Mystery #8: Jessi and the Jewel Thieves
Jessi is headed to NYC with Stacey for the weekend (LUCKY!!!) to meet up with Quint and see a ballet he’s in at Julliard. I still can’t get over these eleven- and thirteen-year-olds traipsing around New York on their own, but more power to them. I didn’t ride a subway until I was, like, 30, so what do I know?
Jessi is nervous because she wants to talk to Quint about their relationship and how the long-distance thing isn’t working for her and she just wants to be friends. She goes to Quint’s house for dinner with his family and then they watch a Fred Astaire movie together, but before Jessi can have The Talk, she and Quint see and overhear an argument between two men in the apartment across from Quint’s. The two dudes are yelling at each other about some kind of jewel heist and Jessi and Quint are like, shit, those guys are criminals. Eventually they get caught eavesdropping. Jessi wants to call the police, but Quint’s like, “what would we even tell them?” They decide to ~play detective~ (maybe that’ll spice up this long-distance thing? haha) and see if they can uncover more information and then go to the police. Jessi doesn’t tell Stacey or Mr. McGill what’s going on - she knows they would not be on board.
“We’re going to crack the case, that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll take care of the thieves before they can do anything to us. All we need is a little concrete evidence, and then the police can take it from there.” - overconfident Jessi, page 55
The next day, Jessi and Quint (who are still eleven) follow the two would-be jewel thieves Frank and Red through Central Park and to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They see a sign for an upcoming exhibit called Jewels of the Russian Empire, and are certain that Red and Frank are going to rob the museum. Unfortunately, they’ve lost sight of the thieves. They’d overheard Frank and Red in the park mention the Palm Court at the Plaza, so that’s where they convince Stacey and her dad to take them to lunch. No sign of Frank and Red, but they do enjoy the harp music and the little tea sandwiches. It’s the height of elegance when compared to Stoneybrook.
Jessi ends up confessing to Stacey about eavesdropping on Frank and Red, and Stacey doesn’t chew Jessi out - she’s interested. (Duh, Stacey’s really cool.) Jessi starts to feel better about the whole thing, but then she sees Frank and Red at Quint’s big Julliard ballet performance and she freaks out, thinking they’ve followed her. Before Jessi has to leave New York, she and Quint get in one last eavesdropping session. From Quint’s TV room they can see into Frank and Red’s living room and hear them arguing. But… it’s the exact same argument from the other night. And then one of them messes up their lines… yep, that’s right, Frank and Red are actors rehearsing a script about a jewel heist. Natch.
Now that Jessi and Quint aren’t worried about getting murdered by the jewel thieves, they have The Talk and both agree that they want to be friends but that they’re too young to be in a long-distance relationship. (OR CHASING SUSPECTED CRIMINALS AROUND NYC??? Just saying.) Jessi brings Becca home an I <3 New York troll doll as a souvenir, reminding me that it’s 1993, and Jessi and Stacey return to their normal Stoneybrook lives.
Side note: I’ve pointed out spelling and grammar errors in other BSC books, but in this one, they completely switched Claudia’s notebook entry and Mary Anne’s notebook entry. It was a little confusing. Yikes!
