As Jane hastened to the foyer, Margaret had already beaten her there with Josh standing at the foot of the stairs; holding out what appeared to be striped clothing.
“I’ve found someone’s used prison garb; it was in the upstairs hamper. And look at this wad of cash, it was tucked in a pillowcase.”
Margaret whistled as she stared at the dollar bills in Josh’s hand.
“Where would Sadie have gotten so much money?” Jane pondered, gazing over Margaret’s shoulder.
“Search me,” responded Josh, “I bet she’ll remember she forgot it here, and come back for it. That was pretty careless of her.”
“She must have been in a terrible hurry to leave this morning.”
Jane took the money from Josh’s hands, and began to count it.
“There’s at least three hundred dollars here,” Jane declared thoughtfully. “What would a waitress be doing with this, unless she had been paid off for something else?”
Margaret’s expression was one of confusion, and surprise.
“She is evidently more involved in this mysterious gang than we thought. And by the way; the building in that picture over there on the hutch.”
Margaret motioned across the room with her hand in a sweeping gesture, to the framed photograph that Jane had taken a picture of previously.
“I recognized it as Swan’s Jewelers! They were a pretty smart little jewelry store downtown.”
“Were a pretty smart store?” Questioned Jane, with alert eyes as she examined the striped garments.
She nodded,
“They closed a year or so back. I don’t know what happened to the owner; I never heard very much about it.”
“Let’s take our headquarters to the kitchen; this foyer is drafty and I’ve got a hunch those newspapers hidden in the pantry hold more information than we think.”
With all three of them in the kitchen; Jane put her detective mind to work as she scanned the papers with her chums for any article that may contain the names Ted Hayden, or Swan’s Jewelers; and there were several discoveries.
In one paper, Margaret read aloud the first mention of the robbery; followed by another article read by Josh, which stated briefly that Ted Hayden had been given a lengthy prison sentence. He was employed by the jewelry shop as a security guard at the time of the robbery. Jane found a detailed account of Swan’s Jewelers closing, with the owner of the store leaving town without notice.
“Sounds fishy to me,” exhaled Josh, pushing his chair back from the table and folding his arms behind his head.
“Well, all the evidence here paints Ted Hayden in a bad light. Over here, it says there were two other security guards that witnessed him signing the paper when the delivery of jewels arrived.”
“And my paper here claims he pleaded not guilty, and denied stealing anything.” Jane pondered.
“The audacity!” Exclaimed Margaret, “With so much evidence against him, who in their right mind would believe him?”
Josh sat up in his chair with a start,
“Listen to this one here; it says, ‘Above is a picture of Ted Hayden with the security dog for Swan’s Jewelers, nicknamed Trooper.’“
“Let me see that!” Jane reached for Josh’s paper with urgency, and scanned through the article. “That means Trooper worked alongside Ted Hayden, before he was reassigned to another post somewhere else.”
“Ergo, the museum!” Margaret finished.
“Exactly.”
The stack of unread papers had diminished greatly, leaving them with only two to look through. As Jane parted out the final sheets, her attention was immediately drawn to a surprising image and shocking headline.
“Sadie Stevens, Homecoming Queen of Pinecrest High! Below it says, we were so proud and happy to have Sadie Stevens as our charming Homecoming Queen this year-“
Josh stifled a laugh, and put his sheet of paper down:
“You never would have thought it, to see her today.”
Jane tried to piece together all the facts in her mind; shifting through the various clues and inconsistencies that had been uncovered over the past 48 hours was not an easy task. She could think of nothing, until she came to a logical conclusion for every unanswered question. As the paper reading continued, a thoughtful silence settled over the room.
When unexpectedly, they were startled by a familiar noise; the sound of a distant automobile motor firing into operation; with a distinct rumble.