Gertrude Warner - Great Shark Mystery

The officers smiled at Benny. “Thanks for offering, but I think we can handle it.”

“Well, if you need us,” Benny said, “we’re staying at the Ocean Adventure Park.”

Jessie caught up with her little brother. “Sorry for the interruption, officers,” she said, taking Benny’s arm. “We’re going now.”

As they walked off, Benny turned to his sisters and brother. “Can you believe it? A mystery!” The Aldens loved to solve mysteries.

“I think we’ll let the police handle this one,” Henry said, ruffling his brother’s hair.

Benny looked disappointed. “Okay,” he said softly. Then his face grew thoughtful.

“What is it?” Jessie asked.

“I was just wondering,” Benny said. “I heard the police saying something about this looking like an ‘inside job.’ What does that mean?”

“That means that it was done by someone who works there,” Jessie explained.

“I wonder why they think that,” said Benny.

“Probably because there’s no sign of someone breaking into the store,” Henry said.

“That’s true. I don’t see any broken windows or anything,” Benny said.

Violet had been walking off to one side. Suddenly, she stopped and bent to pick up something off the ground. She stood looking at the object for a moment, turning it over in her hands.

“What’s that?” asked Jessie.

“It’s a card key,” said Violet. “One side is blank, but the other side says ‘Ocean Adventure Park.’”

“That’s like the key Emily used back at the park to get through the gate to our cabin,” Jessie said.

“I think we’d better show it to the police,” said Henry. “It may be evidence.”

The Aldens started walking back toward the police officers, who were getting into their patrol car. Mr. Wilson had gone inside the store.

“Excuse me!” Jessie called, waving to the officers. “Excuse me!”

The officers had just shut their doors, and the Aldens heard the engine starting.

“Officer!” Henry cried out.

But they were too late. The police drove away.

“Oh, well,” Henry said. “You know this key may not have anything to do with the burglary anyway.”

“You’re right,” Violet agreed. “Maybe whoever dropped it was here yesterday before the store was robbed.”

“Maybe …” said Jessie. “But it does make me wonder.”

“When we get back to the park, we’ll take the key to the main office,” Henry suggested. “Then whoever lost it can come claim it.”

“Good plan,” said Jessie. “Now let’s go get our groceries.”

The grocery store was two blocks farther down the main street. The children loaded up with eggs, milk, juice, bread, jam, butter, ham, cheese, and fruit. They also bought some spaghetti and a jar of sauce for dinner. Then, carrying their bags, they headed back to their cabin.

On the way, the Aldens stopped to drop off the card key at the main office. It was a small room with a counter containing brochures about the park. Behind the counter was a door leading into a smaller office. The sign on the door read, PARK DIRECTOR.

Ms. Carver came out of her office when she saw the Aldens come in.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Hello,” Henry replied. “We found this card key someone must have lost.” He placed it on the counter.

“Thank you,” said Ms. Carver. “Where was it?”

“It was in front of Wilson’s Jewelers,” Jessie said.

Ms. Carver looked up sharply. “In front of Wilson’s?” she repeated.

“Do you know that store?” Jessie asked.

“Yes,” Ms. Carver said. “Mr. Wilson is … a friend of mine.” She picked up the key and turned it over in her hands.

“The store was robbed!” Benny said.

“Really?” Ms. Carver said. “How terrible.”

“Has anyone reported their key missing?” Henry asked.

“No, not yet,” Ms. Carver said. “Actually, only a few people in the park carry this kind of card key—people at the director level. The others have blue card keys.” She handed the key back to Henry. “You keep it. You’ll need it to get in and out of your cabin and around the park.”

“But what about the person who lost it?” Jessie asked.

“That’s not your concern,” Ms. Carver said. “But I do have extra keys for people who’ve lost them.” Then she walked quickly into her office and closed the door.

Outside of the building, Violet said, “It was nice of her to give us the key.”

“I don’t know if nice is a word I’d use to describe her,” Jessie said.

“No, she isn’t very friendly,” said Henry.

“We’ll have to check back later and see if anyone came in to get a new key because they’d lost theirs,” Jessie suggested.

“Do you think the person who lost the key is the one who robbed the store?” Benny asked.

“That might be,” Jessie replied.

“Ms. Carver mentioned that only a few people have that kind of key,” Henry pointed out. “Like Emily and Mac.”

“I can’t believe either of them would rob the jeweler’s,” said Violet. “They could have just shopped there and dropped their card, you know.”

“That’s possible,” said Jessie. “We can ask them.”

The Aldens used their new key to open the gate leading to their cabin. After they’d put away their groceries, they went to the Dolphin Arena, where Emily had said she’d be. The arena was a small stadium with a pool of water in the center and rows of seats in a semicircle, sloping up from the pool.

The children followed the crowd of people who were entering the stadium.

“I wonder where Emily wanted to meet,” Henry said, looking around.

The Aldens scanned the stands, looking for Emily. They didn’t see her anywhere.

Just then, over the loudspeaker, they heard a familiar voice say, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. The show is about to begin!”

The Aldens looked at the platform beside the tank and saw Emily in a bright blue bathing suit, holding a microphone and waving to the crowd.

“Cool!” said Benny. “She’s doing the show!”

The Aldens quickly found seats a few rows up from the pool.

“Welcome to Ocean Adventure Park,” Emily said. “I’m Emily Ballard, head animal trainer here at the park. I’d like to introduce two of my friends, Pearl and Rainbow.”

She blew on a whistle that was hanging on a cord around her neck, and two sleek dolphins raced from the dolphin tank into the pool. They swam right up to the shallow end where Emily was standing. When Emily leaned over and made kissing noises, the dolphins lifted their heads to hers and gave her “kisses” on the cheek. The crowd cheered.

Emily reached into her hip pouch and pulled out some small fish, which she tossed to the dolphins. Then she swung her arm in a large arc and the dolphins raced around the pool, chasing each other. Suddenly, perfectly timed together, both dolphins leaped out with a giant splash, flipped in the air, and dived back into the water. The crowd roared with excitement.

“Aren’t they wonderful?” Jessie said.

While the dolphins played, Emily talked to the audience. “Everybody knows dolphins live in water. Does that mean they’re fish?”

Several voices shouted out from the audience. “Yes!” cried some people. “No!” shouted others.

“No, they’re mammals!” shouted Benny.

Emily heard Benny’s answer and smiled. “That’s right, they’re mammals just like us. They give birth to live babies instead of laying eggs. And they breathe air, instead of using gills. See that hole on top of their heads? They use it to breathe. It’s called a blowhole.”