"Here's Mom!" Annie said pointing to the photo and Sara leaning up against Zack's mom Josie. "As you no doubt have guessed, these are the original Mystery Club Detectives." Ruthie said proudly. "As you said Annie, Sara, Josie, Claire, Rose and Molly." "They look like they were great friends." Katie noted. "They were. Just like you four are." Ruthie's voice was suddenly hoarse with emotion.
She cleared her throat and asked, "Well, what do you think?" Ruthie spread her arms wide indicating the room at large. "It's great!" Annie said with much enthusiasm. "It could use a good cleaning." Trisha said, making a face and brushing away a cobweb. "Well, it belongs to you all now. You can fix it up." Ruthie said, grinning at them.
Katie frowned at the spider filled ceiling and then the grimy floor. But she said, "Sure we can. It'll be fun." Everyone laughed at her forced smile. "When can we clean it?" Beth asked, stomping on a big spider and then shivering. "How does Saturday sound?" Ruthie asked them. "The sooner, the better." Annie said giggling.
"just make sure no one sees you all coming in the window." Ruthie warned them. "Don't worry, we won't." Annie promised for all of them. "We'll need cleaning supplies." Katie said, looking around the filthy room. "We do." Beth said, "But we can't come through the entrance carrying buckets, mops and brooms." Beth said with a smirk.
Ruthie laughed. "Good point. How about I slip the stuff in on Friday night, and leave all of it in here. Then she pointed to a door directly across from where the group was standing. "Let me guess, that's the door pretending to be a window, that stands next to the closet," Trisha said, an eyebrow raised. "Sure is." Ruthie replied. "Well, that's one mystery solved." Annie said laughing.
Sheriff Cooper nearly sprinted into the lunchroom the next day and headed straight for his favorite students. The girls were just finishing up. "You got some news?" Annie asked immediately. "Yes," the sheriff said, sitting down. "The lab got some good prints off of the pen. My deputies and I are headed over to Ridgewest to fingerprint the students." By the forlorn look on the sheriff's face, Annie didn't think he was too happy about it.
"I gotta go. My boys are waiting for me outside," Sheriff Cooper said standing. The girls glanced at each other nervously. The sheriff noticed. "Just remember, we don't know that the person who dropped the pen is the thief." He nodded at them for emphasis, winked and left. "I feel so bad that the guys have to go through this." Beth said sympathetically.
"It will be okay." Annie tried to say in a positive voice. Then she and the others gathered up their things and took their trays to the new conveyor belt, Miss Leighton had installed, which would take the trays into the kitchen, so to ease Ruthie's work load. After they had done that, the girls trudged to their next class with dismal looks on their faces.
The sheriff got in touch with the Jr. detectives on Friday morning, as they were coming out of the main entrance, heading to the entrance to meet Collin, Zack, Jamie and Charlie. Sheriff Cooper led the girls to the big oak tree that stood aside of the front steps. "What do you know?" Annie asked him anxiously.
"Well firstly, Collin, Jamie, Zack and Charlie are in the clear." The girls sighed in unison with relief. The sheriff grinned. "Their fingerprints weren't even close." Did you tell the boys?" Katie asked him. "Yes." Sheriff Cooper said, wiping his brow. It was an unusually warm day. "Do you know who the prints belong too?" Beth asked eagerly."
"So, do you think it's a clue to the theft or not?" Trisha asked. "It could be an alumnus or a curious student who found the secret door a long time ago, or a boy from Ridgewest could've given it to a Ridgewest girl who dropped it, or it could be someone we haven't thought of yet," the sheriff said in a defeated voice.
YOU ARE READING
Book 1-Annie Adams and the Mystery Club Detectives
Mystery / ThrillerAnnie Adams was orphaned at two years old. Her mother's last wish was that Annie be placed in the care of her mother's sister and her husband. Annie was very happy with them on their farm in Hopskinville Tennessee. But at age thirteen Annie learn...
