Page 24 of The Case of the Vanishing Valuables

“Aha!” Ray exclaimed, bending down and digging into the bag. He pulled out the small set of lock-picking tools with a flourish and held them up for everyone to see. “These! This is how you’ve been getting into the locked rooms!”

The entire room fell quiet. All eyes were on Benedict, whose face had gone pale. For a moment, Ray looked ready to declare the case closed.

But then, Benedict sighed, shaking his head slowly. “Mr. Leonard, those are part of my act. I haven’t used them in years.”

Ray blinked, thrown off balance. “So, you’re expecting us to believe that you didn’t sneak out the secret door, pick the lock to Sally’s room, steal her bracelet, and then, the next day, pretend you had something stolen to throw me off track?”

Benedict raised his hands slightly. They were trembling. “I have tremors, Mr. Leonard. I’ve had them for a while now. That’s why I stopped performing certain tricks, like the lock-picking escape. I can’t pick locks anymore. That requires a steady hand.”

Ray’s triumphant expression deflated faster than a punctured balloon. He stood there, holding the lock-picking tools awkwardly, as realization dawned on him.

“Oh,” Ray mumbled, his face turning a little red. “Well... I didn’t know about that.”

The room remained silent for a beat before Benedict, ever the gentleman, gave a slight smile. “No harm done, Mr. Leonard. But I assure you, I’m not your thief.”

Ray muttered something under his breath as he slipped the lock-picking tools back into Benedict’s bag. I sat on the table, flicking my tail with amusement.

Ray straightened up, clearing his throat. “Right. Sorry about the confusion, Benedict.”

Benedict smiled warmly, his usual calm demeanor returning. “No worries, Mr. Leonard. I appreciate your thoroughness.”

As we walked out of the common room, Ray gave me a sheepish look. “Well, that didn’t go quite as planned.”

I flicked my tail, letting out a soft meow.Don’t worry, Ray. You’ll get ’em next time. Probably.

Chapter

Twenty

After the whole debacle with Benedict, Ray and I retreated to the little garden area behind Tranquility Terrace. Ray, shoulders slumped, sat on one of the wooden benches, clutching his notepad in one hand while he rubbed the back of his neck with the other.

I jumped up onto the bench beside him, giving him my best “don’t beat yourself up” look, but he wasn’t paying much attention. He was too busy muttering to himself about how he could have gotten the whole thing so wrong.

“Benedict,” Ray mumbled. “I can’t believe I thought it was him. Lockpicks in the bag, the secret door—it all lined up. But no, of course it couldn’t be that easy.”

I flicked my tail, letting him vent.Don’t feel so bad. Even I thought it was him. But hey, you’ll figure it out. We’ve been in worse scrapes.

Before Ray could spiral further into self-pity, Rick strolled over from one of the garden paths, a tuna sandwich in hand and a tool belt slung low on his waist. He was humming to himself, clearly on a lunch break. As soon as he saw Ray, though, he raised an eyebrow.

“Ray, buddy,” Rick said, sitting down on the bench next to him. “You look like someone kicked your dog... or your cat, in this case.”

Ray sighed, flipping through his notepad without really reading it. “Just made a fool of myself back there, Rick. Accused Benedict of being the thief.”

Rick chuckled and took a bite of his sandwich. “Yeah, I heard. You really thought Benedict was sneaking around with those shaky hands of his?”

Ray groaned. “Not my finest moment.”

Rick shrugged. He pulled out a little piece of tuna from his sandwich and held it down toward the ground. Mortimer, who had been lounging nearby in his usual “too cool for school” fashion, lazily rolled over and padded up to Rick’s feet, accepting the tuna morsel like the royal sovereign he believed himself to be.

I narrowed my eyes at Mortimer.Oh, so that’s how it is? You get to eat lunch, and I’m stuck here with nothing? The smell of the tuna drifted up, and my stomach growled. Rick’s sandwich smelled like heaven.

Rick gave Mortimer another piece of tuna, not even looking at him as the cat munched away.

I edged closer to Rick, eyeing the sandwich.Maybe if I sit right here, looking pitiful enough, he’ll drop me a piece. I’m much more deserving than Mortimer.

Rick glanced over at me, catching the look. “Oh, Earl wants in on this, too, huh?”

I purred softly,You bet I do. Just drop the tuna, Rick. Let’s not make a big deal of it.

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