The Unwilling Umpire (2 page)

Dink swallowed, then tugged on the man’s arm.

“Hi there,” Mr. Pocket said. “Where’s that ump? These people want some baseball action!”

“Um, did you do anything with those six baseballs?” Dink asked.

“Why, of course,” Mr. Pocket said. “You saw me lock them in the case.”

“You didn’t move them anywhere else?” Ruth Rose asked.

Mr. Pocket’s smile vanished. “What’s going on, kids? Has something happened to my baseballs?”

“They’re gone!” Josh said. “The case is smashed. There’s glass all over the floor!”

Mr. Pocket turned and marched toward the clubhouse.

The three kids watched him go.

“You didn’t happen to see Pete when you went inside, did you?” Ruth Rose asked Josh.

“Nope. The first thing I saw when I got inside was all the glass,” Josh said. “I was the only one in the place.”

“Gosh,” Dink said, “do you think Pete stole Mr. Pocket’s baseballs?”

Officer Fallon left his position on the field and walked over to the kids. “What’s going on?” he said. “Where’s our umpire?”

“We don’t know,” Josh said. “But Mr. Pocket’s baseball collection is missing!”

Officer Fallon blinked. “What do you mean, ‘missing’?” he asked.

Josh told Officer Fallon what he’d discovered.

“Did you see anyone else inside the clubhouse?” the police chief asked.

Josh shook his head. “I was the only one there,” he said.

Officer Fallon looked toward the clubhouse. “Pete went inside just before you did, Josh,” Officer Fallon said. “Are you telling me he wasn’t in there?”

Josh shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone. After I noticed the baseballs were gone, I got the heck out of there!” he said.

Mr. Pocket stormed up to them. His face was as white as his hair. “They
are
gone!” he said.

“Thaddeus, just how much are those balls worth?” Officer Fallon asked.

“A great deal,” Mr. Pocket said. “But I don’t care about the money. My father gave me those baseballs.”

“I’ll do my best to get them back for you,” Officer Fallon said. He ran toward the parking lot, where he’d parked his cruiser.

Mr. Pocket sighed. “Well, I guess the game is over,” he said. He walked away. A minute later, the kids heard his
voice over the public-address system. “LADIES AND GENTS, I’M SORRY TO REPORT THAT THE GAME HAS BEEN CALLED OFF.”

There was a pause. Then he continued: “WE HOPE THE GAME WILL BE CONTINUED IN A FEW DAYS. WE’LL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS WE KNOW MORE. THANK YOU.”

The kids watched Mr. Pocket walk toward Main Street.

The people in the bleachers began leaving. Dink could hear their disappointed voices as they passed. The men straggled off the field, looking confused.

Ellie walked over to the kids. “What’s that all about?” she asked. “And what’s with Mr. Pocket? After he talked with you kids, he looked like he swallowed some nails!”

Josh explained.

“And Pete disappeared the same time the baseballs did!” Ruth Rose added.

“You’re kidding, right?” Ellie said.

“Nope. Officer Fallon just took off,” Josh said. “I think he’s going to try to find Pete.”

Ellie looked sad. “Gee, he seemed like such a nice guy,” she said.

“I thought so, too,” Dink said.

“Do you know where he came from?” Ruth Rose asked Ellie. “I mean, we don’t really know anything about him.”

“All I know is what he told me a couple days ago,” said Ellie. “He came into the diner for a coffee and we chatted. He said he was heading down south, but he stopped to earn some more money. He’s got a trailer parked at the river campground.”

“But where did he come from?” asked Dink.

Ellie shrugged. “Didn’t say. But I find it hard to believe that he’s a thief.”

“You know what’s weird?” Josh said.

“If Pete planned to steal the balls, why’d he do it during the game?”

“Maybe he figured no one would be in the clubhouse,” Ruth Rose said. “I guess he was right!”

“It seems awfully strange,” Ellie said. “Well, if the game is off, I’d better get back to my diner.”

Ellie hurried away, and the kids walked slowly toward Main Street. A lot of people stopped them to ask what was going on. The kids explained, and the people went away shaking their heads.

Just as the kids reached Main Street, Officer Fallon’s cruiser appeared.

In the backseat, staring straight ahead, sat Pete Unkenholz.

“Did you see that?” Dink asked. “Officer Fallon arrested Pete!”

“Let’s go see what’s going on!” suggested Josh. “Do you think they’ll put him in jail?”

The kids hurried up West Green Street. Just as they passed the elderly-housing apartments, they saw Officer Keene pulling up in a black truck. He parked it in front of the police station and stepped out.

“That’s Pete’s truck!” whispered Josh.

“Hello, Officer Keene,” Dink said.

“What’s going on? Is Pete under arrest?”

Officer Keene nodded. “We caught him in his truck. Pete admitted he took those baseballs,” he said.

“Did you get them back, Officer Keene?” Ruth Rose asked.

“Nope. Pete told us he stole ’em but won’t say what he did with ’em,” Officer Keene said. He hurried into the police station.

The kids sat on the front steps.

“Gee, what a mess,” Josh said. “Poor Mr. Pocket finds an umpire who ends up stealing his baseballs!”

“Guys, something’s not right about this,” Dink said. “Why would Pete confess to stealing the baseballs, then not tell what he did with them? I mean, why not just lie and say he didn’t steal them?”

“Something else doesn’t make sense,” Ruth Rose added. “Why would Pete steal the balls when hundreds of people
watched him go into the clubhouse for his allergy medicine? Everyone would
know
he was the thief!”

Dink shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s hard to believe a guy who helped us set up the bleachers would turn around and steal from us,” he said.

“Then why did he say he stole the baseballs?” Josh asked.

Dink stood up. “I wish we could talk to Pete,” he said. “Maybe he saw someone else in the clubhouse. Gosh, he might even have seen someone take the baseballs!”

“And maybe that’s why he’s not talking,” Ruth Rose added. “The crook might be somebody he knows!”

“Pete Unkenholz just got to Green Lawn,” Josh said. “He doesn’t know anyone here.”

After a minute, Ruth Rose said, “No one here knows him, either. Pete could
be a bank robber for all we know!”

“I wish we knew more about him,” Dink said.

“I just thought of something!” Ruth Rose cried. “If we do an Internet search, we might learn something about Pete.”

“That’s a good idea,” Dink said. “Let’s go talk to Mrs. Mackleroy!”

They crossed the street and walked into the library. The librarian, Mrs. Mackleroy, was sitting at her computer.

“Hi, kids,” she said. “What a disappointment that the game was canceled!”

The kids told her about Pete’s arrest.

“What?” she said. “He certainly doesn’t seem the type to steal.”

“Officer Keene said Pete confessed,” Josh told her.

Mrs. Mackleroy shook her head. “My goodness,” she said. “Well, how can I help you kids today?”

“We think there’s something fishy
going on,” Dink said. “It just doesn’t make sense that Pete would steal those balls during the game.”

“We want to search on the Internet to see if we can find out more about him,” Ruth Rose said.

“I’m not sure what kind of information we’d get,” Mrs. Mackleroy said. “But let’s try a quick search. I was just on YuBuy. My husband’s birthday is coming up, and I decided to shop online.”

She closed out of YuBuy and opened up a search engine. “Do you know Pete’s last name?” she asked.

“It’s Unkenholz,” Dink said, and spelled it for her as she typed.

A window opened on her monitor. “Hmph, they’re telling me no Pete or Peter Unkenholz was found.”

“Why don’t you try just the last name?” Ruth Rose suggested.

“Good idea, hon,” Mrs. Mackleroy said, typing in just
Unkenholz.
This time
she got results. There was a link to the Web site for the
Coast Press
newspaper in Penobscot, Maine. The kids leaned closer to the monitor and read:

Penobscot, Maine, December 10
Reported by Susan Greene

BAKERY VAN STOLEN

Marion Unkenholz admitted taking a local baker’s delivery van for a joyride. The van’s owner, Arnold Sugar, decided not to press charges.

“Who’s Marion Unkenholz?” asked Josh.

“I wonder if she’s related to Pete,” Dink said.

“I think
Marion
is a man’s name,” Mrs. Mackleroy said. “The female
Marian
has an
a
instead of an
o
.”

Ruth Rose glanced at the monitor again. “The reporter who wrote the story is Susan Greene. Maybe she knows this Marion Unkenholz. Could we call her?”

Mrs. Mackleroy picked up her phone and dialed information. She asked for
the
Coast Press
in Penobscot, wrote down the number, and handed the phone to Ruth Rose.

Ruth Rose punched in the number, then listened. A second later, she asked to speak to Susan Greene.