cake.
“Please eat that first,” the old man with the cane said. “I don’t want that messy cake to get on my clothes.”
The woman quickly ate the cake. She licked the gooey icing off her fingers. Then she gave the plate to a waiter and got on the elevator.
A young man in a fireman’s uniform got on.
“That’s it,” Mrs. Scott said. “There’s no more room.”
Mrs. Scott was standing by a set of buttons. She pushed a button and the elevator doors closed.
“We’re going up,” Mrs. Scott said.
Cam and her mother were pressed against the wall of the elevator. Cam took a deep breath and held it. Then the doors opened and people got out. Cam exhaled.
“The big windows are to your right,” Mrs. Scott announced.
“Let’s go see,” Mrs. Jansen said. “We parked our car right in front. I bet from up here it looks like a little toy.”
Cam turned to Mrs. Scott.
“Thanks for the ride,” Cam said.
Cam stopped.
“Oh,” she said. “I think something is missing.”
Cam closed her eyes. She said, “
Click
!”
Cam quickly opened her eyes. “Mrs. Scott,” she said, “your pearl necklace is gone!”
Chapter Three
Mrs. Scott reached up. She felt her neck. Then she hurried to look in the mirror by the elevator.
“This is terrible,” she said. “Aaron bought the necklace for my birthday.”
She pressed the button by the elevator. The doors opened. She looked on the floor.
“The clasp must have opened. It must have fallen to the floor. I hope no one stepped on it.”
Cam, Mrs. Jansen, and Mrs. Scott bent down and checked the thick carpet near the elevator.
Eric and his mother were just coming up the stairs.
“Did you lose something?” Eric asked.
Cam told him about the necklace.
“Someone must have stolen it,” Eric said. “This is another mystery. We have to find the necklace and the thief.”
Mrs. Scott looked at the many people in her apartment.
“Aaron, Aaron,” she called.
Mr. Scott hurried to her.
“Are you tired? Is this party too much?”
“No, it’s not that,” Mrs. Scott said, shaking her head.
She told her husband about the necklace.
Mr. Scott gasped.
“It was stolen,” Eric told him.
“The boy is right,” Mr. Scott said. “That necklace is very valuable. It has a double clasp. I saw you lock it this morning. It couldn’t have just fallen off. I’m calling security.”
Mr. Scott hurried away.
“Oh, I hope they find it,” Mrs. Scott said. “We have very good security here. They watch everyone who enters and leaves this building.”
“I noticed that,” Mrs. Jansen said. “When we arrived, the woman at the door asked us our names. She had a list of who was coming to the party. She even made me show her my driver’s license.”
Mr. Scott was back.
“That nice guard Amy is coming right up,” he said. “I also called the police. They told me not to let anyone leave the apartment. I put someone at each door.”
“I bet the thief will try to leave,” Mrs. Shelton said.
“Did you feel anyone pulling at your necklace?” Mr. Scott asked.
His wife shook her head.
“The elevator was crowded. People were pressed against me, but I would have noticed if someone pulled the necklace.”
There was a chair by the elevator. Mr. Scott sat down and said, “We have more than one hundred guests. Any one of them might be the thief.”
“No,” Cam told him. “It could only besomeone who was in the elevator with us.”
Mr. Scott asked his wife, “Do you remember who was on the elevator?”
“There were Jane and Joe Levy. Cam Jansen and her mother were with me.”
Mrs. Scott thought for a moment.
“There were other people on the elevator,” she said. “I just don’t remember who.”
Cam closed her eyes. She said, “
Click
!” Then, with her eyes still closed she said, “I remember them. I remember them all.”
“I’m here,” a woman in green uniform said.
Cam opened her eyes.
“Hi, Amy,” Mr. Scott said. “Did anyone leave my
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