BACK NECKLACA 7' Detective and the case of the stolen necklace Once per year, the old lady sends the world's most expensive necklace back to the jeweler who made it in order to have it cleaned and polished. At that time the jeweler, who lives in Paris, France, sends an armed guard on an airplane to America to pick up the necklace, put it into a briefcase and guard it on its trip to France. Then, when the necklace has been cleaned and polished in Paris, the armed guard carries it back to the old lady in America on the airplane. This year everything went as planned, but when the armed guard arrived at the old lady's house and opened the briefcase, it was empty! The first person the old lady called was not the police, but Michaela, the world's greatest detective. Michaela asked the armed guard everything he did from the time he put the necklace into the briefcase until he arrived at the old lady's house. He said the briefcase never left his side from the time he left the jeweler until he flew into town. But because the airplane arrived late at night, he stayed overnight at a hotel near the airport. "Aha!" exclaimed Michaela, "That's where the robber stole the necklace.... at the hotel, while you were sleeping." Michaela went to the hotel with her magnifying glass and her microscope and her chemistry set. "The first thing we need to find," explained Michaela, "is how the robber got into your hotel room." First, she inspected the door and the lock for scratches. But there were no signs that anyone tampered with the lock. Next, she inspected the sliding glass door that opens between the hotel room and the balcony. "Aha!" exclaimed Michaela. "What is it?! Did you find something?!" asked the armed guard. Michaela pulled the curtain back and pointed to the sliding glass door and exclaimed, "Look." "There's a hole in the glass!" exclaimed the guard. Indeed, there was a hole in the glass in the shape of a perfect circle right next to the lock. Michaela explained, "Someone put a glass cutter on a suction cup and scratched a perfect circle in the glass. Then, with just one tap of the glass in exactly the right place, the glass broke under the scratch. Pulling on the suction cup, the robber pulled the circle of glass out of the sliding door. He reached through the hole and he unlocked the door. Then, he quietly slid open the door and tip-toed into the room." "But," the guard asked, "how did the robber open my briefcase? It was locked." Michaela had already inspected the briefcase at the old lady's house, but found no signs that the lock had been tampered with. So, Michaela concluded, "I think the robber had an exact duplicate of your briefcase. All they did was take your briefcase and leave the empty one in its place." "So, that's why I didn't hear any noise last night!" exclaimed the guard. Michaela examined the balcony with her magnifying glass for more clues. "Aha!" she exclaimed. "Find something?" asked the guard. "Yes." replied Michaela, "Here on top of the railing, there's fibers." "What kind of fibers?" asked the guard. "Two different colors, same kind." replied Michaela as she compared the fibers with some pictures in her book. "Just as I thought." exclaimed Michaela, "Mountain climbers ropes!" she replied. "I don't get it." said the guard. "The robber went up to the roof of the hotel and lowered himself on mountain climbers ropes to this balcony." explained Michaela. "You learned all of that from two small fibers?!" exclaimed the guard. "Aha!" exclaimed Michaela. "Something else?" asked the guard. "Yes." replied Michaela, "Right next to where I found the rope fibers. Black rubber scuff marks, some white crystals and a chemical stain." Michaela sniffed the stain. "Jet fuel." concluded Michaela. "Does that mean the robber was on the jet plane with me?" asked the guard. "Definitely not." explained Michaela, "These scuff marks are from rubber boots. Nobody rides on a jet plane wearing black rubber boots. And this robber stepped in a puddle of jet fuel. There's no jet fuel INSIDE of a jet plane." "Then, maybe the robber is the guy who fills up the airplanes with jet fuel." said the guard. "We'll see." replied Michaela as she collected some of the white crystals from the balcony railing. She compared the crystals to the pictures of crystals in her book, then she put a few of them on her tongue. "Sea salt!" exclaimed Michaela. "Sea salt?!" exclaimed the guard. "What does that mean?" Michaela thought for a moment, then concluded, "This robber didn't get jet fuel on his boots from an airplane. He got it from a boat or a ship!" Michaela called up the harbor master and asked him if any boats in the harbor have jet engines. "We have TWO turbine powered boats in the harbor today." replied the harbor master, "One is a passenger ship. The other is a private yacht belonging to a rich guy named Lucifer Snidely." "Aha!" exclaimed Michaela, "Lucifer Snidely!" "But," replied the guard, "Lucifer Snidely is locked up in prison." "He is," replied Michaela, "But he planned this robbery. He just hired a henchman to steal the necklace for him." Michaela and the guard went down to the harbor and onto Snidely's yacht. They went down to the engine room because that's the only place where jet fuel would be spilled. There, on the wall beside the two jet engines, they found a steel vault. But instead of having numbered push buttons on the lock, this vault had buttons with pictures: A fish An ant A bell A pig A wagon wheel A bow tie A car A sock A cow A pen A baseball Michaela inspected the vault carefully with her magnifying glass looking for clues about which order to push the keys. But she found no clues. So, she searched the entire engine room. Finally she came to a calendar on the wall near the control panel. Inside the squares on the first ten days of the month on the calendar were written the words: Wheelbarrow Carpet Rainbow Coward Penny Socket Balloon Pants Selfish Belly Pigeon Michaela took the calendar off the wall and compared the words on the calendar with the pictures on the pushbuttons. (Can YOU tell which buttons to push using the clue on the calendar?) "Aha!" exclaimed Michaela. "Did you figure out which buttons to push?" asked the guard. "Yes." replied Michaela, "The pictures are words within words." "I don't get it." replied the guard. Michaela pointed and explained, "Well, the easiest one is WHEELbarrow. The picture on the button is a wheel." (Can YOU tell which buttons to push now?) first word: Wheelbarrow, Michaela pushed the wheel button. Carpet... car Rainbow... bow tie Coward... Cow Penny... Pen Socket... sock Balloon... ball Pants... ant Selfish... fish Belly... bell Pigeon... pig Click, buzz. The green light when on and the vault door opened. There was the briefcase. The guard unlocked the briefcase and there was the world's most expensive necklace. Michaela, the world's greatest detective solved another case! ©2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties. Do not sell this story or rewrite it. You may reproduce and distribute this story freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.fea.net/bobsnook/kid email: bobsnook@fea.net BACK |