Mystery #16: Claudia and the Clue in the Photograph
While in summer school, Claudia has ~developed~ (LOL) an interest in photography. It’s a natural extension of her artistic nature and she’s very excited about it. Her interest bubbles over into a BSC project; the girls and their charges are spending a whole day taking photos around Stoneybrook and they’re going to make a Day in the Life of Stoneybrook book for Dawn, to entice her to return. While downtown taking photos, Claudia becomes fascinated by the old Stoneybrook bank building and shoots tons of photos of it - over a whole roll of film (remember film???).
Then the baby-sitters hear that the Stoneybrook Bank is missing a lot of money and it seems like it might be an inside job. Claudia wonders if any of her bank photos might contain a clue, so she excitedly develops them. Then the police announce that the robbery occurred on the day and during the hours when Claud was taking photos - so the BSC pores over her shots to see if she captured anything suspicious. There’s one man in a suit that appears in several of Claud’s photos, so she brings them to the Stoneybrook Police, who are dismissive as usual, but who eventually take the tip and say they’ll follow up on it.
The girls stake out the bank and find out that the suited man’s name is Jim Zibreski and he’s the bank VP. They also notice a woman with a baby stroller who appeared in some of Claud’s photos, and when they try to talk to her she doesn’t let them see her baby and she rushes off. Claudia jokes that maybe there’s no baby under the blankets, just moneybags. They later pull the blankets back and see that there is a baby. But Claudia later finds a photo that shows a light on in the bank, when it should be closed - on a Sunday. And the police confirm that Mr. Zibreski is under investigation (though I don’t know why the police shared this information with a group of teenage civilians). Then, Claudia blows up some sections of her photos and notices that Mr. Zibreski wears a pocket watch that doesn’t work - and she theorizes that maybe he is hiding a key in the watch - a key to a safety deposit box where he’s hiding the stolen money.
Crazy, right? Well… that’s the solution to the mystery. The BSC takes the photos and their theory to the police, who LET THEM INTO THE INTERVIEW ROOM WHERE THEY’RE QUESTIONING MR. ZIBRESKI and they LET THE BSC CONFRONT MR. ZIBRESKI WITH THEIR THEORY and then MR. ZIBRESKI CONFESSES. What the hell is going on. The entire BSC needs to go into witness protection now.
This book was ridiculous but I’m happy for Claudia finding a new artistic hobby she’s good at!
