Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Officer Fallon snapped handcuffs on the thieves' wrists. "I'll take that," he said, plucking the Jenny stamp from Otto's hand. Doris Duncan shot Ruth Rose a nasty look. "You tricked us!" she screamed. The old woman who had been reading a newspaper suddenly stood up. She had white hair and wore a neat dress covered with tiny pink flowers.

The woman folded the paper and placed it on the table. Then she crossed the room. "No, you tricked me!" the woman said. She turned to Otto Bird. "Remember me—Clementine Painter? You lied to me. You told me you were a stamp expert, but you're nothing but a crook!" When Otto Bird recognized Clementine Painter, his mouth dropped open. Not a word came out. In the office, Dink and Josh danced around Mrs. Mackleroy's desk. "Gotcha!" Dink shouted. The day before, when Ruth Rose had telephoned Officer Fallon, he told her he'd call Clementine Painter. With her there, Officer Fallon had explained, Doris Duncan and Otto Bird wouldn't stand a chance. Clementine had hopped on a bus for Green Lawn to get her stamp back. When Dink and Josh walked out of the office, Doris Duncan's squinty eyes got big. Then they closed, as if she had a bad headache. Otto Bird's face turned as purple as his tie. Dink thought the man would explode. "You can't prove nothin'!" Otto Bird yelled. He raised his cuffed hands and pointed at Doris. "She planned the whole thi—"

"Shut up, frog-face!" Doris Duncan snapped at Otto Bird. "If you'd copied down the right zip code, we wouldn't be in this two-bit town to begin with!" Office Fallon chuckled. "Don't worry, you won't be in two-bit Green Lawn for long. I hear New York has a million-dollar jail!" Officer Fallon led the stamp thieves to the door. "I'll meet you folks at Ellie's Diner in an hour," he said over his shoulder. The kids and Clementine hurried to the window. They saw Officer Fallon lead the two thieves across the street and into the police station. "My soul," Clementine said to the kids. "That was so exciting. Better than television!" An hour later, they all met inside Ellie's Diner. Clementine treated the kids to ice cream. "It feels lovely to be able to buy things for people," she said. "I thought I'd lost that stamp forever." "How did it get in your vacuum cleaner?" asked Dink.

Clementine smiled, but it was a sad smile. "My mother died recently. She was ninety-six. I was cleaning out her old vacuum cleaner when I found the stamp. She must have vacuumed it up, but who knows when or where?"

"How did you know it was valuable?" Ruth Rose asked. "I didn't!" Clementine said. "But I knew it was old, so I looked up a stamp organization in the phone book." She shook her head. "And that's when all the trouble started!" Officer Fallon nodded. "Otto sang like a bird," he said. "Seems he worked for the stamp outfit you called. When you telephoned to ask about your stamp, he answered the phone." "He was ever so polite," Clementine said. "He told me to hide the stamp, and he'd come right over to look at it." Clementine looked angry. "He asked to see the stamp. Like an old fool, I showed him my hiding place." "Where?" Josh asked. Clementine blushed. "In my cookie jar," she said. "I treat myself to one cookie every day with my tea!" Dink laughed. "That stamp has been everywhere!" "I don't understand how it got under those other stamps," Clementine said.

"Otto Bird hid it under regular stamps so he could mail it to Doris Duncan's home in Colorado," Officer Fallon explained. "They planned to sell the stamp, then split the fifty thousand dollars." "But why did Otto Bird write those letters?" Dink asked. "They both have records with the police," Officer Fallon said. "In case anyone opened the envelopes, they had to look innocent. That's why he signed them 'Mother.'" "And when Doris Duncan got the notes, she'd know where to find the stamp," Ruth Rose said. "But she didn't get them!" Josh said. Officer Fallon smiled. "Right. Lucky for Miss Painter, Otto broke his glasses and copied down the zip code for Green Lawn, Connecticut, instead of Green Lawn, Colorado." "And then my little brother hid the envelopes in the refrigerator!" Ruth Rose added. "Mercy!" Clementine said. "All this commotion over a tiny piece of paper!" Officer Fallon slid an envelope across the table. "Here's your stamp, Miss Painter." He grinned. "Can you find a safer hiding place?"