The Mystery of the Stolen Corn Popper (2 page)

Cam looked at the man and said,
“Click. ”

“Help! Help!” the man called. “Someone stole my shopping bag.”

The man dropped what he was carrying and said, “Now don’t anybody move until I get back that shopping bag.”

P
eople turned to look at the man. Two guards wearing bright green uniforms came running through the crowd.

Cam wanted to remember everyone who was nearby when the man’s shopping bag was taken. She looked toward the candy department, closed her eyes, and said,
“Click.”
Then Cam turned around, closed her eyes, and said
“Click”
again.

“What happened? What was taken?” one of the guards asked the man.

“Everything. Just everything. I’ve been shopping for two hours. I bought two pairs of socks, blue and brown. A sweater, a flowerpot, and a present for the Morgans’ fiftieth anniversary. I bought them a Binky’s corn popper. Do you think that’s a good present?”

“I don’t know,” one of the guards answered. The other guard was writing on a notepad.

“The Morgans like old movies. Whenever a good one is on TV, they stay up to watch it,” the man said. “I thought they might want to eat popcorn while they watch. The corn popper was right on top. It was wrapped in gold paper with a big green bow.”

The guard stopped writing. He took a walkie-talkie off his belt and spoke into it. “Attention, all exit guards. Attention. Stop anyone carrying a box wrapped in gold with a green bow.”

“Now you’ll have to come with us and fill out a report,” the guard told the man.

“I’m not shopping for those things all over again,” the man said as he followed the guards. “Do you know how long the lines are? And I still need school supplies.”

Eric whispered to Cam, “I think he lost that shopping bag.”

“No,” Cam said. “With all the noise he made, someone would have found it.”

Cam watched as the man followed the guards. Then she looked for index cards. Eric was already looking for pens, pencils, and erasers.

Eric was reaching for a pack of pencils when Cam tapped him on his shoulder. She pointed to a woman in the candy department and whispered, “She’s been looking over here for a long time.”

“So?” “I remember her. She was here when the man’s shopping bag was stolen.”

Eric took a pack of pencils from the display. Then he found the pens and erasers.

“Put those things down,” Cam told him. “That woman is holding a shopping bag, and I’ll bet she has a corn popper in there.”

Eric put down the school supplies. He followed Cam past the notebook tower.

They stopped at a display of candy canes and lollipops.

“She was right here,” Cam said.

Eric pointed. “There she is.”

The woman was looking at boxes of iced cookies and cakes. Cam and Eric watched her. Then the woman walked through the Care for Your Hair department, and Cam and Eric followed her.

Cam and Eric were careful not to get too close to the woman. There were always a few shoppers between them and her.

They followed the woman to the baby department. The woman looked at bottles, baby spoons, and diaper sets. Then she stopped in front of a rack of very small dresses. She put the shopping bag down and took one of the dresses off the rack. She looked at the dress and put it back. Then the woman walked down the aisle to look at other baby clothes.

“Let’s go,” Cam whispered. “She left the shopping bag. Now’s our chance to look inside.”

C
am and Eric walked toward the shopping bag.

“Can I help you?” someone asked.

Cam and Eric looked up. A woman wearing a bright green dress with a large white button was standing in front of them. HELLO. MY NAME IS ANN. I’M A BINKY’S HELPER was printed on the button.

“We don’t need any help,” Cam told Ann.

Cam and Eric started to walk toward the shopping bag again.

“We have some charming rattles,” Ann said. “They make wonderful gifts. And we have some very pretty diaper sets.”

“No, thank you. We don’t need help,” Cam said.

“Maybe you’d like to buy the baby a stuffed animal. We have teddy bears, giraffes, monkeys, turtles, parrots, cats, and elephants.”

“I’ll look at the stuffed animals,” Eric told Ann.

“And I’ll look at the baby dresses,” Cam said.

Eric walked with Ann to the stuffed-animal display. She showed him a large pink elephant wearing blue overalls, and a green monkey in a bathing suit.

Cam took a dress off the rack and pretended to look at it. She was really looking into the shopping bag. There were two scarves in the bag and a pair of gloves. There was nothing wrapped in gold paper.

“Hey!” someone called out. “Who stole my things?”

Cam ran to Eric. “Did you hear that?” she asked. “It came from the toy department.”

Cam ran off. Eric smiled at Ann and said, “No, I don’t think I’ll buy a stuffed animal.” Then he followed Cam.

The toy department was crowded with large displays of toys on sale. A great many people were there. Some were carrying shopping bags. Cam looked at them all and said,
“Click.”

A teenage girl, dressed in purple, was near the electric train display. A long toy train was riding in a circle through the display. And each time, before the train went through the tunnel, the whistle sounded.

The girl dressed in purple was walking in circles, too, and she was talking very fast.

“Someone took my shopping bag. I know someone took it,” she said. “It was right here. There was a puzzle book in that bag and some records. And I paid for all of it with my own money. I did baby-sitting so I could buy those things. I want them back.”

“Toot, toot,”
the train whistle sounded.

“I called for one of the guards,” a Binky’s Helper told the girl.

“You tell him that I want my things back,” the girl said. “You just tell him.”

A few of the people standing nearby were waiting to see what would happen. Others walked away.

Cam looked at all the people walking away and told Eric, “One of those people stole her shopping bag. I’m sure of it. I just don’t know which one.”

A Binky’s guard rushed past Cam and Eric. She asked the girl some questions.

“I don’t know who took the bag,” the girl said. She was still walking in circles. “I just know it’s mine. And I want it back.”

Cam whispered to Eric, “I have pictures stored in my head of all the people who were nearby when the corn popper was taken. And I have pictures of the people who were here.”

“So?”

“Whoever stole the girl’s bag probably took the other one, too. And I think I can find out who it was. I just have to look at my pictures and see who was in both places.”

“Then do it!” Eric said.

Cam closed her eyes and said,
“Click.”

Cam opened her eyes and said, “I can’t think here. It’s too noisy.”

Eric said, “Let’s go to the snack bar. You can think there. And I’m thirsty.”

Cam and Eric walked through the store. They saw long lines of people waiting to pay for things. In the clothing department, people were trying on hats and sweaters and looking in mirrors.

At the snack bar, Cam and Eric sat on stools. “I’ll have a small cup of ginger ale,” Eric told the waitress.

“What does your friend want?”

Cam’s eyes were closed. She said,
“Click.”
She said
“Click”
again.

“What’s a
‘Click’?”
the waitress asked. “I don’t think we have that kind of soda.”

“Then just bring her some ginger ale,” Eric told her.

Cam’s eyes were still closed when the waitress brought the cups of soda. Eric paid for the drinks. He drank his.

Cam said
“Click”
again. Then she opened her eyes and said, “I know who it is. I know who stole those shopping bags.”

C
am got off her stool and walked quickly through the clothing department. She was looking for a guard. Eric ran after her.

“Who is it? What does he look like?” Eric asked her.

“It’s a
her,”
Cam said as she walked up to a guard in the men’s shirt department.

“I know who stole the shopping bags,” Cam told the guard. “It’s a woman with long, curly brown hair, glasses, and a blue dress with flowers on it.”

The guard was a very tall man. He looked down at Cam.

“Didn’t anyone call and tell you about the stolen shopping bags?” Cam asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, I know who stole them. It was a woman with long, curly brown hair, glasses, and a blue dress with flowers on it.”

 

The man smiled.

Eric said, “I think you should call the other guards and tell them. Cam has an amazing memory. She has used it to solve mysteries just like this one.”

“Guard! Guard!” someone called. “Come over here, please.”

The guard ran to the men’s shirt display. Cam and Eric followed him. A Binky’s Helper was holding a small boy. The boy was crying.

“He’s lost,” the Binky’s Helper said.

The guard smiled at the child and asked, “Is your mother or father here?”

“Mama,” the boy said.

“Where is she? What is she buying?”

“Dirt.”

“Dirt!” the Binky’s Helper said. “Why would anyone buy dirt?”

“He must mean potting soil,” the guard said. “We sell it in our Household Helpers department. I’ll take him there.”