Chapter 8

Chapter 8 She held the autograph book so the kids could see it. "The thief was in such a hurry to get away that he left me holding this," she said. Penelope Gwinn handed the book to Ruth Rose. It was square, and the word AUTOGRAPHS had been stamped in gold on the dark red cover. "I don't remember the other two autograph books very well," Dink said. "They were fat like

this one, with dark covers, I think." Ruth Rose studied the book in her hand. "I wonder if the police could get the thief's fingerprints from this," she said. "I asked about that, but he was wearing gloves," Penelope said. "That guy at the hot-dog cart wore gloves when he served us!" Josh said. Penelope shrugged. "Anyone could slip on a pair of gloves," she said. "Could the thief be a woman?" Ruth Rose asked. "She could have worn gloves to disguise her hands." "I suppose it's possible," Penelope said. "Everyone was wearing penguin masks, so I didn't really look at faces." Penelope sighed as she sat down. "Anyone could have grabbed my pendant. As soon as I realized what had happened, I started screaming," she said. "But by then the thief had disappeared in the crowd. Later, I stood by the gate with the officers, but I wasn't able to recognize him or her." Ruth Rose flipped through the pages.

There were a lot of signatures in the book. The last name wasn't complete. "I was signing that page when he grabbed my necklace," Penelope said. Ruth Rose started to hand the book back. "No, I really don't want the thing," Penelope said. "Do me a favor and drop it in the first trash can you come to!" Penelope stood up. "I appreciate your coming to see me," she said. She noticed the picture Ruth Rose had brought with her. "You boys want one of those?" she asked, smiling for the first time. "Sure!" Josh gushed. "I'm a huge fan!" Penelope signed two more pictures and gave them to Dink and Josh. The kids thanked her and left. There was a trash can outside the hotel. "Are you gonna throw the book away?" Dink asked Ruth Rose. "No way!" she said. They sat on a bench and waited for the next bus to Green Lawn. Ruth Rose was reading signatures when Dink poked her and Josh. "Look who's coming this way!"

Penelope Gwinn's manager, Hans, was barreling toward them, wearing wrap-around sunglasses. As he marched down the sidewalk, he kept turning his head, checking both sides of the street. "Is he after us?" Josh whispered. "I don't think he sees us," Ruth Rose said. Suddenly Hans stopped in front of a store window. He peered through the glass, then opened the door and disappeared inside. A sign on the window said: YE OLDE JEWELRY SHOPPE. WE BUY AND SELL UNUSUAL ITEMS. "Oh my gosh!" Ruth Rose said. "Maybe Penelope's manager is the thief. He could be in there selling the penguin right now!"

"He'd have to be pretty dumb to sell the thing on the same street where he just stole it," Dink said. "Or maybe he's pretty smart," Josh said. "He could be selling it here because no one would expect him to do that! I wondered why Hans didn't stop the thief. Wasn't he standing at the bottom of the stage steps?" "That's a good question," Ruth Rose said. "Should we follow him into the shop?"

"I don't think so," Dink said. "If he went in there to sell the pendant, he'll stop when he sees us walk in. Plus, then he'll know we suspect him." "So what should we do?" asked Josh. "I don't know," Dink said. "We can't accuse Hans just because he walked into a jewelry store. And we can't accuse that woman I saw, or Frank the hot-dog man. The thief was wearing a mask and didn't leave any clues behind!" "Just this," Ruth Rose said as their bus came along. She held up the red autograph book. A half hour later, the kids were back in Dink's room. While Dink fed Loretta, Ruth Rose read the rest of the pages in the autograph book. Josh was prowling in Dink's things, looking for candy. "Hey, what's this?" he asked, holding up Dink's souvenir X-ray. "That's one of the X-rays the doctor took yesterday" Dink said. "Why does it have this big X over it?" asked Josh. Dink explained that the X-ray was blurred because of the bandage. "He took a second X-ray