Cam Jansen and the Millionaire Mystery (5 page)

“Follow his eyes,” Eric whispered. “I think he’s looking at the small table near the elevator. Do you see those two paper cups on the table? I bet one of them is his.”

Cam looked at the cups.

“The necklace must be in one of the cups,” Eric said. “He got off the elevator and quickly got rid of the cup. He put it on that table. Now he’s just watching to make sure no one takes it. Then, when no one is looking, he’ll take the cup and necklace and leave the party.”

“Let’s find out,” Cam whispered. “Let’s
each take one of those cups and see what he does.”

Cam and Eric walked to the table by the elevator. They each took a cup.

“I’m afraid to look,” Eric said. “What’s he doing?”

“He’s just watching us.”

Cam and Eric returned to the hall by the library.

“What are you doing with those dirty cups?” Mrs. Shelton asked. “They’re covered with germs.”

“Mine is empty,” Cam said.

“Mine has a napkin in it,” Eric said. “I bet Mrs. Scott’s necklace is under it.”

Eric lifted the napkin. He didn’t find the necklace.

There was another small table by the doors to the library. Cam and Eric put the empty cups on that table.

“There are empty cups everywhere,” Cam said. “The necklace could be in any one of them.”

Eric nibbled on another spinach leaf. It was the last one on his plate. He finished it and was about to put his plate on the table.

“I’ll take that,” a waiter said.

The waiter took Eric’s plate and the two cups from the table. Cam and Eric watched as he collected empty plates and cups from the many small tables in the apartment.

“I was wrong,” Cam said, and shook her head. “A paper cup wouldn’t be a good place to hide a necklace. The waiters collect them and throw them out.”

“The police are here,” Mrs. Jansen said. “They’ll find the necklace. Let’s go to those big windows and look at the view. Maybe we can see the harbor and the bridge and your school from here.”

As they walked toward the windows, Cam said, “If that man left the necklace in his coffee cup, it’s gone. By now a waiter has taken his cup and thrown it and the necklace away.”

Mrs. Jansen and Mrs. Shelton stood by the windows and looked out.

“I thought I knew what happened with the necklace,” Cam told Eric. “But I was wrong.”

“Look at the woman in the flowered dress,” Eric whispered. “She’s eating another piece of gooey cake.”

“That cake must be really good,” Eric said. “I’m getting some.”

“Me too,” Cam said. “I can’t solve this mystery, but I can eat cake.”

Cam and Eric each took a piece of cake, a fork, and a napkin.

“Mm,” Eric said as he tasted the cake. “This is good.”

“I can see the harbor from here,” Mrs. Jansen said. “The boats look like toys.”

“There’s your school,” Mrs. Shelton said, pointing.

Cam and Eric had finished their cake. There was a trash can in the corner by the windows. Cam and Eric dropped their plates, forks, and napkins in the can.

Mrs. Shelton leaned forward. With her hands she made a pretend pair of binoculars and looked out.

“Eric,” she said. “I can see your classroom from here. Your desk is a mess. And you left your science book at school.”

“What?”

Eric looked out.

“Hey, you can’t see my desk from here.”

Mrs. Shelton laughed.

“I was joking,” she said. “But I’m sure your desk is a mess, just like at home.”

A waiter walked by. He took the cups and plates from the small tables. But he didn’t empty the trash can.

“Did you see that?” Cam asked. “The waiters are collecting dirty plates and paper cups but they aren’t emptying the trash cans. And I think I know one that surely won’t be emptied
until after the party. I might know where to find Mrs. Scott’s necklace after all.”

“I still think the man in the blue jacket took the necklace,” Cam said. “He’s the only one who took something off the elevator that he didn’t have in the library.”

Eric turned and looked at the man.

“He’s still watching that small table,” Eric whispered.

“No, he’s watching the door to the bathroom,” Cam said.

The door to the bathroom was closed.

“Officer Phillips and I were looking for people who were on the elevator and we found him coming out of there. When he
came out, he didn’t have the coffee cup.”

Cam looked at the man.

“I think he hid the necklace in the cup and he hid the cup in the bathroom. He’s waiting for whoever is in there to come out. Then he’ll go in and get the necklace.”

“I think you’re right,” Eric said.

Eric and his mother went to find Officers Phillips and Kaplan. Cam moved closer to the bathroom. Mrs. Jansen moved closer, too.

They heard the toilet flush. The door opened and an old woman came out.

The man in the blue jacket hurried to the bathroom. But Cam got in there first. She closed the door and locked it.

“Hey!” The man banged on the door. “I was waiting longer.”

“There’s another bathroom by the stairs,” Mrs. Jansen told him.

“No. I want to use this bathroom. I’ll wait until that girl is done.” He banged on the door again. “Let me in!”

Cam opened the small cabinet next to the sink. She found tissues, bandages, and aspirin but no necklace. She looked in the cabinet under the sink and found rolls of toilet paper and boxes of tissues. Then she looked at the small wire trash can. It was filled with used tissues.

Germs
, Cam thought.
People sneezed in those tissues
.

Cam shook the trash can.

Knock! Knock
!

“I’ll be right out.”

“This is Officer Phillips.”

Cam shook the trash can again. A few tissues fell out. Beneath them was a paper coffee cup.

“There it is,” Cam said. She reached in for the cup.

Knock! Knock
!

“I’m almost done,” Cam called out.

There was a paper napkin in the cup. Cam took out the napkin and there it was: Mrs. Scott’s pearl necklace.

“I found it! I found it!” Cam called out as she opened the bathroom door. She held up the necklace.

“That’s it!” Mrs. Scott said.

Cam told everyone about the man in the blue jacket.

“He was just here,” Officer Phillips said.

She took a walkie-talkie from her belt and called Officer Kaplan. She told him to look for the man.

“He’s probably on his way out of the building,” Mr. Scott said. “I’ll call and tell the doorman to stop him.”

“I’ll go downstairs,” Officer Phillips said. “I’ll call for extra police.”

Mrs. Scott put on the necklace. Her husband closed the clasps.

“Oh, there you are!” a large man in a dark suit called out.

He hurried to the Scotts. A man with a big camera was right behind him.

“Thank you so much for this party and for helping us with the firehouse,” he said. “You are great friends of our city.”

He kissed Mrs. Scott on her cheek, and the man with the camera took their picture. He grabbed Mr. Scott’s hand and shook it. The man with the camera took another picture.

“He’s Mayor Kamen,” Mrs. Jansen whispered to Cam.

The elevator doors opened. Officer Phillips, Officer Kaplan, and the man in the blue jacket got out. The man’s wrists were locked in handcuffs.