Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Everyone crowded into the office. While the sheriff took notes on a pad, Lulu repeated her story. Fiona and Ed broke in to add details. "So the way I understand it's the sheriff said, "some man or woman dressed in black tied each of you up. Then he or she opened the safe and stole a hunk of gold. Is that about it?" "Could it have been some stranger, someone just passing through?" Ma Wheat asked. Lulu shook her head. "You can see a mile in any direction from here, and believe me, I didn't

see a soul." "Maybe some passerby was hiding in the trees," Pa said. "It had to be a stranger—the robber sure couldn't be anyone in this room!" Dink quickly glanced around the office. Everyone was doing the same thing, looking at everyone else. "Lulu," Ma said, "did you happen to notice how this character got the safe open?" "I couldn't see what he was doing," Lulu said. "He was crouched down with his back to me, but I

did see that he was wearing gloves." The sheriff walked over to the safe. "So we can't even get fingerprints. I assume the safe was locked. Who knows the combination?" "Well, I do, of course," Pa said. "And Ma— Mrs. Wheat—and our son, Jud. That's it." The sheriff thanked everyone and headed for the door. He handed Ma Wheat a card. "If any of you think of anything, please call my office." The sheriff looked at Josh. "Sorry you lost your gold, son. I'll do my best to get it back for you." Josh mumbled, "Thanks." The kids followed the sheriff out of the main house. He waved good-bye and sped down the drive in his cruiser. Everyone wandered back to their cabins in a daze. The kids sat down on their front porch. "This crook was pretty clever," Ruth Rose said. "What do you mean?" Josh asked. He formed a loop in his rope and aimed for the porch rail post. He missed. "I mean the crook made it look like nobody on the ranch could be the robber," Ruth Rose said. "Seven of us were riding, right? So it couldn't be any of us. Lulu, Ed, and Fiona were tied up, so it

couldn't be them, either. Ma and Pa went shopping and got back when we did. That's twelve people with good alibis. So who was the robber? Nobody's left!" Josh sighed and coiled his rope. "You're close, Ruth Rose," he said. "But you forgot one little thing. There were only six of us riding—us three, Seth and Bonnie, and Jud." "What about Thumbs?" Dink asked. "He was with us—" "OH MY GOSH!" Ruth Rose yelled. "Dink, Josh is right! Thumbs was with us at the end of the ride, but not at the beginning!" Josh grinned. "Yep. He could've tied up Fiona and Ed after he unsaddled their horses. Then he did the same to Lulu, grabbed the gold, and hotfooted it up to the meadow." "But Thumbs is practically one of the Wheat family," Dink said. "Why would he rob the ranch?" "For the biggest hunk of gold he's ever seen," Josh said, tossing his loop at Dink's foot. He missed.