“None at all?” asked Violet.
“None. Only four zoos keep them. They are the last of their kind.”
“I don’t remember you saying anything about them in the newspaper,” Henry commented.
“Not yet,” Jordan told them. “We’ll want to breed more of them first. Besides, if the thief got them, that would be a disaster not only for us, but for the whole species as well.” He put a finger to his lips, as if telling someone to be quiet. “This is one of our top-secret projects, so don’t say a word to anyone.”
“We won’t,” Benny assured him.
Lindsey walked to the next enclosure. “These are the poison-arrow frogs.”
“They’re cool,” Benny said.
“But dangerous,” Violet added. “If handled, they can cause painful skin rashes on humans.”
“I guess a thief wouldn’t want these,” Henry guessed.
“No, that’s not necessarily true,” Lindsey said. “People like to collect them even though they’re dangerous. They’re very pretty, so that makes them desirable. You just have to know how to handle them properly.”
Henry went back and looked at the Wyoming toad tadpoles again. “I like these little guys,” he said. “Even if they’re not pretty. I hope nothing happens to them.”
“Does anyone know about them?” asked Jessie.
Lindsey looked very serious, “Some people do know,” she said. “I’m still kind of worried.”
The next morning, back at the house, the Aldens were eating breakfast together when the phone rang. Grandfather answered it. “Oh, no!” the children heard him say. “I’ll send them right over.” He hung up and turned to his grandchildren.
“You kids better get down to the zoo.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Violet asked.
“The toads?” Benny asked, already fearing the answer.
Grandfather nodded sadly. “The thief paid another visit last night. Lindsey really needs your help now.”
The Aldens hurried down to the zoo and headed straight for Amphibian Hall. Lindsey, Jordan, and Dr. Hunziker were already there—and the long table that held all the nursery cups yesterday was empty.
“It’s not quite as bad as it seems,” Dr. Hunziker said. “I was so worried last night that I moved some of the tadpoles out of here. But I didn’t have time to get all of them. I had to get home.” He shrugged. “So at least the thief didn’t get all of them.”
“But look what else was stolen,” Lindsey said, pointing to the poison-arrow frog enclosure. It was empty.
“Every one,” Lindsey replied. “All fifteen of them.”
“And the lock to the panel?” Jessie asked.
“Over on the table,” Lindsey said, pointing. Like the others, it looked like it had been run over by a truck.
“And the marks—” Jessie began to ask, but Lindsey already knew the question. She pointed to a spot on the floor a few feet in front of the main door.
“They’re right there.”
Sure enough, there was a little cluster of dents and scratches where the thief had beaten the lock to make it look as though it had been broken open.
“Was any food stolen this time?” Violet wanted to know.
“Impossible to tell,” Jordan answered.
“Why?” Violet asked.
“Because poison-arrow frogs eat tiny crickets,” Jordan told her. “See that garbage can over there? The one with the lid on it?” He nodded toward a big blue can by the sinks.
“It’s full of tiny crickets. Go have a look.”
Violet went over, her brothers and sister behind, and carefully lifted the lid. Inside were thousands of tiny brown crickets. There were also a few apple slices and a wet sponge in a glass bowl.
“Wow,” she said. “Look at all of them.”
“We breed those, too,” Jordan told her. “They’re easy to breed, and certainly not endangered. But if the thief took a bunch, how could we tell? We don’t keep count.”
“Lindsey, do you think it will turn out to be Beth, the intern, who’s the thief?” Jessie asked.
“It’s a possibility. She has said many times that her collection of pets at home gets better care than the animals do here. Maybe she’s taking them because she thinks she can give them a better home. And she does have access to most of the rooms and could get keys from the other keepers.”
“There’s something else,” said Jessie. “She drives a van. I saw her getting into it in the parking lot.”
“A van? Why would that make her a suspect?” asked Henry.
“I guess alone it wouldn’t make her a suspect,” said Jessie, “but if she did steal the animals ... well, the ferrets wouldn’t have been a problem, but that van of hers would sure have come in handy for those condors.”
“True ...” said Lindsey.
“I saw her near the windows of the Bird Barn not too long ago,” Henry added. “She was pushing on them, like she was checking to see which ones opened and which ones didn’t.”
Lindsey nodded. “Interesting, very interesting. Maybe I’ll say something to her.”
“And what about the man in the bright shirt?” Benny said. “The one Violet and I saw taking notes. Could he be the thief?”
Henry filled Lindsey in about the new suspect and they all agreed to watch out for him at the zoo.
Darren Colby came into the room at that moment, dressed in his usual dark suit and tie.
“I just heard about the stolen frogs and toads,” he said to Jordan, ignoring everyone else. “I’m sorry, Jordan, but that’s three strikes. I’m afraid the breeding program has to be stopped.”
“Oh, no!” Violet said.
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Colby went on, “but the zoo is losing too much money, and if the public finds out it will make us look bad. Nobody wants to come to a zoo that’s losing all its animals.”
“What if we find them again?” Jessie asked. “What if we catch the thief?”
“If you kids can do that,” Mr. Colby said, “then we’re back in business. You have my word.”
Benny smiled. “We’ll do it. You’ll see!”
“I hope so,” Mr. Colby replied.
CHAPTER 7
Mrs. Donovan Remembers
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.
CHAPTER 8
A Surprise Visitor
The Aldens sat in Lindsey’s office the next morning, watching her at her desk as she flipped through a set of files. Bright beams of sunlight slanted through the window, and sparrows chirped in the trees outside.
“Here it is,” she said, pulling out one folder and setting the rest aside. “Brian Grady. I am sure of it now.”
She opened the folder and laid it flat on her desk. The Aldens gathered around.
As soon as Benny saw the picture of Grady attached to the first page, he gasped.
“I wasn’t sure by what Mrs. Donovan said, but now I’m positive,” Benny said. “I’ve seen him before!”
“You have?” Jessie asked.
“Yeah, in the Reptile Range. He was there a few days ago! I’m sure it was him! He was wearing a Red Sox hat!”
“That’s his favorite team,” Lindsey said. “I remember he talked about them a lot. The Red Sox and animals, his two great loves.”
“What do you think he was doing in the Reptile Range?” Violet asked.
“Probably getting some ideas as to which animals he would take next,” Lindsey guessed.
“And he used to work here?” Jessie asked.
Lindsey nodded. “Yes, but only for a few months. He cared a great deal about the animals, but he wasn’t a very good keeper. That’s why we had to let him go. He kept forgetting to feed certain animals or clean their cages. Some of the other keepers had to do a lot of his work for him. He was very absentminded.”
Henry said, “Wow, just like with the rings on the cages. He forgot about those, too.”
“Exactly,” Lindsey agreed. “We gave him the normal ninety-day trial period, but after that we had to replace him. He was very sad, I remember, but not mad or anything like that.”
She looked back down at the file, read a few lines, then smiled. “Says here he lives on Pittman Avenue.”
Violet’s eyes widened. “That’s near Donovan’s Drugstore!”
Lindsey nodded. “You got it. Kids, I think we’ve caught our thief!”
“Yes!” Benny said triumphantly.
Lindsey looked at his picture again, then shook her head. “He wasn’t a great animal keeper, but he was a nice person. I never would’ve figured him for a criminal.” Then she added, “Well, at least we know now that it wasn’t Beth.”
“I’ll bet she was conducting a little investigation of her own when I saw her sneaking around the Bird Barn,” Henry said.
Lindsey nodded. “You’re probably right.”
“So what do we do now?” Jessie wondered.
“I think it’s time to call the police,” Lindsey said. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
“We’ve certainly got enough evidence to make him a prime suspect,” Henry said.
“Yes, we certainly do,” Lindsey replied. She reached over and picked up the phone. “Okay, here goes.”
She began tapping in the numbers, but before she finished, a new voice said, “There’s no need for you to do that, Ms. Taylor.”
Everyone turned, then froze in complete surprise.
Standing in the doorway, holding a big plastic bag containing the missing poison-arrow frogs in one hand and a bucket containing the Wyoming toad tadpoles in another, was Brian Grady. There were white gauze bandages wrapped around his hands, and he looked miserably unhappy.
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His voice was shaky. “I can’t do this anymore,” he said. “I feel just awful about what I’ve done.” He crossed the room and handed the bag to Lindsey. The frogs and toad tadpoles appeared to be in good health and color. “Here, put these back where they belong, please.”
“How’s the rash?” Lindsey asked first.
“It’s getting better, slowly. But it doesn’t hurt half as much as thinking about what I’ve done.”
“Yeah, well, you’re lucky, Brian. These are the Aldens, and they’re just about the best young detectives in the world. Another few hours and they would’ve caught you anyway, with the help of the local police. Now, what do you know about the condors and the ferrets?”
“I ... I don’t ... they’re not with me anymore,” he replied, almost choking on the words.
“What do you mean?” Lindsey asked. She sounded angry. “It would be best if you told us what’s been going on. You’re not in a very good spot right now.”
Brian was nodding. “Yes, yes, I know. Of course I’ll tell you everything.” He sat down and buried his face in his bandaged hands.
“Okay” he began after a long breath, “here’s the whole thing from the start. A few weeks ago I received a call from some guy. He didn’t say his name, and his voice didn’t sound familiar. He asked me if I wanted to make some good money doing work with animals. Of course I was interested. He sort of laughed and said, ‘I figured you would be.’ The funny thing is, I hadn’t had a job in almost two months and I was getting low on cash, so he called at just the right time. I was falling behind on my bills. I think I would’ve done just about any work at that point, but when this guy mentioned animals, I thought it was a dream come true.”
“So ...”
“So then he started talking about the breeding program, said he’d been following it in the newspapers. He said he knew I used to work here, but that I’d been ... well, fired. I don’t know how he knew. I guess he must’ve visited a few times and seen me here, then visited again and realized I was gone.”
“So what else did he say?” Henry asked.
“He wanted to know if I could still get into the zoo. You know, with the keys. I said no, I had to give my set back when I left. He asked if I’d made any copies, and I told him I hadn’t. By this point I was getting a little nervous. His questions were kind of ... I don’t know, weird.”