The X'ed-Out X-Ray Read online

  “Come inside,” Penelope said. She walked into the suite and the kids followed, with Hans right behind them. They were in a large room with a view of Bushnell Park.

  “Have a seat, please,” Penelope said. The kids sat together on a white sofa.

  Hans disappeared through a door.

  “Now, tell me more about these two ‘weird’ people,” Penelope said. She sat in a white chair opposite the kids.

  Dink described Frank, the man who sold them hot dogs. “He had an autograph book,” Dink said. “He told us he had to get you to sign it for his daughter.”

  “I don’t remember him,” Penelope said.

  “He had really hairy knuckles,” Josh added.

  “And he left with his cart during intermission,” Dink said. “Not long after your necklace got stolen.”

  Penelope shook her head. “Strange. He’d sell a lot of hot dogs during intermission. Still, I don’t recall anyone like that asking for an autograph. And the other one?”

  “It was a tall woman with yellow crinkly hair,” Dink said. “She had an autograph book, too. As soon as you stopped for intermission, she headed right for the stage. Later, I saw her arguing with the police officers.”

  Penelope walked over to a small table and pulled open its drawer. “Did either of the autograph books look like this one?” she asked.

  She held the autograph book so the kids could see it. “The thief was in such a hurry to get away that he left me holding this,” she said.

  Penelope Gwinn handed the book to Ruth Rose. It was square, and the word AUTOGRAPHS had been stamped in gold on the dark red cover.

  “I don’t remember the other two autograph books very well,” Dink said. “They were fat like this one, with dark covers, I think.”

  Ruth Rose studied the book in her hand. “I wonder if the police could get the thief’s fingerprints from this,” she said.

  “I asked about that, but he was wearing gloves,” Penelope said.

  “That guy at the hot-dog cart wore gloves when he served us!” Josh said.

  Penelope shrugged. “Anyone could slip on a pair of gloves,” she said.

  “Could the thief be a woman?” Ruth Rose asked. “She could have worn gloves to disguise her hands.”

  “I suppose it’s possible,” Penelope said. “Everyone was wearing penguin masks, so I didn’t really look at faces.”

  Penelope sighed as she sat down. “Anyone could have grabbed my pendant. As soon as I realized what had happened, I started screaming,” she said. “But by then the thief had disappeared in the crowd. Later, I stood by the gate with the officers, but I wasn’t able to recognize him or her.”

  Ruth Rose flipped through the pages.

  There were a lot of signatures in the book. The last name wasn’t complete.

  “I was signing that page when he grabbed my necklace,” Penelope said.

  Ruth Rose started to hand the book back.

  “No, I really don’t want the thing,” Penelope said. “Do me a favor and drop it in the first trash can you come to!”

  Penelope stood up. “I appreciate your coming to see me,” she said. She noticed the picture Ruth Rose had brought with her.

  “You boys want one of those?” she asked, smiling for the first time.

  “Sure!” Josh gushed. “I’m a huge fan!”

  Penelope signed two more pictures and gave them to Dink and Josh.

  The kids thanked her and left. There was a trash can outside the hotel.

  “Are you gonna throw the book away?” Dink asked Ruth Rose.

  “No way!” she said.

  They sat on a bench and waited for the next bus to Green Lawn. Ruth Rose was reading signatures when Dink poked her and Josh. “Look who’s coming this way!”

  Penelope Gwinn’s manager, Hans, was barreling toward them, wearing wrap-around sunglasses. As he marched down the sidewalk, he kept turning his head, checking both sides of the street.

  “Is he after us?” Josh whispered.

  “I don’t think he sees us,” Ruth Rose said.

  Suddenly Hans stopped in front of a store window. He peered through the glass, then opened the door and disappeared inside.

  A sign on the window said: YE OLDE JEWELRY SHOPPE. WE BUY AND SELL UNUSUAL ITEMS.

  “Oh my gosh!” Ruth Rose said. “Maybe Penelope’s manager is the thief. He could be in there selling the penguin right now!”

  “He’d have to be pretty dumb to sell the thing on the same street where he just stole it,” Dink said.

  “Or maybe he’s pretty smart,” Josh said. “He could be selling it here because no one would expect him to do that! I wondered why Hans didn’t stop the thief. Wasn’t he standing at the bottom of the stage steps?”

  “That’s a good question,” Ruth Rose said. “Should we follow him into the shop?”

  “I don’t think so,” Dink said. “If he went in there to sell the pendant, he’ll stop when he sees us walk in. Plus, then he’ll know we suspect him.”

  “So what should we do?” asked Josh.

  “I don’t know,” Dink said. “We can’t accuse Hans just because he walked into a jewelry store. And we can’t accuse that woman I saw, or Frank the hot-dog man. The thief was wearing a mask and didn’t leave any clues behind!”

  “Just this,” Ruth Rose said as their bus came along. She held up the red autograph book.

  A half hour later, the kids were back in Dink’s room. While Dink fed Loretta, Ruth Rose read the rest of the pages in the autograph book.

  Josh was prowling in Dink’s things, looking for candy. “Hey, what’s this?” he asked, holding up Dink’s souvenir X-ray.

  “That’s one of the X-rays the doctor took yesterday” Dink said.

  “Why does it have this big X over it?” asked Josh.

  Dink explained that the X-ray was blurred because of the bandage. “He took a second X-ray with the bandage off.”

  “Guys, look at this!” Ruth Rose suddenly exclaimed. She had the autograph book opened to the inside back cover. “Listen—To Georgie from Aunt Alva Horst, Christmas, 1980.”

  “The thief’s name is Georgie?” Josh asked. He was holding Dink’s X-ray up to the window.

  “Well, now we know it wasn’t the hot-dog man,” Dink said. “His name is Frank.”

  “How do you know that?” asked Josh.

  “Because Frank was stitched over the pocket of his jacket, Josh,” Dink replied.

  “But Georgie could have been wearing Frank’s jacket while he stole the necklace!” Josh exclaimed.

  “Josh is right,” Ruth Rose said. “Or this book could belong to that woman, Dink. Georgie could be a woman’s name.”

  “Yuck, it comes off,” Josh said.

  Dink looked up to see Josh rubbing something red on the X-ray.

  “Josh, what are you doing?” Dink asked. “Don’t ruin that X-ray.”

  “I’m not ruining it,” Josh said. “This red marker stuff is coming off on my fingers.”

  Josh used his T-shirt to wipe away the rest of the red X. “Look at this,” he said.

  Where the two lines of the X had crossed each other, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose could now see a funny shape. It looked like a fuzzy egg, or a pear.

  “What is it?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “I don’t know,” Dink said. “But whatever it is, that doctor covered it up with that big X.”

  The kids held the X-ray up to Dink’s window and examined the weird shape from all angles.

  Ruth Rose traced around the shape with her finger. “It looks kind of familiar…. OH MY GOSH!” she yelled. “Dink, go get the morning newspaper!”

  Dink raced out of the bedroom and was back half a minute later with the paper.

  Ruth Rose found the picture of Penelope Gwinn and the drawing of the stolen pendant. “If I’m right…”

  Ruth Rose held the drawing of the pendant to the glass of Dink’s window. Then she placed the X-ray on top of the newspaper page. The funny shape they had been trying t
o identify fit over the pendant. The drawing was a little bigger than the shape on the X-ray but they were the same.

  “The blurry shape is a penguin!” Ruth Rose shouted. “It’s exactly like Penelope Gwinn’s!”

  “I don’t get it,” Dink said. “How could Peneloe’s pendant be on this X-ray?

  Josh looked at him. “You tell us,” he said. “It’s your arm in the X-ray.”

  “Dink, what happened in the first-aid tent?” Ruth Rose asked. “What did the doctor do?”

  Dink thought back to yesterday morning. “He wrapped my arm, then he took me to the …no! Wait a minute! While he was putting the bandage on my arm, he made me read a sign taped to the tent wall!” he said.

  Dink looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. “He said he wanted me to read to make sure I didn’t have a concussion,” Dink went on. “But I think that doctor stole the pendant! He hid it inside the bandage and made me read so I wouldn’t see him do it!”

  “But why would he put it inside your bandage?” Josh asked.

  “I know,” Ruth Rose said. “He knew the cops might be searching people, so he hid it on you. He let you sneak the pendant out of the park for him.”

  Dink nodded, feeling his heart racing. “Then, when he got me to the X-ray office, he unwrapped the bandage and took the pendant out.”

  “But didn’t you see him do that?” Josh asked.

  Dink shook his head. “I was so dumb,” he said. “He had me read another sign while he was taking the bandage off! I wasn’t looking at my arm!”

  “So the thief wasn’t the hot-dog guy,” Josh said. “Or that woman or big Hans. It was your doctor!”

  “How do we find him?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “His name is Dr. Fleming,” Dink said, remembering the name tag.

  “Georgie Fleming,” Josh said, looking at the autograph book.

  “Let’s call Hartford Hospital,” Ruth Rose suggested. “How many Dr. George Flemings could there possibly be?”

  They ran to the telephone in the hallway. Ruth Rose got the number for the hospital and dialed. There was no Dr. George Fleming on their staff. No Georgette or Georgina or Georgia, either. No G. Flemings at all.

  But there was a Dr. Richard Fleming.

  “May I speak to him?” Ruth Rose asked. A minute later, she was talking to Dr. Richard Fleming.

  She asked him two questions: Was he working in the first-aid tent in Bushnell Park yesterday? Did he know anyone named Georgie Fleming?

  Ruth Rose hung up. “He was home with a cold yesterday,” she said. “And he’s never heard of Georgie Fleming.”

  “Great,” said Dink. “So how do we find the Dr. Fleming who was in the tent yesterday?”

  “Dr. Richard Fleming told me something else,” Ruth Rose said with a little grin on her face. “Someone stole his white jacket yesterday. Right out of his office!”

  Dink and Josh just stared at her.

  “With his name tag on it,” Ruth Rose added.

  “So … so if the guy in the tent wasn’t Dr. Fleming, who was he?” Dink asked.

  “He was Georgie, the thief!” Josh said.

  “But he knew doctor stuff,” Dink said. “He took me to the hospital and x-rayed my arm.”

  “Maybe he is a doctor, just not Dr. Fleming,” Ruth Rose suggested.

  “Then why would he need to steal some other doctor’s jacket and name tag?” Dink asked.

  “If he knew he was gonna snatch that diamond,” Josh said, “he wouldn’t wear his own name.”

  Dink nodded. “That makes sense. But who is he? Where does he live?”

  “Georgie knows his way around Hartford Hospital,” Josh said. “So maybe he lives in Hartford.” He pointed at the autograph book. “And if he lives in Hartford, maybe his aunt Alva Horst does, too!”

  Josh picked up the telephone and dialed Information. He was given a phone number for A. Horst, and he dialed it.

  When a woman answered, Josh asked if he was speaking to Alva Horst.

  When she said yes, he told her that he had found an autograph book belonging to Georgie with her name in it.

  “Could you give me his name and address so I can send it to him?” Josh asked.

  Georgie’s aunt supplied his name and address, and Josh hung up. “His name is George Shill,” he told Dink and Ruth Rose. “He lives on Laurel Street in Hartford.”

  “We can’t just show up at the guy’s house,” Josh said. “He’d just deny the whole thing.”

  “But we have this X-ray for proof,” Dink said. “And that autograph book.”

  “Get real, Dink. We’re kids and he’s a grown-up,” Josh said. “He’ll just tell us to get lost.”

  “I know one person he won’t tell to get lost,” Ruth Rose said as she reached for the telephone.

  Twenty minutes later, Officer Fallon was sitting in Dink’s living room.

  The kids told him the whole story.

  “I’m glad you called me,” Officer Fallon said. “George Shill might still have the pendant. He hasn’t had much time to get rid of it.”

  He placed a call to the Hartford chief of police. They agreed to meet near Georgie’s house in forty-five minutes.

  “Dink, you should come along to identify this guy,” Officer Fallon said. “Are your folks home?”

  “They went out,” Dink said. “But I could leave them a note telling them I’m with you.”

  Dink looked at Josh and Ruth Rose. “Could they come, too? They solved the mystery,” he said.

  Officer Fallon grinned. “Sure, we’ll all go,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to break up the gang!”

  Two Hartford police cruisers were waiting when Officer Fallon pulled up to the corner of Laurel Street.

  The kids waited in the backseat as Officer Fallon talked with the Hartford officers.

  “You ready, Dink?” Officer Fallon asked when he came back to his cruiser.

  Dink nodded. His stomach was flipping like a fish on a line.

  “Let’s go,” Officer Fallon said. “The other guys will be around back, in case Georgie decides to leave that way.”

  Officer Fallon drove slowly up Laurel Street and stopped at number 13. The house was old and made of brick. One shutter was hanging crooked and the lawn needed mowing. All the shades were pulled down.

  Officer Fallon and Dink walked up to the door. Dink was holding the envelope with the X-ray inside. His legs felt like cooked spaghetti.

  The man who answered the door was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He was barefooted and eating a doughnut, but Dink recognized him. It was the “doctor” who had been in the first-aid tent the day before. “It’s him,” Dink whispered.

  “Mr. Shill, is it?” Officer Fallon said.

  George Shill swallowed nervously. “What … who …?”

  Officer Fallon held out the autograph book. “Did you lose this?”

  Georgie looked at the book. “I … I think so. Where did you find it?”

  “Penelope Gwinn had it,” Officer Fallon said. “She was signing it for you when you grabbed her diamond pendant yesterday. Then you hid the jewel in this boy’s bandage so you could sneak it past the cops in Bushnell Park. You removed it at the hospital when you took X-rays.”

  George Shill nearly dropped his doughnut. His mouth opened and shut, but no words came out.

  “Nothing to say, Mr. Shill? Or should I call you Dr. Fleming?” Officer Fallon said. “Maybe this will help you find your tongue.”

  Officer Fallon nodded to Dink, who held up the X-ray.

  “Mr. Shill, if I searched your house, would I find Miss Gwinn’s pendant?” Officer Fallon asked. “Would I find the jacket you stole from Dr. Fleming’s office?”

  Georgie found his voice. “I—I can explain everything,” he stammered.

  “Yes, I’m sure you can, but let’s save it till we get to the station,” Officer Fallon said, pulling out his handcuffs.

  Officer Fallon handed Georgie over to the Hartford cops. Then, with the pendant safe in his shirt pocket, h
e drove the kids to the Parkview Hotel.

  Officer Fallon parked, then pulled the diamond penguin and its chain from his pocket. He passed it over to the backseat. “I called ahead, and she’ll be waiting in the lobby.”

  Dink took the pendant and the kids walked into the lobby. Penelope Gwinn and her manager were sitting together.

  “Here, you should give it to her,” Dink said, handing the pendant to Ruth Rose. “You found Georgie’s name in the autograph book.”

  Ruth Rose took the pendant, then she gave it to Josh. “You figured out how to find him,” she said. “Go ahead, Penelope is waiting.”

  Penelope Gwinn and Hans stood up and smiled. Josh gulped and handed the diamond penguin to Penelope.

  “Thank you so much!” she said. “How did you ever find it?”

  “We found a name inside the autograph book,” Ruth Rose explained. They told the whole story, and Dink showed her the X-ray.

  Officer Fallon was on his telephone. He hung up and stepped forward. “Georgie Shill got tossed out of medical school for cheating on exams,” he said. “And that wasn’t the first time he’d been in trouble. Anyway, he read about your concert, Miss Gwinn, and he decided to be there. He used the autograph book to get close enough to steal your pendant.”

  Penelope handed the pendant to Hans, who fastened it around her neck.

  “Georgie went to the first-aid tent and told the medical student on duty that he was needed back at the hospital,” Officer Fallon went on. “Of course, Georgie was wearing Dr. Fleming’s stolen jacket and name tag, so the other guy believed him. After that, Georgie just waited for your intermission.”

  Penelope smiled. “That pendant means a lot to me,” she said. “Hans gave it to me when we were married.”

  Josh gaped at the big, fierce-looking manager. “He’s your husband?” Josh asked. “We saw him go into a jewelry shop. He looked all sneaky, so we thought he might have been the thief!”

  Penelope poked her husband. “Why were you sneaking into a jewelry store?” she asked.

  Hans grinned. “I was trying to buy you a new penguin pendant,” he said.