Cam Jansen and the Millionaire Mystery (2 page)

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.”

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. Cam
was 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 cake.

“Please eat that first,” the old man with the cane said. “I don’t want that messy cake to get on my clothes.”

The woman quickly ate the cake. She licked the gooey icing off her fingers. Then she gave the plate to a waiter and got on the elevator.

A young man in a fireman’s uniform got on.

“That’s it,” Mrs. Scott said. “There’s no more room.”

Mrs. Scott was standing by a set of buttons. She pushed a button and the elevator doors closed.

“We’re going up,” Mrs. Scott said.

Cam and her mother were pressed against the wall of the elevator. Cam took a deep breath and held it. Then the doors opened and people got out. Cam exhaled.

“The big windows are to your right,” Mrs. Scott announced.

“Let’s go see,” Mrs. Jansen said. “We parked our car right in front. I bet from up here it looks like a little toy.”

Cam turned to Mrs. Scott.

“Thanks for the ride,” Cam said.

Cam stopped.

“Oh,” she said. “I think something is missing.”

Cam closed her eyes. She said, “
Click
!”

Cam quickly opened her eyes. “Mrs. Scott,” she said, “your pearl necklace is gone!”

Mrs. Scott reached up. She felt her neck. Then she hurried to look in the mirror by the elevator.

“This is terrible,” she said. “Aaron bought the necklace for my birthday.”

She pressed the button by the elevator. The doors opened. She looked on the floor.

“The clasp must have opened. It must have fallen to the floor. I hope no one stepped on it.”

Cam, Mrs. Jansen, and Mrs. Scott bent down and checked the thick carpet near the elevator.

Eric and his mother were just coming up the stairs.

“Did you lose something?” Eric asked.

Cam told him about the necklace.

“Someone must have stolen it,” Eric said. “This is another mystery. We have to find the necklace and the thief.”

Mrs. Scott looked at the many people in her apartment.

“Aaron, Aaron,” she called.

Mr. Scott hurried to her.

“Are you tired? Is this party too much?”

“No, it’s not that,” Mrs. Scott said, shaking her head.

She told her husband about the necklace.

Mr. Scott gasped.

“It was stolen,” Eric told him.

“The boy is right,” Mr. Scott said. “That necklace is very valuable. It has a double clasp. I saw you lock it this morning. It couldn’t have just fallen off. I’m calling security.”

Mr. Scott hurried away.

“Oh, I hope they find it,” Mrs. Scott said. “We have very good security here. They watch everyone who enters and leaves this building.”

“I noticed that,” Mrs. Jansen said. “When we arrived, the woman at the door asked us our names. She had a list of who was coming to the party. She even made me show her my driver’s license.”

Mr. Scott was back.

“That nice guard Amy is coming right up,” he said. “I also called the police. They told me not to let anyone leave the apartment. I put someone at each door.”

“I bet the thief will try to leave,” Mrs. Shelton said.

“Did you feel anyone pulling at your necklace?” Mr. Scott asked.

His wife shook her head.

“The elevator was crowded. People were pressed against me, but I would have noticed if someone pulled the necklace.”

There was a chair by the elevator. Mr. Scott sat down and said, “We have more than one hundred guests. Any one of them might be the thief.”