Stolen Secrets (18 page)

Chapter 71

Bryce and I moved to the hall
outside Cammy’s English classroom and ate. Every few minutes Bryce peeked inside.

“She’s pulling at her hair,” he said. “It’s a wonder she’s not bald.”

Finally we heard Cammy’s heels clacking on the floor, and Bryce clicked on his recorder. She wore a short skirt and carried a bright red purse over one shoulder. She looked really pretty.

“Hey, Cammy,” I said as she closed the door behind her, “how’d your test go?”

She glanced our way as if we were termites and kept walking.

“We just talked with Tracy about the story you two made up.”

Cammy stopped dead in her tracks and stared. She suddenly had that ugly stepsister look, like an animal backed into a corner. When she opened her mouth, I imagined I could see fangs. “What did she say?”

“That it was the truth,” I said.

Cammy gritted her teeth and hurried down the hall.

Bryce switched off his recorder. “Strike two.”

Chapter 72

We left our ATVs
at Mrs. Watson’s and walked to town so Ashley could keep trying to sell candles. We stopped at the Toot Toot Café, where Mr. Crumpus was setting out silverware for the dinner rush.

He smiled. “Would you two get older so you can do this?”

“We’ll be 14 soon,” Ashley said. “If you count seven months soon.”

Mr. Crumpus noticed Ashley’s catalog. “The dance studio?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already bought something.”

“Three things for the counter so far. Guess one more wouldn’t hurt.”

“You know they caught Danny last night behind our house,” I said.

“Yeah,” Mr. Crumpus said, writing on the sheet. “Guess I was wrong about him.”

“What do you mean?” Ashley said.

“Haven’t you heard? He confessed. Said he did it. A customer told me.”

Ashley’s face turned white. “But he told us . . .”

Mr. Crumpus excused himself to seat some customers.

“Strike three, Ash,” I said. “Come on, let’s go.”

Chapter 73

We walked right by the police station,
where TV news vans were parked with tall antennas and satellite dishes pointed to the sky. I wanted to go in and ask if it was true. Could I have been wrong about Cammy and Tracy?

Bryce pecked me on the shoulder and motioned to the other side of the street. Cammy and Tracy hurried along, talking loudly. Bryce and I moved behind the corner of a building and watched.

Tracy turned and said something. Then Cammy grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alley. Bryce nodded to the other side of the street. We hustled across to a small church, pressed our backs against the brick wall, and inched closer to the alley.

“For the last time,” Tracy said, “I didn’t tell that Timberline kid anything. I said we didn’t make it up.”

“You swear?”

“Yes! I told you I’d stick with our story. You know I didn’t want to tell those reporters anything, but you made me.”

“You liked the attention as much as I did.”

“Yeah, and now that guy is in jail.”

“He’d be there anyway,” Cammy said. “He’s a drunk!”

Bryce and I ducked behind the concrete steps of the church as Tracy and Cammy walked toward the railroad tracks.

Bryce pulled out his recorder and smiled. “Maybe strike three was just a foul tip.”

Chapter 74

Ashley and I hurried
to the police station, where I recognized the officer with the dog from the school sleepover. “Tell him,” I said. “I’ll bet he remembers you.”

“Who did you lose this time?” the officer said, smiling.

“Can we talk to you about Danny?” Ashley said.

“It’s not really my investigation. What do you want to know?”

“Is it true he confessed?” Ashley said.

The officer frowned. “I really can’t talk about specifics. . . .”

I pulled out my recorder. “We think the girls are lying.”

He dipped his head. “Really?”

I punched the Play button. The officer leaned close, and I turned up the volume. When the recording finished, he stood. “Stay right here.”

A few minutes later he reappeared with the chief of police, who introduced himself and showed us into a room.

“Can we keep this?” the chief said.

I nodded.

The chief rubbed his cheek. “We’ve believed those girls from the start. Everything they said checked out. Even found some duct tape in that shed. Still had the price tag on it.” He turned to the canine cop. “Officer Ormsby, go to the hardware store and have them go over the register receipts. See if anybody bought some tape about that time.”

The chief thanked us and said he’d be in touch. Then he saw Ashley’s candle catalog. “Dance studio?”

She nodded. “Bought anything yet?”

“There was this little thing I’ve been thinking about for the dining-room table.”

Officer Ormsby stared at him.

The chief cleared his throat. “It’s for my wife, Bill. Now didn’t I give you an assignment?”

Chapter 75

Mom and Sam were impressed.
The phone rang after dinner and Sam answered. He put a hand over the mouthpiece. “They made a copy of your recording. We can go pick up the machine.”

I was already looking for my shoes.

“Let’s hurry,” Sam said. “It’s supposed to rain, and the wind is already picking up.” As we headed to the car, he added, “You guys are getting good at this detective stuff. The chief said your information helped a lot.”

Sam parked on the street across from the station, but before we could get out, Bryce grabbed Sam’s shoulder. “Wait.”

Cammy and Tracy were being led into the police station.