Boxcar Children 64 - Black Pearl Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page A

phone,” Mr. Alden said. “I told her I would be returning this morning, and that I’d be meeting Dr. Charlotte Lilo here. You remember I mentioned Charlotte? She’s a marine biologist at the university. You didn’t get the message?”
    Cousin Mary shook her head. “No, I’m afraid I didn’t. I wish I knew who took it, because maybe I missed other phone messages as well.”
    Mr. Alden looked upset. “This is a shame, it truly is. You see, Charlotte is just stopping over on Maui until tomorrow morning. She was looking forward to going snorkeling with the children this afternoon. And she even planned to bring Henry scuba diving. Now it’s so late in the day, I’m not sure —”
    At that moment, a tanned, middle-aged woman strolled up to the group. “Hello, Aldens! I’m Dr. Charlotte Lilo.”
    Are you a fish doctor?” Soo Lee asked.
    Dr. Lilo laughed. “In a way. I’m studying the fish and reefs around the Hawaiian Islands to find out how to keep them strong and healthy.”
    Mr. Alden introduced Charlotte to the children and to Cousin Mary. “Sorry they came back too late to go out on the water with you, Charlotte. No one received the message about my return.”
    Dr. Lilo didn’t seem to be a bit bothered by this. “No problem, James. We’ll just go snorkeling and diving at night. In many ways, you can see a lot more underwater at night than during the day. We’ll go out as soon as the sun goes down.”
    Night snorkeling — neat,” Benny said.
    Even Cousin Mary looked pleased at the new plans. “You’ll take my boat. One of my workers, Luke, knows many good snorkeling spots around here. Luke!” Cousin Mary called out when she saw him approaching. “We were just talking about you.”
    I found the snorkels you keep for guests, Mrs. Cook,” Luke said. “They’re clean and ready for the Aldens.”
    Luke, I’d like you to meet Dr. Charlotte Lilo. She’s going to go night snorkeling and scuba diving with the children. I was wondering if you would mind bringing everyone out to the reefs in my boat tonight.”
    Luke put out his hand. “Glad to meet you, Dr. Lilo. I’ve heard all about your work in saving our coral reefs. I’d be glad to take you and the Aldens out diving and snorkeling. How about meeting me at the dock at eight o’clock tonight?” he asked everyone.
    See you then!” Dr. Lilo answered.
    Just before eight o’clock that night, the Aldens decided to stop by Cousin Mary’s office to let her know they were leaving. Jessie knocked on the office door, which was half open. “Cousin Mary! Are you in there?”
    Oh, come in, children,” Cousin Mary answered. “I found my husband’s maps. I was just checking some snorkeling spots he had marked. Show them to Luke and Dr. Lilo before you go out in the boat.”
    Henry and Jessie came around the desk. They looked over Mary Cook’s shoulder and read the hand-drawn maps.
    These are the maps?” Jessie asked. “Where were they?”
    Cousin Mary put down the maps. “Why, right here, on top of the desk where I left them,” she told the children. “Are you sure you didn’t put them with your things by mistake? They’re wet from salt water.”
    The children gathered around. Sure enough, the maps were still damp.
    These maps weren’t on the desk at all when we were here yesterday,” Jessie said. “We looked all over. Maybe someone else borrowed them to go snorkeling.” Jessie remembered the Pierces, but she didn’t say anything. After all, anyone on the plantation might have borrowed the maps as well.
    Cousin Mary put on her reading glasses again. “No harm done, in any case. Now take a look at this spot over here that’s marked with an X. The maps are so out of date, these caves are completely underwater now. In the old days, they were in fairly shallow water at low tide. But hurricanes and currents have changed the beach since then. Now the only way to reach the caves is to swim out to them as you did yesterday or go out by boat. Wiki