Mr. Newton rushed over to Blake and confirmed that Blake only had one of his two cameras. He then called the group together. “We have a problem,” Mr. Newton announced. “Blake’s camera is missing. If you have a camera, please check and make sure that it is yours.”
“How would we know if it is Blake’s camera?” asked Matthew. He looked at the camera in his hand. “I think this is mine and Griffin’s, but it doesn’t have our names on it.”
“Yes. All the cameras we bought this morning look alike,” Griffin added. “They’re twins, just like me and my brother!” The twins high-fived each other. It seemed like they were back to being friends.
“Is there any chance you put your name on it?” Henry asked Blake.
“I didn’t think I had to,” Blake said. He was growing angry. “Someone took it. They knew my best picture was on that camera so they stole it!” He looked around at the group, staring at each person there. “Who did it?” Blake asked. “Who has my camera?”
“Slow down,” Jessie said to Blake. “Maybe someone took it, but it also might have fallen out of your bag. It’s always best to look around before accusing people of stealing.”
“We’ll help you find it,” Benny said. “The Aldens are good at solving mysteries.”
“Can you remember where you saw the camera last?” Violet asked as Jessie pulled her notebook out of her backpack pocket.
“It was in here.” Blake dumped everything out of his bag onto a bench.
“A pen, the zoo ticket, a bottle of water, a pack of gum, and a camera,” Jessie said, looking through the things from Blake’s bag. “No second camera.”
Violet picked up the camera. “How do you know the missing one had the giraffe photo on it?”
Blake pointed to the top. There was a little dial that showed how many pictures had been taken. “Zero,” he read. “I didn’t take any pictures with this camera yet. I was saving it for tomorrow.”
“When did you last use the missing camera?” Henry asked.
“I haven’t seen anything I wanted to take pictures of since before lunch,” Blake said, trying to recall. As he thought, Blake rubbed a hand over his red hair. “So the last time I used it must have been at the giraffe exhibit.”
“Okay,” Henry said. “We need to retrace our steps and go back to the places we’ve visited today.”
Blake glared at Annika as if she was guilty. “You knew I had a great photo on that camera. You wanted me to lose the contest, didn’t you?” He squinted at her. “I bet you took it.”
“I didn’t take your camera,” Annika replied. “I only have this one.” She held up her camera.
Mr. Newton began to break the students into small groups. “Jessie and Violet will go with Sophie and Nico back to the giraffe exhibit.” He pointed in the direction of the giraffes.
“I’ll go with Benny and Blake to the butterflies,” Henry suggested. “That was our first stop after lunch.”
“I’ll go with you, Henry,” Annika said. “Even though Blake accused me of being a thief, I’ll still help look around.” Annika huffed. “I’ll prove I am innocent.”
“Fine. That’s the second group. Blake, Henry, Benny, and Annika,” said Mr. Newton.
“Where do we go?” the Cho twins asked at the same time.
“You two can come along with me,” Mr. Newton said. He gathered everyone else into his group, too. Then he took the flag from Benny. “My team is heading back to the hummingbirds and then to the alligators.” Mr. Newton checked his watch. “We are going to meet in half an hour under the big banner announcing the baby monkeys.” He pointed at a nearby sign with a picture of little monkeys hanging from a tree. “It’s not very far from here. If you don’t see me, look for the flag.”
Mr. Newton wished the students good luck, and everyone went on their separate ways.
“Come on,” Henry told Blake and his group. They began to head off to the butterfly pavilion. “We’re going to find that camera.”
“I hope so,” Blake said. “But I’m sure we won’t. I know it was stolen.”
“How do we get to the giraffes?” Violet asked Jessie as they headed in a different direction.
Pushing his shaggy hair out of his eyes, Nico looked closely at the sign that Mr. Newton had shown them. “That way is the monkeys,” he said. “I see the signs for hippos and elephants. But there isn’t a picture of giraffes.”
“Forget it,” Sophie said. “Let’s skip the giraffes. There’s no way that Blake lost the camera there. It would be a huge waste of time to walk all the way back to the giraffes.”
“We told Mr. Newton and Henry we’d go to the giraffes. We better do what we said.” Jessie hurried over to a man in a zoo uniform selling balloons and asked for directions.
The man took a map out of his pocket. He said, “We are here.” He pointed to the jaguar exhibit. “You need to head that way.”
“Okay, thanks,” Jessie said, taking the map from the man. “Let’s hurry. We only have half an hour.”
Nico took off toward the giraffes, saying, “Long-neck friends, here we come!”
Nico got there first. Jessie and Violet were right behind him. They started looking around for the camera. But moments later, Jessie realized that Sophie wasn’t with them.
“Oh no,” Jessie said. “Not again. This is just like when Benny thought she was missing the last time we were here.”
Jessie and Violet stopped looking for the camera and searched for Sophie instead. They searched for a tall girl with blond hair in the zoo crowds, but couldn’t find her.
Giving up for the moment, they went to get Nico instead.
“I can’t find the camera anywhere,” Nico told the girls the instant they approached. “I even looked down there.” He pointed over the fence to where the baby giraffe was eating leaves from a low bush. “But there’s no camera on the ground of the habitat.”
“No camera,” Jessie said. “And, no Sophie either.”
“What do you mean?” Nico asked, peering over Jessie’s shoulder. “She’s behind you.”
Jessie swung her head around. Sophie was a little ways back from the giraffe cage, close to where they’d stopped to eat lunch.
“What? How?” Violet was confused. “I am sure she wasn’t over there a second ago.”
Jessie walked over to the picnic area. “Where were you?” she asked.
Sophie pointed at the tables. “I was checking the lunch area.” She looked at Nico. “Any luck?”
“Nah,” Nico said. “You?”
“Nope,” Sophie said, glancing over at the giraffes with a shiver. “Let’s get out of here.”
As they walked away, Jessie put her hand on Violet’s arm, a silent sign to hang back. Jessie was still holding her notebook in her hand. “I think if no one finds the camera, Sophie should be our first suspect.”
“I thought we weren’t accusing anyone yet,” Violet said to her sister.
“I’m just thinking,” Jessie said. She then jotted down Sophie’s name in her book. “Sophie didn’t want to look for the camera, and then, once we got here, she disappeared. Maybe she doesn’t want to look because she’s the one who took it.”
“Why would Sophie take it?” Violet asked.
“She wanted a camera and couldn’t afford one, right?” Jessie answered.
“But if she suddenly had a new camera this afternoon, everyone would know it wasn’t hers,” Violet said.
“You’re right,” Jessie said. “But, she’s acting so strangely, it makes me wonder what’s going on.”
Violet pressed her lips together, considering Jessie’s words. “She does keep on disappearing. Hmmm.” Violet paused. “Okay,” she said at last. “If no one finds the camera by the time we all meet at the monkeys, Sophie Webb will be suspect number one in Blake’s missing camera mystery.”
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