The Riddle of the Ruby Gazelle by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

9

Endangered Animals

“I can’t believe someone wrecked that beautiful old tiger,” Bess said an hour later. “What a shame.”

Nancy couldn’t agree more. She, Bess, George, and Zoe had just returned to the Anchorage from Coney Island. They’d found Mrs. O’Neill, Peter, Julio, and Nina in the room where the auction items were being stored. Pieces of the blue-glazed tiger were strewn across the floor in front of them. Mrs. O’Neill was on her hands and knees, sifting through the broken bits of molded cast iron.

“What happened exactly, Mrs. O’Neill?” Nancy asked. “Was anyone else here when you arrived?”

Mrs. O’Neill sat back heavily on her heels and brushed the dust off her gloves. “There’s not much to tell, really,” she said. “John Ward was still here when I arrived. I didn’t look closely, but I’m sure the tiger was still intact.”

“John Ward? Is he part of the neighborhood watch that Mr. and Mrs. La Guardia set up?” George asked.

“Yes,” Mrs. O’Neill told her. “He’d been cooped up in here for hours, so I walked outside with him and we chatted for a while. We were right next to the door—I don’t see how anyone could have gotten inside. But when I came back here, I found this.” With a sweep of her gloved hand, she gestured toward the broken pieces of cast-iron tiger at her feet.

“We must have gotten here right after that,” Julio added. He leaned against a table covered with framed photographs, all labeled for the auction. “Mrs. O. was picking through the wrecked pieces. She looked so upset that she didn’t even see us at first. Peter remembered you saying yesterday that you were going to some secondhand store out at Coney Island, Zoe. We tracked you down there.”

George stepped over to the far end of the room, where the red cast-iron gazelle leaned against the wall. “Now there’s only one Jungle Carousel animal left,” she said quietly. “I hope nothing happens to this poor creature, too.”

“It’s a beautiful shade of red,” Bess said, “almost like a ruby.”

“It’s weird. Out of all the things in here . . . ” Zoe gestured to the auction items with a sweep of her hand. “Why choose only the carousel animals to destroy?”

Nancy had been wondering the same thing. “Well,” she began, thinking it out for herself, “if someone wants to make sure the auction doesn’t earn much money, it makes sense they’d try to destroy the most expensive items.”

“And the jungle animals are unusual,” Bess said, picking up on Nancy’s thoughts. “I’ll bet the giraffe and tiger would have brought high prices at the auction. Especially if they were sold as a set with the gazelle.”

“Mmm,” said Nancy. “Of course, there are a lot of other things here that look valuable, too. What about the Brooklyn Dodgers jersey? Or some of the this antique furniture?” she asked. “And how did someone get in here, with Mrs. O’Neill standing right outside? The person couldn’t have just materialized out of thin air.”

No one had any answers for her—not that Nancy expected them to.

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