Guide Dog Mystery by Charles Tang Read Free Book Online Page B

eyes. Jessie had gotten her a glass of water and Violet was sitting beside her, patting her hand. Benny was pacing restlessly back and forth.
    “Tell us exactly what happened,” Jason said.
    “I was in bed,” Anna began. “Ginger was sleeping on the floor next to the chair. I heard a scraping noise at my door — now I realize it must have been someone picking the lock. I heard the door open, and someone called Ginger’s name. I thought I was dreaming. But when I heard the door click shut, I knew it wasn’t a dream. Ginger was gone!”
    “Then what did you do?” asked Jason.
    “I ran out into the hallway and banged on Jessie and Violet’s door,” Anna said.
    “When you opened the door, did you see anyone in the hallway?” Jason asked the girls.
    “No. There was no one but Anna,” Violet said.
    “I know who the person was,” Anna said.
    “You do?” Jessie said.
    “Oh, I don’t know the person’s name, but I know it was the same person who was following us today,” Anna said.
    “How can you be sure?” Henry asked. He noticed Ginger’s old collar lying on Anna’s desk and picked it up.
    “I heard the way he ran. It was the same limp I’d heard earlier today, behind me,” Anna said. “I also noticed that he smelled flowery — like aftershave or perfume.”
    “The person must have overheard us saying that Ginger was going to spend the night in your room,” Violet said.
    “I can’t believe Ginger would just go off with a stranger,” Jessie pointed out.
    “Maybe it wasn’t a stranger,” said Benny. “Maybe it was Mrs. Davis.”
    Everyone looked at Benny. He could be right. The children all remembered the way Ginger had run eagerly to her former owner only a few days before.
    As they were talking, Henry had been idly playing with Ginger’s old collar. It seemed awfully lumpy. He noticed a small slit in the leather and slipped his finger in. All of a sudden, Henry called out, “Oh, my gosh! Look at this! There’s something inside Ginger’s collar!”
    Everyone stopped talking and looked over. “What is it, Henry?” Jason asked.
    Henry was pulling something out from inside the two layers of leather. It looked sparkly. At last he got the object out and held it up in the light where it glittered.

     
    “It’s a diamond bracelet!” Jessie cried. Everyone crowded around Henry to examine the valuable piece of jewelry.
    “What was this doing inside Ginger’s collar?” asked Anna, as she fingered the narrow bracelet.
    “Why would someone tuck a diamond bracelet inside a dog’s collar?” asked Violet.
    “Oh, my goodness!” Jessie cried out. “Maybe the person who kidnapped Ginger wasn’t after Ginger at all. Maybe the person knew the bracelet was in Ginger’s collar, and that’s what he was after!”
    “You may be right,” said Jason. “I think I’d better make a few phone calls.” He picked up the phone, dialed, and began speaking quietly.
    While Jason talked, the Aldens comforted Anna, who was quite upset.
    “Don’t worry, we’ll solve this mystery and get Ginger back,” Violet assured her.
    “You don’t know us very well yet, but we’re good at solving mysteries,” Benny added.
    When Jason had hung up the phone, Henry asked if he’d spoken with the police. “No,” Jason said. “I called Mrs. Carter. She wants to wait until tomorrow before we call the police. She’s hoping we can figure out what happened to Ginger and where this bracelet came from. If we call in the police, it will be terrible publicity for the school, and we don’t want that.” The others all nodded.
    “I called Charlotte, too,” Jason went on. “She seemed very upset when I told her what happened to Ginger.”
    “Do you believe her?” Henry asked.
    Jason looked thoughtful. “I guess so. She’s going to come by tomorrow morning, and we can talk to her some more and show her the bracelet.”
    “Until then, I guess there’s nothing more we can do,” Jessie said.

CHAPTER 10
Lots of