Chapter Three
The next morning, the children visited granny Blair again after breakfast. Jenna had gone to buy groceries and they could talk to granny Blair in privacy.
"I saw the burglar granny Blair when I was fetching my ball at the park. I bumped into him and something hard that he hid in his chest inside his shirt hit me. How big was the chest? Can someone hide it under his shirt?" Asked Jasper. He described the person whom he had bumped into but granny couldn't identify him.
"I don't know anyone who looks like that," she said, with disappointment. "But what is interesting is that Jenna found this near the area where I keep the silver chest," she said, taking out a metal stud from a drawer nearby.
"Oh this is a stud from a jacket, " said Daryll.
"That man was wearing a jacket," gasped Jasper. "This must have fallen from his jacket."
"Why didn't you give it to the police, granny?" Asked Nicholas.
"My grandson Richard also always wears a similar studded jacket. He'd come under suspicion and I don't want that," said granny.
"Where does your grandson live?" Asked Skylar.
"He and his mom live in Frankfort, Kentucky. After my son's death, she moved into her father's house with Richard. She broke all contacts with me. Richard sometimes comes once in a year or so when he needs money," said granny Blair with a sigh.
"Why does he come to meet you only for money? Doesn't he work or something?" Asked Jasper.
"No his mother has spoilt him rotten. He doesn't work. His grandfather is loaded and gives him everything he needs. When he needs more than he gets, he comes to me," said granny.
The children looked at one another. So maybe Richard was behind the theft. Maybe he got it done for money. "Granny was the silver chest very expensive?" Asked Daryll. He wanted to be sure of the motive behind he theft.
"It's very expensive, Daryll. It's antique and has been in our family for hundreds of years," she informed them.
"Do you think Jenna would do it for money?" Asked Skylar.
"No she wouldn't. She's very honest and if she wanted she could have done it long back when her husband was ill. She took a loan from me and has repayed every penny working harder for the extra money. Now he's better and she doesn't need that kind of money anymore," informed granny.
So Jenna was out of the picture. Who else was there who could have known about the chest? "Did you tell anyone else about it?" Asked Diana.
"No sweetie, I've never told anyone else, " said granny.
Jenna returned with the stuff and the children left to go home. "If we don't inform the police about the burglar and don't hand over the stud, how will they hunt him down?" Asked Nicholas.
"This looks like a dead end. What do we do now?" Asked Skylar.
"Ideally we need to follow Richard Blair's whereabouts but with him at Kentucky, that investigation is out of the way," said Jasper, thinking hard.
"Let's go to the park and finish our game. I'm bored sitting at home, " said Nicholas. The children agreed and after taking permission from their mom, they went to the park to play.
It was then that Jasper thought about checking the place where he had collided with the man. "Why don't we look for clues where I collided with that man?" He suggested.
"That's a good idea. We might not find anything. Still there's no harm in checking, " said Daryll.
So they inspected minutely amidst the grass and behind the bushes at the place where Jasper had bumped into the man. After a tiring search they gave up.
"There's nothing here," said Skylar.
"Why don't we just search along the way he had taken while escaping?" Suggested Nicholas.
Jasper guided them since he had seen in which direction the man went. "What's that shining over there?" Asked Diana going a little further from the place that they had been searching. All the children hurried to the place that she had indicated. Sure enough, there was a shining object on the grass.
Jasper picked it up and they all gasped. It was a jacket stud similar to the one that Jenna had found near the place where the theft had taken place.
"It looks old, now that we're seeing it in the bright sunshine," said Skylar.
"Yes, you're right. It does look pretty old and the metal's been chipped at the edges, even the plating has come off, here. See?" Said Jasper, showing the stud for all to notice what he meant.
"I can see," said Diana.
"Me too," said Skylar.
"Why would someone wear such an old jacket?" Asked Nicholas.
"I don't think Richard would wear such an old jacket. Why would someone wear a jacket similar to his?" Asked Skylar.
"He might belong to a club where all members wear a similar jacket. You know as in motorcycle gangs?" Said Jasper.
"Or maybe he has a cousin or someone who he had given his jacket to," suggested Daryll.
"We could ask granny Blair if he has a cousin or if he had given his jacket to someone here when he had come over, " said Nicholas. Everyone looked at him curiously.
"That's an excellent idea," said Daryll.
They played their game and went back home just before lunch. They saw a car parked right in front of granny Blair's house.
"Who has arrived at granny Blair's house in a car, mom?" Asked Daryll.
"Mrs Blair's grandson," she answered as she started laying the table to serve lunch.
"Richard is here? I want to see how he looks like," said Skylar.
"We will see him. Let him settle down. Until then, let's enjoy lunch. I'm ravenous," said Daryll.
"Children go and freshen up before eating," said Nora Hawkes .
"Yes mom," said Diana and they all went upstairs to freshen up. "Looks like he's come to stay for a few days," said Skylar, peering from her window at granny Blair's house.
"How do you know?" Asked Nicholas.
"He's brought a lot of luggage along with him, " she announced.
