He pulled up the Raptor Rehab Center’s website and tapped the link to the eagle cam. Benny leaned close to the screen. “Aww, Pierce isn’t in his nest. Maybe he escaped again! We should go back and look for him.”

  “Oh, I remember,” Violet said. “Dr. Lauren took Pierce to her clinic, so the overnight emergency room staff could keep an eye on him. Since he escaped, she wants to make sure his wing is still healing properly. I’m sure he’ll be back in the enclosure tomorrow.”

  Henry read the chat box next to the camera feed. “Some of these people are really upset Pierce isn’t there.”

  “That’s silly,” Violet said. “The raptors aren’t there for our entertainment. We’re lucky to see them at all. This isn’t a TV show!”

  Henry scrolled back through the chat, curious about what else people had to say. “Some people agree with you, Violet. Others just want to know that Pierce is okay. I guess they heard the story about him escaping.” Henry paused. “Oh no. Listen to this. The user named Sebhawk wrote a long comment complaining about the rehab center. They said it’s not safe and included a link to the article that reporter wrote.”

  Jessie leaned over to look. “LovesRaptors is defending the center. But OwlFan agrees with Sebhawk.”

  “Sebhawk,” Benny said. “Now I remember! Sebastian Hawkins. Sebhawk is like that but shorter.”

  “Benny, that’s brilliant!” Jessie said. “With a name like Sebastian Hawkins, of course he’d use hawk in his chat name. I remember wondering if there was a kind of hawk called a seb, but then I forgot all about it.”

  Henry leaned back to look at his siblings. “Now we know how that guy knows so much about the center’s schedule. He watches the eagle cam. He probably reads all the updates that get posted on social media. If you paid enough attention, you’d learn when the vet came and when different volunteers were there.”

  Jessie nodded. “If he took a tour too, he’d know where all the buildings were.”

  Benny clapped his hands. “Does that mean we solved the mystery? Is he the one causing problems?”

  “Just because he knew everything doesn’t mean he caused the problems,” Henry said. “We haven’t figured out a motive for Sebastian Hawkins. The reporter, Faisal, has a motive: he wants to get his stories published. He could also be following the eagle cam, and he could have taken a tour.”

  “Then there’s Daisy,” Jessie said. “I like her but she’s the only one of the three who has a key for sure. She also knows more about the place than any of our other suspects. But we’re not sure she has a motive.”

  Benny sagged. “So how do we figure out which one it is?”

  “I have an idea!” Violet jumped up. “Maybe the rehab center keeps recordings of the eagle cam. We should check the time when Pierce escaped.”

  “Great idea,” Henry said. “We’ll have to make sure Daisy doesn’t know what we’re doing though.”

  With a plan, they were anxious to get to sleep so they could get started the next day.

  In the morning, Carmen read the paper over breakfast. “More bad coverage,” she said. “Today is going to be unpleasant.” She sighed and put her face in her hands.

  The children told Carmen their idea, and she immediately perked up. She agreed to go in early to view the eagle cam footage. “The footage is automatically recorded,” she said. “That way we have a record if there’s an injury when no one is present. At the end of the week, Daisy deletes the old recordings to save space on the computer.”

  They headed to the rehab center and arrived before anyone else. Henry fired up Daisy’s computer. “We don’t know exactly when Pierce got out. We know he was there at the end of one day and gone by eight thirty the next morning.”

  The video system saved the recordings in files that were one hour long. Henry checked the beginning of each one. They kept showing Pierce.

  Then one showed an empty enclosure. Henry went back to the previous one and skipped ahead five minutes at a time.

  “Look,” Violet said. “Pierce was sleeping, but now he woke up. He’s looking toward the door.”

  Henry let the video play. Pierce fluffed up his feathers and made a high-pitched sound.

  Violet gave a little shiver. “I’d be nervous getting so close to that big eagle. The person must be really brave.”

  “But we still can’t see anyone,” Jessie said.

  A figure ducked into the enclosure. They wore a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up. They kept their face turned down and away from the camera.

  “They’re avoiding the camera,” Henry said. “They know it’s there.”

  Carmen studied the computer. “Lots of people know about the eagle cam. The camera isn’t hidden. You could look for it before you went in.”

  In the video the person lifted an arm toward Pierce. The arm wore a thick, green leather glove that came up to the elbow. Pierce shrieked again but hopped onto the arm. The person put a bag over his head. Then they vanished from the camera’s view.

  Henry leaned back. “That was interesting. We assumed someone opened the enclosure and Pierce got out on his own. But they made sure he got out!”

  “It must be someone who’s familiar with raptors,” Violet said.

  “Sebastian Hawkins knows a lot about raptors. So do the staff here.” Jessie wasn’t sure she should name Daisy as a suspect in front of Carmen. “But what about that reporter? He probably doesn’t know so much.”

  “It could be someone who knows a lot about raptors,” Carmen said. “It could also be someone who doesn’t know anything. Sometimes people bring in raptors they found injured. They have no idea how dangerous it is to handle one.”

  “Right,” Henry said. “Faisal, the reporter, wants a story pretty badly. Maybe that would be enough to motivate him to face down a big bird like that. But he’d have to get a key and the right kind of gloves.”

  Carmen glanced at her watch. “It’s almost eight. I guess we’re done with the videos. We should get to work. Jessie, do you want to start checking messages from calls that came in overnight? Write them down for Daisy to answer unless it’s something urgent.”

  Henry shut down the computer, and they moved away from Daisy’s desk.

  Jessie listened to the first few messages the phone had recorded. She winced as she took notes.

  Daisy came in with a big smile. “Good morning! You’re all here early.”

  Jessie put down the phone. “I listened to four messages from people who want to shut down the Raptor Rehab Center. They didn’t leave names or numbers for a call back. I guess they just want to let you know how they feel.”

  “What?” Daisy wailed.

  Carmen groaned. “I feel like my life’s work is falling apart!”

  Benny took her hand. “Don’t give up. We’ll figure out who did this.”

  Carmen smiled at him. “That’s sweet,” she said. “But even if you can figure out why this is happening, it might be too late.”

  “No, no.” Daisy paced the room. “We need to increase the security here. That will stop any of these problems from happening again. People will support us if they know we’re making changes, I’m sure of it. We’ll get the funding back.” She gave Carmen a smile that trembled a little. “It will be all right. The raptors need us. We won’t close down!”

  “Thank you,” Carmen said. “Thanks, all of you. I’m going back to my office to think. Let me know if anything is urgent.” She headed down the hall, her steps slow.

  Daisy sat at her desk and took over the phone.

  The children gathered together. “We have to come up with a plan!” Benny whispered.

  Jessie bobbed her head toward the hall, telling them to follow Carmen. They quietly trailed after the director and joined her in the office.

  “What is it?” Violet asked Jessie. “Did you have an idea?”

  Jessie nodded. “We know Pierce was let out between six and seven in the morning. We also know the bird card mix-up happened at night. We could keep watch overnight.”

  Carmen studied each of them. “You want to stay here all night? By yourselves?”

  All the children nodded. “We’ll be careful,” Henry said. “We can take turns sleeping if we need to.”

  Benny bounced on his toes. “I’ll stay up all night as long as I have snacks!”

  Carmen thought carefully for a moment. “All right then,” she said. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt, and I’m not sure what else to try. Maybe you should all rest this afternoon. Then tonight you can try to catch the saboteur.”

  Clues in the Dark

  The Aldens helped out around the center that day. They also took turns napping in a back room so they’d have more energy at night. When the facility closed they went out for dinner. Then Carmen took them to the store to gather supplies before heading back to the center.

  “Are you sure you’ll be all right?” she asked.

  “We have phones if we need to call for help,” Henry said. “You worked all day and you’ll have another long day tomorrow. Go home and sleep.”

  “All right,” Carmen replied. “Your grandfather is always saying how responsible you are, so I’m sure it will be okay.”

  Jessie smiled. “We’re pretty good at getting by on our own,” she said.

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” Carmen said. “Call me if you need anything.” She left and Henry locked the door behind her.

  Benny did a little dance. “This will be so much fun! Look at all the snacks we have.” He dumped out a grocery bag full of food onto the long table.

  Violet paced the room. “I hope it works. If the center gets closed down, what will happen to the raptors?”

  “Maybe we’ll learn something tonight,” Jessie said. “Should we turn out the lights?”

  “Carmen said the light near the door stays on overnight,” Henry said. “Let’s turn out the others and stay behind the desks. Everyone take a flashlight and keep it in your pocket.”

  They chatted as it got darker outside. How long would they have to wait? Violet started yawning despite her nap. Benny ate a handful of mixed nuts and then curled up on a stack of blankets.

  After dark, Jessie perked up as she heard a sound. “What’s that?”

  They all listened closely. “I think a car pulled up.” Henry knelt to peek over the desks and tables. “A car door closed. We have a visitor.”

  They held their breath. Outside, lights lit up the area around the front of the building, so they’d see anyone at the door.

  After a minute, Jessie whispered, “I don’t hear anything else.”

  “Maybe they went to another building,” Henry said. “I only heard one car door, so it’s probably only one person. Come on. Jessie, keep your phone ready to call for help.”

  They all crept toward the front door. Henry turned the lock and slowly pushed the door open. They were in the light now, but they didn’t see anyone outside the building.

  Henry led the way. The car was parked to the left, so he headed that direction. If the person had gone the other way, Henry would have seen them pass through the lighted area.

  They went around the side of the building, moving slowly in the dark. Violet took Benny’s hand. She watched the dark shapes of Henry and Jessie ahead.

  Henry stopped. The others gathered close to him. “Look,” he whispered. “Someone’s there.”

  The moon gave enough light to see a man in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. He wasn’t carrying anything.

  The children moved closer to the dark figure. When they were about twenty feet away, Henry turned on his flashlight.

  The person yelped and spun around. The light shone on Sebastian Hawkins. He squinted in the glare. “Who’s there?”

  Jessie turned on her flashlight and aimed it over herself and her siblings.

  Sebastian scowled. “What are you kids doing here?”

  “What are you doing here?” Henry asked.

  Sebastian shuffled his feet. “What’s it to you?”

  “We’re solving the mystery!” Benny piped up.

  “We know you’re Sebhawk,” Jessie said. “You spend a lot of time watching the eagle cam. You must have learned all about the schedule at the facility. Did you take Pierce out of his enclosure? Did you mix up the bird cards?”

  “Me? I didn’t do any of that.” Sebastian scratched his head. “I am Sebhawk in the eagle cam chat though. I came to check on Pierce. He isn’t in his enclosure, and I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

  “The veterinarian has Pierce,” Henry said. “Dr. Lauren wanted to keep a close eye on him after his adventure.”

  “Oh, that’s good.” Sebastian came closer. “Look, I know I get worked up about the birds. I only want what’s best for them. I would never try to handle a bald eagle! Have you seen the size of their talons? I certainly wouldn’t let Pierce loose where he might get hurt worse.”

  “Well, someone is causing trouble,” Jessie said. “If they get the center closed down, that won’t be good for the birds.”

  “No, it wouldn’t,” Sebastian said. “There isn’t another raptor rehabilitation center in the area. I want to make sure this place is doing a good job. I don’t want it to close down.”

  Henry glanced at his siblings. They all seemed to believe Sebastian. “If you really want to help,” Henry told Sebastian, “you could volunteer. You’d see how Hoots recovers. You’d learn more about handling raptors safely too.”

  “You could help more birds,” Violet added.

  “Could I really?” Sebastian grinned. “I’ve been bird-watching on my own for so long. It would be nice to make friends who love raptors as much as I do.”

  “Talk to Carmen or Daisy in the morning,” Henry said.

  The group walked back toward the parking lot. At his car, Sebastian turned to the children. “Thank you. I’m sorry I was snooping around. I’d apologize for scaring you, but you didn’t look scared at all.”

  “We solve a lot of mysteries,” Benny said.

  “Well, I hope you solve this one. I’ll be back tomorrow to volunteer.” Sebastian waved as he drove away.

  “He’s kind of intense,” Jessie said. “Still, he’ll be a good volunteer if he puts that energy into helping birds. I bet Sebastian will love it here and volunteer for years.”

  The children went back into the building, locking the door behind them. They settled down to wait and had some snacks. Time passed, but no one else arrived. They took turns sleeping.

  It got lighter outside, but the light was gray as it began to drizzle. Before long the staff would arrive.

  Benny gave a loud sigh.

  “What’s the matter?” Jessie asked. “Do you need more snacks?”

  “Yes, please.” Benny looked through the remaining selection. “That’s not why I sighed though. I’m sad we didn’t solve the mystery.”

  “We made progress,” Violet said. “We don’t suspect Sebastian anymore.”

  “True.” Jessie crossed out his name in her notebook. “But if Sebastian didn’t cause the problems, who did? We don’t have much time left.”

  “We just have to solve the mystery,” Benny said. “For Carmen and Pierce and Hoots and everyone who loves raptors.”

  Lessons Learned

  The children yawned as they helped out the next morning. Carmen was meeting with the board members. These were people who oversaw the center’s finances. They had to approve any future plans. Carmen needed to convince them things were okay at the Raptor Rehab Center.

  “I feel nervous,” Jessie said. “We can’t help Carmen with her meeting, but we should do something.”

  “Let’s walk through the buildings,” Henry suggested. “We’ll make sure everything looks right.”

  They stopped by Pierce’s enclosure. It was good to see him back. Dr. Lauren had given him a clean bill of health.

  Then they checked on Hoots and the other patients in the hospital wing. Violet took some pictures. “Hoots is really cute. I’m going to miss all these birds after we leave. At least we’ll have the cameras to show what’s happening here.”

  Back in the hallway, Benny ran ahead. He came to a quick stop and pointed. “Look, muddy footprints!”

  “Those aren’t ours,” Jessie said. “They’re too big, and we haven’t been out in the rain.”

  The hospital building connected to the other buildings, so staff could move injured birds without risk of them flying away. The children followed the footprints around the corner.

  A man stood at the door to the owl house, trying the doorknob.

  “Faisal!” Jessie exclaimed.

  The reporter grinned. “Oh, hi. I was just…looking around.”

  “How did you get in?” Henry asked.

  “Someone let me in,” Faisal said.

  Henry shook his head. “Visitors can’t wander around without a guide. Tell us the truth.”

  “Yeah, you shouldn’t lie!” Benny said.

  Faisal winced. “Okay, okay. I got in through a back door. I popped the lock by slipping my driver’s license between the door and the frame. That door needs a better lock.”

  “So you know how to get in the buildings.” Jessie put her hands on her hips. “Are you the one who mixed up the bird cards and let the eagle go?”

  “Of course not,” Faisal said. “I’m trying to solve the mystery.”

  Violet narrowed her eyes at him. “Really? You’ve been making the Raptor Rehab Center look bad in your articles. You said it was a break for you to get a dramatic story. How do we know you didn’t cause problems to make a better story?”

  “Wow. Do you really think I’d do that?” Faisal studied their frowns. “Okay, I see why you might think that.” He chuckled to himself. “I do want a good story. When I heard about the problems here, I got excited. If I uncover a scandal, the paper might assign me other cool stories.”

  “Those are all reasons for you to cause problems,” Jessie said.

  “But I didn’t,” Faisal said. “I want to cover real news, not fake it. I didn’t say anything that was untrue. No good journalist would do that.”

  Violet usually felt shy with people she didn’t know well, but she was angry. She stomped closer to the man. “It’s mean to cause problems for people who are doing their best. How will you feel if the center gets closed down because of your articles?”