The Pet Show Mystery

well as a file cabinet and a messy bookcase. Paul Gale rose from the swivel chair as the girls entered the room. “Why don’t you take off your coats and make yourselves comfortable?” he said, gesturing toward the couch and easy chair.
    Norma shot a nervous look at Trixie and Honey. The last thing they wanted was for Norma to take off her coat, with its concealed microphone.
    “Oh, come now,” Paul Gale said. “You have to take off your coats. Otherwise you’ll catch cold when you go back outside.”
    There’s no choice, Trixie thought. We either take off our coats and sit down, or refuse to take them off and leave. As long as the coats are in the room, the microphone will probably still pick up the conversation. She unzipped her jacket and threw it casually over the arm of the chair.
    Norma and Honey quickly followed her example. Then the assistant appeared again. She scooped up the coats and took them back to the front room, closing the door behind her as she went.
    Oh, no! Trixie thought. Now Mr. Llewelyn won’t be able to tape the conversation at all. Well, there are three of us to testify to what we hear, so maybe the tape won’t be that important. I just hope Mr. Llewelyn doesn’t panic and come in after us.
    “Now,” Paul Gale said, “what was it you wanted?”
    “I-I wanted to talk to you,” Norma said. “I wanted to find out more about the ice you bring back from the Far East.”
    Paul Gale smiled slyly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you mean rice? Some of the Far Eastern countries do export rice, although they should be keeping it to feed their own people.”
    “Ice,” Trixie corrected him. There was no time for subtlety. They had to get the evidence before David Llewelyn came to get them. “Ice, as in gems bought with money that’s supposed to buy food for the poor.”
    Paul Gale’s smile faded gradually as he realized that there was indeed no misunderstanding. “Who put you onto me?” he demanded.
    “I figured it out for myself,” Norma said smugly.
    Paul Gale paused to plan his next move. “You’re right,” he admitted. “I do use foundation money to buy gems.
    “It didn’t start out that way, you understand. At first, all of the money really did go to buy food. Then, on one trip, someone offered me a huge, perfect ruby. The price was ridiculously low. I thought I could bring it back to this country, sell it, and have that much more money to use for food. Once I had the money, though, it seemed fair for me to keep a little part of it, as long as I gave the rest to the foundation. It was nice to have some money of my own, after all those years of giving everything away.”
    Paul Gale wasn’t looking at the girls as he talked. He was staring at the wall, but seeming to look back into the past. “On the next trip, the same man offered me two rubies to bring back here. He wanted twice as much money, of course. I thought about using my own money. In the end, though,, used money from the foundation. This time, I didn’t put any of it back.
    “That’s how it started. From there it just grew. It was like a game that I couldn’t stop playing. I don’t even sell the gems anymore. I don’t need the money. I just keep them, look at them. They’re beautiful. Have you ever seen a really big beautiful ruby or diamond?’’ He suddenly turned a direct gaze at the girls.
    The girls shook their heads.
    “Would you like to? I have some out back in my camper. I’ll even give you some, if you’ll promise to go away and leave me alone.” Trixie felt a burst of anger at Paul Gale’s offer of a bribe. Then she quickly turned the offer to her advantage. If we actually get to see the gems, we’ll have an ironclad case against him, she thought.
    “It’s a deal,” Norma said.
    She must be thinking the same thing. A barely perceptible nod from Honey told Trixie that all three girls were in tune.
    Paul Gale stood up. “Come on, then. The camper is right out back, so you don’t need your coats.”
    He held open the back door. Through it, Trixie could see a green pickup truck with a white camper top. Paul Gale opened the door of the camper, and the girls hurried to jump inside, out of the cold wind.
    It was dark in the camper. Trixie turned and saw Paul Gale’s thin frame outlined in the light of the open door. “You want to see gems?” he said tauntingly. “Well, they’re in there somewhere. And I’ll give you all the time in the world to find them. All