Six
At that precise moment the manager rushed into the tent. “There’s been an accident, Sabryn. Sally fell off Bobo again. She thinks she might have sprained her ankle this time.”
The manager had a robust stomach with thinning wisps of black hair barely covering his balding head. His mustache, however, made up for that hair lack—it was big and bushy. It’d take a weed whacker to trim it. His tan skin and accent spoke of Mexican descent. Max couldn’t quite pin point it, but he had heard that distinct accent before.
“Carlitos, this is the Crypto-Caper team. They’re here to help us find our fossil. Team, this is Carlitos, our manager. He’s been faithful to us for years. We couldn’t find a more reliable and trustworthy friend.”
Sabryn’s sweet words caused Carlitos to smile, though it never quite reached his eyes. In those deep chocolate pools, Max identified regret swimming most happily.
Morris said, “Carlitos, would you mind terribly if we took your fingerprints? It’d help us eliminate you from the ones we found on the safe.”
Carlitos shook his head. “I’m very busy. Maybe later when I have more time.” Carlitos turned to leave, but Granny blocked the entrance.
“My dear man,” Granny crooned, “now would be the most perfect time to take your prints.” Granny’s hand lightly grazed his shoulder. Her eyes became soft as she fluttered her eyelashes. Carlitos smiled but tried to dodge around her.
“I have things to do.” Carlitos began to leave the tent.
“Providing your fingertips now saves time later, Carlitos.” Birage stepped forward this time, his arms folded in front of his burly chest.
Carlitos gave in. “Of course, whatever you need. You know I’m here to help you in any way.” He glared at Granny as he moved towards Morris. He raised his fat fingers and placed them on Morris’s scanner. In a matter of seconds, Morris had taken his prints. Carlitos lifted his hands, his fingertips rubbing together nervously.
“Can I attend to Sally now?” he asked with irritation.
“Of course, Carlitos,” said Sabryn. “Head over there. We’ll be right behind you.”
Once Carlitos left the tent, Sabryn turned towards Morris. “Well?”
“That other fingerprint isn’t his. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would’ve guessed from his reluctance that it was.”
“You’re right, Morris. Carlitos was acting a bit strange,” concluded Max. “But I don’t think he’d risk losing his job or betraying the Gastons’s trust by stealing from them.” Mia was about to open her mouth to object, but Max raised his finger. “However, I do believe he was somehow involved. I don’t believe he physically stole it himself, but I think he knows who did. I’d even go as far as say he might have created the distraction that allowed the theft to happen.”
“How do you surmise that?” asked Sabryn in amazement.
“His reaction. He’s devoted to you, and he harbors guilt. Mark my words, he had a hand in this.”
Birage’s features became even sterner. “I’ll get an answer out of him.” He seemed about to charge forward but was stopped by Mia’s hand placed on his arm.
“If you confront him, he’ll only become scared and run. He already knows we’re looking into him, which is making him nervous. If he suspects we definitely have something on him, he’ll certainly run. If he does we’ll be no closer to finding your fossil than we are now. Let’s see how things play out.” Mia’s voice calmed Birage, though the look in his eyes could have killed someone.
Max said, “Go take care of Sally. We’ll look around and see if we can find more clues, or possibly a witness. Don’t worry, we’re close. The hornet nest is stirred up.”
Birage left the tent with Sabryn just behind him. “If you need anything, you know where to find us,” she said.
Only Riley stayed behind. “I will stay and help, if you don’t mind. My chores are finished for the day, so I certainly have the time.”
“That’d be appreciated. Thanks, Riley,” smiled Mia.
“My pleasure. Your abilities at problem-solving impress me greatly. I hope I can be of some help to you.”
“Great,” piped in Max. “You can help us search for clues.”
Without further conversation Riley watched the Crypto-Caper team scour the tent for clues. After fifteen minutes, they’d found nothing. Granny waved for them to begin their search outside.
“How can we help?” asked Noah, feeling useless as he and his father stood watching.
Granny said, “Join us in our search for anyone who could have seen something. Someone going into the tent or going out who didn’t belong. Lots of people are employed here. Someone had to have been walking around at the time this happened.” She turned and stared at the ground. She could smell out a clue like a hound dog chasing after a criminal.
Several footprints led into and out of the tent. Because of the trampled snow, the ground was muddy. Isolating tracks would be close to impossible. Further from the tent, Mia noticed an older woman peeking out of her tent, which was right behind the Gastons’. When Mia looked at her, the woman disappeared inside.
“Who was that?” Mia asked Riley.
“That’s Esmeralda, our palm reader. I personally don’t believe in such things, but at times she’s been absolutely correct with her predictions.”
“Do you think she saw anything of importance?” pursued Mia.
“She might have. Esmeralda is a bit nosy and spies on pretty much everyone. If anyone would know what’s going on around here, it’d be her.”
Mia and Riley headed over to Esmeralda’s tent.
When she opened the flap, Esmeralda was sitting at a round table with her eyes closed. The tent was much smaller than the Gastons’. The inside had a magical look, with moon-and-star-printed sheer purple fabrics draped everywhere. A mist seemed to fill the air like morning fog. If it wasn’t for the fact that the mist become a little too clouded, to the point of Esmeralda waving her hand in front of her face, it would have almost been believable.
Esmeralda mumbled something as she rose from her table to turn off the fog machine somewhere behind her. She then moved swiftly to open the flap of the tent to let in some fresh air. After several seconds, she composed herself. With her many layers of fabric drifting about her, she appeared floating back to her seat, was almost mystical.
“I know why you came here, child,” spouted the older woman in her scratchy, hoarse voice. “Sit! Sit, my child!” Mia glanced over at Riley who nodded in encouragement. Mia walked over to sit in the seat opposite the woman. Esmeralda laid her arms on the table, palms up. She touched her fingertips together several times to bring Mia’s arms to the table. With reluctance, Mia did as she was silently asked to do. When she did, the woman grabbed hold of her wrists tightly.
As if a power somehow consumed her, Esmeralda began to go into a trance-like state. Mia began to feel a tingling on her skin. She jumped when Esmeralda took a great intake of breath, forcing her to cough in her direction. Mia tried to pull away, but it felt like her wrists were in a vice.
“You are in great danger, my child,” the old woman crooned. “A man . . . a man in black is after you and your friends. Yes . . . yes . . . a man who is known as the Panther, who feels no remorse, has taken something important to you. It’s becoming clear.”
“What of . . . ?” began Mia, but was quickly shushed.
“You want to know of the missing fossil. Yes . . . the cloudiness is breaking. I see it as if it were happening in front of me now.” The woman let Mia’s right wrist go to reach towards Mia’s face, as if trying to grab something. Mia leaned back out of her reach, barely escaping a wrinkled, unclean fingernail. The woman then began to tell Mia what she was beginning to see.
In her vision, Esmeralda could see a figure dressed in black, a hooded man with no face. He drifted into the tent, glancing around him, but there was no one. He continued to the safe, only to stop short. Dropping to his knee, looking like an oil spill on the floor with his black disguise, the man began to reach behind the safe. He almost lost his balance and placed a bare knuckle on the safe to hold himself up. What he retrieved from behind the safe was the fossil. It was never in the safe. Someone had removed it beforehand.
When the man rose, Esmeralda could see Carlitos standing in the doorway. Was he helping the man? It was hard to tell, but words were exchanged. Carlitos tried to stop the man in black, but the man grabbed him by the back of the neck tightly, threatening him. After tucking the fossil into his cloak, the man brought out a shiny pocket knife. Its blade glinted brightly as the man turned and made a slice by Carlitos’s ear. Carlitos agreed to do whatever the man had said. Once he let go, Carlitos moved out of the man’s way, letting him walk away with the fossil.
This realization brought Esmeralda out of her trance, causing her eyes to open. She looked wildly about her. Mia stared at the woman. If it wasn’t for the fact that her eyes held true disbelief, she would have thought it all a fraud. It made sense. The Panther coming to the tent causing a distraction for them yet again, or was there a connection to it all they just couldn’t see? Mia wanted to yell for her brother, but just then Esmeralda squeezed her arm tightly.
“Find Carlitos,” the woman said, “and you will find a truth, but with it comes imminent danger. The Panther will strike, determined to have you captured along with your parents. He needs you all out of the way to steal something greater. Remember, nothing is ever what it seems. Look hard to find the truth.” Esmeralda’s words of wisdom caused Mia to nod. Once she did, her wrist was freed. Mia rubbed it as she stood up from the table, her eyes focusing on Riley.
“Thanks, Esmeralda. We appreciate your prediction,” said Riley as she glanced at the woman, who seemed still in a daze.
“You’re welcome, my dear. Would you like to stay for some tea?”
Mia quickly shook her head as she headed for the tent entrance.
“No thanks, Esmeralda, maybe later,” Riley said.
Mia rushed Riley out of the tent. When they reached fresh air, they began to cough, the side effects of the fog machine. Mia quickly looked for her brother or Granny. They were talking with someone with really long nails that curled at least five feet and touched the ground. Morris was hanging back, his attention focused on his iPad. Noah and Percival were waiting with him after talking with a full-body-tattooed, seven-foot-tall man. Mia and Riley rushed over to them.
“Did anything come up on the fingerprint yet?” asked Mia.
“No, it doesn’t seem to be in the system. I’m coming up with nothing.”
“That’s because the print is a knuckle, not a fingerprint,” Mia said.
Morris focused on Mia’s azure eyes, but before he could speak, Percival did. “How do you know that?”
“It’s not important. It’s the Panther’s knuckle. He stole the fossil, which means we must find a way to get it back.”
“How? He’s running the game. We don’t know—” Morris began as he rubbed his forehead. Then he looked up. “We know who helped him.” “Who?”
“Carlitos!”
“I knew it,” uttered Noah. “He just appeared guilty, though I know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”
Mia said, “Let’s grab Max and Granny. I will prove to everyone that I’m correct.”
Percival said, “Noah and I will check out Carlitos’s tent and see what secrets he might be hiding from us. That way we can be prepared for any surprises.”
“Be careful!” Mia warned. She then turned and, with Morris and Riley, headed towards Max and Granny, who just finished speaking to the woman with the long fingernails.
“The Panther took the fossil,” blurted Mia, not being able to control herself.
“What?” Max’s voice raised an octave.
“How?” interjected Granny.
“I’ll explain on the way over to the big tent. Isn’t that where Bobo and Sally are?” Mia asked Riley.
“Yes, they’re in the main tent.”
“Good. Let’s head over there. We can prove the Panther had an accomplice. If not that, then at least we know someone who let him get away with the fossil in hand.”