The Baby-Sitters Club Super Mystery 04 - Christmas Chiller by Ann M. Martin

Author:Ann M. Martin [Martin, Ann M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2014-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

“Well,” I said, “what do you think?”

Ethan frowned. “It’s not a very good picture of you,” he said. “And the colors don’t work, artistically speaking.”

I gave an exasperated sigh. “Thanks, Ethan. That’s what Claudia said.”

“Did you?” Ethan looked up and smiled at Claudia and me, and I realized all over again how good-looking he is. “I’m glad we’re not going to have artistic differences over this, then.”

Claudia’s smile wasn’t quite as friendly. She said, “We think someone took the picture of Stacey when she wasn’t aware of it.”

I exchanged a glance with Claudia. We had talked about it and talked about it, and we kept reaching the same awful conclusion: that Ethan was somehow behind this sick gift.

“A sneak photo op? That explains why it doesn’t do you justice,” said Ethan. “But I still don’t understand who would leave something like this outside your door.”

“Oh, it wasn’t you?” I said, trying to keep my voice light.

Ethan almost recoiled at the suggestion. “No! No way! That’s not my style at all!” he said firmly — too firmly. Was he acting guilty, or was my imagination working overtime?

“We even think we know where it was taken,” Claudia went on. “And when.”

“You do?”

Claudia picked up a magnifying glass from the table next to the sofa. “Check it out. There’s a horse’s head behind Stacey. A horse’s head in a harness. That’s what that little dot in the background is.”

“Sherlock Holmes!” said Ethan admiringly.

Claudia didn’t acknowledge the compliment. She said, “Now, where will you see a horse in New York?”

“With police officers? Attached to carriages? At the zoo?” said Ethan.

“We’ll eliminate the zoo,” said Claudia. “And police horses have bridles, not harnesses.”

“Of course,” said Ethan. “How do you know so much about horses?”

“We have our sources,” said Claudia. She meant Mal and Jessi, of course. They love horses and have tried to involve the rest of us in their enthusiasm more than once by including information that we didn’t necessarily want to read in the notebook.

In this case, however, it was coming in handy.

“Horses in harnesses can be seen only in Central Park and nearby it. And since those look like the limbs of trees, I’d guess the photo was taken in Central Park,” I added.

“I just wish we could see more of what you are wearing,” said Claudia regretfully to me. “Then we could have a better idea of when the photo was taken. As it is, all we know is that it was taken recently. Stacey bought that striped wool scarf this fall, near the beginning of the school year. So it has to have been some time during the fall.”

“Or even during this visit,” I said in a low voice. “We went to Central Park on Friday afternoon. With you, remember?”

“Maybe your dad took it,” Ethan said. “Have you been to the park with him anytime this fall?”

“We always go for a walk in the park at least once,” I admitted. “I didn’t think about asking him.”

“You should,” Ethan advised. “Meanwhile, forget about it.

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