“We’ll never have time to check the whole campground,” Paige said. “Maybe we should head back to the stand. We can come up with a new plan to find the trophy.”
Dylan didn’t want to admit it, but Paige might be right.
“Fine, but I want us to gather everyone who had paint on them. Let’s have them meet by the stand,” said Dylan. “Riley? Do you mind bringing over the Benny brothers?”
Riley gulped. “Sure. I—I can try,” she said.
“Caleb, can you go get your brother?” Dylan asked.
“We’ll see if he’ll come,” said Caleb. “I’ll do my best.”
“What do you need from me?” Emily asked.
“We’re going to go get Jack and head to the stand. I want to look for more clues,” Dylan said.
The group split up to head different ways. Emily noticed that Caleb had left his backpack on the path.
“Wait,” she called. She grabbed the backpack and took off running. Funny. It felt empty. Emily reached Caleb and handed him the backpack.
“What do you have in there, anyway?” she asked.
Caleb turned red again. “Um. I was just saving room for water bottles. That’s all.”
“Emily? Come on,” Dylan called. She turned and raced back to her brother. It was time to solve the crime. They stopped for Jack and headed to the place where the trophy had last been seen.
Dylan, Emily, Paige, Jack, and Theodore reached the stand.
Paige went into the office for a few minutes. She came back with snacks for everyone, including Theodore.
They ate cheese and talked about what they’d found so far. Dylan had a list of suspects. Some had reasons to want the trophy. Others didn’t seem to have an excuse for where they’d been when the trophy was taken. No one admitted to taking the trophy.
Soon, Caleb showed up with his brother, Alex. Shortly after, Riley showed up with the Benny brothers. Everyone looked at Dylan.
“All right, everyone,” said Dylan. “We’re here to figure out who took the trophy. I think the person who took it is here with us right now.”
Paige pushed her glasses up her nose. She said, “I talked to my grandma. If the trophy is returned now, she won’t be mad.”
“So, who wants to admit it?” Dylan asked.
“We didn’t take no stinkin’ trophy,” said one of the Benny brothers.
“Me neither,” said Riley.
“It wasn’t us,” Alex said with a sigh.
Everyone turned to look at Jack. He put up his hands. “Whoa. It wasn’t me either,” he said.
“Um . . . guys?” Emily asked.
Dylan ignored her. “Well, it had to be someone,” he said. “I need everyone to tell me exactly what they were doing before and during the s’mores fire.”
“Who cares about the silly trophy?” Alex asked. He gripped the yo-yo in his hand tightly. “It’s not like those games are any fun anyway. This whole place is a joke.”
“Did you know—” Paige began before the others spoke over her.
“I saw the Benny brothers creeping through the bushes,” Jack said.
Myles and Austin blushed. “It’s not what you think!” said Myles. “We ran by there but didn’t stop.”
“Yeah,” said Austin with a grunt. “We saw Riley waving around the trophy like she owned it.”
“It couldn’t have been Riley,” Jack said. “I saw her walk to the restrooms on my way back to the camper.”
“Dylan,” Emily said. “I think you need to see this!”
“Just a minute,” Dylan said to Emily. He stared at the group of suspects. “I’m not going anywhere until I find that trophy.”
The Benny brothers laughed. “Get on moving then,” one of them said. They grinned and pointed behind Dylan. He turned to see Emily holding the giant napkin that was covering the rock. Her eyes were wide with surprise.
The rock was gone.
In its place was a shiny golden trophy.
