When they returned to the docks, the Aldens met Kate.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she said. “Your aunt phoned. She and your uncle will be late. They don’t expect to get here until dinnertime. I wish I had time to take you sightseeing, but with Charlie and all . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“We’ll find plenty to do,” Jessie assured her.
“How is Charlie?” Henry asked.
Kate shrugged. “He wanted to be alone,” she said. Her green eyes were sad.
“Alone?” Benny repeated. “But we just saw him with — ”
Jessie gave him a poke.
“It’s not at all like him,” Kate continued. “I’m going to find him now and try to talk to him. See you later,” she said, and started away.
Kate could not be involved in the trouble. She was too nice, too concerned about other people. The person they had seen in Chinatown, Sausalito, and on Joe Martin’s boat wasn’t Kate. Violet was sure of it.
“She didn’t do it,” Violet murmured.
Benny didn’t like to see Violet upset. To make her feel better, he said, “If Kate did do it, she probably had a really good reason.”
But it didn’t work. “You all think she’s guilty,” Violet said. “And now you think Charlie’s in on it, too.”
“We don’t know for sure,” Jessie said. “We’re just trying to figure it out.”
Henry put an arm around Violet’s shoulders. “We hope Kate and Charlie have nothing to do with all this,” he said. “We hope nobody we know is involved.”
“Yes,” Jessie added. “Joe and Tony — they’re good people, too. It’s hard to believe either of them could be guilty.”
Even Violet had to agree that was true.
“If we knew more about the mysterious man,” Henry said, “we might be able to solve this puzzle.”
They decided to look for the man.
“What will we do if we find him?” Benny asked.
“We’ll decide that when the time comes,” Jessie answered.
The time never came. They looked all over the piers, but they could not find the mysterious man.
Just before sunset, they gathered on the wharf. Charlie was himself again, friendly and positive. He and Kate were repairing the torn nets.
The Aldens wondered if his good mood might have had something to do with his meeting with the mysterious man earlier in the day.
Tony Gregor was helping Kate and Charlie. If he had cut the nets, why would he help repair them? Henry wondered.
“Has anyone seen Joe?” Tony asked.
Charlie shrugged. “Not since he brought in his catch.”
“Perfect timing, too,” Kate added, “with Vito ready to buy.”
“Here comes Joe,” Benny said.
Joe Martin sauntered toward them, a big smile on his face.
Looking at him, the Aldens thought it was hard to believe that he had anything to do with the trouble on the wharf. He had helped Tony rescue his boat; he had brought the Aldens to shore when they were stranded; and he had returned to the Chum with fuel. And, even today, when he sold Vito his catch, he had said, “Maybe I could help out until Charlie gets back on his feet.” That didn’t sound like a man who was trying to steal Charlie’s business.
“Hey, there,” Joe said. “This looks like a party.”
“It’s a repair-the-torn-net party,” Charlie said. “Want to help?”
Joe’s smile faded. “Wish I could,” he said, “but I have some work of my own.” He went down the dock to his boat and disappeared inside. A few minutes later, he was back. “Charlie, do you have a lantern I could borrow? It’s getting too dark to work without one, and I can’t find mine.”
Benny remembered the lantern in the coil of rope. He said, “But we saw — ”
Henry remembered the lantern, too. “I’ll get you a light,” he interrupted, and dashed away.
“Do you know where my lantern is?” Charlie called after Henry.
“Don’t worry, Charlie,” Benny said. “He’ll find a light.”
Henry was back in a flash, carrying a lantern.
“That’s not my lantern,” Charlie said.
“I think Joe knows who owns it,” Henry said. He held up a piece of broken glass.
“And I think he knows who owns this, too.” He turned the lantern to reveal a hole the shape of the broken glass.
Joe’s smile froze. “I . . . uh . . . ”
“We heard glass breaking out on the dock last night,” Violet said.
Charlie glared at Joe. “So you were the one who ripped these nets.”
Joe backed away. “No, no. Not me. I didn’t do it.”
“And you siphoned off our fuel and broke the radio,” Kate said.
“No, listen,” Joe pleaded. “I didn’t do any of those things. I did break my lantern. I came back here last night to check on my boat. I tripped over something and the lantern fell.”
Jessie said, “But you said you couldn’t find your lantern.”
Joe seemed to be searching for a reply. Finally he said, “I . . . uh . . . I was embarrassed. What kind of fisherman breaks his lantern?”
“A greedy fisherman.” The words came from behind them.
The Aldens whirled around.
The voice belonged to Kate!
That couldn’t be. Kate was beside them. Yet the faces were the same; the red hair was the same. But this woman wore a yellow slicker.
“Two Kates!” Benny exclaimed.
Kate was no less surprised. “Kim!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”
The other woman said, “Before I tell you that, let me introduce Sam Goodall.” She gestured toward the man beside her.
The mysterious man!
“He’s an investigator,” Kim continued.
Sam Goodall stepped forward. “Some of the fishermen hired me to find out who was causing the trouble on the wharf,” he explained. “I suspected you, Joe, from the beginning, but I could never find the proof.” He turned to the Aldens. “The lantern is just what I needed to close this case, and I have you kids to thank for that.”
Joe Martin raised his arms into the air. “All right,” he said. “I did it. I didn’t mean to ruin anyone’s business. I just wanted to show that I could be as good as the other fishermen. But how could I compete with men like Charlie and Tony?”
“It takes years of practice,” Kate told him. “You’ve only just started.”
Sam Goodall glanced at Charlie and Tony. “What do you want to do about this?”
“Joe should pay for what he’s done,” Tony said.
Charlie thought about that. “Joe has the makings of a good fisherman,” he said. “But he has to learn to have patience. If he works for us for a while, we can teach him. And he’ll be making up for our losses at the same time. What do you think, Tony?”
“Great idea, Charlie,” Tony answered. “I think the other fishermen will agree.”
Then Sam took Joe aside to ask him a few more questions.
Now only one mystery remained: Who was the young woman in the yellow slicker?
Kate answered that question. “This is my twin sister, Kim,” she said. “She’s studying to be a private investigator.”
“I’m very happy to meet you, Kim,” Violet said, and then she looked at her brothers and sister. Her expression said, I told you so.
“She’ll have to tell you what she’s doing here,” Kate continued, “because I haven’t the slightest idea.”
“Sam asked me to help out,” Kim explained. “I took a job delivering fish for Joe. That way I could keep an eye on him.”
“But why didn’t you tell me?” Kate asked.
“I asked her not to,” Sam answered. “The fewer people who knew, the better.”
“Believe me, Kate,” Kim said, “it wasn’t easy. I wanted to tell you. Talk about patience!”
“But Joe must’ve known you were Kate’s twin,” Charlie said. “And he never mentioned it.”
“I asked him not to,” Kim explained. “I told him Kate and I were having some problems and she’d be upset if she knew I was working down here.”
“Were you delivering fish in Chinatown? “ Henry asked.
Kim nodded. “Joe has been supplying one of the restaurants there.”
“What about Sausalito?” Violet asked.
Kim looked surprised. “You saw me in Sausalito?”
“Yes,” Benny answered. “But we thought you were Kate.”
“I didn’t think so,” Violet said.
Kim nodded. “I was delivering fish there, too.”
“We saw you there, too,” Benny told Sam.
“I decided to go along,” Sam said. “It gave us the chance to exchange information. We couldn’t risk being seen together. We figured no one would see us there.”
“But you were wrong,” Benny piped up.
Sam laughed. “We didn’t know you were such good detectives.”
“We’ve had lots of practice,” Benny said. Vito Marino came running toward them. “I just heard about Joe. Is it true?”
Charlie explained what had happened. Vito was upset. “What are we going to do about this?” he asked.
“We’re going to teach Joe the importance of honesty,” Tony said.
Shortly thereafter, Aunt Jane and Uncle Andy arrived.
“Is everyone ready for dinner?” Aunt Jane asked.
“We sure are,” Benny answered.
Vito said, “Come to my place. Dinner’s on me.” He turned to Joe. “You’re not charging me for those fish you brought in this morning, are you, Joe?”
Joe shook his head. “No. They’re my gift to you,” he mumbled. “It’s the least I can do.”
Kate introduced the Beans to her sister, Kim, and to Sam Goodall. Then everyone — except Joe, who stayed behind to repair the nets — headed for Vito’s Vittles. On the way there, the Aldens excitedly discussed the events of the day.
In the distance, the sky was a brilliant red. The lights on the Golden Gate Bridge looked like bright beads strung across the bay. This was truly a beautiful city. And there was so much of it left to see.
“So, Vito, what’s the catch of the day?” Uncle Andy asked.
The Aldens smiled at one another. They had just helped uncover a troublemaker. That was the real catch of the day.
Laughing, Jessie said, “It was a big one, Uncle Andy. A really big one!” |