“ ‘Ha-ha’,” Benny read the two words on the paper on the table in front of him. The words were written in red crayon and they took up most of the page. “What does that mean?”
“That’s what we’d all like to know,” Andy said, his hands wrapped around a steaming mug of hot cocoa.
After talking on the phone, Andy and the Aldens decided to meet at the coffee shop to discuss the mysterious note Andy and his dad had found.
“It sounds like someone is laughing at us,” Violet said glumly.
Jessie took a sip of her cocoa, then said, “I don’t think they’re laughing at us exactly. I think they’re laughing at whoever found the paper.”
“Yeah, it’s like a joke on them because they were expecting to find a geocache and instead they found this note,” Benny said.
“Then whoever left this note is probably our thief,” Henry said, leaning back against his chair.
“That’s right,” Andy agreed. He broke off a piece of his pastry and nibbled on it.
“So, who left the note?” Violet asked.
No one had any ideas.
“Could it be someone who knows what geocaching is, but they’re not a member of the geocaching club?” Jessie asked.
“Why would they steal the caches?” Henry asked. “What would they get out of it?”
“I don’t know,” Jessie said. “Maybe they just don’t like the geocaching club for some reason?”
“How can the geocaching club be bothering anyone?” Violet asked. “It’s not a private club. Anyone who wants to can join.”
“And all the caches are hidden on public property,” Andy pointed out. “So it can’t be someone who doesn’t like people trespassing on their property.”
Andy and the Aldens were stumped.
Jessie finished the last of her cocoa, then set her mug down. “Was the Strike Three cache there last weekend when we all went out and checked on all the caches around Greenfield?” she asked.
“Yes,” Andy replied. “The Zellers were assigned to that one. They said it was there over the weekend.”
“The Zellers were the last people to find this cache?” Benny asked.
“I think so,” Andy said. “Their nickname is the Zees. I’m pretty sure theirs was the last entry in the online log.”
“What about the Greenes?” Benny asked. “Have they found this cache before?”
“I don’t know,” Andy replied. “Their nickname is the Green Lights. I didn’t notice if they’d signed the online log. Why?”
Benny shrugged. “Maybe the Zellers would have taken that cache to play a trick on the Greenes.”
“Yeah, maybe they did it so the Greenes wouldn’t find it and then they’d be ahead in the contest,” Violet said. “They really want to win that contest at the end of the month.”
“So do the Greenes,” Jessie pointed out.
“But do you really think either family wants to win badly enough that they’d steal some of the caches?” Henry asked.
“I don’t know,” Andy said. “My dad said the geocaching club might have to break up if these caches keep disappearing.”
“Oh, no!” Violet said.
“That would be terrible,” Benny said.
“I don’t think either the Zellers or the Greenes want to see the club end,” Henry said.
“Nobody does,” Andy said. “But there’s no point in having a club if all our caches are going to disappear.”
“Well, what can we do to make sure more caches don’t disappear?” Violet asked.
“I don’t know,” Andy said with a shrug. “That’s the problem. We can’t very well stake them all out and try to catch the thief in the act. There are too many caches to watch.”
“And too many hours in a day,” Henry said.
“So all we can do is wait for the thief to strike again?” Jessie asked.
“Or try to figure out where he or she might strike next and be ready,” Violet said. “Which is almost impossible!”
Andy nodded. “Do you see why my dad is so frustrated?”
“If only Cal was here,” Jessie said. “Maybe he’d have some ideas.”
“What are you doing, Jessie?” Violet asked. It was nine o’clock and the girls were ready for bed.
Violet had come downstairs for a drink of water and found Jessie sitting at the computer. Jessie was staring at the geocaching website. Her notebook lay open on the desk in front of her.
“I’m just looking at the information for all these missing caches to see what they have in common,” Jessie said.
“Have you found anything yet?” Henry asked as he and Benny walked into the family room. They were dressed in their pajamas, too.
“Nope,” Jessie said, resting her chin in her hands. “They’re all different kinds of caches. They’re all located in different parts of town. Some are rated easy to find; others are rated hard. It seems like the only thing they have in common is that they’re all missing.”
“Did you ever look to see whether the Greenes visited the Strike Three cache?” Benny asked.
“No, I didn’t,” Jessie said. “But we can look right now.”
The children pulled up chairs while Jessie pulled up the website for the Strike Three cache. She scrolled through the log.
“Here it is,” Jessie said, pointing to an entry signed by the Green Lights.
“It looks like they were here three days before the Zellers were.”
“Then I don’t think the Zellers would have taken that cache,” Henry said. “What would be the point? They’ve already counted that cache for the contest. And so have the Greenes.”
“And the Greenes wouldn’t have any reason to come back and steal it after the Zellers already found it, either,” Jessie said.
“I wonder if the Greenes and the Zellers have both found all the other missing caches,” Violet said.
“Let’s check,” Jessie said, reaching for the mouse.
While Jessie scrolled through the information on each of the missing caches, Henry took notes.
When they finished going through all eight, Henry looked at the paper in front of him. “It looks like both the Greenes and the Zellers have visited all of them,” he said.
“If both families have already been to all those missing caches before they disappeared, neither one is gaining anything by taking them and preventing the other family from finding them. They’ve already found them!” Jessie said.
Violet and Benny nodded. But Henry just stared at the computer screen. All of a sudden he sat up a little straighter.
“Can we scroll back through the other missing caches one more time?” Henry asked.
Jessie turned to him. “Did you see something?”
“Maybe,” Henry said. “I don’t need to read all the logs. I just need to see the main page for each one.”
“What are you looking for?” Benny yawned. He wasn’t used to being up so late.
Henry pointed to the screen. “Look at this line,” he said.
“It says, ‘placed by Hammer Ed,’ ” Violet read. “So?”
“Look at who placed all the other caches,” Henry said.
The children all leaned closer to the screen and watched as Jessie loaded the information for each of the missing caches.
“They were all placed by Hammer Ed,” Violet said.
Benny yawned again. “So who’s Hammer Ed?”
“That’s a good question,” Henry said. |