What do you mean?” Claire said. “That’s the ring you gave me this morning!”
“No,” Mr. Fambles said. “This is not the ring I gave you this morning.”
“Wait a minute,” Amy said. “What’s going on here?”
“This is not Angelina Dickinson’s ring,” Mr. Fambles said. “Her ring is made of hammered gold and has a cat’s-eye stone. This ring is gold-plated and the stone is not the same color as the real ring.”
“I don’t believe it!” Claire said.
“May I take a look at the ring, Mr. Fambles?” Jessie asked.
“Of course,” Mr. Fambles said.
Jessie looked at the ring carefully. “This ring looks like one of the ones Mary has in the costume department.”
“Maybe the rings were accidentally switched,” Henry said. “The real ring may be in the jewelry chest in the costume tent.”
“I don’t see how that could have happened,” Mr. Fambles said. “I kept the ring with me until it was time for Miss LaBelle to put it on.”
“Well, I never left the set,” Claire said. “I was here the whole time.”
“I’m not saying you switched the rings,” Henry said. “Maybe someone else switched them.”
“Why don’t we check with Mary,” Violet suggested. “Maybe she can check her jewelry box to see if the real ring is in there.”
“I hope you’re right,” Amy said. “This could ruin everything.”
The Boxcar Children led the way to the costume tent.
“Hello, everyone,” Mary said. Seeing the serious looks on their faces, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“We’re missing Angelina Dickinson’s ring,” Mr. Fambles said.
“This is the one I’ve been wearing,” Claire said, showing the ring to Mary. “But Mr. Fambles says it’s a fake.”
“That’s one of our costume rings,” Mary said. She quickly flipped the pages of her clipboard. “I have here that you signed it out this morning, Claire.”
Everyone gathered around to look at the signature on the clipboard.
“She’s right,” Amy said. “Is that your signature, Claire?”
“Yes,” Claire said slowly. “But I didn’t sign out that ring. I was signing out my costume.”
“Was anyone else in the costume tent when you were checking out your wardrobe this morning?” Violet asked.
“I don’t remember seeing anyone,” Claire said.
“Wait a minute,” Jessie said. “It looks as if someone erased something and wrote in ‘one gold ring’ in its place.”
“You’re right,” Amy said.
“I didn’t have anything to do with switching those rings,” Claire said, her eyes filling up with tears. “You have to believe me.”
“Don’t worry, Claire,” Violet said. “We believe you.”
“Thank you,” Claire whispered.
“I’m sorry, Miss LaBelle,” Mr. Fambles said. “But I will have to report this matter to the police.”
“I understand,” Claire said.
“Please come with me to my office,” Mr. Fambles said. “I’m sure the police will want to question you.”
Claire sadly followed Mr. Fambles out of the costume tent.
“I guess I’ll have to call my boss,” Amy said. “I’m afraid this means that Claire will no longer be working with us.”
“Amy,” Violet said, “could you give us an hour to try to solve this mystery before you call him?”
“I think we can help Claire if we have a little time,” Henry said.
“Okay,” Amy said slowly. “I’ll wait one hour. But if you don’t find that ring by one-thirty, I’m going to have to call my boss. I won’t be able to keep it from him any longer than that.”
“Thanks, Amy,” Violet said.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Henry said.
“Maybe the ring dropped out of the box somewhere,” Violet suggested as they walked along. “Let’s go back to the Alamo and look around for it.”
A policeman was entering the museum when the children arrived. He went inside Mr. Fambles’s office. The children could see Claire, sitting with her head in her hands, through the partially opened door.
“Poor Claire,” Jessie said. “I feel so sorry for her.”
“There’s no time to waste,” Henry said. “Let’s find that ring.”
The children carefully searched the museum. Angelina Dickinson’s ring was nowhere to be found.
“Let’s think about this for a minute,” Henry said. “What clues do we have?”
“Janice left in a hurry this morning,” Jessie said. “She’s never done that before.”
“That’s true,” Henry said. “And Roger showed up late. He could have been up to something before he came on the set.”
“You might be right,” Jessie said. “He’s always complaining about Claire having the largest part. Maybe he’s trying to get her fired so that he can take over her lines.”
“But how could anyone have had enough time to switch the rings?” Violet asked. “Mr. Fambles said that he had the ring with him until he gave it to Claire to wear.”
“Wait a minute,” Jessie said. “Didn’t Bob ask Claire if he could look at the ring this morning?”
“He did!” Violet said. “He walked over to the door with it. How could we have forgotten?”
“I remember now,” Henry said. “He said he wanted to look at the ring in the sunlight.”
“Maybe he hid the ring outside,” Benny said.
“I don’t think he had it long enough to do that,” Jessie said, “but we can look around out there.”
The children searched around the front of the museum.
“It’s not out here,” Henry said.
“Maybe Bob was holding the fake ring in his hand the whole time,” Violet said. “Then all he had to do was pocket the real ring and give Claire the fake one.”
“I think you’re right,” Henry said. “He was the only one besides Mr. Fambles and Claire to have the ring.”
“Didn’t Bob say he was meeting someone at the little cafe down the street?” Jessie asked.
“Yes,” Violet said.
“Let’s go see who he’s meeting,” Jessie said. “Maybe that’s the person who has the real ring.”
The children hurried to the cafe. They went inside and looked around for Bob.
“There he is,” Henry said, pointing to the corner booth.
“And he’s with Claire’s agent,” Jessie said. “The man with the red hair.”
“I don’t think he saw us,” Jessie said. “Maybe we can sneak into the booth behind them and hear what they’re saying.”
The children slipped into the empty booth.
“Looks like this little event will wrap everything up, Nolan,” Bob said. “I don’t think Claire will be able to talk her way out of this one.”
“Good,” Nolan said. “We still have time to close that deal in California. We can make a lot of money if we can get Claire LaBelle for that role.”
“Do you think she knows what’s going on?” Bob asked.
“Of course not,” Nolan said. “She would never suspect that I would try to get her fired. Claire would never break a contract. But I don’t mind doing it for her if the price is right.”
“Great,” Bob said. “What do you want me to do with the ring?”
“Hide it somewhere,” Nolan said.
“Where should I put it?” Bob asked.
“I’ve got a great idea. . . .” the red-haired man began.
“May I take your order?” the waitress asked the children loudly.
“Oh, no,” Jessie whispered to Violet. “Not again.”
“Four hot dogs and four milkshakes,” Henry said quietly. “To go.”
“Did you hear where Bob said he was going to hide the ring?” Jessie whispered.
“I think he said ‘trailer,’ ” Violet said. “But I’m not sure.”
“Let’s wait until Bob leaves,” Henry said. “Then we’ll follow him.”
The waitress returned with their order just as Bob and Nolan passed by. The two men were talking and didn’t notice the children in the next booth. Henry quickly paid the waitress, then the children followed Bob back to the movie set.
“Let’s sit on this bench for a minute,” Henry said. “We don’t want him to know we’re following him.”
“Good,” Benny said. “Now I can eat my hot dog.”
The children unwrapped their lunches and began to eat. Bob looked around and then he knocked on the door of Claire’s trailer. He waited a few moments and then slipped inside.
“He must be hiding the ring in Claire’s trailer,” Violet said.
“Let’s go see what he’s doing,” Jessie said.
“Benny,” Violet said. “Grandfather must be wondering where we are. He went off to the drugstore with my film a long time ago. Could you sit here and watch for him?”
“Sure,” Benny said. “I want to finish eating my lunch.”
“Please tell Grandfather to meet us in Mr. Fambles’s office,” Henry said.
“Okay,” Benny said. “I’ll tell him.”
“Good,” Jessie said. “Let’s go.”
The older children ran as fast as they could to Claire’s trailer. The windows were much too high for them to look through.
“I have an idea,” Jessie said. “Henry, you and I can boost Violet so she’ll be able to look in the window.”
“Okay,” Henry whispered. In a few minutes, the children looked like a human pyramid they’d seen one time in a circus. Violet was now high enough to look in the window.
“What’s he doing?” Jessie whispered.
“He’s putting the ring in Claire’s jewelry box,” Violet answered. “Quick, I’ve got to get down! He’s coming out!”
Violet jumped down, and the children hid behind the trailer. Bob came out the door, looked around, and headed toward the movie set.
As soon as he was out of sight, the children went inside Claire’s trailer.
Violet quickly found the ring inside the box. She held it tightly in her hand.
“Let’s go tell Amy and Mr. Fambles what happened!” Jessie said.
“We’d better hurry,” Henry said. “We only have a few minutes left before Amy calls her boss.”
The children hurried over to Amy’s trailer and knocked on the door.
“Amy,” Henry said. “Please let us in.”
“What is it?” Amy asked as she opened the door. “What’s the matter?”
“We have the ring,” Jessie said.
“You have the ring!” Amy said, sounding surprised. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Where is it?”
Violet gave Amy the ring.
“I’m going to return this to Mr. Fambles right now,” Amy said. “Where did you find it?”
“It was in Claire’s jewelry box,” Violet said.
“Oh, so she did take it,” Amy said.
“No, she didn’t,” Jessie said. “And we can prove it.”
“You haven’t called your boss yet, have you?” Violet asked.
“No, I haven’t,” Amy said.
“Do you think you can find Bob and Roger and meet us in Mr. Fambles’s office?” Henry asked.
“Bob and Roger?” Amy said. “What do they have to do with the missing ring?”
“We’ll explain everything when you get there,” Jessie said. |