The Canary Caper (4 page)

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dink said.

“May I ask who returned your parrot?”

“A nice young woman,” Mr. Gwynn told the kids. “She said she’d caught Archie eating seeds under her bird feeder.”

“Did you invite her into your house?” Ruth Rose asked.

Before he could answer, Dink blurted out, “Did she see your coin collection?”

Mr. Gwynn’s mouth dropped open. “Are you suggesting…Oh, my you could be right!” he said. “The collection was in the living room where we sat and talked. Do you think she came back and stole it?”

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose looked at one another. Ruth Rose had her “I told
you so!” look on her face.

“It sure seems that way, Mr. Gwynn,” Dink said.

The kids thanked Mr. Gwynn, then raced all the way to the Pardues’ house. Out of breath, Ruth Rose rang the bell.

Mrs. Par due came to the door. “Hi, gang, what’s up?” she said.

Ruth Rose asked, “By any chance, did someone bring your rabbit back yesterday, before your house got robbed?”

“Why, how did you know?” Mrs. Pardue asked. “A nice young couple called and said they’d found Violet in their garden. They brought her home yesterday afternoon.”

Dink explained how the Gwynns’ parrot had also been returned before they were robbed.

Mrs. Pardue’s eyes got wide. “Of course! That couple came in and had a
cold drink with us. Dr. Pardue offered them a reward, but they refused it.”

“What did they steal?” Josh asked.

“Several pieces of my good jewelry,” Mrs. Pardue said. “Some of it was left to me by my grandmother.”

Ruth Rose thought for a minute. “Did they ask to use your bathroom?”

“Yes, the woman did,” Mrs. Pardue answered. “She could have snooped in my bedroom at the same time. I feel so foolish!”

The kids said good-bye and headed for Main Street.

“I knew it!” Ruth Rose said. “The pet-nappers and the robbers are the same people!”

“Boy, what a dirty scam,” Josh said. “You steal someone’s pet, return it to get a guided tour of the place, then come back later to take what you liked.”

“Talk about a double whammy,” Dink said, shaking his head.

“I think it’s gonna be a triple whammy,” Ruth Rose said. “What about Mrs. Davis?”

“What about her?” Josh asked. “She hasn’t…oh, my gosh!”

“That’s right,” Ruth Rose said. “I’ll bet anything that Mrs. Davis’s house is next!”

“Or
your
house could be next,” Dink reminded Ruth Rose.

Ruth Rose shook her head. “They didn’t return Tiger, so they didn’t get inside my house. Come on, we have to tell Officer Fallon!”

They ran down Main Street to the police station.

“Does he work on Sunday morning?” Josh asked as they hurried up the steps.

“We’ll find out in a minute,” Dink said.

The kids almost bumped into Officer Fallon coming through the door.

“Were you kids coming to see me?” he asked. “I was just heading for Ellie’s.”

“Officer Fallon, we figured out the burglaries!” Ruth Rose cried,

He looked at her. “Oh? Then we’d better go back inside.”

Sitting at his desk, Officer Fallon picked up a pencil. “I’m listening,” he said.

Ruth Rose told him their theory about how the pet-nappers came back later to return the animals, then rob the houses.

Officer Fallon smiled. “I think you’re right on the button,” he said. “I figured out the same thing.”

“Did you know that Mrs. Davis’s canary was returned, too?” Ruth Rose asked. She looked at Dink and Josh.
“We think
her
house will be robbed next!”

Officer Fallon raised his eyebrows. “Well, now, that
is
news. I didn’t know about the canary. When was it returned?” he asked, writing something on his pad.

“Friday night,” Josh said. “Some guy called up and said he’d found Mozart. He brought him over while we were there.”

Officer Fallon’s eyes widened. “Tell me about this man, Josh,” he said quietly.

Josh described Fred Little while Officer Fallon took more notes.

“Can you arrest Fred Little before he breaks into Mrs. Davis’s house?” Ruth Rose asked.

Officer Fallon tapped his pencil and squinted one eye at the kids. “Officer Keene and I have been looking for whoever
returned the Gywnn and Pardue pets. We want to question them about the pet-nappings and the robberies. Now we will start looking for Fred Little, too.”

He leaned forward on his elbows. “But we have no evidence that these people have done anything wrong. The same goes for Fred Little. True, he returned the canary and got inside Leona Davis’s house. That’s the same pattern as the other two burglaries, but it’s not a crime.”

“You can’t arrest him?” Josh asked.

Officer Fallon shook his head. “Even if I knew where to find Fred Little, I have no proof that he’s planning a crime.”

“But we have to do something!” Ruth Rose said.

“You’ve already done a lot,” Officer Fallon said. “I didn’t know that Leona
Davis got her bird back. You’ve given me a good lead. Officer Keene and I really appreciate your help, kids.”

He walked them to the door. “Don’t worry we have a few tricks up our sleeves.”

“I still think we should do
something
,” Ruth Rose said when they were outside.

“Well…” Josh said. “The circus is leaving tomorrow, and we do have those free tickets Officer Fallon gave us…”

Dink laughed. Together, he and Josh talked Ruth Rose into visiting the circus for a few hours.

They watched a few animal acts and bought popcorn.

Ruth Rose didn’t feel like going on any rides, so they decided to go into the clown tent again.

Two clowns dressed as firefighters
were running around, bumping into each other while a small cardboard building “burned.”

Smoke and fake flames were shooting out of a window. A woman clown was screaming, “Help! Save me!”

Some of the kids in the audience started yelling, “Save her, mister! Up there, save her!”

The firefighter clowns got tangled up in their own hoses, making everyone laugh and yell even louder.

Suddenly a clown dressed like Superman appeared on stilts. He wore a blue shirt under a red cape. Bright yellow suspenders held up the skinny blue pants that hid his stilts.

Superman flapped his cape and snapped his suspenders. Then he marched over to the burning tower and saved the woman. All the kids in the audience yelled and clapped.

Dink noticed that Ruth Rose was hardly even looking. He nudged Josh, and they left.

“I’d like to get me some stilts,” Josh said. He walked stiff-legged and snapped invisible suspenders. “Do circuses ever hire kids?”

“Yeah, to feed to the tigers,” Dink said, which reminded him of Ruth Rose’s Tiger. He looked at her. “Do you want to come over and finish the Monopoly game?”

She shook her head. “Don’t you guys want to solve this mystery?”

“Sure, but what else can we do?” Dink asked. “Officer Fallon said he’s
gonna look for the people who returned the pets.”

“Well, I know how we can help him,” Ruth Rose said, her eyes flashing.

“Uh-oh,” Josh mumbled.

“Um, Ruth Rose, I don’t think Officer Fallon wants any more help,” Dink said.

Ruth Rose ignored him. “Are you guys sleeping in the tent again tonight?” she asked.

Dink nodded. “I guess so. Why?”

Ruth Rose grinned mysteriously. “I promise to bring over some cookies if you promise to go somewhere with me.”

“Where?” Dink asked. “And why do you have that sneaky look on your face?”

“Wear dark clothes,” Ruth Rose said. “We’re going to stake out Mrs. Davis’s house!”

“A stakeout?” Josh said.

Ruth Rose nodded.

“Like in the cop movies?” Dink asked.

She nodded again.

“You think Mrs. Davis’s house is going to get robbed tonight?” Josh said.

A third nod. “And I plan to be there to see who does it.” She grinned. “Will that be enough proof for Officer Fallon?”

“Suppose a burglar does come,” Dink said. “What do we do, tie him up?”

“All right!” Josh said. “I’ll bring the rope.”

Ruth Rose shook her head. “No rope. We just sit and watch. If someone comes, one of us will run to the police station. The other two will stay. If the guy leaves, we follow him.”

Dink thought that over. “Follow him where?”

“Wherever he goes, Dink. Maybe he’ll lead us to where he stashed the stuff he robbed,” Ruth Rose said. “And maybe that’s where he’s got Tiger.”

“Well, I guess it’ll work, as long as we just watch the guy,” Dink said.

Ruth Rose nodded. “We just wait and watch.”

“And eat cookies,” Josh added.

Dink and Josh sat in the dark tent, waiting for Ruth Rose. It was almost ten o’clock.

Josh wore camouflage pants and a black T-shirt. Dink had on jeans and a dark gray sweatshirt.

“Where the heck is she?” Josh asked.

Dink peeked out the tent flap. “My folks will kill me if we get caught running around Green Lawn at night.”

“Mine would ground me for ten years,” Josh said. “Why’d we let her talk us into this?”

Dink heard a noise. “Did you hear something?” he whispered.

Josh peeked out. “Ruth Rose? Is that you?”

“Boo!” Ruth Rose giggled. “I’m right here, Josh.”

Dink poked his head out. He couldn’t see a thing. “Come on, Ruth Rose, stop fooling around. Where are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding!” Suddenly Dink
could see her. Ruth Rose was sitting about four feet away, right in front of him! She was wearing black jeans and a black jacket. Her hair was covered by a ski cap. She’d even blackened her face. Except for the whites of her eyes, Ruth Rose was practically invisible.

“What’s that stuff on your face?” Dink asked.

“Liquid shoe polish.” She pulled a bottle out of her backpack. “Here, put some on.”

“Do we have to?” Dink said.

“Yes! What happens if the burglar sees your two white faces glowing in the moonlight?”

Dink poured some of the polish into his hand and smeared it all over his face. “This stuff stinks,” he muttered.

Josh did the same. “I feel like Rambo,” he said. Dink saw Josh’s white teeth gleaming.

“Let’s head out,” Ruth Rose said, slipping away from the tent.

The boys followed her down Woody Street. Mrs. Davis’s house was dark as they crept into her backyard. Dink tried not to think about what they were doing.

Ruth Rose chose their hiding place, a shadowy patch between two thick bushes behind the house.

The moon was almost full, but large clouds kept slipping in front of it. The kids wiggled around, getting comfortable on the lawn.

“Did you bring the cookies?” Josh asked.

“Yes, but let’s save them till later,” Ruth Rose said. “We might be here for hours.”

Josh let out a big sigh. “People who break their promises…”

“She’s right, Josh,” Dink whispered.
“And I don’t think we should talk anymore. If the burglar comes, he might hear us and take off.”

Five seconds passed.

“One little cookie wouldn’t kill you, Ruth Rose.”

“Josh, this is a stakeout, not Ellie’s Diner.”

“Cops eat on stakeouts.”

“JOSH! SHHH!”

Dink stretched out on the grass. He watched the back of the house for moving shadows. Nothing moved.