Gymnastics Mystery (7 page)

They walked the length of the arena to the concession area. Floor music blared from loudspeakers as one group of gymnasts performed floor routines, while another group did balance beam sets, and yet another worked out on the rings.

“I don’t know how the gymnasts can concentrate,” Violet remarked, “with all this action going on around them.”

“They must be used to it,” said Jessie as they walked past a counter that sold hot dogs and nachos.

“I smell food,” said Benny, sniffing the air.

Violet giggled. “You just had breakfast!”

“I can eat a hot dog anytime,” he said.

Henry headed for the bank of telephones. Local phone books bound in metal covers were mounted beneath the row of phones. Jessie looked up the first number for him.

Henry punched it in. “Hello,” he said when someone on the other end answered. “Is Lucas Tripp there today?”

He paused, then said, “No, that’s okay. Thanks very much.” He hung up.

“Well?” prompted Violet.

“Lucas works at the
Greenfield Times
as a reporter, just like he told us,” Henry replied. “And he’s out on assignment, the secretary said.”

Jessie read off the second number and Henry punched it in. This time he asked, “Is Al Stockton there today?”

The pause was much shorter. Henry said thanks and carefully hung up the receiver.

“The receptionist at the
Register
has never heard of Al Stockton,” he said with excitement. “He’s never worked there a day in his life! Al Stockton is a phony!”

“We can scratch Lucas off our suspect list for now,” said Jessie. “But how do Al and Katya fit into this case?”

Benny pulled out the silver locker key. “Maybe this is the answer. I mean, I found it the day we got Katya at the airport. And Al Stockton was there, too.”

“Benny’s right!” said Violet. “We’re overlooking the most important clue of all! Katya flew to America from Russia. Al Stockton was on her flight from New York.”

“I’ll bet our mystery man also flew to New York from Russia,” Henry said, following his sister’s thinking. “As soon as Al got off the plane,” Henry continued, “he rented a locker. I think he brought something back from Russia to put in that locker.”

Benny waved the key. “And then he lost this.”

“Maybe he thinks Katya has the gold box,” Jessie said. “That’s why he keeps following her around! He wants it back. So he’s pretending to work for a newspaper.”

“So,” said a voice behind them. “You’ve found out the truth.”

Jessie jumped. But it wasn’t Al Stockton standing behind them.

It was Lucas Tripp.

“I—uh,” she stammered. Did they take Lucas off their suspect list too soon?

“I overheard Henry’s calls and part of your conversation just now,” the young man said, a little embarrassed. “Our pal Al isn’t employed at the
Register
after all. Good work! I should have looked into that myself days ago. It seems that while I’ve been so busy on this gymnastics story, a real mystery has been unfolding.”

Jessie breathed a sigh of relief. Lucas was okay. “The competition people would probably have kept Al out if they saw this unidentified guy taking pictures of Katya.”

“It’s not that hard to get a press pass,” Lucas said. “Especially if he’s worked for a paper somewhere else. Nobody questions a photographer with good credentials.”

“So what do we do now?” Violet wanted to know.

“Unfortunately, I’ve got to get back to that event I’m covering,” Lucas said, running his hand through his light hair. “I think you kids should make sure Al doesn’t do anything to upset Katya. And I’d like to hear more about that gold box you mentioned. I’ll see you later.”

He reluctantly hurried off once more.

“I think Lucas is okay,” said Jessie. “It looks like we’d better get moving. The teams in Katya’s class are heading for the balance beam.”

Sure enough, all the junior girls from various countries were settling in lines near the balance beam. Mrs. Patterson, score sheet under her arm, redid her daughter Denise’s hair, adding a fresh red ribbon.

Denise smiled at Katya and gave her the thumbs-up sign. Katya returned the signal.

“They’re wishing each other good luck,” Henry observed. “It’s nice they’re friends even though they are on opposite teams. I can’t believe Katya is mixed up in anything mysterious. She’s just so nice.”

“I know,” Jessie agreed.

Just then Mrs. Patterson said something to her daughter. Reluctantly, Denise faced forward, so she couldn’t see Katya.

“That woman acts like she’s running this competition,” Violet remarked. “How could it hurt Denise’s chances to smile at Katya?”

“That’s the way some mothers are, Katya told us,” Henry reminded them. “They take sports more seriously than their kids.”

“I think they are starting,” Violet said, noticing the coach lining up the first team to compete. “Let’s go over.”

As the Aldens left the concession area, they found themselves mingling with reporters, photographers, and other people moving toward the balance beam area. The difficult beam event always drew a large crowd.

Someone bumped into Benny, hard. He went down on one knee.

Henry was at his brother’s side instantly. “Are you all right, Benny?”

“I’m fine,” Benny said, staring at the floor. Big shoes that needed polishing were right in front of him.

A voice growled, “Look what you did!”

This time the voice belonged to Al Stockton. Now he was down on his knees, too, scooping scattered rolls of film and special lenses back into his camera bag.

“You made me drop my bag!” he complained. “If any of these lenses are cracked—”

“I’m sorry,” Benny said. “But you ran into me.” He tried to help by picking up loose photos that had slid from a side pocket.

“Leave those alone!” Al lunged for a sheaf of pictures in Benny’s hand.

“Take it easy,” Henry said, coming to his brother’s defense. “He’s only trying to help.”

“You kids are always getting in my way!” Al accused. “Now give me those pictures.”

Benny gave the man his pictures. But two slipped from the hastily gathered stack. They landed faceup on the floor.

Benny stared.

One picture showed a huge, beautiful mansion with a circular driveway in front.

The second picture was an indoor shot of a fancy living room. A vase of flowers stood on a table. Above the table was a portrait of a young girl. The girl wore a fancy-looking red dress. Her blond hair curled on her shoulders.

The girl looked exactly like Katya Ludskaya!

Al quickly snatched the pictures and stuffed them in his camera bag. “Next time,” he warned, “stay out of my way!”

Then he hurried off to the balance beam area.

Violet helped Benny up. “Honestly, that man is so rude. Are you okay?”

“Did you see the pictures?” Benny asked, his fall forgotten.

“I sure did,” Jessie answered excitedly. “The one of the house—I know where I’ve seen it before!”

“Where?” asked Henry. In the flurry of dealing with Al Stockton, he hadn’t gotten a good look at the two photographs.

“It’s the same house in the newspaper clipping that was in Katya’s letter from Russia!” Jessie declared.

“Why would Al Stockton have a picture of a Russian house in his bag? The same house that was in a newspaper clipping in Katya’s letter?” Henry inquired.

“Did you see the
second
picture?” Benny insisted.

Jessie nodded. “In it was a painting of a girl.”

“And the girl looked a lot like Katya!” Benny said.

Henry whistled. “Now things are really getting complicated. I bet the room in the second picture is in the mansion. And if the girl in the portrait is Katya, she obviously lives in the mansion.”

“So Katya is really a rich girl pretending to be a gymnast?” Violet asked.

Jessie shook her head. “I don’t think she’s pretending to be a gymnast. She’s too good. But if she’s rich, she wouldn’t need to live with an American family for this competition. Why is she staying with us?”

Benny thought he knew the answer. “To hide who she really is.”

Now they all looked over at the balance beam. Katya’s team wasn’t performing yet, but they would soon.

“We’ll have to wait until after the competition to find out Katya’s identity,” Henry said.

Violet stared at the black-haired man, who was watching Katya intently. “And so will Al Stockton.”

Katya was poised on the mat at one end of the balance beam. She looked toward the judges. The head judge signaled that they were ready. Then Katya took a deep breath and raised her arm in return.

With a swift move she straddled the end of the beam. Her hands on either side of the narrow wood, she eased into a handstand, then came down into a V-sit.

Violet Alden held her breath. She knew that Katya’s routine was one minute and twenty-five seconds. If it was too long or too short, the judges would take points from her score.

“Now she’s changing directions,” Jessie said, watching Katya pivot smoothly on one foot.

That was another requirement. Katya’s eyes were straight ahead as she waved her arms gracefully and pointed her toes. Next she performed a stride leap, springing up and down into a split. A headstand turned her in the opposite direction. Then, in a flurry of cartwheels, Katya was across the beam. She dismounted with a round-off.

Standing on the mat a second to gain her balance, she raised her arms and arched her back. She had stuck the landing!

“She did it!” Benny cried, applauding along with the audience.

The Aldens eagerly awaited the five judges’ scores. Katya received 9.7 from four judges and a 9.8 from one.

“Very good scores,” Henry commented. “If Al Stockton is bothering Katya by being here, it’s not affecting her routines.”

The rest of Katya’s team performed, and then it was the American team’s turn. Denise was in the lead position, getting the same marks as Katya.

Jessie watched Mrs. Patterson write down the scores on her score sheet. She did not look happy. Jessie figured the woman wanted her daughter to score higher than Katya. As far as Jessie could tell, Katya and Denise were evenly matched.

The announcer called for an intermission. The Alden children used the opportunity to find Grandfather and Mrs. McGregor.

“There you are!” said the housekeeper. “We wondered where you’ve been.”

“We didn’t mean for you to worry,” Violet apologized. “But we need to keep an eye on Katya. She—” Without revealing the question of Katya’s mysterious identity, Violet continued, “She’s nervous and likes to have us nearby.”

Grandfather nodded. “I understand. You have become friends this week. She’s a very nice girl.”

I only hope she’s telling the truth about who she is,
Violet thought. She would hate to have her grandfather disappointed.

“Katya’s scores are excellent,” Grandfather said. “She did well on the vault and aced her bar and beam routines.”

“I hope she wins,” Mrs. McGregor said firmly.

“They’re starting again,” Benny said. “We’d better get over there.”

The last event was the floor routine. The audience buzzed with excitement. Floor routines gave the gymnasts a chance to show their best skills.

Music blared from the loudspeakers. The audience clapped with the beat as the first gymnast performed.

Soon it was Katya’s turn again. She stood at the corner of the huge blue mat, waiting for her music. Jessie could see her coach frantically rummaging through a bag.

Katya threw a worried glance at Irina.

“I bet the tape with Katya’s new music is gone again!” Violet declared.

Jessie pulled a cassette from her pocket. “Well, this time we’re prepared.” She strode over to Irina. “We made an extra copy, just in case.”

A look of immense relief broke over the coach’s face. “Thank you very much. You are such a good friend to Katya.” Then she hurried to the music station.

In seconds, Katya’s music poured from the loudspeakers. Katya smiled and began her first tumbling pass.

“Good thing you thought of making an extra copy of Katya’s tape,” Henry praised Jessie.

“Too many weird things have happened at this competition,” Jessie said modestly. “I just wanted to make sure nothing else went wrong.”

“It’s awfully funny how Katya’s music keeps disappearing,” said Benny.

Jessie didn’t think it was funny at all. She couldn’t keep her eyes on all the suspects at the arena, but she had a good idea who the culprit was.

On her last tumbling pass, Katya was even better than she’d been in practice. The Alden children had worked with her the night before in their basement, until Katya had perfected every move.

Now Katya stopped precisely at the far corner, not stepping out of bounds, and raised her arms in the air.

The audience loved her routine. They stamped and cheered. Katya bowed to both sides of the arena. She looked happy, as if she knew she had performed well.

The judges must have felt the same way, Henry thought as he watched the white cards flip over. Every judge scored her floor routine at 9.9, the highest score received that day on the junior team.