The Jewel Thief

The Phone Call

Months pass, uneventfully. Maddie and I are still thinking about the mystery all the time and we are annoyed because we have no proof that it was Uncle. But... he's becoming nicer. School is manageable and I am getting to know my friends far better. Josie is outgoing and sporty. Margaret is very curious and loves to read. Samantha is funny and likes writing. Kate is getting less shy towards me, and is very kind and a good listener. She likes being creative.

We had a marvelous Christmas Day. The only thing Maddie and I asked for was more mysteries and other books, so Uncle bought us seven each. We went out to brunch with Oscar and Marissa and then spend the afternoon reading.

New Year's Eve we spent at home. There were fireworks around the statue of the big lady with the torch, which Uncle told me was called the 'Statue of Liberty', and we could see them in the distance a bit. Uncle made a feast and then we celebrated the coming of 1953, dancing to some music we heard outside. We went to bed very late, at about 2 o'clock in the morning.

We have a grand time with Uncle up until a very interesting Friday night in late May, 1953...

I wake up in the middle of the night, according to the clock in our room. The house is mostly dark, except for a light in the hall, and Maddie is in the bed next to me, her breathing even. It is about eleven. I hear murmuring down the hall. That's strange, there is nobody else except Uncle in this house. Who would he be talking to? I quietly slip out of bed, thinking that this was the third night in the past month where I'd gotten up in the middle of the night. I tiptoe down the hall and spot Uncle on the telephone, muttering quietly. I duck behind an open door and pray that he hasn't noticed me. I finally work up the nerve to peek out. I only catch Uncle's side of the conversation.

"Oh my God, you thought... really, I had them all along! Well, just since I got them..."

Listening.

"They're in my house!"

Silence as Uncle listens again. He seems enormously excited.

"When can you come see them?"

More listening.

"No, I won't tell them. It'll be a surprise, until you come."

I wonder who he is talking to. I assume "them" is the jewels, and at the end it's Maddie and I that he's not going to tell. The biggest hypothesis I can make is that his sidekick for the crime who went out and stole the jewels is going to come see the jewels, and Uncle doesn't want to tell us because he might think we'll be excited that he's stolen jewels and it's a surprise. Why would he think two innocent children would like that?

It seems an unlikely hypothesis. I listen some more:

"When? Ah... the coronation. Fantastic. We'll see you then. I can't believe this is happening!"

When shall they see each other? I am definitely suspicious.

Uncle goes to hang up the phone. I quickly duck my head behind the door so he doesn't see me. I sneak back to my room, slowly shutting the door so it doesn't make a sound, and hop into bed, still not bothering to change. I try to think about the mystery but it is too mind-boggling for eleven fifteen at night. The last thing I remember is praying that Uncle was not a thief and that we wouldn't have to back to an orphanage. Then I was fast asleep.

The next day was Saturday.
I had lots more time to investigate this mysterious mystery. Of course, that was why they call them mysteries, because they are mysterious! I piece together a new plan. I was going to search Uncle's study and bedroom for the sapphire necklace I had discovered missing from the chest.

Unfortunately Uncle sticks around all day, so I don't have any time to sneak into his rooms until the evening.

At six o'clock, Uncle announces he'll be going out for about an hour. That was plenty of time for me to search. I wouldn't search very thoroughly, because it might not be Uncle committing the crime.

I walk to his study and start to search in the drawers of his desk and between the large stacks of files. Nothing.

I then proceed to rifle through his bedroom; under his bed, under his pillows, in the drawers in the bedside table. Still nothing. I even look in his dresser and his closet. Nothing there. Under the rug? No. I walk back to my room, discouraged. Maddie is there, reading a book.

"What book is that?" I ask her.

"I'm reading one of your many mystery novels, to try to solve this one. It's the "Famous Five', by Enid Blyton."

"Which one? I like the tenth one best."

"The second."

"Mm. Hey, did you know the sapphire necklace isn't in the chest anymore?"

"What?" Maddie puts down the book and turns to look at me, surprised. "Really? Did you investigate?"

"A bit. I just searched Uncle's room and study. But I didn't find anything."

"Oh well. This mystery is difficult. Maybe we should just leave it." She picks up the book again.

I roll my eyes. Maddie has no perseverance.

Suddenly I remember something.

"I heard him on the phone last night. He was talking about not telling us something and that it was supposed to be a surprise. He might think that we will actually like the fact that he stole the jewels."

Maddie again puts down the book.

"That's interesting. What else did he say?"

"He was also saying he'd have whoever he was calling come see something he has in the house."

"Hmm. Well, we have forty-five minutes until Uncle comes back. Let's keep being detectives."

Maddie and I decide to walk around the back of the house. We spot the attic window, which overlooks the backyard that we are standing in. It is open, there are footsteps in the mud leading away from it, and a long vine hangs near the window. The footsteps look very old and lead back to the front of the house and stop at the front of the door. The thief must have gone inside casually after having come down from the attic. I tell Maddie to go fetch some of Uncle's shoes. From here I can see the clock in our room, in the window. Only half an hour until Uncle returns. We must be quick.

Maddie returns and I take a shoe. Placing it in the footprint, I realize Uncle's feet are too big to be the feet of the person who jumped out of the attic. Maybe he had an accomplice. I plop down on the grass and sigh. This mystery is getting harder and harder.

A half-hour later Maddie and I are sitting in the living room engrossed in mystery novels. The door opens and Uncle comes in. I don't look up. I'm too busy figuring out the mystery in the book before the main character does. Isn't it so irritating when you figure out things that the main character doesn't, and you have to wait for them to catch up? Especially when the author actually tells you in a separate chapter and it takes the main character ages to know about it.

"Hello girls," Uncle greets us.

Neither Maddie nor I answer. The cogs in my brain are turning and I can't have any disruptions.

"Well! What do you want for supper?"

I realize it is quite rude not to answer him so I put down my thrilling murder-mystery, to my annoyance, because I had been almost to the point of solving it.

"Fish and chips maybe?"

Maddie looks up. "Ooh yes, my favorite. Please?"

"Well, I don't see why not! Coming right up!"

Maddie and I grin and rush upstairs. I sprawl out on my bed and Maddie collapses on hers. I sigh.

"Right. This mystery."

'Mm. What do we have so far?'

I pull out my little notebook and scan my notes.

"Okay. So, there is a big chest of jewels that WAS in the attic and it has a note in it saying to Princess Margaret Rose that she is supposed to give the jewels to the new Queen Elizabeth for her coronation, which is going to be this year, at some point. But somehow the jewels ended up all the way here in America, in Uncle's house. During Oscar and Marissa's visit, we were examining Dad's cabinet. I felt like someone was watching us. When Molly came over later that day the jewels were no longer in the attic, but in the cabinet. The key was still in the attic, though. And when I was showing the jewels to Molly, I realized that the sapphire necklace was missing from the chest. I heard Uncle on the phone last night, and someone is coming round to see something and keeping it a surprise from us, which may or may not have to do with the mystery. We found footprints leading from the ground below the attic window to the front door and as we know now, Uncle is not the thief, or at least not the person who made the footprints, because his feet are too big to match them. This mystery is certainly puzzling."

"Wow. That is tough." Maddie agrees.

"What do we do?"

"Live our life, I suppose. There is nothing much else to do."

I sigh. "Uncle's probably done with supper. Let's go."

We race downstairs. Sure enough, Uncle is setting the table with very inviting fish and chips. I sniff and grin. They smell amazing. We sit down and I gobble it all down. I lean back in my chair and start thinking about the mystery. Why would the things be in Uncle's house if he didn't commit the crime? And maybe Uncle is involved. Maybe it was just an accomplice. Even though it is incredibly exciting, I decide to just drop this mystery. We are not getting anywhere with it.

I slowly walk back upstairs and change into my pajamas. I brush my teeth and jump into bed. I switch off my lamp and pull the covers up over me. I sigh. I can't sleep. I roll around and try to get comfortable. I finally settle on a position and close my eyes. I think of a novel that I'm reading. The hero is searching the house of one person, but he suspects another person, and - suddenly it hits me. The jewels may not be here because Uncle stole them. Uncle could have been framed.