The Mystery of the Stolen Gem: Part Four

      No one dared answer.

      "You've ruined my birthday," Indigo said, a hot tear forming at the corner of her eye. "And worse yet; you've shattered my faith in you. I thought you were my friends."

      "We are your friends, Indi," Ruby said. One fierce glare from Indigo made Ruby aware that that was the wrong thing to say.

      "The thief has one last chance to confess," Indigo growled, her eyes downcast and focused on a spot on the floor. "Speak now."

      Meanwhile, the gears of Indigo's mind were working in overdrive. The Gem, gone. The butter knife, gone. The lock pick, gone but returned and put into Grigknot's boot. What did these items have in common? Why would each of Indigo's friends want them? Why…

      "Guys," she said softly. "I know who the thief is."

      A gasp from the crowd. They stood, huddled in the doorway as Indigo paced around the ruined kitchen. An uncomfortable silence as she paced, her eyes never leaving the ground. "Ale," she said first. "You're a self-centered jerk who wants to become a Battledome Champion."

      "Me!" Ale yelled indignantly, leaping through the door. "Wait one minute, Miss Indigo…"

      Indigo shook her head. "I wasn't accusing you, Ale. In fact, you couldn't have done it. The theft of the gem is somehow linked to the wrecking of my kitchen, and you couldn't have done that. You were arguing with Ruby at the time. Plus," she added, "I doubt you have the intelligence to pull off a mastermind crime such as this one."

      Ale grinned and went to the back of the kitchen, relieved that his innocence was confirmed.

      "Grigknot," Indi continued. "You're a rogue by nature…"

      "Me?" the Grundo said with raised eyebrows. "You know I wouldn't…"

      Indigo nodded. "I know you wouldn't. You're a thief, but you're an honest thief. It would be against your nature to take something as valuable as the gem without it weighing down your conscious. Plus, I'm also convinced that the lock pick incident and the stolen gem are connected. And you couldn't have stolen your own lock pick."

      "Not to mention the fact that a Battledome weapon would be useless to him." Ale added. Grigknot nodded, and went to the back of the kitchen to join Ale, a look of pure relief on his face.

      She turned again and said with a tone of finality, "Flacra, you won't seem to give me a straight answer one way or the other. You've been awfully quiet and secretive, and I can't trust you farther than I could throw you."

      Flacra seemed to know what was coming next. "But?" he said with an air of expectancy.

      Indigo sighed. He had caught her. "But you have no motive. You have no use for a Battledome weapon. Plus, like you said before, that gem is corruptive."

      "Thank you," Flacra said, joining the ranks of the innocent.

      Indigo turned again. "Amianale, you vain, selfish little Ixi…"

      "What?" Ami squeaked. "You can't possibly mean me. Besides, I have no need for a Battledome weapon."

      Indigo shook her head. "No, but you wanted to wear the Gem as jewelry. I know you would."

      Amianale looked tense.

      "If you could," Indigo amended. "During the time of the theft of the gem, you were unable to do much of anything. I think we both know why." Indigo raised an eyebrow at Amianale, who sighed with relief. Her secret was safe. None of the other pets had to know that she was afraid of the dark. She walked into the kitchen to join Grigknot, Ale and Flacra. Again, Indigo turned her attention to the door. "Torissa, you wanted people to stop treating you like a baby? What better way to do that than to obtain a weapon that could finish off the toughest Battledomers in an instant?"

      Torissa shook her head sadly. "There's nothing more infantile than thieving and trickery."

      "Yes," Indigo agreed. "And in that sense, you're one of the most mature pets I know. You're honest, always. And I'd trust you with anything. Not to mention the fact that when the lights went out, you were too busy knocking my lamp over to steal anything." Torissa grinned with relief and took her place at the back wall.

      "FierceFire," Indigo continued, "you want to be a Battledome Champion, right? Beat the Space Faerie, et cetera. Plus, you have a grudge against Ale, because he's the batter Battledomer. What better way to gain your revenge than to frame him for a crime he didn't commit?"

      "Easy," Fire said dryly. "Just train until my stats are up, then kick his tail."

      "Sounds easy enough," Indigo said, rolling her eyes. There was Fire's cool confidence again, that cockiness that reminded her so much of Ale. "Whatever." She continued. "Fact is, thieving is against your nature. And you weren't close enough to the gem to steal it when the lights went out." The shadow Shoyru grinned and flew over to the back wall of the kitchen. There were only two people left in the doorway, Starlight and Ruby. "Starlight," Indigo said.

      The blue Uni stepped forth. "Indigo… no," she wailed. "Please, I didn't do it."

      "You wanted to achieve something, Starlight," Indigo said. "You wanted to be recognized for something. Guess what. You were."

      Starlight cringed, waiting for her sentence, her eyes squinted shut.

      Indigo's eyes softened, and her ears drooped a little. "You were recognized as one of the best friends a Gelert can ask for. When I was injured by Ale's Grand Lightning Beam, you helped me. You rushed to Fire's side when she stubbed her toe on Noel's toy car. You broke up the fight between Ale and FierceFire. In fact, you've broken up nearly every fight we've had today. You couldn't steal the Gem if you depended on it. Thank you, Starlight. Go take your place with the rest of the innocent." Starlight did so gratefully.

      Only one person was left in the doorway. "RubyRainbow333," Indigo said in a voice devoid of emotion. "Ruby, my crime-solving partner. Ruby, who wants to become a Battledomer someday. Ruby, my best friend."

      "Indigo…" Ruby said softly. "I…"

      "Save it," Indigo said. "This is insane, it really is."

      "I just want to…"

      "I said save it," Indigo feigned a hurt look, then broke out in a broad grin, "because you're innocent."

      "What?" Ruby said quizzically. "I don't understand."

      "You didn't do it," Indigo said firmly. "You're as innocent as the rest of us."

      "But we can't all be innocent," Ruby objected. "Someone stole the Gem. I've suspected Ale all along…"

      A flash of realization came onto the Poogle's face. "Hate to break it to you, Ruby, but it wasn't me." He started laughing hysterically. Indigo started laughing too.

      "What… but I don't… I don't get the joke," Ruby stammered. Noel the Anubis sidled over to Ruby, whimpering piteously. She evidently didn't understand either.

      "It's simple, really!" Indigo said. "The Gem was stolen, and the evil mastermind is in this room somewhere…"

      "But…" Ruby looked around frantically. Side to side. Up, and finally, down. "You can't possibly mean…"

      "Say hello to your 'thief', Ruby," Ale said, picking the Anubis up and letting her lick his face.

      "Noel was the… thief?" Ruby said. "Of course! It all fits together now."

      Indigo nodded. "The Gem, the butter knife, the lock pick, the toy car, the belt clip, the luxury bell, all had one thing in common. They're shiny objects."

      "And Noel likes shiny objects! Of course!"

      Amianale's ears drooped a little. "So I don't get to yell at anyone?"

      "There is no thief?" Fiercefire asked. "There is no case?"

      "Nope," Indigo said.

      "And we don't get to drag Grigknot off in chains?" Amianale asked, looking even more pitiful and disappointed.

      Indigo shook her head. "Nope. But you do get goodie bags and chocolate faerie cupcakes."

      "Cupcakes?" Ale said with a grin. "I'm happy. Give me food, and I'm happy."

      "I know you would be," Indigo said. "Come on. Let's go out for pizza and cupcakes. My treat."

      Another mystery solved, another boatload of sweets and hyperactive Poogles beckoning. And best of all, we were still friends. Through it all.

      The Gem was a powerful weapon. Too powerful to be wielded by a bunch of kids. Therefore, we unanimously decided that it would permanently become one of Noel's chew toys. There was no way she could possibly to any damage with it. And we agreed never to speak of the Gem's power again, and referred to it instead as a shiny piece of glass rather than a Battledome weapon.

      Noel was content with her new toy. Or rather, new toys. She helped herself to Grigknot's silver lock pick. You know, he still blames its disappearance on Amianale.

      And Ruby got Indigo a refund gift. A book. A nice, safe book. Well, with the possible exception of the fact that it has a beautiful golden spine. And it contains some of Jhudora's most potent spells. And there's the minor detail that it's missing...

THE END