The Case of the Missing Jewel

By: Hanna R.

On December 23, 1998 in a town called Boronosville, Tennessee, a jewel store is being torn apart. There were windows crashing, people being pushed, buzzers ringing, boxes of glass breaking, and blood in a few varying places from cuts of glass. That’s when I got the call and how I arrived at the robbery on Norberry Road. My name is Sleuth Clare here to investigate this daftly crime. I walk up to the head chief police cop.

“Hey chief, you know any people who were here at the time?” I asked.

“The people that were in there are standing over there. Two of the other people that were in there are being rushed to the hospital, on in terrible condition. I tell ya, I never saw anything like this.”

“Okay, thanks chief.”

“No problem whatsoever.”

There were three people over in the crowd, all looking very frightened. Two were adults, and on was a girl still in school, from what I saw. After talking to all three witnesses, I learned that one of the adults was named Charlie, who worked in a jewel store just a few blocks down. He said that both owners of the jewel stores were brothers, so they gave jewels to each other for a fee. The other adult was looking around for a jewel to wear to a party. She was a supermarket clerk, named Stacey, who rung up groceries. The child was a girl, named Macey, in seventh grade who was looking for a birthday present for her mom. She was an only child and her mom was the only person to raise her in a poor life. I asked each person his or her story of what happened in the store. Both adults heard a struggle, a gunfire, glass break, and screaming. As I turned to get the child’s story, I noticed she had a bloody cut on her lip. I handed her a handkerchief. Macey then told me that she had struggled with the robber when…

“Sleuth Clare! Sleuth Clare! I have news!”

“Yes chief,” I answered, “What’s the news?”

“It’s about the two patients and I think I may have two suspects!”

“Go on, then!” I yelled.

“I got news that -.”

“Wait, how about the suspects first. Then the patients,” I told the chief.

“Fine. I heard that one of the people that worked here, named Susan was fired for stealing a pearl necklace with a one-of-a-kind jewel. A large, blue sapphire. She was later seen with a man, who goes by the name Kenny, three times in three days by the security guard by the front window. This security guard happens to be one of the patients. Kenny had a job here part-time and was then fired for the same reason as Susan.”

“Now, I wonder if they were in this from the start, or if it just happened,” I wondered.

“Now, the patients, well, one is just great. The other-not so good,” said chief sheepishly.

“What’s wrong, deadly sick?” I wondered out loud.

“No, dead.”

It was just a shock. Like a bullet through my chest.

“How’d he die?” I asked.

“Bullet through the chest. After doctors found he died, they shipped him to a morgue, just a few towns from here.”

“Thanks for the new,” I whispered.

“That’s not all, though. I also found out that only one piece of jewelry was taken. A pearl necklace with a large, blue sapphire.

“Oh, this is great!” I said sarcastically. I excused myself from the chief and the girl and went to go find clues. I had enough information.

I went to get a coffee and came back searching for more clues. I had found a fingerprint, a footprint, blood, and spit. With a copied picture of each piece of evidence and a trace picture for the evidence, I went to my lab. I wrote a letter to the headquarters asking for warrants searching Susan and Kenny’s places and for DNA samples from spit, blood, and fingerprint evidence. I found that all of the evidence went to Kenny, except one…the spit. I redid the tests, but this time the results pointed toward Macey. I got her DNA from the handkerchief. I sat down and thought for hours until I thought of the exact thing that happened in the store.

“Sit down, NOW!” I yelled.

“Okay!”

“I know that you stole the jewel,” I went on. “I know that you’re the one who robbed the place.”

“How can you prove that?” asked the robber.

“By this story: You and Susan both wanted the jewel for tax reasons and for a rich life. So, you went in and robbed the place. You went in for the jewel. I know that because your fingerprint and footstep mark from a shoe I got from Kenny’s place. Both are copies from him. When you came in with your ski mask, you made everyone go behind the desk and then you saw the jewel. You reached for it and then Kenny came in to steal the jewel, also. He ran right up to you and tried to take it, but you fought. You fought so hard that Kenny had blood spattered, and you had spit fall. Right before you robbed the store, though, you fought with Kenny again to get his fingerprint and shoes. Isn’t that right-Macey?”

“Almost, except the jewel was for my mother. She was going to get it, trade it in for money, and Susan would get one-fourth of it.”

“You’re also going to jail for the killing of the person in charge of the cash register,” I yelled.

“WHAT! I did no such thing!”

“Yes you did. See, while you were struggling with Kenny, who had a gun, a shot went off and hit him right in the chest. You’re going to jail for a long time, Macey.”

That’s the story of a very hard-cracking case. Now, children, you should never EVER do a crime. First of all, they’re illegal, and second of all, Sleuth Clare’ll always catch you.

THE END