Lindsey came to the Aldens’ house for dinner that night. But in spite of the delicious roast chicken, no one was very hungry.
“This is such a nightmare,” Lindsey was saying, chin in hand. “I can’t believe the thief got all those frogs and toads. Whoever the person is, they’re very clever.” She sighed. “I wonder if we’ll ever catch the thief.”
“I was thinking about something ...” Violet said, picking at her cake with her fork. “Something about those poison-arrow frogs.”
“What about them?” Lindsey asked.
“If the thief took them, wouldn’t he or she get a rash?”
“Probably,” Lindsey replied. “But all he’d have to do to avoid that is wear rubber gloves. Like the ones used in the kitchen.”
“But,” Violet continued, “if the thief was meaning to steal only the Wyoming toads, why would he or she bring gloves?”
“Hey, that’s right,” Jessie added. “The thief obviously meant to take the Wyoming toads because they were the animals featured in the breeding program. The thief probably saw the poison-arrow frogs and thought, Hey, they’re pretty. Maybe I’ll take those, too. Because the thief wasn’t expecting to take the poison-arrow frogs, he or she wouldn’t have brought gloves along. He would have picked up the poison frogs with bare hands. I think the thief has made the mistake we’ve been hoping for.”
Lindsey started nodding. “You know something? I think you’re right.”
“If that’s what happened,” Violet said, “when would the rash appear?”
Lindsey looked at her watch. “It would be in full bloom by now. It’s been twelve hours at least, and it takes only about eight for the rash to surface.”
“Is it possible the thief could have developed the rash and gone to the local hospital?” Jessie wondered. “Would it be worth it to call over there and ask if anyone came in with such a rash?”
Henry shook his head and cut in with, “If I were the thief and I had a weird rash caused by some animals I’d stolen, I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to know about it. A doctor would want to know how the rash was caused. Right, Grandfather?”
Grandfather Alden nodded. “Of course. The doctor would have to know the cause, or else the rash couldn’t be treated properly.”
“And the thief wouldn’t dare tell the truth,” Jessie continued. “Painful or not, the thief would have to keep quiet.”
“I had a skin rash once,” Benny added. “It sure hurt!”
“How’d that happen?” Lindsey asked.
“Poison ivy,” Benny told her. “It was all over me, and it itched like crazy. I think I got it from playing with Watch in the woods.” Benny looked over at his beloved dog. “He didn’t get it? though.”
Everyone laughed. “Dogs don’t get rashes from poison ivy,” Jessie said. “Right, Lindsey?”
“Nope. They’re very lucky that way. So did you have to go to the hospital, Benny?”
Henry said, “No, we just took him to Dr. Hughes’s office.”
“And he gave Benny a shot?” Lindsey asked.
“No. He wrote a prescription for this really strong cream. We had to go to the drug store to g—”
Henry stopped in midsentence. He and Lindsey looked at each each other.
“Hey!” he said.
“Hey!” she said back.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked.
“I think so,” Lindsey said.
Grandfather smiled. “I think I am, too.”
“Me, too!” Jessie said.
“And me,” Violet added.
Benny, who suddenly felt left out, cried, “I don’t know what anyone’s talking about!”
“Sorry, Benny!” Henry said. “The drugstore! That might be the answer! If the thief had a rash and didn’t want anyone to know about it, he or she could go to a drugstore to get medicine.” Henry looked around at the others. “That’s what you were all thinking, right?” Everyone nodded.
“Oh,” Benny said. “I get it.”
Lindsey got up, full of energy again. “So where do we start?” she asked. “There must be half a dozen drugstores in this area.”
“I guess we might as well start with the closest one,” said Grandfather. “That would be Donovan’s on the village square.”
The Aldens and Lindsey drove to Donovan’s Drugstore in the center of Greenfield and spoke with Mrs. Donovan, the pharmacist there. They did not want to ask personal questions about her customers, so they asked in a general way about how a serious rash might be treated without a doctor’s prescription.
“Well,” she said, “there are a lot of strong creams on the market nowadays. Used to be you’d need a prescription for them.” She went on to name a few of the most popular brands. “As a matter of fact,” she offered, “I recall a young man came in today and bought three different creams. He had a nasty rash. Said it was poison ivy, but it didn’t look like poison ivy to me.”
Lindsey and the Aldens stood very still for a moment, not believing their good luck.
“You said he was a young man?” Grandfather asked.
“Yes, a polite young man,” Mrs. Donovan continued. “On the thin side. I remember him because he wore a Boston Red Sox cap and they’re my favorite team. That, and he had the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.”
At this last remark, Lindsey looked sharply at James Alden.
“Are you children working on some kind of research project?” Mrs. Donovan asked.
“Sort of,” Henry answered, “and I promise when we are done with it, we will tell you all about it. But right now we’re kind of in a hurry.”
The Aldens and Lindsey thanked Mrs. Donovan for her help and left the store. As soon as they were out on the sidewalk, the Aldens turned to Lindsey.
“Well, I guess that rules out Beth,” said Henry.
“And our suspect with the bright shirts,” said Benny. “He definitely was not skinny.”
“Does the young man Mrs. Donovan described sound familiar?” Grandfather asked Lindsey.
“Yeah, I think he does,” Lindsey said. “I don’t remember his name, but I remember his blue eyes and the baseball cap. I think we still have his file at the office. We keep records of all our employees, both past and present. I’ll check into it first thing in the morning. I assume you guys will be with me?”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Henry assured her. |