Case of the Fleet-Footed Mummy Page 14

  “But grandpa,” Jimmy whined, “I don’t know anything about any dead body! Other than the mummy we stole, that is.”

  “What about you?” Vance asked, looking over at Dean. “What’s your take on all of this?”

  “Look, man,” Dean began, “we stole the pendent. We smashed the display case and made it look like the mummy did it. That much we’re responsible for. But we didn’t kill anyone, let alone turn someone into a mummy. I mean, how the hell do you think we could do something like that? Do you think they have ‘How to make a mummy’ videos on the internet?”

  Vance turned to me.

  “Do they?” he whispered.

  I shrugged. I didn’t know. I hoped not. That was the last thing I needed to worry about at this point.

  “I’m still waiting,” Principal Reezen announced, drawing everyone’s attention.

  “Waiting on what?” Vance asked.

  “On how young mister Nelson here knew that the pendant was genuine. How did he know to take that one pendant when there were others that looked more appealing than that ugly vulture necklace?”

  “Jimmy, did you know about the pendant’s true history?” Captain Nelson asked, softening his tone as he did.

  Jimmy hung his head, “Yes.”

  “How?” Jimmy’s grandfather demanded.

  “From a teacher, okay?”

  A teacher? Uh, oh. I glanced over at Vance. He had the same look on his face as I did. He quickly looked my way. I could see worry etched all over his face. This didn’t bode well. Was Tori responsible?

  “Which teacher?” the principal wanted to know.

  “My history teacher,” Jimmy answered.

  “Mr. Thompson or Mrs. Samuelson?” Principal Reezen asked.

  “Mrs. Samuelson.”

  “Bullshit,” Vance exclaimed. “She said she didn’t tell anyone.”

  Several heads turned to stare speculatively at Vance. I groaned. Dude, if only you had kept your big trap shut.

  “What was that, detective?” Captain Nelson dangerously asked. “Are you withholding information about this case?”

  Vance gave a resigned sigh and nodded, “I’m afraid I am. Tori admitted to me that she figured out the true nature to that vulture pendent the moment it was put on display.”

  “And she told a classroom full of kids how a priceless Egyptian artifact was going to be in our small town?” Principal Reezen sputtered. His face had turned an ugly shade of dark red. “Is she insane?”

  “She said she didn’t tell anyone,” Vance reiterated. “I believed her.”

  “What did your teacher say about the pendent?” Captain Nelson asked, turning back to his grandson.

  “Well, nothing, if you want to get technical,” Jimmy admitted.

  “Hah!” Vance all but shouted. “I knew it!”

  “But I did catch her researching that pendant several times on the computer,” Jimmy continued. “I was curious. I wanted to know why she was so fixated on it. I remembered enough of what that thing looked like to look it up, too.”

  “And so you learned it was worth a lot of money,” Principal Reezen deduced. “How, exactly, did you think you were going to move something like that? It’s not like you could put it up on eBay.”

  “And that’s why the pendent is still here,” I guessed, smiling. Once again I had drawn everyone’s eyes to my own. “That’s why they still have it. Now that they’ve got it, they’ve got no clue what to do with it. Am I right?”

  Jimmy looked away with disgust. Dean glanced at his partner in crime and slowly nodded. Captain Nelson slammed a hand down on the desk, causing everyone to jump. Jimmy included.

  “Dammit, Jimmy! Why would you do this? Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in? Why did you do it?”

  Jimmy scuffed a shoe on the ground, “I dunno. I was bored?”

  Captain Nelson scowled again, looked over at Principal Reezen, and tapped the ring of keys that he was still holding.

  “Would you kindly examine the contents of his locker and tell me if the missing pendent is there?”

  “We don’t need to,” Vance announced. “We already searched it yesterday. There was nothing there. Nothing but a bag of weed, that is.”

  “You’re using marijuana now?” Captain Nelson all but roared as he sprang to his feet. “Of all the idiotic lame-brained stupid things...”

  “It’s not ours!” Jimmy insisted. “I don’t use pot, grandpa. Neither of us do. Someone had to have planted it on us! I swear!”

  “If not you then who?” Principal Reezen snapped. “Possession of marijuana is grounds for an immediate expulsion. The only reason we’re even having this conversation and I’m not signing your expulsion papers is that your grandfather and I are old friends. Mr. Nelson, Mr. Rupert, if ever there was a time to come clean, it’d be now. Start talking.”

  I glanced over at young Jimmy to see what his reaction to that ultimatum was. The kid was looking straight at his grandfather and damned if he didn’t try laying on the water works. Dean, on the other hand, looked as though he was ready to puke.

  “Grandpa, I swear to you that weed isn’t ours!” Jimmy was insisting. “I have no idea how it got there.”

  “Alright, everyone,” Captain Nelson stated, rising to his feet. “We’re going to end this right now. Jimmy, lead the way. You’re going to return the pendant. Right now.”

  Jimmy’s head fell as he resignedly pushed to his feet. Without looking at his partner in crime, he led us out of the office and down the hall, stopping only when he had reached his locker. Without asking for permission, he spun the locker’s dial a few times and then stepped back out of the way. Principal Reezen pushed his way to the front of the procession, opened the locker, and immediately began dumping the contents onto the floor. Once the locker was empty the principal turned to look back at Vance.

  “Where did you find the marijuana, detective?”

  “Above your head. If you turn around and look up at the top of the locker you’ll see a tiny notch in one of the corners. That’s where the false panel was resting. Press on the small tab right there and the panel would drop down.”

  The principal was quiet as he inspected the insides of the locker. I watched him reach up into the top of the locker and grunt a few times, presumably as he ran his finger over the notch and the tab Vance had described. I caught sight of the police captain giving his grandson yet another disapproving frown, but young Jimmy had dropped his eyes to the floor and kept them there. Principal Reezen felt the insides of the locker wall for a few minutes more before finally turning around.

  “This locker has been modified to hold a false ceiling. How? Who made these modifications? Where did you get that false panel?”

  “Made it,” Dean mumbled.

  “Where?” the principal angrily asked. “How?”

  “In shop class.”

  “With Mr. Eriksen’s approval?” the head of the high school sputtered.

  “No,” Dean muttered. “The teacher didn’t know anything about it. We done it on our own time.”

  “We did it on our own time,” Principal Reezen hastily corrected.

  “Whatever,” Dean grumbled in response.

  “The pendant isn’t there, kid,” Vance said, snapping his fingers to get Jimmy’s attention. “Care to explain that?”

  Jimmy sighed and pointed at his locker, “You’re looking in the wrong place.”

  “Did you, or did you not, tell us that the pendant was in your locker?” Captain Nelson snapped. I noticed the veins on his forehead were becoming more and more pronounced. If ever someone was about to lose it, it’d be the captain.

  “Yeah.”

  “Then where is it?” Principal Reezen asked.

  “I told you they’d never find it,” Dean smirked as he looked back at Jimmy. “I told you it was the perfect place to hide it.”

  I suddenly smiled. That’s how the little punks did it. There was a second hidden panel.

  “Check the bottom,”
I said to the principal. “I’ll bet you there’s another hidden panel, this time on the bottom.”

  Surprised, Principal Reezen turned back to the locker and swept candy wrappers, strips of paper, wadded up gum, and a myriad of other objects onto the hall floor. He peered at the bottom of the locker and grunted. I watched him reach inside with both arms and a few moments later he turned back around, holding a rectangular piece of metal.

  “There,” Jimmy grumped. “You have it back now. Are you happy? Can we go?”

  “You’re trying my patience, boy,” Principal Reezen all but growled. “Is this some type of joke? Are you stalling for time? Trust me when I say it isn’t going to work.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jimmy asked, growing agitated. “I told you where we hid the pendant. You’ve got it back. Everything can go back to the way it was, okay? Please?”

  “There was nothing there, Mister Nelson!” the principal bellowed. “The space below this panel was empty!”

  I watched the color drain from Jimmy’s face. He lunged forward, pushing by both his grandfather and the principal. He stuck his head inside his locker to see for himself that his future was looking exceedingly dim. Jimmy angrily confronted Dean.

  “You took it? You sneaky two-timing son of a bitch! How dare you! You would have never known about that pendant if it wasn’t for me!”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Dean demanded. “I didn’t touch the thing.”

  Jimmy gestured angrily at the locker, “It’s gone, Dean! You and I are the only ones who knew where it was hidden! I sure as hell didn’t move it. That leaves you!”

  Dean pushed by his friend to stare down at the empty locker. Jimmy was right. The pendant was gone!

  “Dude! Someone stole our pendant!”

  NINE

  “Let me see if I have this straight,” Captain Nelson was saying. “You boys steal the pendant. And the mummy. You make it look like the mummy has come back to life to cover your tracks. You two are surprised to learn that it’s not nearly as easy as it looks to try and find a buyer for a stolen pendant, especially one that is worth tens of millions of dollars. Therefore you stash the thing here. In a school. Only now the problem is that someone has stolen it from you.”

  “Yes,” Jimmy all but whispered.

  “And they’ve managed to get into your locker without you knowing.”

  “Yes,” Jimmy said again.

  “When was the last time you saw the necklace?” Vance asked. “When was the last time that you knew for certain it was there?”

  “Yesterday,” Dean answered. “Jimmy and I checked on it yesterday, after school.”

  “Is that true, Mister Nelson?” Principal Reezen asked.

  Jimmy nodded, “Yes. We both saw it.”

  Vance nodded, “That means that whoever stole it from them did it sometime between 3:30 pm and… and… when does the school open in the morning?”

  “Doors are unlocked at 6:00 am”

  “When are they locked for the night?” I asked.

  “There was a varsity volleyball game here last night,” Principal Reezen said. “It would have lasted until about 8. Doors would have been locked by 8:30 pm.”

  “Could someone have been able to get into Jimmy’s locker before the doors were locked?”

  “Are you suggesting another student is responsible?” the principal asked.

  “I’m asking if there are enough people wandering the halls during the game that someone would have noticed a locker being forced open,” Vance said.

  “There were no signs of forced entry,” Principal Reezen reminded us. “Whoever accessed that locker did so by either knowing the locker’s combination or having the master key.”

  “Or they could have picked the lock,” I added.

  Captain Nelson looked over at the principal.

  “Don, is that possible? How easy would it be to pick the locks?”

  Principal Reezen shrugged, “They’re school lockers, Jason. Each locker is secured with a standard Martyr combination lock. We’ve keyed each lock so that one key, the master key, will unlock them all.”

  “Who has copies of that key?” Vance asked as he pulled out a notepad.

  “I do, Rick does, and so does the school janitor.”

  “Are all those keys properly secured at night?” Vance asked.

  “I keep my keys with me at all times,” the principal admitted. “I know Rick does, too. I’ve made it clear to my vice principal that his job is on the line should anything happen to those keys.”

  “And the janitor’s ring?”

  “Locked inside a reinforced steel locker at the end of his shift each night.”

  “And where’s that locker at?” Vance wanted to know. He was scribbling notes like mad.

  “Inside the teacher’s lounge, next to their lockers.”

  “Is he the only one who has access to it?”

  Principal Reezen dropped a ring of keys on his desk.

  “I’ve also got the key to that locker, if that’s what you’re asking. Are you suggesting I had something to do with the pendant’s disappearance?”

  Vance shook his head, “No sir. I’m just collecting facts.”

  “So it would appear that the theft occurred sometime after 8:30 pm and before 6 am this morning,” Captain Nelson said. He sighed and ran a hand through his thinning gray hair. “Very well. Jimmy, Dean, you’re coming with me.”

  “Where are we going?” Jimmy asked fearfully.

  “We’re going to the station. Detective Samuelson?”

  Vance looked at his boss.

  “Captain?”

  “Ask your wife to meet us there.”

  “Excuse me, captain?” Vance sputtered.

  “You heard me. Of the three of them, someone must have told someone else. Somebody let something slip that they shouldn’t. The pendant has been stolen. Again. Someone must know something.”

  I saw that Vance had visibly paled.

  “Captain, look. I know it looks bad for my wife. However, I have to assure you that she had nothing to do with this.”

  “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll have someone else call on your wife to bring her in. In fact, it’s late. We’ll reconvene tomorrow morning. I’ll send someone for your wife, Samuelson.”

  “Great,” Vance grumbled. “It ought to be a real hoot around my house tonight.”

  “Detective?” Captain Nelson called out.

  Vance looked up, “Yeah?”

  “I’m officially pulling you off this case.”

  “What?!” Vance sputtered. “Captain, you can’t do that! This is my case!”

  “And your wife has been implicated, detective. You and I both know that you need to distance yourself until this has all blown over. Do I make myself clear?”

  Vance groaned and rubbed his temples.

  “I said, do I make myself clear detective?” Captain Nelson repeated.

  “Crystal, sir.”

  “Good. You are dismissed, Mr. Samuelson. And take Mr. Anderson with you. That will be all.”

  Without a word Vance turned on his heel and strode toward the office door. He hooked an arm through mine as he neared, pulling me along with him. Sherlock was already on his feet and anxiously pulling on his leash, ready to leave.

  “Dude, I’m sorry,” I managed to get out as soon as we pushed open the school doors and hit the night air. “There must be some way they can let you back on the case. You’re their best detective!”

  “As much as I don’t want to admit it, the captain’s right,” Vance said. “It’s a conflict of interest. I can’t officially be on the case as long as Tori has been implicated.”

  Sherlock whined as he looked at the detective. Vance squatted down and ruffled the fur behind Sherlock’s ears. A look of resolve appeared on my friend’s face. Vance looked up at me and nodded.

  “But unofficially? You and I are gonna solve this thing.”

  A sharp, piercing bark sounded from the lone canine p
resent.

  “You, too, pal,” Vance added, draping a friendly arm around Sherlock.

  “Where do we start?” I asked as we both headed towards the lone car left in the vast parking lot.

  Tori had driven Jillian and Watson back to my place around an hour ago. As far as I was aware they were waiting for us there. I unlocked my Jeep and lifted Sherlock into the back seat.

  Vance checked his watch, “Shit. I never realized it was so late.”

  I checked my watch. Bare skin met my eyes. I forgot I hadn’t worn a watch in years, yet the habit was hard to break if anyone uttered the magic phrase what time is it?

  “Whatever we’re gonna do it’ll have to be tonight,” Vance said as he climbed in to my Jeep.

  As I pulled out of the school parking lot Vance called their babysitter and asked if she’d be willing to stay even longer, which she was. Apparently he was planning on breaking the news to Tori about her implication in the case at my house.

  Peachy.

  This was gonna be a long night. I remembered that none of us had had dinner yet so I placed an order with Sara’s Pizza Parlour. I glanced over at Vance as I drove and saw that he was deep in thought. I had to feel bad for the guy. I wouldn’t want my wife involved in any type of crime, either. He was probably wondering how he was going to break the news to Tori.

  I parked my Jeep next to Jillian’s SUV. The lights were on in my house and I could hear some music playing. Looks like Jillian found my CD collection and had chosen some smooth jazz.

  Watson met us at the door, barking excitedly. Sherlock yipped once as he ran up the steps. Tori took one look at her husband and knew – instantly – that something was wrong. Jillian was sitting on the sofa with a beer in her hand. She took one look at us and immediately sat her beer down on the coffee table.

  “What is it?” Jillian asked. “What’s wrong?”

  Vance joined his wife on the couch and sighed heavily.

  “You’re gonna have to tell her sooner or later,” I told my friend. “Might as well get it over with.”

  “You might as well get what over with?” Tori asked as she turned to her husband. “Vance, what are you not telling me?”

  “The captain knows about you and that damn pendant,” Vance miserably said.