Great Shark Mystery (7 page)

“Or who robbed the jewelry store,” Benny added.

“But at least we know you’re not the burglar,” Violet told Emily.

“No, I’m an animal trainer,” she said, smiling broadly. “And I’d better get back to work.” She gave John a quick kiss good-bye and headed back into the arena. John waved to the kids and walked off.

“At least part of the mystery is solved,” said Violet.

“Let’s go see if Mac has heard from Ms. Carver,” suggested Henry, leading the way to the shark area.

When they got there, they were surprised to find not only Mac, but also Ms. Carver.

“I have some exciting news,” she said. “We’re bringing a new attraction to the park—an orca.”

“But that’s impossible!” Mac said.

“What’s an orca?” asked Benny.

“It’s a killer whale,” Mac said. “They’re huge—bigger than the great white shark. We don’t have a tank big enough—“

Ms. Carver just smiled more and more broadly the whole time Mac was talking. Finally she interrupted him. “Don’t worry, I’m not talking about an animal. I’m talking about a roller coaster.”

“A roller coaster?” Mac said.

“Yes,” Ms. Carver said. “It will be black and white, to look like an orca. I can see the posters now: ‘Try Orca—It’s a Whale of a Ride!’”

“That sounds great,” said Henry.

“We love roller coasters,” Jessie agreed.

Mac looked as if he didn’t like the idea. “But this park has always been about animals, not carnival rides.”

“We’ve got to change with the times, Mac,” Ms. Carver told him.

“How are you planning to pay for this new ride when we can’t even fix up the animals’ tanks?” Mac asked.

“That’s the whole point,” Ms. Carver said. “The Orca will bring in more visitors, and that will raise money to fix up the rest of the park.”

“But first you’ll need money to
build
the ride,” Mac pointed out. “How are you going to raise that?”

“I have my ways,” Ms. Carver said mysteriously. “
I’ll
worry about the money and you just worry about the animals.” And with that, she walked away.

“That’s exactly what I am worried about,” Mac said softly to himself. Mac turned to the kids. “It’s feeding time—want to help?”

“Sure,” said Henry.

Jessie ran to put her backpack in Mac’s office so it wouldn’t get wet. Mac picked up several buckets of raw fish and handed one to each of the Aldens.

The children followed Mac to the shark tank. For a change, Benny led the way, eager to see the sharks. As they walked, Henry said to Jessie, “How do you think Ms. Carver is planning to raise the money?”

“That’s just what I was wondering,” Jessie said. “Do you think it has anything to do with stolen diamonds?”

The children stopped talking as they arrived at the shark tank. Like the day before, they tossed handfuls of fish into the water. Suddenly they heard a loud thump coming from the great white’s tank.

“Oh, no,” Mac said, putting down his bucket and running over there.

“What was that?” Henry asked as he and the other children followed Mac.

Mac was standing by the tank, watching the great white shark swim. He looked worried.

“What happened?” asked Jessie.

“I was afraid this was going to happen,” Mac said. “Remember I told you great whites don’t do well in aquariums? They are extremely sensitive to electrical charges. The metal parts of the tank give off an electrical charge, and that can affect a shark’s swimming. Other great whites in captivity have had this problem, too—they start bumping into the walls.”

“What’s going to happen?” asked Violet.

“I don’t know,” Mac said. “I think the only answer is to return this shark to the ocean. But you heard how Ms. Carver feels about it.” Mac sighed. “Come on, let’s rinse and put away the buckets.”

The Aldens walked with Mac to the supply shed, where he unlocked the door with his card key. When everything was put away, Henry asked if there was anything else they could do.

“No, thanks,” Mac said. “I’ve got some thinking to do.” He looked very depressed, and the children decided they should go.

“I just have to get my backpack out of your office and then we’ll go,” Jessie told Mac.

Mac walked with Jessie to his office while the others stood by the tank, watching the sharks.

Mac tossed his card key onto his desk. “I’ll see you later,” he said, walking quickly out of the office, as Jessie hoisted her backpack onto her back.

Poor Mac
, Jessie thought. She glanced at the card key on the desk.
At least we know he isn’t the one who lost his card key at Wilson’s
.

But as she began to walk out, she realized something that made her stop. Something about Mac’s card was different. She turned back to the desk and looked at it again.

Something was written on the corner of the card. Jessie picked up the card to look at it more closely. There, in the corner, were the letters EB, handwritten with a pen.

EB?
Jessie thought.
What does that stand for?
They weren’t Mac Brody’s initials. That would be MB.

EB … Emily Ballard! Jessie realized suddenly. Emily had said she’d written her initials on her card key. This must be it. That explained why Emily hadn’t been able to find hers—Mac had it.

But what was he doing with it?

Was he using Emily’s because he’d lost his own at Wilson’s?

Jessie quickly laid the key on Mac’s desk. Should she ask Mac about it?

No, she didn’t want him to think she’d been poking around on his desk looking at his personal things. And anyway what would she say to him?
Did you take Emily’s card?
She couldn’t say that.

She’d have to tell her sister and brothers. Together they’d figure out what to do.

Jessie hurried out to where the others were standing, watching the sharks in the tank.

They seemed to be studying something.

“What are you looking at?” Jessie asked.

Violet turned around. “I just remembered that when we were here yesterday, I noticed something strange.” She pointed into the tank.

“See how all the rocks have algae on them?”

“Yes,” Jessie said.

“Now look at those rocks over there.” Violet pointed to the other side of the tank.

The rocks where Violet was pointing were perfectly clean.

“That’s strange,” Jessie said.

“It is,” Violet agreed. “As if those rocks were just recently added.”

“But why would someone have just added them?” Jessie asked.

“I don’t know,” Violet said.

Benny and Henry had walked to the other side of the tank, to see if they could find anything else unusual. Suddenly Benny shouted, “There’s something behind the rocks! Come look!”

Jessie and Violet ran over. They looked where their brother was pointing. Sharks swam by, still grabbing at the fish that had been tossed into the tank for their dinner. But then the area cleared, and she saw it. Squeezed behind the rocks was a dark blue bag.

“A bag,” Henry said.

“That would explain why those new rocks were added,” Jessie said. “To hide that bag.”

“What’s in the bag?” Violet asked. “Why would it need to be hidden?”

“I don’t know,” said Henry, “but I think we need to find out.”

“It’s a hidden treasure!” Benny shouted.

“Maybe it’s just … I don’t know, something for the fish,” said Violet.

“Could be,” said Jessie. “Or maybe it’s a bag of diamond jewelry.”

“Do you really think that?” Violet asked.

“Well, listen to this.” Jessie told the others about the card key she’d found on Mac’s desk.

“So you think Mac stole the jewelry and hid it in the tank?” asked Violet. “And he borrowed Emily’s card key so no one would know he’d lost his at Wilson’s?”

“Looks that way,” said Jessie.

“But he’s such a nice man,” said Violet.

“It is hard to think of him as a thief,”

Henry agreed. “But it makes sense. It all depends on what’s in the bag.”

“How do we find out?” asked Benny. “Jump in the tank with all those sharks?”

“They just had their dinner, so they probably wouldn’t eat you,” Violet joked, putting her arm around Benny.

“Very funny,” Benny grumbled.

“Let’s go tell Emily,” Henry said. “She’ll know what to do.”

The Aldens hurried to the Dolphin Arena, where Emily had just finished the last show of the day. She was pulling a T-shirt over her bathing suit when the Aldens arrived.

“Hey, guys,” Emily called out.

“We need your help!” Jessie said.

“What’s up?” Emily asked, sitting down on a bench and giving them her full attention. The Aldens told Emily about the card key and the bag hidden behind the rocks in the shark tank. When they finished talking, she sat silently, looking stunned. “Mac?” she said at last. “I can’t believe it.”

“Neither can we,” said Jessie.

“Show me the bag,” Emily said, standing up and heading toward the shark tank at a brisk pace.

A few moments later, they were in front of the shark tank. Mac was nowhere to be seen.

“See?” Henry said, pointing. “Behind that rock.”

“I see it,” said Emily, nodding.

“What do you think that is?” Jessie asked.

“I have no idea,” Emily said. “There’s one way to find out. I’ll have to go in there and see.”

“Have you ever been in the shark tank before?” Violet wanted to know.

“No,” said Emily. She didn’t look pleased at the thought. “Mac and his staff handle this tank. At least it’s not in that tank.” She jerked her head toward the great white shark’s enclosure.

“Are you going in right now?” Benny asked.

“No,” Emily said. “I can’t just go in the tank with all these visitors here. Also, I don’t want to accuse Mac of something if he didn’t do it. We’ll have to wait until the park’s closed, when no one’s around.”

The Aldens nodded silently, their eyes wide.

Emily smiled. “Go back to your cabin and have some dinner. I’ll come by after dark to get you.”

Time seemed to move slowly that evening. The Aldens had cooked and eaten their spaghetti and were playing cards to keep busy when there was a knock at the door. It was Emily.

“Come on,” she said.

It felt strange walking through the park after hours. Only a few lights were on, and all the pathways were empty. Shadows lurked everywhere—behind benches and bushes and in the corners of the animals’ tanks. Everything was silent and eerie.

When an owl cried in the distance, the children jumped.

The shark enclosure was dark. Emily had brought a flashlight with her, and she turned it on as they entered the building. “I don’t want to turn on the lights and alert everyone that we’re here,” she explained.

The shark tank was even scarier at night than during the day. Through the dim water, they could just make out the shapes of the sharks as they moved through the water.

Emily shone the flashlight into the tank, searching for the rocks without algae and the mysterious blue bag behind them. “That’s it,” she said. “Henry, you take this.” She showed him where to hold the flashlight, so it was shining on the bag. “I’m going in. Wish me luck.”

Emily climbed into the tank. The Aldens watched as she swam down to the rocks. Shadows of sharks moved past her in both directions.

“Look!” Benny gasped as one of the larger sharks swam up behind Emily, close enough to touch her.

“Don’t worry, Benny,” said Jessie. “Remember what Mac told us?”

Benny frowned, trying to remember. “He said these sharks won’t hurt people.”

“That’s right,” Jessie said. “He and the divers go into the tank to clean the glass and make repairs, remember?”

“Yes,” said Benny softly. His eyes remained fixed on Emily. He watched as she moved the clean rocks and pulled out the dark blue bag. She swam quickly to the surface. A moment later, Emily climbed out of the tank, the bag in her hand. “Got it!” she said.

“All right!” cried Henry.

Benny looked relieved. “You’re brave,” he told her.

Emily squatted down on the floor, holding the bag in front of her. The Aldens crowded around and Henry shone the flashlight’s beam on the bag. Emily untied the top and looked inside.

“What’s in there?” Jessie asked.

“I don’t know,” Emily said, reaching in and pulling out a lumpy cloth bundle. Emily slowly unrolled the cloth as everyone leaned forward to see what was inside.

“Oh, my goodness!” cried Emily. There in her hands were several large pieces of jewelry—pins, earrings, necklaces, and rings, all studded with large sparkly diamonds.

“It really is the jewelry!” said Jessie. It was hard to believe their suspicions had been correct.

“Each one of those probably costs thousands of dollars,” said Henry.

“Do you think Mac took them?” asked Violet, her voice trembling. “Maybe it was someone else—one of the other divers?”

“No, it was me,” came a voice through the darkness. Henry quickly shone the beam in that direction. There, in the doorway, stood Mac.

Suddenly, the lights were flicked on. Ms. Carver had entered beside Mac. “What in heaven’s name is going on?” she asked.