Chapter Seven
Cam closed her eyes and said, “Click.”
“The thief has short brown hair,” Cam said with her eyes closed. “He’s wearing sunglasses, a green shirt, blue pants, and sneakers.”
Cam opened her eyes and said, “Let’s tell the guard.”
Cam and Eric went into Ernie’s.
“Some CDs were stolen and we know who did it,” Cam told Barry the guard.
Barry smiled. Then he turned away.
“He stole six Triceratops Pops CDs and maybe some others, too,” Cam said.
“I have a job here,” Barry said. He wasn’t smiling anymore. “I don’t have time for children’s games.”
“You should listen to Cam,” Eric told Barry. “She has an amazing photographic memory. She’s solved lots of mysteries.”
Cam closed her eyes and told Barry, “The third button on your shirt is open.”
He closed the button.
“Your tie is crooked.”
He straightened his necktie.
“And the number on your badge is 3640897.”
“It is! You do have an amazing memory. Now tell me why you think some CDs were stolen from here.”
Cam told Barry all about the missing discs. Then she told him about the thief. She was excited and spoke very fast.
“The CDs were taken and your gate beeped. The man was wearing sunglasses. You checked his bags and found a rented videotape and a watermelon. You should have held the tape and made him go through the gate again. It would have beeped.”
Cam took a deep breath and went on.
“The bottom of the watermelon bag was wet.”
“That’s right,” Barry said. “After he left, I wiped the floor.”
Cam told Barry, “Whole watermelons are wet on the inside, not on the outside. He must have cut a hole in the side of the watermelon and hollowed it out. That’s where he hid the CDs.”
“What do we do now?” Barry asked.
“We look for him,” Cam said. “I can give you his exact description. I have a picture of the thief stored in my head.”
“Not yet,” Barry said. “First I have to tell my boss that I’m leaving the store.”
When Barry came back he and Eric listened as Cam described the thief. Then they went outside to search the mall.
“Look how many people there are here,” Barry said. “We’ll never find him.”
Eric said, “He left so long ago, he’s probably home already.”
Cam looked at the floor. She tried to follow the trail of watermelon juice. But too many people had walked on it and too many other things had been spilt on the floor.
Barry pointed to a man wearing sunglasses and asked, “Is that him?”
“No,” Cam said. “The thief is shorter and is wearing sneakers.”
Barry walked slowly through the mall. Cam and Eric followed him.
“What about him?” Barry asked and pointed again.
Cam shook her head and said, “No.”
By now they had walked across the mall and were standing in front of the video rental store. Eric looked at the store. Then he looked at Cam.
“We don’t have to search for the thief,” Eric said. “We can go to his house. I know how we can get his name, address, and probably even his telephone number.”
