Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Jean-Paul held up his water glass. "I propose a toast," he said. Uncle Warren and Yvonne raised their glasses. "To three brave and smart kids!" Jean-Paul said, looking at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. "Hear, hear," Uncle Warren said. "You put a crook behind bars and saved a priceless jewel

from being stolen." "It all started with your telling me to remember my cookie," Dink told his uncle. Dink's uncle smiled. "I knew if I gave you my key and reminded you not to trust what you saw, you'd figure it out." "Ruth Rose's cookie said she'd find a treasure in an unexpected place," Josh said, "and she did!" "And Josh noticed that the letter opener had been moved," Ruth Rose said. "Yeah, and Dink found the video recorder behind the books," Josh said. Dink smiled at Yvonne. "And thank goodness you rescued us!" "When I came to give you more cookies, you were gone," Yvonne said. "Then I saw that doctor

man sneaking into the downstairs door. I ran up the back stairs!" "Why do you have those hidden doors?" Ruth Rose asked Dink's uncle. "Many years ago, the Porter Museum was a private home," he explained. "Old Mr. and Mrs. Porter's servants used that back stairway to go up and down. When the Porter home became a museum, the architects decided to leave the doors and stairway as they were." "I'm glad they did!" Josh said. "When I'm away Yvonne comes up to feed my fish," Uncle Warren said. Yvonne smiled. "And you thought perhaps I was the one who took the jewel, no?" Dink blushed. "Yeah, but then I saw Regina Wu sneak into the building, so I thought it was her, too!" Uncle Warren laughed. "She called a while ago and explained that," he said. "She'd forgotten her umbrella and went back up to get it." "Uncle Warren," Dink said, "why didn't you tell the police about the camera and the video?" His uncle laughed. "I honestly forgot the camera was there!" he said. "Besides, I'm a dunce

when it comes to anything electronic. James had it installed, but even he tends to forget about it." "The part I don't understand is how Dr. Pitts could switch the glass emerald for the jewel so fast," Josh said. "And in the dark!" "I'm sure he practiced," Uncle Warren said. "And when he first came in, he must have spotted the letter opener on my desk." "So that's why he wanted us to put the jaguar down on the desk close to the fish tank," Dink said. "He knew he was going to slip the emerald into the water." His uncle nodded. "Yes, and then come back later to get it." "So when he told you to get a second opinion," Ruth Rose said, "the jewel really was a fake. Because he'd just taken the real one, right?" "Right," Uncle Warren said. "And he almost got away with his scam." He smiled at his dinner companions. "But he didn't figure on three detectives hiding in James's office!" Just then, they heard bells jingling outside the restaurant.

"Aha, our ride is here!" Uncle Warren said, standing up. "What ride?" Dink asked. "Can't we walk back to your apartment?" "We're not going right back, nephew," his uncle said. "Come!" He led everyone outside, where a large white horse stood waiting. The horse was harnessed to a buggy. All along the harness leather were small lights and bells. A short man climbed down from the driver's seat. He wore a spiffy gray suit and a black top hat. "Hello, I'm Alfie," the man said, "and this lovely horse is Prince." "Climb aboard!" Uncle Warren said. "Cool!" Josh said, hoisting himself into the buggy. "Where are we going?" "Who cares?" Ruth Rose said, climbing in next to Josh. Uncle Warren helped Dink up and then sat next to him. "We are going to see New York City by night," he said. "I don't want you to go home thinking all we have here is loud traffic and jewel thieves!"

He tapped on the back of the buggy. "Take us away, Alfie!" "Au revoir!" cried Yvonne and Jean-Paul from the sidewalk. "See you tomorrow!" Alfie clicked his tongue at Prince, and the buggy began to move. Slowly, the horse clipclopped down the street. Dink sat back and gazed up at the sky. A billion stars blazed down at him. One star was larger than the others, and it looked green, like a jewel. The green star blinked, then disappeared. Dink laughed. "What's funny?" Josh asked.