A Thief at the National Zoo Read Online Free

darkness again. KC positioned herself where she had been standing last night. She put her hands out, as she had when she touched the thief’s hand.
    She heard Marshall’s feet on the wood floor. “Are you here yet?” she asked him.
    “How am I supposed to know?” Marshall yelped. “I can’t see the stupid table, and I can’t see the stupid box!”
    “Walk toward my voice,” KC said. “When you feel the table, reach for the box.”
    A few seconds later, KC felt Marshall bump into the edge of the table.
    “Okay, I’m here,” Marshall muttered. “And I feel like a jerk.”
    “Are you reaching for the box?” KC asked.
    “Reaching,” Marshall muttered.
    Suddenly KC felt one of Marshall’s hands brush against her own. She pulled her hand back, as she had last night.
    “Okay?” Marshall asked. “Can I turn the lights on?”
    “Not yet,” KC said. “Last night, something else happened, but I can’t remember what. It was right after I touched that creepy hand.”
    “Well, I’m not standing in the dark all day while you—”
    Just then the lights went on again. KC turned toward the door, and there was Dr. Tutu. He was holding his briefcase.
    “Well, hello,” he said to KC and Marshall. “What are you doing here?”
    KC thought of about ten excuses, but decided to go with the truth. “We were trying to figure out how someone could have stolen the emerald in the dark.”
    Dr. Tutu looked at the table. Then he glanced at the fish tank and the rocks and plants on the floor.
    “And did you figure it out?” Dr. Tutu asked.
    KC shook her head.
    Dr. Tutu smiled. “My staff and I have been doing the same thing,” he said. “Ieven thought the thief might have dropped the thing into the fish tank. But as you can see, that didn’t happen.”

    “Maybe the crook sneaked out of the room in the dark,” Marshall said.
    Dr. Tutu shook his head. “I don’t think so. When the lights went out, I walked over and stood in front of the door,” he said. “Nobody came past me.”
    KC blinked.
Unless
you
are the crook, Dr. Tutu
, she thought.
You could have zipped out of the room, then slipped hack in again
.
    “Um, we were wondering if the crook was working with someone else,” Marshall said. “See, we thought the partner turned off the lights from outside the room.”
    “I believe that is exactly what happened,” Dr. Tutu said. “As you can see, it’salso possible to turn them off from that wall switch. But since the music went off when the lights did last night, I have to guess that it was done from the main power board.”
    Dr. Tutu stared at KC and Marshall. It looked as if he was trying to make a decision.
    Finally he opened his briefcase and slid out a sheet of paper with typing on it.
    “I faxed a copy of this to President Thornton,” Dr. Tutu said. He held it out toward KC. “Don’t be afraid to touch it. We already checked for fingerprints.”
    “What is it?” KC asked, reaching for the paper.
    “A ransom note,” he said. “Our thief in the dark wants a million dollars.”

5
Million-Dollar Ransom
    KC read the words while Marshall looked over her shoulder.
    IF YOU WANT THE TIGER’S EYE, WIRE ONE MILLION DOLLARS TO THIS ACCOUNT NUMBER AT ISLAND BANK ON GRAND CAYMAN.
    RX70933342-246
    IF THE MONEY IS NOT IN THAT ACCOUNT WITHIN 24 HOURS, YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE EMERALD AGAIN.
    “What does he mean, wire the money?” Marshall asked.

    “Whoever wrote this note has a bank account in Grand Cayman,” Dr. Tutu said. “That’s one of the Caribbean Islands. If we go along with his plan, a bank here in Washington will send a message to his account there. Within minutes, the thief will be one million dollars richer. It’s sort of like sending money in an e-mail.”
    “Why couldn’t the cops just wait for the crook to get the money, then go there and arrest him?” Marshall asked.
    Dr. Tutu shook his head. “In this country, we could do that,” he said. “But not in the Cayman Islands. Bank