Cam Jansen and the Millionaire Mystery by David A. Adler Read Free Book Online Page A

“This is my daughter, Cam Jansen, and she does have a great memory. It’s as if she has a camera in her head and pictures of everything she’s ever seen.”

    Ellen Scott stood next to Cam. She tapped on her glass again.
    Ting! Ting! Ting
!
    “We have a celebrity here! Surely you’ve all read in the local newspapers about Cam Jansen? She’s the girl who uses her amazing photographic memory to solve mysteries. She’s even helped catch criminals.”
    Ellen Scott smiled at Cam and applauded.
    Others in the room applauded, too.
    “Watch this,” Eric said loudly. Everyone looked at Eric.
    He turned to Cam and said, “Look at me and say, ‘
Click
!’ Then close your eyes.”
    Cam looked at Eric.
    “No! No!” Ellen Scott said. “Look at me.”
    Cam Jansen looked at Ellen Scott. She said, “
Click
!” and closed her eyes.
    Eric told the people in the room, “Cam says, ‘
Click
!’ when she wants to remember something. It’s the sound her mental camera makes.”
    “Turn around,” Eric whispered, “so no one will think you’re peeking.”
    Cam turned around. She was no longer facing Ellen Scott.
    Mrs. Scott asked Cam, “What color dress am I wearing?”
    “Gray. It has seven large buttons in front. You’re wearing a pearl necklace, four bracelets on your right wrist, and a gold watch on your left wrist.”
    Then Cam whispered, “Your third button is open.”
    Ellen Scott looked down at her dress. She closed the third button.
    When Cam was born, her parents named her Jennifer. But when people found out about her great memory, they started calling her “The Camera.” Soon, “The Camera” became just “Cam.”
    “You’re truly amazing,” Mrs. Scott said.
    “Thank you for your performance, Miss Jansen,” an elderly man said.
    Then he spoke to the many other people in the room.
    “I’m Aaron Scott. We are so grateful you are all here to help us build a new firehouse. I hope you’ll all join us upstairs to see a beautiful view of our fine city. You may take the stairs or go by elevator.”
    Cam turned and opened her eyes.
    “I’m taking the elevator,” Mrs. Scott told Cam. “Please come with me. I want to ask you all about the mysteries you’ve solved.”

Chapter Two
    Cam and her mother followed Mrs. Scott to the elevator. Eric and his mother followed Mr. Scott to the stairs.
    “When did you first know you had a great memory?” Mrs. Scott asked.
    “It was me. I was the first to realize it,” Mrs. Jansen said. “When Cam was little I read to her every night. One night I was in a hurry and skipped a page. ‘No, Mommy,’ Cam said. ‘What about the man with the blue shirt, red pants, and sneakers?’ She described everything on that page. After that we had lots of fun playing all sorts of memory games. Camwas just two years old, but she always won.”
    “That’s amazing,” Mrs. Scott said.
    The elevator doors opened. Cam and her mother followed Mrs. Scott onto the elevator.
    “Does your great memory help you with your schoolwork?”
    “Cam does very well in school,” Mrs. Jansen said.
    “It’s easy for me to remember spelling words,” Cam said. “And I always remember what I read.”
    “Is there room for me?” asked a woman wearing a long green dress and carrying a large open handbag. “I have trouble with stairs.”

    “Of course there’s room,” Mrs. Scott told the woman. She waved her hand and told her to come onto the elevator.
    “In class I always raise my hand, but my teacher hardly ever calls on me,” Cam told Mrs. Scott. “She says, ‘I’m sure you remember the work. I want to find out if others in the class remember.’”
    An old man with a cane got on the elevator.
    Another old man and his wife got on. They were friends of Mrs. Scott.
    “This is such a nice party,” the man said.
    A man wearing a dark blue jacket and holding a paper coffee cup came on.
    A woman wearing a tight flowered dress was about to get on. She was holding a plate with a gooey piece of