Do I know you?â
âDonât you remember us from the festival this morning?â Jessie asked. âYou helped us set up the Instrument Petting Zoo.â
âOh, sure, I remember. Whatâs up? Did I do something wrong over there, too?â
âOh,â Jessie said quickly. âWe were just wonderingâwe noticed you were talking to a girl. She had a ponytail, very long.â
Tim gave out a little laugh. âYeah, I bought a used keyboard from her. Thatâs why I just got yelled at.â
âWhy would you get in trouble for that?â Henry asked. âYou sell used instruments here, donât you?â
âYes,â Tim replied, âbut this one was a little differentâit was stolen.â
âStolen!â Jessie said. âHow do you know?â
âHere, Iâll show you,â Tim said. He disappeared into a back room and returned a moment later with the keyboard in his arms.
It was long, black, and very heavy with knobs and buttons above the keys.
âSee this?â Tim said. He pointed to a spot at the back. Henry carefully turned the keyboard around. And there, right by the button that turned it on and off, was a name scratched into the metalââAmy Keller.â
âOh my goodness!â Violet said. âThis belongs to the Greenfield Four! Itâs one of the missing instruments!â
âYeah,â Tim said, nodding and looking very unhappy. âI didnât know their stuff had been stolen until Mr. Lessenger told me.â
âAnd you bought it from that girl?â Jessie asked. âThe one with the long ponytail?â
âThatâs right,â Tim said. âShe wanted to know if I was interested in buying a great keyboard really cheap.â
âIf it seemed like such a good deal, then why didnât you tell Mr. Lessenger about it first?â Henry asked.
Tim paused before speaking. He suddenly seemed uneasy.
âBecause,â he said, âI had my own reasons for buying it from her, too. She was wearing a Glenwood Studios shirt, and she said she worked there. My buddies and I have a band, but we canât afford to go there and record our music. So she and I made a little dealâI would buy the keyboard from her, and she would let us use the studio for free for a few weeks when no one else was in there.â He shook his head. âLike I said, it seemed like such a great deal. We couldâve sold this for seven or eight hundred dollars. I thought Mr. Lessenger would be thrilled.â
âI wonder if this girl has any of the other stolen instruments,â Henry said.
âDo you think sheâs the one who stole the instruments in the first place?â Jessie wondered.
Tim spoke up. âI doubt it. I donât know her very well, but sheâs come into the store before. Her name is Zoey.â
âIf the thief sold the instruments to a total stranger, then no one would know they were stolen to begin with,â Henry pointed out. âIt doesnât sound like Zoey is the thief.â
Tim agreed. âI bet sheâd be just as surprised as I was to find out the keyboard was stolen.â He added, âMy boss is calling the police right now to tell them one of the stolen instruments turned up. Iâm sure theyâll want to talk to her soon.â
So do we, thought Jessie.
CHAPTER 6
The Girl with the Ponytail
âJessie, tell us again why you think we should talk to Zoey,â Henry said, as he and Violet and Benny followed their sister out of the public library. Jessie had insisted they look up the address of Glenwood Studios in the local business directory.
âBecause the studio is just two blocks away from here,â she said. âAnd Iâm sure the police will get to the bottom of all this soon enough, but â¦â
âBut what?â said Violet.
âBut I keep getting this feeling that the person who stole all these