Singing in Seattle (5 page)

“I know Austin is crazy about you, but I don't think he'll let you take his fingerprints, especially if he is guilty,” Aly responded.

“They'll be serving refreshments,” AJ said. “I'm sure Austin will have something to drink. We can take the empty cup or can and get the prints from that. Maybe Jim can help us.”

Aly shook her head. “It sounds crazy, but it just might work!”

“Aly! AJ! What are you doing here?” Claire asked as she opened the door to her apartment.

Aly and AJ had looked up Claire's address on her contest entry form. Claire lived in the trendy Belltown neighborhood, a mix of cool shops and restaurants, newer condos and apartment buildings, and older architecture. Her home was an old, red, brick-faced building on a tree-lined street.

Aly and AJ both grinned a little sheepishly at Claire. What had seemed like a great idea back at the hotel now seemed a little silly. They had stopped by a toy store and bought a fingerprinting kit. AJ clutched the bag in her hand.

Aly spoke first. “We feel really bad about your notebook. We want to help you find it.”

“We thought if we could fingerprint your guitar case, we could find out if anyone else had touched it,” AJ added. “I know it sounds silly . . .”

Claire's eyes grew wide. “That is so nice of you,” she said softly. “I can't believe you guys are going to so much trouble to help me.”

Claire's gratitude made the girls feel good about their decision. “We're happy to help,” Aly said. “Can we see your guitar case, please?”

Claire led them to her bedroom, a small room on the second floor. The first thing Aly and AJ noticed about the room was that the walls were painted with deep purple paint. One whole wall was filled with bookshelves. Books spilled out onto the floor, but that was the only mess in sight. Claire's guitar case was propped up on the wall.

AJ set the guitar case on the floor, then sat down cross-legged in front of it.

“We'll concentrate on the handle and the lock, since that's what somebody would have touched to open it,” she said. “Aly, give me the fingerprint powder, please.”

“Wow, AJ,” Aly said. “You sound so professional. Like you could be on one of those crime shows.”

She handed AJ the fingerprint powder and brush. AJ dipped the brush in the powder, then brushed it on the shiny silver lock of the guitar case. She leaned down to get a closer look.

“Wow, it works!” she said. “There are a lot of prints here. A couple of clear ones, too.”

“Try the handle now,” Aly suggested.

AJ brushed the powder on the plastic handle, and more prints appeared.

“Great,” AJ said. “Now we need to capture them.”

The fingerprint kit came with a special sticky kind of paper. AJ put a piece of paper over one of the prints. The powder stuck to it, leaving a perfect impression.

“Cool,” Aly said. “Let me try.”

Soon they had a row of saved fingerprints.

“They all look the same,” Claire remarked.

“Yes, but no two people's fingerprints are alike,” AJ said. She took a magnifying glass from the kit and held it up to one of the prints. “There are ways to tell fingerprints apart from the patterns they make. Some have loops, or arches, or circles, called whorls.”

She looked up at Claire. “We need to get a print from you to compare to the ones we just took.”

Aly helped Claire roll her index finger on the inkpad that came with the kit. Then she pressed it onto a blank white card.

Claire began to giggle. “If anyone would have told me a week ago that I would be fingerprinted by Aly and AJ, I would have said they were crazy!”

AJ looked at the print under a magnifying glass. Then she looked at one of the fingerprints she'd found on the case.

“This is pretty tricky,” she admitted. “You have to look really hard to see the details in a fingerprint. But Claire's print kind of stands out, because it's mostly arches. The line goes from one side of her finger to the other, see?”

Claire and Aly leaned in. Aly nodded. “You're right. It looks like a lot of the prints we took.”

“Right,” AJ said. “But then look at this one.”

She pointed to another print she had taken from the case. The print had a big circle in the middle.

“Claire doesn't have any whorls,” AJ said. “At least, not on her index finger. Let's check the others.”

They checked the rest of Claire's fingers. None of her prints had whorls.

“So this print has to belong to someone else,” AJ said. “Claire, has anyone else handled your guitar case?”

Claire shook her head. “No. I don't let anyone touch it, not even my mom. I'm real protective of my guitar.”

Aly and AJ understood. Their guitars were very special to them, too. They had even named them—Artemis and Jonah.

“So the print must belong to the person who opened the case and stole the notebook!” Aly exclaimed.

“It looks that way,” AJ said. “Now we just have to find out if Heather was telling the truth.”

“I can't wait to see the Experience Music Project,” Jim said. He was driving Aly, AJ, and Carrie. “I heard it is amazing.”

“It is something to see,” Carrie said. “The Seattle Center Monorail runs right through it.”

Aly and AJ had gone back to the hotel after their adventure at Claire's. They were going to be performing that afternoon, so they had to make sure they looked good. A bright lime-green halter top peeked out of the top and bottom of Aly's scoop-necked quarter-sleeve black T-shirt. She paired it with dark blue denim boot-cut jeans and a pair of black boots. Aly wore a deep purple v-neck top with ripped lace along the edges of the neckline. She wore a pair of vintage-looking jeans with black knee-high boots.

“It doesn't sound like any museum I've been to before,” Aly said.

“It's very different, but neat. There are a lot of interactive exhibits. And you'll both love looking at all the rock and roll artifacts. I think you're going to go nuts over the Guitar Gallery. They've got Gibsons, Fenders, Les Pauls—even guitars from the 1700s,” Carrie told them.

Jim parked the car and they all got out to walk. They were met with a strange sight. The museum building looked like it was made up of three parts. The center structure was a tall, shiny building that shimmered a coppery-pink in the sunlight. The two parts on either side looked like they had been built of giant sheets of metal that had curved like ocean waves. The girls had never seen anything like it.

“They really go for the space-age look in Seattle,” AJ joked.

Once inside, a museum staff member gave them a quick tour of the Guitar Gallery before the reception began. They oohed and aahed over the guitars.

“I could spend hours here,” Aly said.

“Me too. But we've got to make some musical history of our own,” AJ replied.

The reception for the songwriting contestants was held in the Sky Church, an amazing room with soaring cathedral ceilings. It had a state-of-the-art sound system and a huge indoor video screen.

“I thought this was supposed to be low-key,” AJ said nervously to Carrie.

“Yeah, I thought we were going to do an acoustic set,” Aly said.

“Don't worry, you are,” Carrie replied. “Don't let the environment psych you out. You'll do great.”

They went onstage and checked out the microphones and tuned up their guitars. Soon the guests began streaming in. Amber was the first to arrive, decked out in black lipstick and a long black dress. A man and a woman were with her; Aly and AJ guessed they must be her parents. Her dad wore a colorful Hawaiian shirt, and her mom was dressed in pink from head to toe.

Aly looked at AJ and giggled. “I guess Amber is the rebel of the family,” she whispered.

The room quickly filled up with a small crowd of contestants, their parents, and some members of the local press. All of the contestants had been invited, not just the finalists, but they were relieved to see that Heather wasn't there. They did see Bree and Henry; it looked like the two finalists had come together. They were deep in conversation in a corner.

Jim tapped Aly on the shoulder.

“Let's get this party started,” he said.

The girls nodded and stepped up to the mics.

“Hey, everybody,” Aly said. “I'm Aly.”

“And I'm AJ,” her sister joined in. “We just want to thank everyone who entered the songwriting contest. There's so much talent here in Seattle!”

The crowd responded with applause and a high-pitched whistle—from Austin, of course.

“All right, time to have some fun,” Aly said.

The girls played a short acoustic set of some of their most popular songs, including “Potential Breakup Song” and “Like Whoa.” The acoustics in the room were great, and the girls' voices came through pure and clean.

A local television news crew was there and filmed the performance. Afterward, Aly and AJ answered questions for the reporter about the contest and their upcoming concert in Seattle.

Finally they were finished and able to mix and mingle with the crowd. AJ pulled Aly aside.

“We've got to get Jim to help us,” she said. “We'll distract Austin. Then Jim can grab his glass while he's not looking.”

“Good idea,” Aly said.

“Did somebody call my name?” Jim appeared behind them, smiling.

“You heard right,” AJ said. “We need your help.” She quickly explained their plan.

Jim raised an eyebrow. “You want me to steal his cup?”

“Not steal, exactly. You're collecting evidence,” AJ said. “There's a plastic bag in my guitar case. Just place the cup in the bag, and we're good.”

“While you're at it, you might as well get cups from the other contestants, too,” Aly said.

“Good idea,” AJ said. “That print might not belong to Austin. That would mean one of the other contestants is guilty. Good thing I brought extra bags.”

Jim shook his head. “Nowhere in my job description did it say I would have to do something like this.” He laughed. “But I like the idea of playing detective. I think I can be really sneaky, too.”

They moved into the crowd, searching out the contestants. The first they came across was Bree. Her curly dark hair framed her face. She looked casual, in a faded pair of jeans and a peasant blouse.

“You guys were great,” Bree said. “You've got to give me some songwriting tips.”

Bree was clutching a plastic cup. Luckily it was empty, giving Jim the perfect opportunity.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Jim asked politely.

“Thanks,” Bree said. “That's very nice.”

Jim took her old cup and went off to get her something new to drink. When no one was looking, he slipped the old cup into a bag. Then he wrote Bree's name on the bag.

Jim followed Aly and AJ as they spoke with each of the contestants. Henry put down his cup, so Jim was easily able to grab it up. He used the same trick on Josh and Rainbow that he did with Bree.

Then Aly and AJ approached Austin. He had a full cup of what looked like ginger ale that he hadn't taken a sip out of. He rested it on a nearby table.

“What are you doing tonight?” Austin asked AJ, his eyes sparkling.

“We're planning on staying in and relaxing,” AJ said. “It's going to be a busy week.”

“Are you sure you don't want me to show you the nightlife in Seattle?” Austin asked.

“Maybe another night,” AJ said.

Then Austin turned and looked past AJ.