Jessie went back to the microfiche machine. She searched all around it, but Henry’s backpack wasn’t there.
Violet and Benny checked under all the tables and chairs while Henry paced nervously back and forth.
“My cell phone was in there,” he moaned. “And so were our library books and the plans for Jeff’s yo-yo.”
Violet bit her lip.
“Any luck?” Jessie asked when she returned from the microfiche machine.
The others all shook their heads.
Jessie sighed. “Maybe someone picked it up by mistake?” she offered.
“We could see if the library has a lost and found,” Violet suggested.
So the Aldens headed back to the reference desk. Jessie turned in the microfiche film they had borrowed. Then Henry said, “Do you have a lost and found here? My backpack seems to be missing.”
“We do,” the librarian said. “I don’t think we have any backpacks in there right now, but I can go take a look. What does yours look like?”
“It’s green on the top and black on the sides, and it’s got two big pockets on the front,” Henry said.
The librarian tapped her fingers on the counter. “You know, I saw a gentleman with a backpack like that just a few minutes ago. I saw him go into the men’s room. I don’t know if he’s still in the library or if he left after that.”
“Thanks,” Jessie said to the librarian as they moved away from the desk. She turned to Henry. “Maybe you and Benny can check out the men’s room and the first floor of the library while Violet and I search the second floor.”
“Good idea,” Henry said.
So the four of them split up. Jessie and Violet started walking up and down the fiction aisles, searching every shelf they passed. They’d gotten through five aisles when Benny came to get them.
“Henry found his backpack,” Benny said. “It was in the men’s room.”
Jessie, Violet, and Benny went to meet Henry in the library lobby. They found him sitting on a bench, rifling through his backpack.
“Is everything there?” Violet asked worriedly.
“Everything except the plans for Jeff’s yo-yo,” Henry replied.
“I hope Jeff has another copy of those plans,” Violet said as the children left the library.
“I’m sure he does,” Henry said, “I can’t believe he’d give us his only copy. Still, it bothers me that we lost them. Jeff trusted us.”
“We didn’t just lose them,” Jessie pointed out. “Somebody stole them. Somebody knew they were in your bag, Henry, and they took them out of there.”
“Maybe it was the person who drives the gray station wagon.” Henry said. “Maybe he saw Jeff give them to me last night and that’s why he followed us.”
“But he probably didn’t want us to know he was following us last night,” Benny said. “That’s why he kept going when Grandfather pulled over.”
“And that’s why he’s been more careful about staying out of sight today,” Henry said. “We’ve seen the car, but we’ve never seen the person driving it.”
“Jeff thinks the car belongs to Erik Thorton,” Violet said as they crossed Second Street. “But why would Erik want the plans for the yo-yo? He wants Jeff to quit building the yo-yo because he and his mom are afraid the yo-yo will fall and people will get hurt, right?”
“That’s probably what Mrs. Thorton is worried about,” Jessie said. “But maybe Erik has other ideas.”
“What do you mean, Jessie?” Benny asked.
“Well, maybe Erik still wants to build the world’s largest yo-yo himself? Maybe he stole Jeff’s plans to see if Jeff has a better idea of how to do it than he had?”
“That’s an interesting theory, Jessie,” Henry said.
“In fact, maybe he took the flash card out of Jeff’s camera, too, so he could see how Jeff built the yo-yo so far,” Benny added.
“Maybe we should go back to Jeff’s shop and ask him whether Erik has ever been in the shop,” Jessie said.
“That’s a good idea,” Henry said. “And I should tell Jeff that the yo-yo plans are missing.”
So the children made one more call to Grandfather, then walked back to the shop.
“I don’t see that gray station wagon,” Violet said as they turned onto the street where Jeff’s shop was. But there was a blue truck parked in the small lot in front of Jeff’s shop.
“I wonder whose truck that is,” Benny said.
The Aldens walked across the parking lot and went inside Jeff’s shop.
Emily whirled around when the door opened. She was standing at the printer. Her boyfriend Todd was spinning in Jeff’s chair.
“What are you kids doing here?” Todd asked, glaring at them.
“We came to talk to Jeff,” Violet said.
“Well, Jeff isn’t here,” Emily said impatiently. She turned back to the printer and tugged at a piece of paper that seemed to be stuck inside.
“Do you know when he’ll be back?” Henry asked. “Nope,” Emily said. “You can wait around for him if you want. But I’ve got everything done that I can do today, so I’m heading out. As soon as I get this paper out.” She tugged at the paper some more.
“Looks like you’ve got a paper jam there,” Jessie said. “Maybe I can help?”
Emily stepped aside as Jessie walked over to the printer. Jessie tried pushing the clear jam button on the printer, but that didn’t work. So she turned the printer around, opened the back panel and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper.
“Here you go.” Jessie started to hand the paper to Emily, but then she noticed what the first couple lines of the paper said. Dear Jeff, I’ve really enjoyed working for you these last couple of months, but the time has come for me to move on.
Jessie looked at Emily. “Are you quitting your job?” she asked.
Emily took the paper from Jessie. “Yes, I’m quitting. Todd is opening his own custom furniture shop. I’ll work for Jeff for two more weeks. Then I’m going to work for Todd.”
Emily wadded up the paper in her hand and tossed it in the garbage can. “I think I better reprint this,” she said.
Todd sighed. He checked his watch. “Well, hurry up. We need to get going.”
Emily went to the computer, opened her document and started it printing it again.
“Does Jeff know you’re quitting?” Henry asked. Jeff seemed to really like Emily. He wasn’t going to be happy to hear she was quitting.
“Not yet,” Emily admitted. “But he’ll find out tomorrow when he gets this letter. I’ll talk to him about it then.”
Todd stood up. “Are you ready to go, Emily?” Todd asked.
“Just about,” Emily said. She stuck her safety goggles in the pocket of her work jacket, hung the jacket up, then she picked up her purse from the floor. There was a rolled-up paper sticking out of the purse. It looked like there were math formulas on the paper.
“Hey, what’s that paper in your bag?” Benny asked. Was it the plans for the yo-yo?
“This?” Emily asked, pulling the rolled-up paper out and glancing at it.
“Oh, that’s nothing,” she said. She quickly shoved the paper all the way down the bag and turned to her boyfriend. “We should go.”
“Yes,” he said, his hand on the doorknob. “See you kids later.”
“Make sure you lock up when you leave,” Emily told the children. “We wouldn’t want anyone to break into Jeff’s shop during the night.”
Then Emily and Todd were gone. |