Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Josh's mouth fell open. "Your uncle's the thief?" he asked. "Josh!" Ruth Rose scolded. She turned to Dink. "Your uncle isn't the thief," she said. "He never had a chance to take the jewel. We were with him when he opened the crate, and he sure didn't take it on the tape we just saw."

Dink felt sick even thinking that his uncle might have stolen the emerald. "What about when we turned out all the lights?" he asked. "But that was so quick," Ruth Rose said. "I don't see how he—" "Guys! The desk!" Josh said suddenly. "Look at it! Do you see anything different?" Dink and Ruth Rose looked at Uncle Warren's desk. "What do you mean?" Dink asked. "There's nothing but the blotter and the letter opener, the same as yesterday and this morning." Josh hit the "play" button on the VCR. He fastforwarded until the tape showed the room and everyone in it. "There!" he shouted a moment later. "Look at the letter opener. The tip is pointing toward the windows, right?" "Yeah, so what?" Dink said. "Wait a sec and you'll see." In the film, the lights went out. After Dr. Pitts finished shining his flashlight on the jewel, the lights came back on. "Now look!" Josh cried. "See, the letter opener is pointing away from the windows. It got turned

around!" "Why does it matter, Josh?" Ruth Rose asked. "I don't know," Josh said. "But someone picked up the letter opener while the lights were out, then put it down again." "Who was standing closest to it?" Dink asked, hitting "stop" and "rewind." "I think Dr. Pitts was," Josh said. "He was standing right in front of the jaguar. The letter opener was a few inches away." "But why would he want the letter opener in the dark?" Ruth Rose asked. Just then, they heard thumps outside the office door, like someone stomping on a carpet. "Who's that?" Ruth Rose whispered. Josh gulped. "Is the door locked?" "I don't think so!" Dink whispered back. He swept a hand over the wall switches. The room darkened except for the small light over the fish tank. "Look!" Josh whispered. Through the frostedglass window in the door, the kids saw a tall shadow.

They heard a click, and the doorknob turned. "Hide!" Dink whispered. "James's office!" The kids dashed into the small office. Dink left the door open a crack so he could see who entered. It was Dr. Pitts.