Free The Mystery of the Gold Coins by David A. Adler Page B

said.
    Linda smiled. “I think it’s going to win. I’ll get a science trophy just like my brother did.”
    As they walked away, Eric whispered to Cam, “I’ll bet Linda never watered the plants that she didn’t want to grow. She’d do anything to win.”
    Cam and Eric looked at some of the other projects. There was one called “The Invisible Zoo.” It had empty cages and a report on animals that are extinct. There was a scale made from a hot water bottle and a tube. And there was one girl who experimented with her baby teeth. She let the teeth soak in soda. After two weeks the teeth had dark stains.
    While Cam read the report “Soda, Sugar, and Teeth,” Eric wandered off, looking at other projects. Then he came running back.
    “Cam, Cam, where’s your camera?”
    “It’s where I left it, on table 54.”
    “No, it’s not. The folders are there, but the camera is gone.”

Chapter Three
    Cam ran to table 54. The camera wasn’t there.
    “Help me look for it,” Cam said to Eric.
    They looked on the other tables and on the floor. Then, as Cam was looking near a window, she saw a man outside run past. He was carrying something under his jacket and running toward the woods. Cam looked straight at him and said, “Click.”
    Cam called to Eric. “Come with me. I think whoever took my camera ran outside with it.”

    Eric followed Cam to the side entrance. No one was out there.
    “Let’s go back in,” Eric said. “Let’s tell Ms. Benson. I’ll bet it was Linda or her brother who took your camera.”
    “No. Not now. I just saw a man run from here. Maybe he has the camera. If we hurry, maybe we can catch him.”
    Cam ran ahead. She stopped running when she reached the edge of the woods. She had seen the man run in there, but now it was dark and quiet. Cam saw a few birds and some squirrels moving in the woods, but nothing else.
    When Eric caught up with Cam, she told him to be quiet and listen.
    Cam and Eric stood at the edge of the woods for a minute. Then they heard a noise. Cam saw a man move in the middle of the woods. She looked straight at him and said, “Click.”
    The man turned and saw Cam and Eric. He dropped what he was holding and ran.
    “Let’s get Ms. Benson,” Eric said.
    Cam wasn’t listening. She was already going into the woods. She tried to run, but she couldn‘t—too many low branches got in her way. When Cam reached the other side of the woods, the man was gone.
    “Did you see which way he went?” Eric asked when he caught up with Cam.

    Cam shook her head.
    “Let’s go back then.”
    “No. He dropped something. Let’s look for it.”
    Cam closed her eyes and said, “Click.” “He dropped it into a big leafy bush next to a tree with white bark, a birch tree,” Cam said with her eyes still closed.
    Cam and Eric found the birch tree. They searched in the bushes nearby.
    “Look! Over here!” Eric said. “I found it! I found your camera! Now we can go back to school.”
    “But why would someone take it and then throw it away?” Cam asked.
    “Maybe he was scared,” Eric said.
    Cam took the camera from Eric and looked at it. “Whoever took my camera opened it up. I can tell because he didn’t put the top on right. Now the film is ruined.”
    Cam opened the camera. “The film isn’t ruined. It’s gone!”
    Cam sat on the ground. She held the camera in her lap. Eric sat next to her.
    “You have your camera back. Why are you so upset?” Eric asked.
    “I’m not upset. I’m puzzled. Why would someone want the film in my camera?”

    “I still think it was Linda’s brother. That Baker family must really love science prizes.”
    Cam shook her head and said, “No. I don’t think Linda or her brother would want to win that way.”
    Cam sat there and thought for a while. Then she said, “Whoever took the camera must have wanted what was on that film. That’s why he took the film and left the camera. But the only picture I took was of you standing next to your