"Let's go outside and watch Maggie's riding lesson," Henry suggested.
"Someone might do something suspicious."
"Okay. Maybe you should bring Maggie's sandals so they don't get stolen," Cole said.
Henry was pretty sure Cole was joking. But he picked up the sandals anyway.
"That's a good idea," he said.
"If these sandals disappear, Maggie's parents will freak out."
Cole nodded. "I think Maggie said the riding ring is this way."
He headed toward the back door.
On their way out, the boys passed Jill.
She was trying to yank a wheelbarrow out of a stall.
It was piled high with horse manure.
"Ugh!" Jill cried as the wheelbarrow almost tipped over.
Then she spotted the boys. "Hey," she said. "Will you two help me?
My wheelbarrow is stuck."
"Sure." Henry put down the sandals. Then he and Cole grabbed the wheelbarrow.
Working together, they soon pulled it into the aisle.
"Whew! Thanks." Jill wiped sweat off her forehead.
"I thought I'd never get it out of there."
"Cleaning all these stalls must be hard work," Henry said.
"It is." Jill frowned. "And Ms. Wood doesn't pay me very much."
"So why do you do it?" Cole asked.
"Because it's the only way to pay for extra riding lessons."
Jill sighed. "I wish I had a way to earn more cash!
Then I could ride every day and not have to clean a bunch of stinky stalls first."
Henry and Cole said good-bye to Jill and headed outdoors.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Cole asked as they sat down on a bench outside the riding ring.
"Yes, if you're thinking that Jill should be a suspect."
Henry put Maggie's sandals on the bench.
"It sounds like she'd do anything to get more money for riding."
"Including steal stuff?" Cole asked.
"Who knows?" Henry said.
"She could probably sell Maggie's gloves and charm bracelet.
And she might have thought she could cash that check."
"Okay, we'll put her on the suspect list," Cole said.
"But we'd better not let her know she's on there.
If she turns out to be innocent again, she'll be really annoyed!"
Henry laughed.
The Lemonade Detectives had suspected Jill of stealing during their very first mystery.
She'd turned out to be innocent in that case.
But that didn't mean she was innocent now too.
Henry glanced at the riding ring. "We should be watching our other suspects."
He and Cole watched the lesson for a while.
Ms. Wood stood in the middle of the ring and told the riders what to do.
First she had them walk their horses around in a big circle.
Then she told them to trot.
Henry noticed that trotting was faster, and it looked kind of bouncy.
"This is no fun!" Zach complained loudly.
"Every time my pony trots, I almost fall off."
"That kid really doesn't want to be here, does he?" Cole whispered.
"It's easy, Zach!" Daisy called out. "Just watch me."
As Daisy trotted past the others, Eleanor's pony slowed to a walk.
"Ms. Wood, my pony is lazy!" Eleanor called out.
"I have to squeeze him so often, my leg muscles are tired!"
"You're doing fine, Eleanor," Ms. Wood said.
"Daisy, please come back and join the others."
"But I was just showing Zach how to trot," Daisy said.
"I was doing it right, wasn't I?"
"Daisy is pretty competitive," Cole whispered to Henry.
"She tried out for the swim team, remember?"
Henry nodded. "Maybe she's afraid Maggie is a better rider.
Daisy could be taking Maggie's stuff so Maggie will get in trouble and have to quit."
"Zach has a good motive too," Cole said. "He hates this place.
Maybe he's stealing stuff just to cause trouble."
"Or he could be trying to get his sister in trouble," Henry said.
"If she gets fired, his parents probably wouldn't make him ride anymore."
Cole looked out at the ring again.
Eleanor was still whining about her pony being too slow.
"What about Eleanor?" he said.
"She's the only one who doesn't seem to have a motive.
Maybe she thought that jingling Maggie's charm bracelet at her pony would make him go faster."
Henry laughed. "I doubt that.
We don't know Eleanor very well," he reminded Cole.
"Maybe she has a motive that we haven't figured out yet."
Cole nodded. "All we know is that she's kind of lazy and she has a dog."
"Speaking of her dog, there he is."
Henry saw Little Spot wandering toward them.
The dog stopped to sniff at something on the ground.
Then he came toward them.
"Here, Little Spot." Cole held out his hand.
Little Spot ignored him. He grabbed one of Maggie's sandals and took off!
"Hey!" Henry cried.
"Aha!" Cole said. "I think we just caught the thief!"