said, “Look at this. It’s a list of all the equipment. There were twelve new basketballs, four dozen softballs, one dozen new bats, and lots more. My computer was new, too, and all the prizes for the banquet were taken.”
“The thief must have loaded it all in his car and taken it out of camp,” Terri said. “If he did, he drove right past Barry. We just have to ask Barry who left camp during dinner.”
“Great!” Cam said. “Let’s go.”
“Please,” Jim said. “Wait just a moment for me.”
Jim put the papers he collected into anempty box. Then he said, “Come on, Kitty. Come with us. There’s broken glass on the floor. You can’t stay here.”
Kitty was by the door. She was licking the padlock.
“Come on, Kitty,” Jim said again. Then he picked her up and carried her.
Barry was sitting in the booth by the camp entrance. He was reading a book. Jim knocked on the window.
“Hey, Jim,” Barry said. He showed Jim his book. “You should read this. It’s great. It’s all about Babe Ruth. He was a baseball player.”
Jim said, “I know who Babe Ruth was. What I want to know is who left camp during dinner.”
“Dinner,” Barry said and looked at his clipboard. “One car left during dinner and one truck came in. Sadie Rosen left at five fifty. She went to get the movie she’s showing tonight.” Barry leaned forward and whispered, “And the plumber came. There’s a problem with the toilets in bunk B6.”
“Did the plumber drive a truck?” Terri asked.
“Of course she drove a truck,” Barry answered. “She has lots of tools and pipes and plungers. She needs all those things for her work. She’s still here.”
“Let’s go to B6,” Jim said. “Maybe the plumber has lots of basketballs and baseball bats, too.”
“Basketballs? Baseball bats?” Barry said. “Why would a plumber need those?”
Jim and the others didn’t answer. They were already on their way to B6.
C HAPTER T HREE
“Look!” Terri said, and pointed. “There’s the plumber’s truck. It’s big enough to hold lots of sports stuff.”
A small truck was parked in front of bunk B6. Cam, Eric, Terri, and Jim hurried across the baseball field. Jim put Kitty down. Then he tried to open the back door of the truck. It was locked.
“Are you looking for me?” someone asked.
Cam and the others turned. A tall woman was standing behind them. She wore overalls, a T-shirt, work boots and a baseball cap.She was holding a large metal toolbox.
“We’re looking for basketballs and baseball bats,” Cam said.
“I don’t have any of those,” the woman said as she walked past Cam and the others. She opened the back door of her truck and put her things inside.
Jim held the door open.
“May I look inside?” he asked.
“Sure,” the woman said. “Lots of people are curious about plumbing. But it’s just about keeping the water running, stopping leaks, and sometimes installing boilers for heat. That’s what I do.”
There were lots of pipes and tools in the truck, but no sports equipment.
“Do you know what I just did in there?” the woman asked, and pointed to bunk B6. “I just cleared a clogged toilet. Do you know what it was clogged with? Carrot sticks! I didn’t ask why there were carrots in the toilet. I never ask. I just clear the clog and go home.”
“Thank you,” Jim said, and closed the back door of the truck.
“Once I found a math test. A boy had balled it up. He dropped it in the bowl and flushed. It was all wet when I got it out. But do you know what? His mother opened it up to see his grade on the test.”
“Thank you,” Jim said again.
“His mother wasn’t angry that he stopped up the toilet,” the plumber said. “But shewas real angry about the test grade. Oh, I could tell you lots of stories.”
“We’re looking for basketballs,” Eric said.
“Oh, I never found one of those in a toilet. It wouldn’t fit through the pipes.”
The plumber petted Kitty.
“One day, I’m
James McGovern, Science Fiction, Teen Books, Paranormal, Fantasy Romance, Magic, Books on Sale, YA Fantasy, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Science Fiction Romance, aliens, cyberpunk, teen