Ann Martin: Claudia And The Mystery At The Museum

They were clustered around me, and all three of them looked scared. "I want my mommy," said Corrie.

I knew how she felt. I kind of wanted my mommy, too! But instead of my mom, a guard showed up. "We'll have to ask you folks not to leave. Please stay in the area," he said. "There's been a burglary. Some extremely valuable ancient coins have been stolen, and each of you will have to be searched before you can leave."

The girls gasped. So did I. I heard a lot of people around me gasp, too. A whole Brownie troop was standing nearby, their two leaders looking nervous. I also noticed a custodian with his mop and pail, and a nicely dressed man who had one blue eye and one green eye. My Nancy Drew books have taught me to notice things like that — especially when a crime has taken place. If s important to pay attention to all the possible suspects. I looked around and checked out everybody else in the courtyard as the guard began escorting us back into the museum, but nobody looked especially suspicious.

As the guard led us down the hall, I noticed

that he was passing the room where I'd heard glass breaking. I hung back and peered inside it as I walked slowly by. There, in plain sight, was a big display case that had once had a glass front. Now the glass was in shards all over the inside of the case, and the case was empty. Someone must have tripped the fire alarm as a distraction, smashed the front of the case, grabbed a handful of coins, and run off. I could almost picture it happening.

"Come along, miss," said the guard, ushering the girls and me into a small room, where a female guard was waiting.

"Don't worry," she said to us. "This won't take long." She searched us quickly, smiling as if she knew we couldn't possibly be the criminals.

As we left the museum, the girls talked about what had happened. I was silent. I was trying to remember every detail, so I could think about the incident later on. I cared about the museum, and I hated the idea that somebody had robbed it. I wanted to help solve this mystery, whatever it took.

Chapter 4.

I opened my closet door and threw in an armload of clothes and shoes. Then I shoved a pile of books under the bed. I pushed a stack of art supplies (construction paper and pastel crayons) to the side of my desk, smoothed out the bedspread over my unmade bed, and tucked a batch of makeup behind my dressing-table mirror. Finally, I stood in the center of my room, with my hands on my hips. It looked better than it had three minutes before, when I'd realized it needed a little tidying. Nobody would ever mistake me for a "clean freak," but once in a while even I'm embarrassed by how messy my room can be. My friends would be arriving any minute for a BSC meeting, and for once I wanted my room to look presentable.

Kristy was, as usual, the first to arrive. I waited for her to comment on how neat my room looked, but she didn't seem to notice.

Neither did Stacey, when she came in, nor Mary Anne. Jessi and Mal weren't impressed either. They just walked in and took their usual places on the floor near the bed. Shannon was the last to arrive, and I was sure she would say something. But she didn't. Instead, she just accepted the bag of Doritos I passed to her, fished out a handful, and passed the bag on to Mary Anne.

I guess the reason that nobody commented on my room was that they were too excited about the robbery at the museum. I had called them the night before and told them a little about what had happened, but they were dying to hear the details.

I was disappointed that my friends hadn't noticed my clean room, but I forgot about that when we started to talk about the robbery. As soon as she had called the meeting to order, Kristy held up the afternoon edition of the Stoneybrook News. "Did you guys see this?" she asked. "There's a whole big article about what happened yesterday."

My friends and I clustered around her and read over her shoulder, "New Museum Robbed" said the headline. We saw a picture of the outside of the museum, with police cars parked in front of it. "Police are investigating yesterday's robbery of precious coins from the Stoneybrook Museum," said the article. It

went on to say that the coins were "irreplaceable," and that there were, so far, no solid dues as to their whereabouts. There were quotes from the museum curator and from outraged citizens. Everyone was shocked that the museum had been robbed — and so soon after its grand opening.

"I can't believe you were right there when it happened," Kristy said to me. 'Tell us everything you saw and heard. Were you anywhere near the room where the coins were?"

"We were just down the hall from it," I said, remembering how I'd heard the sound of breaking glass. I told my friends about the robbery. "It was pretty exciting," I said. "First of all, I thought there was a fire somewhere because the fire alarm went off. That was scary, since I was responsible for the girls. Then, on top of that, another alarm went off, and the guards herded us all back into the museum to be searched."

"Wow, just like on TV!" said Stacey. "Did you see anyone suspicious?"

"I don't know," I said, honestly. "There was this guy with one blue eye and one green eye, and a whole troop of Brownies. The custodian was there, with his mop and pail. But nobody looked really suspicious. I mean, there weren't any guys with trenchcoats and briefcases or anything." I paused to munch on a Dorito.

"I wonder where those coins are now," said Shannon. Her eyes were gleaming. She likes a mystery as much as the rest of us. "I mean, they could be anywhere."

"Not really," said Mal. She had been listening closely to everything I had said, and I had noticed her reading the article very carefully. "Those coins are still somewhere inside the museum."

"What?" exclaimed Stacey. "How can you be sure?"

Mallory held up her hand and started ticking off points on her lingers. "First of all, when the alarm sounded, they made sure all the exits were guarded. Nobody was allowed to leave. Then they searched everybody who had been inside — including the guards and the staff. There's almost no way the coins could have left the building."

"Wow," I said softly. "You're right. I didn't think of that."

Kristy leaned forward. "So where do you think they are?" she asked Mal.

Mal put down her hand and shrugged. "I have no idea," she said. "All I know is that they must be in the museum."

The phone began to ring then, and for the next few minutes we were busy setting up jobs. Or, at least, everyone else was busy. I was just sitting there, thinking as hard as I

could. As soon as Kristy finished with the last call, I spoke up. "Okay," I said. "I've thought of a few places where the coins might be."

"So have I," said Jessi. Obviously, she had been thinking, too. "But you go first, Claud."

"They could have been dropped into the donation box," I said. "It's a big steel case near the front entrance. You're supposed to donate some money every time you come to the museum. You don't have to — it's not like paying admission — but if you can, you should."

"Did you donate?" asked Stacey playfully. She must have thought I was getting a little too serious about things.

"Of course!" I said. "The girls each put in a quarter, and I put in two dollars." I took another handful of Doritos. "Okay, next possible place. How about the museum gift shop? We took a quick look at it yesterday, and I noticed that they sell reproductions of the ancient coins. The thief could have put the real coins in with the fake ones, and nobody would know the difference." I stopped and looked around. I was proud of my ideas, and I could see that everyone else thought they were good, too. Mary Anne was taking notes. Kristy was nodding and biting on the pencil she usually keeps behind her ear. "What about your ideas, Jessi?" I asked.