“Did you all see that paper that was sticking up out of Emily’s bag?” Benny asked.
“I noticed it when you asked her about it, Benny,” Violet said. “It looked like it had a yo-yo on it. And some math formulas.”
“I saw that, too,” Henry said.
“You don’t think Emily could have followed us downtown and then taken them out of Henry’s backpack, do you?” Jessie asked.
“I don’t know,” Benny said. “She was here when we got here,”
“Yes, but whoever took the plans out of Henry’s backpack left the library before we did,” Violet said. “He, or she, could’ve gotten back here ahead of us—especially if the person was driving. Driving is faster than walking.”
“But Emily doesn’t drive a gray station wagon,” Henry said.
“We don’t know what she drives,” Jessie said. “She always leaves the shop with her boyfriend.”
“Maybe her boyfriend drives a gray station wagon.” Benny said.
“There was a blue truck parked out front when we got here. I’m guessing that’s Emily’s boyfriend’s truck,” Violet said.
“Could be,” Jessie said. “Or it could be Emily’s truck.”
“Well, the person who picked up my backpack in the library was a man,” Henry said.
“And the person who called here and told Jeff to stop building the yo-yo was also a man,” Jessie said.
“But despite what Emily said, those sure looked like plans for the yo-yo in her bag,” Benny said. “So if she didn’t steal them out of Henry’s backpack, I’d like to know where she got them.”
“Or why she would want them,” added Violet. “Emily could have taken the plans from the shop at any time.”
Jessie sat down at Jeff’s computer and looked at the screen. Emily had never closed the file with her resignation letter.
“I can’t imagine why Emily would want the plans for the yo-yo,” Jessie said as she closed the file on the computer. “She’s quitting her job.”
“Maybe Todd wants them for some reason.” Henry said.
“Why would he want them?” Benny asked.
“I don’t know,” Henry said. “Maybe he wants to build the world’s largest yo-yo, too, but he doesn’t know how to do it.”
Violet sighed. “It seems like we have more questions than we have answers.”
The children waited a little longer for Jeff to come back, but after awhile, they decided to leave, too. They called Grandfather for a ride, then made sure to lock the door behind them as they left.
“Tomorrow’s a new day,” Henry said. “Maybe tomorrow we’ll find the answers to some of these questions.”
“I hope so,” Jessie said.
The next morning, the Aldens got up early and rode their bikes over to Jeff’s shop. They were relieved that the gray station wagon didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight.
As the Aldens turned onto Jeff’s street, they noticed a white sedan parked in front of Mrs. Thorton’s house. As the children got closer, they saw a tall man with a black jacket and baseball cap hurry out of the Thorton’s house. He quickly got into the white car and started it up.
“Do you suppose that’s Erik Thorton?” Violet asked as the white car sped away.
“I don’t know who else he could be,” Jessie said. “He came out of Mrs. Thorton’s house.”
“He sure was in a hurry,” Benny said.
“I wonder where he’s going in such a hurry?” Henry said.
“I don’t know,” Violet said. “But he was driving a white sedan, not a gray station wagon. So he’s probably not the person who was following us.”
“Unless the white car is his mother’s car and his car is in that garage over there.” Jessie pointed to a small one-car garage that sat behind the yellow house.
“That’s possible,” Henry admitted.
Just then, the children heard sirens. They turned and saw a police car barreling down the middle of the street with lights flashing and sirens blaring.
“Hey, that police car is turning into Jeff’s shop!” Jessie cried.
“Come on,” Henry said, getting back on his bike. “Let’s go see what’s going on.”
The children pedaled the rest of the way to Jeff’s shop. They parked their bikes next to the “Jeff’s Custom Furniture” sign, then rushed to the door.
Once inside, they found Jeff and Emily talking to a police officer. The other officer was looking around the shop.
“What’s going on here?” Jessie asked. “Why are the police here?”
“It appears someone broke into this shop and vandalized Mr. Naylor’s yo-yo last night,” a female officer said.
The Aldens turned toward the yo-yo. It was covered in a brown liquid.
“What is it?” Henry asked.
“Looks like oil,” another officer replied as he wiped a finger across the liquid.
Jessie gasped. “Who would come in here and pour oil all over the yo-yo?”
“And why?” Violet asked. “Why would someone do such a thing?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Emily said coldly. “I was just telling Jeff that you kids were still here when I left last night. I don’t know if you are the ones who did this or if you just left the door unlocked—”
“What!” Benny exclaimed.
“You think we’re responsible for this?” Violet asked.
“Now, wait a minute,” Jeff said. “These kids have been helping me build this yo-yo. I know they’re not involved.”
The policewoman turned toward the children. The name on her badge was Maguire. “Were you the last ones to leave the shop?”
“Yes,” Henry said.
Officer Maguire turned to a new page in her notebook. “And approximately what time was that?”
The children all looked at each other. “Probably around 4:30,” Henry said. The others nodded.
“What were you doing here all by yourselves?” Officer Maguire asked.
“We came back over here after we’d been to the library because we wanted to talk to Jeff,” Jessie explained. “That was at about four o’clock. He wasn’t here, but Emily was. And so was her boyfriend.”
Officer Maguire turned back to Emily.
“You didn’t mention any boyfriend.”
“I-I didn’t think that was important,” Emi?y stammered. “But yes, my boyfriend, Todd was with me. He waited while I wrote my letter of resignation. Then, while I was printing it, these kids showed up. I don’t know why they came back. They’d been here all morning.”
“We wanted to talk to Jeff,” Jessie said again. She turned to Jeff. “Did you know that Erik Thorton attempted to build the world’s largest yo-yo?”
“But he wasn’t successful,” Henry added. “When he tried to launch it, it fell off the crane and rolled into the crowd where it injured some people, including Erik.”
Emily frowned. “What are you kids talking about?”
“This is why we came back yesterday afternoon,” Henry explained. “We wanted to talk to Jeff about all of this.”
Officer Maguire kept writing in her notebook. “So, who’s Erik Thorton?” she asked, as she wrote.
“He’s the son of the lady who lives in that yellow house across the street.
He’s here visiting his mother right now. I don’t know how he feels, but I’m afraid his mother is not very happy I’m building this yo-yo.”
“If her son was injured while attempting to launch the world’s largest yo-yo, I’m not surprised to hear that,” Officer Maguire said as the other officer joined them.
“Has she or her son made any threats?” the tall officer asked. His badge read: Sloan.
“Well,” Jeff said slowly. “She did tell me she’d do anything she could to stop me.”
“Did you tell the police about that phone call yesterday morning?” Jessie asked Jeff.
“What phone call?” Officer Maguire asked.
“Oh yes. I almost forgot about that,” Jeff said. “Jessie, you’re the one who answered the phone. Why don’t you tell them about it.”
So Jessie did, and Officer Maguire copied down everything Jessie said in her notebook.
“Is there anything else we should know about?” Officer Sloan asked.
“Someone’s been following us,” Benny piped up. “Someone in a gray station wagon.”
“Do either of you know anything about this?” Officer Sloan asked Jeff and Emily.
“No,” Emily said.
“The kids mentioned something about this yesterday morning,” Jeff said.
“We saw the car again when we were having lunch downtown,” Violet said.
“And then while we were at the library, somebody took my backpack,” Henry added. “I got it back, but I’m afraid whoever took it stole your plans for the yo-yo. I’m really sorry. I should have been more careful.”
Jeff’s jaw tightened. “Fortunately, I have other copies. But I’m concerned about you kids. You said someone was following you. I had no idea it was this serious.”
“I don’t think they’re following us anymore,” Jessie said. “I think they got what they wanted—the plans for your yo-yo. And now someone has broken in here and damaged the yo-yo.”
“Can the damage be cleaned up?” Violet asked.
“I don’t know,” Jeff replied. “But I’m starting to think I should forget about building the world’s largest yo-yo. I don’t want any trouble.”
“Oh, don’t do that!” Jessie begged.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Officer Maguire promised as she closed her notebook.
“That’s right,” Officer Sloan agreed. “And I think we’ll start by paying a visit to your neighbor across the street.” |