Mrs. Shelton opened her purse. She took out her wallet and found all her credit cards and driver’s license. Then she opened her billfold and said, “My money is gone.”
“Please, keep looking,” Cam told her. “Maybe he took something else.”
Mrs. Shelton took a tube of lipstick, hand cream, and toothpaste from her purse. She gave them to Eric to hold. Then she took out a can opener, two pens, a shoehorn, a box of raisins, an envelope filled with coupons, and a pack of chewing gum.
“It’s all here,” Mrs. Shelton said. “He took my money, but nothing else.”
“What about your keys?” Cam asked.
Mrs. Shelton looked in her purse again.
“They’re gone,” she said. “He took my money and my keys!”
Ring! Ring!
Mrs. Shelton took her cell phone from the holder on her waist.
“Hello.”
She listened.
“Yes,” Mrs. Shelton said. “We’ll be right there.”
Mrs. Shelton quickly left the stairwell. Then she turned and called to Cam and Eric, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Cam’s mom is having the baby!”
“What did she say?” Cam asked as they hurried down the hall.
“Your mom was taken to the delivery room. The nurse said we should go to the waiting room and wait there. Someone will come in and tell us as soon as your sister is born.”
Mrs. Shelton pushed open the door to the waiting room. The man was still asleep on the large chair in the corner. The two old women were still reading magazines.
“How long do we have to wait?” Cam asked.
Mrs. Shelton smiled. “The only one who might know that is your sister, and she’s not talking.”
“She probably won’t be talking for a long time,” Eric said. “She’ll just cry and wake you up at night.”
“I’m going to teach her to talk,” Cam said. “I’ll hold her, talk to her, and read her my favorite books.”
Eric said, “You can teach her to say ‘Click!’”
Cam smiled. “First I’ll teach her to say ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa’ and ‘Cam-Cam.’”
Just then the door opened. Dr. Berger came in and told Mrs. Shelton, “I have good news. It’s a strong, healthy boy.”
“Are you sure it’s a boy?” Mrs. Shelton asked.
“I’m a doctor. I know the difference between a boy and a girl.”
“But I’m having a sister,” Cam said.
“Are you the Normans?”
“No,” Cam said. “I’m Jennifer Jansen.”
“Oh, where are the Normans?”
“We’re right here,” the blonde woman said.
The two women put down their magazines and went to Dr. Berger.
“I’m Mildred Norman,” the blonde woman said. “I’m the baby’s grandmother.”
“And I’m Betty Walters,” the other woman told Dr. Berger. “I’m his grandmother, too.”
“He is beautiful. In a few minutes you can see him. He’ll be in the nursery.”
“How is my daughter?” Mrs. Walters asked.
“She’s fine, just a little tired.”
The two women left the waiting room. Dr. Berger was about to follow them when Mrs. Shelton stopped her and asked, “How is Jane Jansen?”
“She’s in the delivery room,” Dr. Berger said on her way out, “but I don’t know when she’ll have her babies.”
Just then Mildred Norman hurried back into the room.
“I forgot my camera,” she said, and grabbed a bag she had left on her seat. “I brought it here to take pictures of the baby, and I forgot it.”
“Yes!” Cam said. “People take things for a reason.”
“Of course we do,” Mildred Norman said. “He’s just so beautiful. I plan to take lots of pictures of him. That’s why I brought my camera.”
Mildred Norman left the waiting room.
Cam went to the window and looked out. “I hope it’s not too late,” she said, “but I think I know how to catch the thief. We have to call the security guards.”
Mrs. Shelton picked up the telephone handset. She started to press the buttons. Then she stopped.
“What do I tell them?” she asked.
“People take things for a reason,” Cam explained. “The thief took your money because he wants to spend it. He took your car keys because he wants to use them.”
“But he doesn’t know where to find my car.”
“Yes he does. It’s where all the people here park their cars. It’s in the hospital parking garage.”
