"What?" Anna cried as everyone else gasped.
"Why do you think Anna stole the tickets, Henry?" Nathan asked.
"She's the only one with the motive and the opportunity," Henry said.
"She's been saving to buy a game player, so we know she needed money.
When she got to that tide pool first, she decided to go grab the booty for herself."
William turned to Anna. "Is that true?"
Anna's shoulders slumped. "I didn't mean to do it! It was an accident."
Maggie scowled. "How can you steal something by accident?"
"Yeah!" chimed in Luke.
Anna sighed. "I was about to check one tide pool when I realized that another one is shaped like a teardrop.
Just like the clue!" Anna went on. "So I got excited and ran to that one."
"That must be when Roger saw you running on the beach," Cole said.
"When I got to the tide pool, nobody else was there yet," Anna went on.
"I spotted the box in the water and grabbed it.
I thought the envelope had money inside."
"So you decided to steal it?" Maggie demanded.
"I was thinking about taking some of it," Anna admitted.
"Enough to buy myself a game player. I had gum in my pocket," she went on.
"So I dropped that in the box.
I thought the gum might make up for taking some of the money."
Tears filled her eyes. "I know it was wrong—really wrong."
Luke was staring at her in disbelief. "I can't believe you stole our stuff!"
Anna bit her lip.
"Once I realized that the envelope didn't have money, I wanted to put it back in the box.
But I heard someone coming. I panicked and stuck the envelope in my pocket.
Then I tossed the box back in the water and sneaked away before anyone saw me."
Nathan frowned at Anna. "How could you do something like that?"
"I'm sorry." Tears rolled down Anna's cheeks.
She pulled an envelope out of her pocket and gave it to Henry.
"I never meant to ruin anyone's fun.
I just wasn't thinking, and now I feel terrible.
I don't even want a video game player anymore!"
Henry couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Anna.
"I made a terrible mistake," she went on.
"And I owe your parents a big apology too, William."
He nodded coolly. "You sure do, Anna."
Looking miserable, Anna headed back to the beach house to apologize to William's parents.
"Come on, you guys," Maggie said to the others.
"We have one more treasure to find!"
They all ran to the bandstand.
A cooler with a skull and crossbones sat there.
Henry read the note that was taped to it.
"We're supposed to carry the cooler back to William's beach house," he informed his friends.
"It will get filled up with something there."
As they hurried back to William's house, The Lemonade Detectives talked about the case.
"How did you figure out that Anna was the thief?" Maggie asked Henry.
Henry shrugged. "It was the only answer that fit all the clues."
"A few things still don't make sense though," Cole said.
"Why was Nathan acting weird all day?"
They looked at Nathan. "Ah-choo!" Nathan sneezed.
Henry smiled. "Another case closed," he said.
"Nathan caught his sister's cold and isn't feeling well.
That's why he's grumpy today!"
"Okay," Maggie said. "But I have another question.
Why was Roger hanging around us all day?"
They'd just come within view of the beach house. Henry pointed.
"I think we just solved that mystery too."
There was a party set up on the deck with pirate decorations!
Roger stood there, dressed in a pirate costume.
"Ahoy, mateys!" he called, waving.
"Come and enjoy your final booty—it's a pirate party!"
They brought the cooler over, and Roger immediately filled it with ice and soda for them.
Henry could see Anna standing off to the side, talking with William's parents in low tones.
Henry and Maggie were watching her.
"Do you think Anna and William can still be friends?" asked Maggie softly.
"I'm not sure," Henry replied.
"Anna seems pretty sorry about what she did, but friends don't steal from friends."
"And cousins don't steal from cousins," Maggie added, banging her cup gently against Henry's.
"Your parents must have set up this party while we were in town," Cole said to William.
William grinned as he looked around the deck. "It's pretty cool, actually."
"That's why Roger went to the general store earlier," Henry chimed in.
"Anna's parents also do catering, remember?
Roger must have been picking up the food."
Maggie laughed. "It's a good thing we solved all the mysteries," she said. "Otherwise—"
Just then Roger Redbeard popped up from behind Maggie.
"I would have made you walk the plank!" he finished. "Aargh!"