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First Mystery
Written by Cathy Wiley,
Suspects : Caitlyn Randall, Haley Stukowski, Libby Miller, Teresa McGrew
There are 4 clues in this mystery.
Teresa McGrew loved her job. She loved being surrounded by all the fashionable clothes; loved to see and touch them. She even enjoyed folding and arranging them just right in order to showcase the fabric and colors.
Finishing up a display of brand new scoop-necked striped sweaters, she stepped back to admire her work…and the sweaters. She wasn’t sure whether she liked the pink and green striped or the red striped sweater best. She looked again and decided that actually, she preferred the purple striped one…no wait, maybe the blue striped one would look better with her brown hair and hazel eyes.
Then something happened that she didn’t like about her job. Three teenage girls had wandered in, and of course, they were all shopping separately. At least, Teresa hoped they were here to shop. She hated it when her classmates came in to the store. Some of them, unfortunately, came in to shoplift and seemed to think that she would just look the other way since she went to school with them. But Teresa took her job and her responsibilities seriously and always watched everyone carefully.
This bunch definitely deserved watching.
Haley Stukowski, a petite blonde who was on the cheerleading squad, walked around the entire store, picking up all the clothes, one by one. Teresa groaned inwardly as her gaze followed the untidy path Haley had already made. Even as she watched, Haley picked up yet another article, unfolded it, eyed it critically, and tossed it back without regard. I’m going to have to fold and straighten all that stuff. Again!
Most worrisome of all, there was Caitlyn Randall, a brown-haired, brown-eyed junior who had already been arrested once for shoplifting. Teresa watched as Caitlyn wandered the store. She stayed away from the racks of clothes and didn’t even seem to pick anything up or even touch the fabrics.
Teresa tried to watch all of them carefully, but that was really difficult when she kept getting called over to answer questions. She thought she did a reasonable job of keeping each one in her sights as much as possible and hoped she had also managed not to look too obvious about it.
She sighed when they all left the store, partially in relief and partially in annoyance since none of them had actually purchased anything. She began to straighten up the clothes they had tried on or unfolded. When she got to the new display of striped sweaters, she arranged them back into appropriate colors and sizes. That was when she noticed that while there was the same number of three of the patterns, the red striped ones were short one small sweater. She carefully counted again. Her stomach felt a little queasy when she realized that she was, indeed, missing one of the sweaters. Teresa went to the phone to call mall security and her manager.
Teresa’s manager, Selena Martinez, had already arrived by the time Mr. Molinson, the mall security guard, trudged into the store. Teresa didn’t think they had a chance of finding the girls still in the mall, but she was pleasantly surprised to discover Haley, Libby and Caitlyn still sitting in the food court. Mr. Molinson approached each of the three girls and requested they accompany him to his office.
The security offices were stark and cold, with a small waiting room and another office with a desk and three chairs. The guard gestured Teresa into one, took the chair behind the desk, and then called each girl into his office one by one to ask them the same questions.
He started first with Libby. “Ms. Miller, were you at Ms. McGrew’s store within the last hour?”
The redhead looked over at Teresa, then turned wide eyes back to Mr. Molinson. “Yes, of course, I went in there to look around. I love to shop there, since it’s one of the few places that carries clothes in my size. I couldn’t find anything today though.”
“And did you take a scoop-necked sweater from the store without first purchasing it?”
The insult was obvious on Libby’s face. “No way. Shoplifting isn’t cool. You can get into a lot of trouble if you get caught. Just ask Caitlyn…actually, I bet it was Caitlyn. She was in the store too and she’s already been busted for shoplifting.”
Mr. Molinson raised his eyebrows at that, wrote down some notes, then dismissed her and brought in Haley. Haley swung her blonde hair behind her shoulders and sat down in the chair. Ignoring Teresa, she focused her attention on the guard.
Mr. Molinson looked up from his notebook. “Ms. Stukowski, were you at the store where Ms. McGrew is employed within the last hour?”
“Yes, sir. I went in there looking for some new clothes. I just received some money from my grandparents for making the honor roll, so I was trying to find something new.”
“Did you find anything?” the guard asked.
“Nope. There wasn’t anything I liked.”
“And did you take a scoop-necked sweater from the store without first purchasing it?”
If possible, Haley managed to look even more annoyed and insulted than Libby. “Of course I didn’t take a sweater from the store. I’d never take anything without paying for it. Besides, red isn’t even a good color on me.” Once again, she swung her hair behind her shoulders.
Mr. Molinson dismissed Haley. He then brought a very nervous Caitlyn into the room and asked her the same questions.
“Ms. Randall, were you at Ms. McGrew’s store within the last hour?”
She bit her lower lip, then nodded. “Yes. I was just looking around. Why do you ask?”
“Did you take a scoop-necked sweater from the store without first purchasing it?”
Caitlyn swallowed first before answering. “No, I didn’t take anything from the store. I learned my lesson the first time.” She looked down at the cement floor. “Not that anyone believes me. Everyone watches me like a hawk now, staring at me in suspicion.”
Mr. Molinson looked like he didn’t believe Caitlyn, but he dismissed the girl to go sit in the waiting room. He turned back to Teresa. “Well, I’m inclined to think it was Caitlyn, since she’s done this before.”
Teresa smiled at the guard. “I know exactly who it was. She gave herself away.”