside down. A comb, sunscreen, and a pack of mints tumbled out.

“I put the container in this pocket,” she said. “That was the only thing I kept in it. It’s empty! Someone stole the ruby!”

“We left our cabin door open to go look at the lights,” Violet said with a sinking feeling. “Anyone could have walked in and taken it.”

“I should have kept my backpack with me,” Jessie said in dismay.

“We should have locked the door,” Violet said. “Don’t worry. We’ll find the ruby.”
I hope
, she added to herself.

The next morning, the girls hurried to the boys’ cabin.

Grandfather was there, filling a basket with laundry. He and the boys stopped gathering towels to listen as Jessie related the story of the robbery.

Grandfather frowned with concern.

“This is very serious,” he said. “We must go to Mr. Knight right away. There is a thief here, and we need to call the authorities.”

The children glanced at one another.

“Grandfather,” Henry said. “You know we’re pretty good at solving mysteries.”

James Alden nodded. “Yes, you are. But a valuable gemstone is missing.”

“The police don’t know any of the people here,” Jessie pointed out. “But we do. The robbery may be connected to the contest. It’ll be over tomorrow evening. Please let us try to find the ruby first.”

Grandfather considered a moment. “All right,” he agreed. “I’ll give you until tomorrow evening. But if you can’t find the stone by then, we’ll go to Mr. Knight.”

Jessie and Violet hurried back to their cabin to gather their own laundry. Then the children went with Grandfather to the Laundromat behind the main building.

The Laundromat was made of cement blocks. A bench with extra baskets stored beneath was placed below the single window.

Inside, the Laundromat was empty. Washers and dryers filled two walls of the small, dim building. Grandfather loaded one of the washers and plugged the slots with quarters. Then they all walked over to the dining room.

Donald and Sybil were already at their table, sipping juice.

As soon as the Aldens sat down, a waitress brought over platters of hotcakes and bacon.

“Did Jonathan eat already?” Sybil asked.

“No, ma’am,” the waitress replied. “I haven’t seen him this morning.”

Donald raised an eyebrow. “He never misses a meal.”

Violet glanced at the empty chair.
Where is Jonathan?
she wondered. Did he have anything to do with the missing ruby?

When breakfast was over, Grandfather returned to the Laundromat. The Alden children found a quiet spot in the picnic area to discuss the case.

“It’s not like Jonathan to skip breakfast,” Violet commented.

“Yeah,” agreed Benny. “He always writes down whatever he eats.”

“Maybe he’s gone. Maybe he left Ruby Hollow because he has what he came for,” Henry said. “He wanted a special stone for his fiancée’s ring. A star ruby is very special.”

“I just can’t believe Jonathan took the ruby,” said Jessie. “He’s so nice.”

“Everybody is a suspect,” Violet reminded her. “Sybil Finley really wants a star ruby, too.”

Henry nodded. “That’s right. She told us the first day that a star ruby is the only stone she doesn’t have in her collection.”

“Plus her cabin is next to ours,” Jessie said, ticking each item off on her fingers. “And she seemed interested in Violet’s backpack at lunch the day Violet found her ruby. Sybil saw Violet put her ruby in her backpack in line at the grading window.”

“She could have taken Jessie’s backpack, thinking it was Violet’s,” said Benny. “And she knocked our bucket over at the creek.”

“That’s a pretty strong case against Sybil, but don’t forget Donald Hodge,” said Henry.

“He said he’s going to win the contest,” Benny put in. “He found a great big ruby. But Jessie’s is bigger.”

“Donald wants to win so he can buy a sports car,” Henry said. “If he got rid of Jessie’s ruby, he wouldn’t have any competition. He’d still win the contest with his Papa Bear ruby.”

“Any of them could have taken the star ruby,” Jessie concluded with a sigh. “We’ll have to watch them all.”

“We only have today and part of tomorrow,” Violet said. “I hope we can solve this mystery in time.”

A rustling sound made the children look up. A bent-over figure at another table was busy shuffling papers.

“There’s Jonathan!” said Benny. “He didn’t leave after all!”

“Let’s go say hi,” said Jessie. “And ask him why he wasn’t at breakfast.”

The Aldens approached his table. The surface was covered with loose pages from the black notebook Jonathan carried everywhere.

“Hi, Jonathan!” Benny greeted.

“Oh, hi, kids.” Jonathan barely glanced at them. He ran his fingers through his sandy hair, clearly distracted.

“We missed you at breakfast this morning,” said Jessie.

“It was good, too,” Benny said. “Hot-cakes and bacon!”

“I’m sure it was good, but I wasn’t very hungry.” Jonathan hastily pushed his papers into a messy pile, as if he didn’t want anyone to see them.

“I bet you’re hungry now,” Violet said. “We’re going to have a picnic for lunch. Would you like to come with us?”

“No, thanks.” Jonathan stuffed the papers into a folder, then left.

Jessie watched him hurry up the trail. “That was weird. Usually he’s very friendly. I wonder what’s up?”

“Maybe he feels guilty,” Henry guessed. “Because he stole our ruby.”

“But why would he still be here?” asked Violet. “If he stole the ruby, you’d think he would be long gone.”

“We should check on Sybil and Donald, too,” Jessie said. “They’re probably down at the flume.”

Sybil was in her usual place on the flume line, but there was no sign of Donald. The flume was crowded with people hoping to find a prizewinning stone before the contest closed.

Cecil Knight was helping at the entry booth.

“Going to try your luck today?” he asked the kids, then laughed. “If I found a gem like yours, Jessie, I’d take it easy!”

They didn’t want anyone besides Grandfather to know the ruby was missing, so Jessie hastily changed the subject.

“Mr. Knight, we’d like to have a picnic,” she said. “May we pack a lunch?”

“Sure,” he said. “Just ask the waitress to fix you something.”

The tables in the dining room were set for lunch, but no one was around. One of the big windows overlooked the parking lot.

Henry looked out and saw a man in sunglasses and a large hat get into a car.

“Isn’t that Donald?” he said. “I wonder where he’s going.”

The waitress appeared, carrying a tray of ketchup bottles.

“Maybe he’s going into town for lunch,” the waitress said. “Or shopping.”

“Are there many stores in town?” Benny asked.

“Several nice shops,” the waitress answered. “Even a gem shop. So if you don’t find what you want here, you can go into town and buy it.”

“Has Mr. Hodge gone into town before?” Henry asked.

“I don’t know,” said the waitress. Then she added, “He may have gone in to shop for binoculars.”

“Why do you say that?” Jessie asked.

“I found him in Mr. Knight’s office the other day,” the waitress said. “He said he was borrowing Mr. Knight’s binoculars.”

“That’s interesting,” Henry said. He was eager to go to lunch so he and the other children could go back to talking about the mystery. “We were wondering if we could take a picnic lunch.”

“Of course,” the waitress said. “Be back in a jiffy.”

Soon the children were on their way back to the picnic area. Violet carried the cloth-covered basket while Henry carried the thermos of lemonade.

Running ahead to choose the best table, Benny spied a sheet of paper on the path. He picked it up.

“This looks like it came from Jonathan’s notebook,” he said, handing the paper to Jessie.

“It’s a list,” said Jessie. “‘Sapphire, garnet, ruby, emerald, blue calcite.’ Those are all crossed off. Only one item hasn’t been crossed off.”

“Let me guess,” said Henry. “Star ruby”

“Right.” Jessie held out the paper. “Look what’s written next to it.”

Carrie
’
s ring
.

“Jonathan definitely wrote this,” said Jessie. “He’s after a star ruby for his fiancée’s ring. Seems like he’s our number one suspect.”

Henry thought of something. “Jessie, do you have that other note? Let’s compare the handwriting.”

But the handwriting on the warning note did not match the handwriting on the list.

“If Jonathan took the ruby,” Benny asked, “who sent the note?”

“Maybe the person who wants us to leave is not the same person who stole the ruby,” Jessie concluded. “I still think Jonathan took the ruby.”

Henry shook his head. “We don’t have enough evidence to accuse Jonathan. This is a serious crime. We need to be absolutely sure.”