The Jewel Thief

Trapped!

I wake up later to find that I am in the dark. I also find that my wrists are bound and my ankles are bound. And that I am gagged.

There was no doubt about it. I had come face to face with the thief! Again!

Big eyes... BIG EYES! Someone on this island has to have big eyes!

I must try to figure out where I am. The dark. The dark. A small space in the dark. I shiver. I am a bit claustrophobic.

My head brushes something. Clothes! I must be in a closet! I look up at the clothes, squinting in the bad light. They are far too big to be Maddie or I's clothes. Maybe I am in the thief's closet! Or Uncle's closet. That would be better...

I move about a bit to get comfortable and find myself sitting on a shoe. I roll off of it and squirm around to look at it. As I am bound I have to push it over with my foot to see the sole. I squint as it is dark and then I gasp. It is the same sole as the footprints under the attic window! This has to be the thief's house. It has to be. But how do I get out?

The first thing I have to do is ungag and untie myself. It is time for my mystery knowledge to kick in. I remember in one book someone has been gagged and she manages to push the handkerchief down with her tongue. I try to do it and eventually manage to get the handkerchief mostly off of my mouth onto my chin. Now it is possible for me to bite the string off of me.

I do my wrists first. I bite and bite until my teeth hurt, but I have made a dent. I pull my hands apart and the dent breaks in two. My hands are free.

Flexing my numbed wrists, I untie the handkerchief from around my chin. I then proceed to untie my ankles. I am free! I feel proud of myself for doing all of that.

The next thing that I must do is get out of this closet. I fumble for the door and try to push it open, but it is locked. I didn't even know closets could lock! I sit there, desperate, wishing I had a safety pin to pick the lock with, when I realize that I might! In my pocket. I always have so many ridiculous things crammed in my pocket. I start to take out things from my right pocket. Crumpled note paper. A tiny key that I found at recess one day at school. Hopefully, I jam the key into the lock but it doesn't twist. Obviously.

I keep looking in my pocket. An old sweet that Josie had given me. More notepaper. Half a pencil. A die. Why do I have a die? It's not like I'm going to play a game or anything. A folded sheet of stickers. Some dust. That was it for my right pocket.

Discouraged, I start looking in my left pocket. Luckily, there is just as much junk stashed in it. An American coin called a "penny'. A thumbtack. I have no idea how all these things get into my pocket. More paper. A small piece of chalk. Led from a mechanic pencil. I keep digging until my fingers close around an oval bit of metal. I pull it out. A safety pin!

I am about to shove it into the keyhole and make my escape but I stop. I remember that I was an escaping prisoner and escaping prisoners have to be quiet. It was actually almost exciting that I was a prisoner, because it meant I was in the midst of a mystery, but also terrifying. Mostly terrifying. I realize that I must have made lots of noise, what with taking everything out of my pockets and rolling about. I listen for noise. And then I hear footsteps.

I hold my breath. And I don't let it out until the footsteps are long gone. I hastily shove everything back into my pockets, except the safety pin of course, and listen very carefully. I think I am in the thief's bedroom! Suddenly I hear somebody cough, which makes me jump. The thief must be in the bedroom!

I manage to peer through the keyhole a bit but I don't see the thief on the bed. They are leaning against the wall, passing time, still wearing the sack on their head so I can't identify them. I put the pin in the lock and scrape about, until the lock gives way. I push on the door a tiny bit so I can see.

The thief goes over to the radio on the bedside table and blasts it really loud. A news story about a dog that saved the life of a baby comes on and the thief doesn't hesitate to change the station to a rock music station with a really loud electric guitar. The thief starts dancing and is facing away from the closet I am in! This is my chance to escape!

I slowly push open the door, finding that it is not the sort of door that creaks, which is good. I push it closed to make it look like I am still in there. It is still slightly open, but oh well. I tiptoe over to the bedroom door, which is open, verifying that the thief still has their back turned, and then I am in the hall. I go down the stairs and then I start to run.

I am almost to the front door when I hear running feet behind me. I was being chased! The thief had realized I had gotten out of the closet! I wonder what I am going to do when I spot the house keys. I snatch them up and run through the door, slamming it behind me. I twist the key in the front door and it locks. The thief starts pounding on the door. I have locked the thief inside! To save time, I find a drain and drop the keys down it. Poor thief. They aren't going to make it out anytime soon.

I glance at the number of the house. 2754. Our house is 2548. I am nearby, luckily. I think.

We are on Rosewood Avenue NE. Extremely near our house. Just four blocks.

I commence my walk but I realize that the thief might smash the door down so I start running again and make it home in about ten minutes.

I almost don't want to go inside. I wonder if Uncle and Maddie were worried at all, because I don't know how long I was out. I pull on the door handle, but it is locked! So they are not home yet! I dig out the spare key and open the door, and then replace the key. I rush upstairs and climb into bed, realizing that I don't feel sick at all anymore. And it is only two o'clock!

Uncle might be home soon to take care of me, so I decide to stay awake for a bit. And, for the first time, I actually stop to truly think about the predicament I had just been in.

It was really a shame that I had fainted because I would have seen what the thief was doing. Probably something with the jewels. I suddenly want to check on them, to see if any other jewelry is missing. I get out of bed and slowly walk downstairs to Dad's cabinet. Fearfully, I open the latch to the secret compartment. The chest of jewels is gone!

I rush upstairs and pull out the ladder, climbing into the attic to see if the jewels are somehow here. I look everywhere in the attic. Nothing.

The thief must have hidden them somewhere else in the house... or even taken them elsewhere! Most likely at the house that I had been in!

I sigh. The mystery had started up again. I thought about why the thief might have removed the coronation jewels from the convenient hiding place. Then I realize that the coronation was very soon. Maybe the thief wanted to keep the jewels at their house in a better hiding place. And that would be fine because when they realized the jewels were missing, the police officers would probably just search in England, not in New York!

The thief really knew what they were doing. I wish I had some sort of proof. Maybe the thief wants to sell the jewels to an unsuspecting bystander and plant the crime on them! Yes, that was likely. The thief probably wants to rid themselves of all evidence.

Then I remember that I have the address of the thief's house!!! Yes! So I can walk over to their house and retrieve the jewels, getting famous and returning them to Margaret Rose before everything is over! It could be a late coronation gift.

But how, how was I supposed to do that without the thief finding out? And they could live with multiple people, so how was I supposed to know who had done it?

That would have to be figured out. In the meantime I take out the sparkly purple notebook I am using for my case notes and write down everything that just happened with all of the details. But not mentioning how I was scared out of my mind. I also write down the address of the thief really big so I remember it, and all my hypothesis about the case and why the jewels were no longer in the house. Then I sit back in bed, smile, and drop off.