The Big Island Burglary Read online

  Harry sat down on one of the last few chairs on the patio, while workers wheeled away two huge round tables. He rested his face in his hands.

  “Well, we can help you search if you want,” Mr. Fayne said. He glanced sideways at Nancy, Bess, and George.

  Nancy smiled. Of course, they could do better than just help Harry and his family search. At River Heights Elementary, the three girls were known for solving mysteries. Friends and teachers had even started calling them the Clue Crew. Weeks ago, they’d found an expensive telescope when it went missing from the planetarium.

  “We might be able to find it,” Nancy said, straightening up. “We’re always helping friends and teachers with different mysteries, and this is definitely a big one.…”

  “But you’re on vacation,” Lizzy said, scraping the toe of her sneaker across the ground. “You really want to look for a missing camera?”

  “Yeah, it’ll be fun,” George said. Nancy could tell she was already surveying the scene for clues. “We only have one day left, though, so we have to get to work as soon as possible.”

  Carol and Harry shrugged. They waited for Mr. and Mrs. Fayne to say no, or to explain, but the Faynes were used to the Clue Crew jumping in to help. George had once told Bess and Nancy how proud her parents were of them.

  “Well, all right,” Carol finally said. “I guess it can’t hurt.”

  “No, it can’t,” Nancy replied. She pulled a notebook out of her back pocket. Across the front, it read Clue Book. “Now, let’s get to work.…”

  Chapter 4

  TAKING NOTES

  Nancy and George sat on the lounge chairs by the pool. They looked at the list in front of them. Nancy had written MOTIVE in big block letters at the top of the page. That was just another word for “a reason someone would do something.”

  “Maybe Lizzy is right,” Nancy said, studying the first reason she’d written down. It said ACCIDENT in big letters, right under MOTIVE. “Maybe this is all a mistake. Someone might have taken the camera by accident.”

  “Maybe they thought it was theirs,” Bess said as she dangled her feet in the pool. Every now and then, she looked across at Mr. Fayne, who was chatting with a few Sunrise Resort employees as they cleaned up the patio. Mrs. Fayne had gone back to the room with Scotty to put him to bed, though she promised to help in the hunt the next day. Nancy, Bess, and George had asked everyone they could find about the missing camera, including a couple on their honeymoon who were in the hot tub and a few loud teenagers in the deep end of the pool, playing a game of Marco Polo.

  “If it was really an accident, then we should know soon,” George said. “The person will realize they have the wrong camera. Then they’ll return it to the front desk, like the manager said.”

  “I think we can cross that motive off the list if we don’t hear by tomorrow morning,” Nancy said. “What else? Why would a camera go missing?”

  “It could have been stolen.…” Bess kicked her feet underwater. “Harry said it’s really expensive. Maybe someone took it, thinking they could sell it for a lot of money.”

  “But who comes all the way to Hawaii to steal a camera?” George asked.

  “That’s true,” Nancy said. “Almost all the people on the patio were other families on vacation. It would be kind of odd, but that doesn’t mean someone wouldn’t do it.”

  Nancy wrote down STOLEN (TO KEEP OR SELL IT) as another motive. Then she wrote down the last possible motive, LOST. She knew that was unlikely.

  When Nancy and her friends sat down to take notes, Harry and Carol Hendricks had gone back to the patio to search for the camera again. They wanted to see the Sunrise Resort team take apart the stage in case the camera had fallen and been kicked underneath. Lizzy and Z had left, saying they had to go to a party on the beach down by the surf shack. They’d promised to continue the search in the morning.

  George pointed to the other end of the pool. “Here they come.” The Hendrickses were walking toward them. Their hands were empty. Mr. Fayne wasn’t far behind.

  “Nothing!” Harry said as he got closer. He shook his head.

  “No one saw the camera.” Mr. Fayne shrugged. “And they checked and rechecked all the tables and chairs to make sure nothing got wheeled away that shouldn’t have. I’m not sure what else to do.”

  Nancy crossed the word LOST off her list. It was still possible someone had taken the camera by accident, but she knew now it hadn’t been misplaced. She flipped to a fresh page.

  “Did you notice anything strange tonight? Is there anyone you remember acting weird?” Nancy asked. Sometimes, when people really thought about it, they remembered new details.

  “Hmm…,” Carol murmured. “I don’t think so.”

  “Was there anyone you spoke to recently who stood out?” Bess asked.

  “Well, now that you mention it,” Harry said, “yesterday, some guy at the beach thought I stole his lounge chair. He was older, white hair. Do you think that could be something?”

  “But we didn’t see him at the luau,” Carol said.

  “I guess you’re right,” Harry agreed. “He wasn’t there.”

  “Besides, I don’t think he’d take your camera as revenge,” George added.

  Nancy stared at her blank paper, worried that they still had no real suspects. The lounge chair man couldn’t have stolen the camera if he wasn’t at the luau. Where would they begin their investigation? The Clue Crew didn’t have a single clue.

  “It’s getting late,” Mr. Fayne said. “You girls should have been in bed an hour ago. I think it’s time to put this case on hold until the morning.”

  Harry nodded, but Carol was staring off into space. Then, suddenly, her blue eyes went bright. “Actually… I think I did see something strange!”

  “Really? What?” Mr. Fayne asked.

  “This woman, she was a little older than me,” Carol started. “She was at the luau alone. I remember noticing her because she kept looking over at Harry. Then, at one point, I realized she was watching him take pictures.… She was watching his camera.”

  “What did she look like?” George asked. “Do you remember what was she wearing? Her hair color? Eye color?”

  Carol furrowed her brow. “Oh, I don’t know. I only saw her for a few seconds. Maybe big sunglasses? I really can’t recall.”

  “She was staring at my camera?” Harry said.

  “I think she was!”

  “Is there anything else you remember?” George asked. “Are you sure she was alone?”

  “I’m definitely sure of that.” Carol nodded.

  “Okay, girls… I’m serious. Bed. Now.” Mr. Fayne put his arms around Nancy and George’s shoulders and gave Bess a pointed look. “You can start up again in the morning.” He turned to the Hendrickses. “It was great to meet you both. We’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “Let’s hope,” Harry muttered.

  As they walked off, Nancy was still puzzled. Carol had said the woman she’d seen was older, alone, and maybe wearing sunglasses. Almost everyone at Sunrise Resort had sunglasses, even George (and she hated sunglasses). And half the people at the resort were over fifty.

  “At least we have a suspect,” George said. “You heard Carol. The woman was staring at Harry’s camera!”

  “But how are we going to find her?” Nancy asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Bess said. “I have a plan.”

  Chapter 5

  CAUGHT ON CAMERA

  The next morning, Nancy and her friends walked down the stone pathway to one of the resort’s restaurants. They’d decided to get an early start on the day. While most kids were already in the pool, tossing around a beach ball, Bess was talking her friends through her plan.

  “The thing is, everyone at the luau was taking pictures, but most people took them on their phones, not on a giant expensive camera like Harry’s.”

  “His camera lens was five feet long!” Nancy laughed. She was just
kidding, but it was really big. “He kept switching out different lenses too, like he was a real photographer.”

  “You’re right—lots of people were taking pictures,” George added. “Some people even took videos.”

  “So, we just ask people if we can see their photos from the luau…?” Nancy asked.

  “Exactly,” Bess replied. “Then we see if we can pick out this strange woman Mrs. Hendricks was talking about. She must be in at least one or two of those photos. Probably more.”

  “The new cell phone cameras are so good, we can probably zoom in and crop the photo to get a perfect picture of her,” George added. She loved technology, and it came in handy when they were investigating.

  The girls strolled into Sunrise Resort’s biggest restaurant, the Green Pineapple. It smelled like pancakes and eggs. They’d come here every morning since the first day of the trip, piling their plates high with waffles, scrambled eggs, and dragon fruit. Nancy wanted to run over to the buffet and grab a juicy strip of bacon, but she knew she had to stay focused.

  “Let’s split up,” Bess suggested. She waved toward the tables in front of them. “I’ll take all the round tables on the right, and, George, you should take all the round tables on the left. Nancy, you can talk to everyone in the booths.”

  The girls went their separate ways. Nancy approached a family first. The two men had a baby and a toddler with them.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Nancy said.

  “Sure thing,” one of the men said. He had curly hair and was feeding the baby orange mush. “What’s up?”

  “My friends and I are looking for a woman who was at the luau last night. The only problem is, we don’t know her name or what she looks like. But we think someone got a photo of her.”

  The other man shrugged. He was wearing a bright green shirt and had five o’clock shadow. “Ahhh… we weren’t at the luau last night. We had to put these two to bed. We did see the sunset from our balcony, though.…” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed Nancy a picture of a pink and orange sky. She smiled. It really was a beautiful photo.

  “No problem. Thanks,” she said as she left them to finish their breakfast.

  She tried the next table, but the young couple there said they hadn’t taken any pictures at the luau. The next family had a bunch of pictures on the mom’s phone, but they were all of her five-year-old eating poi for the first time. It wasn’t until Nancy asked a fourth table that she found some useful photos.

  “I’ve gotten pretty good at using this thing,” the white-haired woman said. She was seated with an elderly woman with huge pink earrings. “Technology is so wild!”

  The woman flipped through dozens of photos, but there were none of the suspect Carol had described. Nancy was just about to try another booth when George called out from a table a few feet away. “Nancy, Bess! I found something!”

  Nancy ran to George’s side. She was standing with a young African American couple. The man was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, and the woman had on a colorful sundress. Nancy leaned over and looked at the phone screen as the man scrolled through his album.

  “That’s her! Right there,” George said, pointing to a woman in the background. The man handed George his phone and she zoomed in, then cropped the photo and saved a new version of it. Now they could see the mystery woman clearly. She was wearing sunglasses and a straw hat. Wisps of curly blond hair peeked out from underneath the brim.

  “I thought she seemed a little odd…,” said the man, who’d introduced himself as Paul.

  “Do you have any more pictures of her?” Bess asked.

  Paul scrolled through his phone and found two more. In the second, the strange woman was scowling at Harry’s camera.

  “Why do you think she’s so angry at Harry?” George asked. “She’s definitely looking at the camera in this one. But why? What would she want with it?”

  Just then, a waitress came by and picked up the couple’s plates. She stared at the phone just a little too long, trying to see what Nancy and her friends were doing. “That’s Olivia Andover. She’s been coming here for years. Always stays in one of our penthouse suites.”

  “Really?” Bess asked. “Do you know where she is now?”

  “I think I saw her in the spa before,” the waitress said. “Why?”

  But the girls were too excited to answer. They thanked Paul and his wife for their help as they headed for the door.

  The spa was all the way on the other side of the resort, so the girls ran down the stone path, passing two different pools and another restaurant along the way. They stopped right by the gym, where they could see the spa’s front desk. Olivia Andover was standing right there. She handed the receptionist her credit card.

  “That’s her. She must be leaving,” Bess whispered. The friends hid in a corridor next to the gym so Ms. Andover wouldn’t notice them. She looked exactly like she had in the photos. She was wearing sunglasses and her giant straw hat, even though they were indoors.

  She turned to leave, and the girls knew this was their chance. If they didn’t confront her now, she might get away. They ran out from around the corner.

  “Ms. Andover!” Nancy called out, and the woman turned around. “Can we talk to you for a minute?”

  But instead of replying, Olivia Andover darted to the elevator down the hall. She pressed the button again and again until the doors opened. Before Nancy could even get a word out, Ms. Andover had slipped inside.

  “I think she just ran away from us!” George said.

  “She definitely did.” Bess pointed to a door that said STAIRS. “But we know where she’s going. I bet we can beat her to the penthouse!”

  Chapter 6

  RICH AND FAMOUS

  Nancy was running so fast, her legs hurt. She wasn’t sure how many flights of stairs they’d climbed, but she could barely breathe. Bess reached the top floor first. She grabbed Nancy’s hand and helped her up the last steps.

  “Come on! I hear the elevator!” Bess cried.

  George followed right behind them. Sure enough, every time the elevator passed a floor, it let out a loud bing! Suddenly, it was right there, the light above it glowing white. The doors slid back to reveal Olivia Andover. She seemed shocked to see them waiting.

  “Please,” George tried. “We just want to talk to you.”

  Olivia stepped back into the elevator and pushed the close button a bunch of times. The doors started to slide shut, but Nancy stuck out her hand to stop them.

  “Look, I don’t have any headshots with me and I’m not here to give out autographs. Or take selfies, or whatever you kids are doing these days!” Olivia huffed. She pushed past them and into the hall, tossing a few blond curls over her shoulder.

  “Autographs?” Bess asked, confused. “Autographs for what?”

  “Oh, don’t pretend you don’t recognize me,” Olivia said. “Lonny and Jean? Heaven Will Help Me? Six whole seasons of The Garth Sisters?”

  When the girls didn’t say anything, Olivia pulled down her sunglasses to show them her face. Nancy slowly understood. Olivia was famous. Nancy wasn’t sure how, or why, but it was clear she thought they had seen her on television.

  “I’m confused,” George said. She glanced sideways at Bess, hoping she’d explain. Bess was the one who knew the most about television shows and pop culture. She’d read three different magazines on the plane.

  Olivia looked around the hallway. “I know this place is a bit run-down, but I’ve been coming here for three decades. I’m attached to it.”

  “Oh, right… The Garth Sisters!” Bess said. “I’ve seen a million reruns of that show.”

  “Do you always come by yourself?” Nancy asked. She knew she couldn’t admit that she didn’t know who Olivia was, so she figured she’d sneak in as many questions as possible.

  “Oh, I just come to get away from it all.” Olivia sighed. “Usually, I bring Booboo, but now… this time…” She dabbed at her eyes.

  “Who’s Boobo
o?” Bess asked.

  “My dear, beloved dog.” Olivia rifled through her purse and pulled out a photo of a tan poodle in a red sweater. “He passed away just a week—”

  She pulled a handful of tissues out of her purse, blew her nose, then pressed the photo to her heart. For a long while, the hallway was quiet.

  “We actually wanted to talk to you about the luau last night,” Bess started.

  “I did not enjoy it,” Olivia muttered. “I came here for some privacy. To grieve my Booboo. And this man kept taking pictures of me.”

  “What did the man look like?” George asked. But the girls already knew the answer. Olivia must’ve thought Harry was photographing her. That’s why she was acting so strange. She kept scowling at him because she thought he was trying to sneak pictures of her.

  “He was bald,” Olivia said. “And he was with his two teenagers. The worst part is, I would’ve taken a picture with him if he really wanted one. I’m not a monster!”

  “Well, it was really nice to meet you,” Nancy finally said. “And we’re very sorry about Booboo.”

  “That’s it? That’s all you wanted to know?” Olivia laughed. “Most people at least ask about my relationship with Flynn Bigsby. He was a charming fellow.…”

  “Maybe some other time,” Bess said, hitting the button for the elevator. “We’re sorry we bothered you, Ms. Andover.”

  As soon as the elevator doors opened, the girls slipped inside. They didn’t say anything until they passed the third floor.

  “So that solves that,” George said. “She didn’t steal Harry’s camera. She just thought he was a crazy fan.”

  “I really did like The Garth Sisters,” Bess added. “You’d think it was funny. It’s about these two sisters who live in the Florida Keys, and they’re always getting into trouble with their neighbors.”

  George frowned. “We never like the same shows.”

  “That’s not true! You liked The Magic Hour!” Bess said.