Cam Jansen and the Millionaire Mystery Read online

  The Cam Jansen Series

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the U.F.O.

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Television Dog

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Gold Coins

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Monster Movie

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Monkey House

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Corn Popper

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery of Flight 54

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Haunted House

  Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Triceratops Pops Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Ghostly Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Scary Snake Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Catnapping Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Barking Treasure Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Birthday Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the School Play Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the First Day of School Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Tennis Trophy Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Snowy Day Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Valentine Baby Mystery—25th Anniversary Special

  Cam Jansen and the Secret Service Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries—A Super Special

  Cam Jansen and the Mystery Writer Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Green School Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Sports Day Mysteries—A Super Special

  Cam Jansen and the Basketball Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Wedding Cake Mystery

  Cam Jansen and the Graduation Day Mystery

  DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE YOUNG CAM JANSEN SERIES FOR YOUNGER READERS!

  Cam Jansen

  and the

  Millionaire

  Mystery

  David A. Adler

  illustrated by

  Joy Allen

  VIKING

  An Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  VIKING

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario,

  Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

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  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  First published in the United States of America by Viking,

  a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2012

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Text copyright © David Adler, 2012

  Illustrations copyright © Penguin Young Readers Group, 2012 All rights reserved

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Adler, David A.

  Cam Jansen and the millionaire mystery / by David A. Adler.

  p. cm.—(Cam Jansen; [32])

  Summary: Using her excellent memory, Cam Jansen, aided by her friend

  Eric, investigates the disappearance of Mrs. Scott’s valuable pearl

  necklace during a charity brunch.

  ISBN: 978-1-101-59287-8

  [1. Lost and found possessions—Fiction. 2. Stealing—Fiction.

  3. Memory—Fiction. 4. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.

  PZ7.A2615 Caaej 2011 [Fic]—dc23 2011039464

  Printed in China

  Set in ITC New Baskerville Std

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  ALWAYS LEARNING

  PEARSON

  For my Young Aunt Judy

  —D.A.A.

  Dedicated to the Cameron Park

  Fire Department!

  Awesome you are.

  —J.A.

  Cam Jansen

  and the

  Millionaire

  Mystery

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  A Cam Jansen Memory Game

  Chapter One

  “May I take your coats?” the man at the front door asked.

  “Will he give them back?” Eric Shelton whispered to his mother.

  “Yes. When we’re ready to leave, he’ll give them back.”

  The man was wearing a fancy black suit and small black bow tie.

  Eric and his mother gave the man their coats. So did Cam Jansen and her mother. They were at the apartment of Ellen and Aaron Scott for a charity brunch. The apartment was on the top two floors of one of the tallest buildings in the city.

  “Thank you for coming,” a woman in a fireman’s uniform told people as they entered the apartment. She smiled at Cam and Eric. She gave them each a red plastic fire hat.

  The brunch was to raise money for a new firehouse.

  Cam and Eric put on the hats. Then they all walked into a large dining room. On the table were trays of food.

  “Look at all the fish and salads,” Mrs. Shelton said.

  “Look at all the cake and cookies,” Eric said.

  A waiter gave them each a plate.

  “Fish and salad first,” Mrs. Jansen told Cam and Eric. “Cake and cookies later.”

  Cam and Eric put some food on their plates. While they were eating, an old woman in a long gray dress stood by the entrance to the room. She tapped on a large glass.

  Ting! Ting! Ting!

  People in the room stopped eating and talking.

  “I’m Ellen Scott,” the woman announced. “Welcome to my home. Later, I hope you’ll come upstairs. There are more desserts there. Music will be played, and from our large windows, you’ll see beautiful views of—”

  Ellen Scott stopped talking. She was staring at Cam.

  “Are you that girl with the great memory?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Cam’s mother said. “This is my daughter, Cam Jansen, and she does have a great memory. It’s as if she has a camera in her head and pictures of everything she’s ever seen.”

  Ellen Scott stood next to Cam. She tapped on her glass again.

  Ting! Ting! Ting!

  “We have a celebrity here! Surely you’ve all read in the local newspapers about Cam Jansen? She’s the girl who uses her amazing photographic memory to solve mysteries. She’s even helped catch criminals.”

  Ellen Scott smiled at Cam and applauded.

  O
thers in the room applauded, too.

  “Watch this,” Eric said loudly. Everyone looked at Eric.

  He turned to Cam and said, “Look at me and say, ‘Click!’ Then close your eyes.”

  Cam looked at Eric.

  “No! No!” Ellen Scott said. “Look at me.”

  Cam Jansen looked at Ellen Scott. She said, “Click!” and closed her eyes.

  Eric told the people in the room, “Cam says, ‘Click!’ when she wants to remember something. It’s the sound her mental camera makes.”

  “Turn around,” Eric whispered, “so no one will think you’re peeking.”

  Cam turned around. She was no longer facing Ellen Scott.

  Mrs. Scott asked Cam, “What color dress am I wearing?”

  “Gray. It has seven large buttons in front. You’re wearing a pearl necklace, four bracelets on your right wrist, and a gold watch on your left wrist.”

  Then Cam whispered, “Your third button is open.”

  Ellen Scott looked down at her dress. She closed the third button.

  When Cam was born, her parents named her Jennifer. But when people found out about her great memory, they started calling her “The Camera.” Soon, “The Camera” became just “Cam.”

  “You’re truly amazing,” Mrs. Scott said.

  “Thank you for your performance, Miss Jansen,” an elderly man said.

  Then he spoke to the many other people in the room.

  “I’m Aaron Scott. We are so grateful you are all here to help us build a new firehouse. I hope you’ll all join us upstairs to see a beautiful view of our fine city. You may take the stairs or go by elevator.”

  Cam turned and opened her eyes.

  “I’m taking the elevator,” Mrs. Scott told Cam. “Please come with me. I want to ask you all about the mysteries you’ve solved.”

  Chapter Two

  Cam and her mother followed Mrs. Scott to the elevator. Eric and his mother followed Mr. Scott to the stairs.

  “When did you first know you had a great memory?” Mrs. Scott asked.

  “It was me. I was the first to realize it,” Mrs. Jansen said. “When Cam was little I read to her every night. One night I was in a hurry and skipped a page. ‘No, Mommy,’ Cam said. ‘What about the man with the blue shirt, red pants, and sneakers?’ She described everything on that page. After that we had lots of fun playing all sorts of memory games. Cam was just two years old, but she always won.”

  “That’s amazing,” Mrs. Scott said.

  The elevator doors opened. Cam and her mother followed Mrs. Scott onto the elevator.

  “Does your great memory help you with your schoolwork?”

  “Cam does very well in school,” Mrs. Jansen said.

  “It’s easy for me to remember spelling words,” Cam said. “And I always remember what I read.”

  “Is there room for me?” asked a woman wearing a long green dress and carrying a large open handbag. “I have trouble with stairs.”

  “Of course there’s room,” Mrs. Scott told the woman. She waved her hand and told her to come onto the elevator.

  “In class I always raise my hand, but my teacher hardly ever calls on me,” Cam told Mrs. Scott. “She says, ‘I’m sure you remember the work. I want to find out if others in the class remember.’”

  An old man with a cane got on the elevator.

  Another old man and his wife got on. They were friends of Mrs. Scott.

  “This is such a nice party,” the man said.

  A man wearing a dark blue jacket and holding a paper coffee cup came on.

  A woman wearing a tight flowered dress was about to get on. She was holding a plate with a gooey piece of cake.

  “Please eat that first,” the old man with the cane said. “I don’t want that messy cake to get on my clothes.”

  The woman quickly ate the cake. She licked the gooey icing off her fingers. Then she gave the plate to a waiter and got on the elevator.

  A young man in a fireman’s uniform got on.

  “That’s it,” Mrs. Scott said. “There’s no more room.”

  Mrs. Scott was standing by a set of buttons. She pushed a button and the elevator doors closed.

  “We’re going up,” Mrs. Scott said.

  Cam and her mother were pressed against the wall of the elevator. Cam took a deep breath and held it. Then the doors opened and people got out. Cam exhaled.

  “The big windows are to your right,” Mrs. Scott announced.

  “Let’s go see,” Mrs. Jansen said. “We parked our car right in front. I bet from up here it looks like a little toy.”

  Cam turned to Mrs. Scott.

  “Thanks for the ride,” Cam said.

  Cam stopped.

  “Oh,” she said. “I think something is missing.”

  Cam closed her eyes. She said, “Click!”

  Cam quickly opened her eyes. “Mrs. Scott,” she said, “your pearl necklace is gone!”

  Chapter Three

  Mrs. Scott reached up. She felt her neck. Then she hurried to look in the mirror by the elevator.

  “This is terrible,” she said. “Aaron bought the necklace for my birthday.”

  She pressed the button by the elevator. The doors opened. She looked on the floor.

  “The clasp must have opened. It must have fallen to the floor. I hope no one stepped on it.”

  Cam, Mrs. Jansen, and Mrs. Scott bent down and checked the thick carpet near the elevator.

  Eric and his mother were just coming up the stairs.

  “Did you lose something?” Eric asked.

  Cam told him about the necklace.

  “Someone must have stolen it,” Eric said. “This is another mystery. We have to find the necklace and the thief.”

  Mrs. Scott looked at the many people in her apartment.

  “Aaron, Aaron,” she called.

  Mr. Scott hurried to her.

  “Are you tired? Is this party too much?”

  “No, it’s not that,” Mrs. Scott said, shaking her head.

  She told her husband about the necklace.

  Mr. Scott gasped.

  “It was stolen,” Eric told him.

  “The boy is right,” Mr. Scott said. “That necklace is very valuable. It has a double clasp. I saw you lock it this morning. It couldn’t have just fallen off. I’m calling security.”

  Mr. Scott hurried away.

  “Oh, I hope they find it,” Mrs. Scott said. “We have very good security here. They watch everyone who enters and leaves this building.”

  “I noticed that,” Mrs. Jansen said. “When we arrived, the woman at the door asked us our names. She had a list of who was coming to the party. She even made me show her my driver’s license.”

  Mr. Scott was back.

  “That nice guard Amy is coming right up,” he said. “I also called the police. They told me not to let anyone leave the apartment. I put someone at each door.”

  “I bet the thief will try to leave,” Mrs. Shelton said.

  “Did you feel anyone pulling at your necklace?” Mr. Scott asked.

  His wife shook her head.

  “The elevator was crowded. People were pressed against me, but I would have noticed if someone pulled the necklace.”

  There was a chair by the elevator. Mr. Scott sat down and said, “We have more than one hundred guests. Any one of them might be the thief.”

  “No,” Cam told him. “It could only be someone who was in the elevator with us.”

  Mr. Scott asked his wife, “Do you remember who was on the elevator?”

  “There were Jane and Joe Levy. Cam Jansen and her mother were with me.”

  Mrs. Scott thought for a moment.

  “There were other people on the elevator,” she said. “I just don’t remember who.”

  Cam closed her eyes. She said, “Click!” Then, with her eyes still closed she said, “I remember them. I remember them all.”

  “I’m here,” a woman in green uniform said.

  Cam open
ed her eyes.

  “Hi, Amy,” Mr. Scott said. “Did anyone leave my apartment in the last ten minutes?”

  “No one left the building,” Amy said.

  She looked around the apartment. “It’s someone here, and I’ll check them all. I’ll find the thief.”

  “Whoever took the necklace was on the elevator with us,” Cam told Amy. “There were ten of us.”

  “Ten? You must have been squeezed in there.”

  “We were,” Mrs. Scott said. “But it’s a short ride.”

  “The police are here,” Amy said. “I’ll talk to them. I’ll tell them what happened.”

  “Tell them it’s an expensive necklace,” Mr. Scott said. “Very expensive.”

  Two police officers had come into the room. Amy spoke with them. Then the two officers walked over to Mrs. Scott.

  “This is Cam Jansen,” Mrs. Scott said. “She knows who was on the elevator with me.”

  Cam closed her eyes and said, “Click!” Then, with her eyes still closed she described the people on the elevator.

  “There was Mrs. Scott. I was there with my mother.”

  “That’s me,” Mrs. Jansen said.

  “There was a woman in a long green dress, a man wearing a fireman’s uniform, and an old man with a cane. There were two people, a man and a woman. They’re Mrs. Scott’s friends.”

  “Jane and Joe Levy,” Mrs. Scott said. “But they didn’t take my necklace.”

  One of the officers wrote Cam’s descriptions in his police notepad.

  “There was a man wearing a blue jacket and tie, and there was a woman who wanted to get on with some sticky cake, but she didn’t. First she finished the cake.”

  Cam opened her eyes.

  “That’s it,” Cam said. “That’s everyone.”

  “We have to check them all,” one of the officers said. He looked right at Cam and Mrs. Jansen. “We even have to check you.”

  Chapter Four

  “Is there an empty room we can use?” one of the officers asked the Scotts. “We need a place to bring all the suspects.”

  “You can use the library.”

  Across from the elevator were two large doors. Mrs. Scott opened them.