The Mystery of the Blinking Eye

“That’s what the idol had inside his head—a big diamond! His head must have been split open when it hit the café floor, and the stone dropped out. Let’s call the police right away and tell them the latest.”
    “We’d better call the café, too. They were just closing when we left, though. The diamond is probably still on the floor there,” Mr. Wheeler said.
    Jim shook his head. “One of the dozens of people who were crawling around helping us try to find the statue probably found the diamond and pocketed it.”
    “I guess you may as well kiss it good-bye, Trix,” Mart said.
    “I certainly will not, Mart Belden.” Trixie was almost shouting. “Blinky just said that stone is worth thousands of dollars! Let’s call the police now, then go back over to that restaurant and hunt again.”
    “It will be too late now, I’m afraid,” Dr. Joe said sadly. “The floor will have been swept and the trash deposited with the tons of waste ready to be picked up in the morning. The cleaners move in fast as soon as the crowd leaves.”
    Trixie snapped her fingers. “I just thought of something! It may not be too late to search the sweepings from the café. I know I’ve read someplace that all the big office buildings save the accumulation of trash from each floor for a day before they burn it!”
    “You’re absolutely right. How smart of you, Trixie!” Mr. Wheeler exclaimed. “Why didn’t I remember that? It’s to keep valuable papers from being burned.”
    “ And valuable diamonds from disappearing,” Trixie said, her face one big smile. “What do I do next?”
    “That’s for the police to say.” Mr. Wheeler quickly dialed the familiar number.
    “If I’m going to see any of my patients at the hospital, I’d better be going,” Dr. Joe said regretfully. “I guess I’ll have to wait till morning for the next chapter. Say, I almost forgot to. tell you all how grateful little Evalinda was for the stuffed rabbit you sent her. She sleeps with its nose right next to her face. Trixie, after all you’ve gone through, I surely hope you find that stone.”

    “It’s a mystery to me how he could leave without knowing what the police say,” Barbara said, her eyes bright with excitement. The Bob-Whites and their friends waited expectantly while Mr. Wheeler talked to the police. “I won’t sleep a wink tonight, I know. Gosh, I hope the case is solved before we leave on the plane tomorrow. What did the police tell you?” she asked Mr. Wheeler as soon as he put down the telephone receiver.
    “I had to wait while the officer called the head of the Peruvian police delegation,” Mr. Wheeler reported. “Apparently, Trixie, that diamond is the key to the whole jewel robbery. There is a record of a shipment of twelve of those little wooden statues, all of them assigned to that antique dealer where you bought yours. In them, the thieves concealed diamonds that had formed a necklace stolen from an idol in a temple deep in the jungle in South America. One of the stones, a perfect blue-white one weighing about ten carats, was the center one in the necklace. The Peruvian police are pretty sure that is the one that was in the idol you bought, Trixie, because Blinky and Big Tony and Pedro have been giving you such a hard time. The police are sure you’ve put them on the trail of the other idols. They have that so-called antique dealer in custody.”
    Trixie’s big blue eyes grew rounder. “What did they say is the next move? Did you tell them the diamond may be in the trash at that building?”
    “I did,” Mr. Wheeler reported. “Didn’t you hear me? The officer told me we can’t do a thing till morning. Besides, the crooks just could come back and step right into a trap. He’ll ask then to have a search made. He said he’d try to get in touch with the custodian and see if the trash from the lower level has been added to the rest. Obviously it will make the search much easier if it hasn’t.”
    “Then we have to sit on our hands till morning?” Trixie’s face fell as Mr. Wheeler nodded.
    “We’d better get a game of cards or some guessing games going, then,” Jim said quickly. “There’ll be no sleep tonight for any of us.”
    “We can watch the late, late show,” Mart said cheerfully.
    “I think that’s ridiculous, staying up all night. It will probably be almost noon before the police can possibly make any kind of a report. I’m going to bed.” Mr. Wheeler picked up his hat and opened