The Case of the Missing Crown

By VanessaMullins

In the sleepy little town of Sylton, Ohio, very little crime is committed - until now. The Homecoming queen's crown has been stolen and Gloria Jean's life is upturned. How could anyone believe the perfect student and daughter could be a thief? Gloria Jean sets out to prove that she's innocent AND to find the guilty party.

• Language: English
• Publisher: VanessaMullins
• Release date: Jul 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466083370

VanessaMullins

Vanessa lives with her husband and three children in the Midwest. She is the author of three novels; Rescued Heart and The Case of the Missing Crown- A Gloria Jean Mystery. She has also compiled and edited an inspirational anthology - Nudges from God - and Anthology of Inspiration. She has several stories in various anthologies and has appeared as a special Editor in another book. Vanessa has worked as Special Feature Writer for her local newspaper. She is currently working on the next book in the Thundering Falls series.

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THE CASE OF THE MISSING CROWN

A GLORIA JEAN MYSTERY

By

V.K. Mullins

at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Vanessa Mullins

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and locations are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses or towns, is purely coincidental

CHAPTER ONE

Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop.

I love the sound my horse and carriage make as I pass through the town. Everyone standing on the street corners waving at me. Naturally I wave back. My hands and forearms are ensconced in elbow length white gloves. My floor-length white dress splayed out with a beautiful flow over the seat on both sides of me. As we pass by the local shops of our small downtown, I catch a glimmer of shine out of the corner of my eye. There I see my tiara reflecting brightly in a storefront window as the sun bounces off of it. In the reflection, I am startled to see a male sitting to my left. I turn my head to look at him, open my mouth and start to say…

"She's the lucky one. She's a star." All of a sudden, I'm singing Britney Spears from a few years ago as my mystery date fades out view. I never even got to see his face! My eyes open to bright light shining through the blinds of my bedroom window.

Stupid alarm clock. I reached over to shut off the alarm. Guess I'm not Britney. It was only a dream. Wonder what it means?

As far as life goes, I’m a pretty practical person. Pretty level headed. People would be shocked if they knew how much stock I put into dreams. I think that dreams can sometimes tell you what is going on in your waking life or even, what is going to happen to you. Kind of like a foretelling of events, or sometimes even, putting seemingly unrelated things together while you’re sleeping that you can‘t figure out when you are awake. People wouldn’t expect that kind of thinking from me. They think I’m nothing but practical.

Where are my glasses? I say as I feel around on the bedside table. I’m still too tired to fully open my eyes so I reach further and, Ah, there they are, I say to myself as I blink and squint until I can keep my eyes open.

Oh gosh, morning already. Shower time, I tell my little brown stuffed bear that I’ve had for as long as I can remember. That’s another thing I do, talk to myself out loud. Helps me think. If people saw me do that though, they’d probably think I was crazy.

Dragging my butt out of bed, I started my morning routine. Shower, dry my hair, pull it back into a ponytail, and get dressed. Each night I lay my clothes for the next day out before I go to sleep because I’m not a morning person and without doing that, I would be late every single day.

This morning it’s my homemade, pale blue, ankle-length sack dress. Next I put on my white ankle socks followed by white canvas shoes. My mom says I need to add some more color to my wardrobe. The only reason she says this is because most of my clothes are some shade of blue and all my socks, as well as shoes, are white. I say; if you find something that works, stick with it.

Hi Mom. Hi Dad. They always sit at the same place at the table. Every morning, every night. And they say I need some change. Huh, wonder where I get it?

So Gloria Jean, are you ready for your first day of school? Mom asked. Every year, same question.

Yes mom, I reply probably a little more snarky than I should have. I love my mom, but can't she come up with something new?

She was so busy stuffing papers into her briefcase she didn’t notice. Good dear, gotta run. Have a great day. Coming Martin? she says all in one breath.

Yes dear. Goodbye Gloria Jean. See you tonight. Dad grabs his lunchbox, kisses me on the forehead and leaves right behind mom. They ride to work together, mom always drives. My dad owns Sylton’s only auto dealership and mom runs his office. It seems to me that would drive most couples crazy, but they've been doing it for years and it works for them. But I’m not married, nor have I ever had a boyfriend so what would I know?

As I looked out the window after them, I spot my car and smile. I love having a car. Last year on my sixteenth birthday, my dad brought home a little blue Fiesta for me. It's not my dream car, but heck, it's a car, and it’s all mine. I call her Baby Blue and I take care of her so she’ll last for a long time. I think I have my oil changed more often than anyone else in town. As soon as they see me pull up, the guys at Quickie Lube have my information pulled before I can even roll down my window. They say if you're nice to your car, it will be nice to you. I don't know who THEY are, but it doesn't matter, I believe them.

So this morning as every school morning, I drive my Baby Blue to pick up my best friend Millie Frasier. Millie and I have been friends since the time in the fourth grade when some kids were teasing me at recess and Millie walked up, told them to stop and when they didn’t, she beat up two of the girls giving one a black eye and the other a fat lip. From that moment forward, nobody ever messed with me or Millie again.

She's always been taller than most of the kids in class. It’s just this last year that some of the guys have started to outgrow her. She's five feet eleven and towers over my five foot two frame. We look like an odd pair. Okay, we are an odd pair but that doesn‘t stop us from being best friends. She’s the brawn and I’m the brain as we like to laugh about.

Millie and I pulled into the school parking lot of Davis May High School. It's named after Davis May, the first man to settle in Sylton, Ohio, where we live. Sylton, Ohio is right smack dab near the heart of Ohio. Anyway, we pulled into a parking space and even before we can get out of the car, here comes Darryl West. Darryl is my first cousin on my dad's side. His mom and my dad are brother and sister. He and I are close even though he’s a jock, and I'm what they call a nerd and he‘s a guy and I‘m a girl. Doesn't matter to either of us though. Seems like my two closest friends and I are complete opposites, but they’re opposites of each other too. Is that really possible? I wonder? How can you have three opposites? Oh well.

Hi you two. Ready for school? asked Darryl interrupting my thoughts.

Yes I am, I answer with a lot of enthusiasm.

I guess so, said Millie. Millie isn't wild about school. She takes mostly easy classes whereas I take mostly advanced courses. That’s why we work. What