The Case of the Missing Book (Part 1)

After the unexpected success in the missing cat case, in which Jack, Kurt, and Robbie had gone looking for a cat and found a thief instead, Jack had to admit something he tried not to admit to often.  His sister had had the right idea, for once.  Of course, he only admitted it to himself.

Since the search for Charlie the cat had gone so well, though, Jack decided they might as well look for another pet.  The next target was a brown mutt named—Fido.  (Yes, that sounds cliché, but the name Fido wouldn’t be so common if people didn’t use it, right?)  Fido had been missing for a week, but that didn’t keep Jack, Kurt, and Robbie from going after him.

Unfortunately, it turned out that Fido had suffered an accident on a government road.  He’d gotten run over in Federal Way (government road, Federal Way, get the joke?  Okay, sorry.)  That meant no reward, no happy family, and no safe return.  Jack made sure Emma didn’t find out what had happened.  Meanwhile, he called another meeting of the Detective Club so they could discuss what to do next.

“It’s a shame about the dog,” said Kurt, serious for once.  “I’m glad we didn’t have to see the family’s reaction.”

“Same here,” said Jack, “but it leaves us out of a case.”

“We don’t want to get a reputation for just finding stray animals,” noted Kurt.  “In that sense, it’s just as well we work on something else.”

“But what?” asked Robbie.

Again, no one had a good answer, and the three sleuths thought and thought and thought.  Jack was afraid Emma might barge in with a suggestion, but she and Mrs. Barnes were out running errands, part of the reason the Detective Club was meeting now.  Finally, Kurt said, “Let’s play table hockey while we think about it.”

“Good idea,” said Jack.  He and Kurt lined up at the table and began their game.  Of course, table hockey was only for two people, so Robbie waited to replace whoever lost.  While he was waiting, he wandered around the rec room to pass the time.  When he got to the bookcase, he stopped.

“I’ve got an idea!” he said, all of a sudden.  “Look at this!” he said, holding up a book.

“What’s that?” asked Kurt.

“It’s a book I checked out from the library a couple days ago,” said Jack, “though I don’t see why Robbie’s so interested in it.”

“I’m not interested in this book—”

“Then why did you hold it up and tell us to look over?” Kurt asked.

“Have you ever had an overdue book before?” asked Robbie.

“Of course I have!” said Kurt.  “You have too, I’m sure.  I still don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“What I’m getting at,” said Robbie, “is why don’t we try to find the longest overdue book in the Tacoma library system?”

Jack and Kurt saw what he was getting at.  “That’s not a bad idea, actually,” said Jack.

“You’re right,” said Kurt.  “I wonder how long it’s been out.”

“The library’s probably far too busy to look for it themselves, so we can do them a favor,” said Robbie.

“Why not?” said Jack.  “Let’s walk over and ask.”

Jack meant it when he said walk over.  Tacoma’s library had several branches, and one of them was literally three blocks from his house.  There was a lot of traffic, but sidewalks and walk signs made the trip easy, if not quick.  Tacoma’s pedestrian system was better developed than a small town’s would have been.

When they arrived at the library, the three boys immediately got in line at the checkout counter.  The library was busy, so they had to wait for two other people to check out books.  An old man with a cane was just checking out one book, but the mother in front with two children had a whole pile of books and a question about one that was supposed to be checked in.  It felt like ten minutes before she finally picked up her bag of books and headed out.

“Hello,” said Jack, striding up to the counter.  “I was wondering what the longest overdue book in your system is.”

The librarian, a sixty-year old lady with glasses resting a nose that looked like a beak, glared back at the three.  “I’m sorry,” she said, not meaning it, “but we can’t give out that information.”

Seeing it was useless to argue, Jack thanked her politely.  He then led Kurt and Robbie to the reference desk, where they were paired up with a friendlier librarian.

“I’m not sure what our most overdue book is,” said this librarian, a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties with an unusually pale face and a soft voice.  “However, I can find out for you if you don’t mind waiting a few minutes.”

“Thanks; we don’t,” said Jack.

The librarian turned to face the computer.  As she typed and clicked, Kurt mentioned, “We figured whoever had it out had lost it, so we thought we’d try to find it for you all.”

“That’s very nice of you,” said the librarian.  “Let me see, I should have that information coming up—ah, here we are.  Our most overdue book is Gardening under Cover: A Northwest Guide to Solar Greenhouses, Cold Frames, and Cloches.  It’s been checked out for—nineteen years!”

The librarian’s mouth formed a surprised circle as she said, “That’s fifteen years longer than I’ve been working here.”

“Nineteen years!” said Jack.  “I wonder if whoever checked it out even still owns it.”

“Let me see,” said the librarian.  “It was checked out by a Mr. Douglas Croft.  I’ll write down his address for you.  Now, he hasn’t checked anything out for a while, so I don’t know if he still lives there or not.”

“We can check,” said Kurt.

“That would be so kind of you guys,” said the librarian.  “We have three other copies of the book, but Mr. Croft’s is the only one that’s available for checkout.  If you can find it, tell him that we’ll waive the fine.  In fact,” here the librarian pulled out a piece of paper, “I should give you a signed statement that we’ll do that.”

“Alright,” said Jack.

“Could you tell us how much the fine was supposed to be?” asked Robbie.

“I can,” said the librarian.  “I think you should show Mr. Croft this, because the total amount comes to $1,772.25.”

Kurt whistled.  “For one book!  He should have picked it up at the bookstore.”

“Thanks!” said Jack.  “We’ll head right over.”

“You’re welcome,” said the librarian.  “Be sure to tell me how you make out!”

So far, things were going smoothly, but none of the boys could have predicted what lay ahead.

[To be continued]