As soon as we had finished eating, Stacey took me downstairs to hail a cab. She knew I was in a hurry to get to Quint's. "My father wants to take us all out to lunch today," she told me. "You, me, and Quint. So give us a call in a few hours and we'll figure out where to meet, okay?"

"Great," I said. "That's really nice of your dad." We were about to walk out of the building at that point, and I was a little distracted. I peered around, checking to make sure the two men weren't lurking nearby.

"What are you looking for?" asked Stacey.

"Oh, urn, a cab," I said, thinking quickly.

"We'll have a better chance out on the avenue." Stacey led me to the corner where we'd stood the night before. "Why don't you try hailing one this time?" she asked.

I watched for a cab, and when I saw one coming I threw my arm up, just as I'd seen Stacey and Quint do. It worked! The cab veered over to me and pulled up at the curb. It was almost like magic. Stacey grinned at me. "You're a New Yorker already," she said. "See you later!"

I spent the cab ride thinking about — what else? — the jewel thieves. And when I jumped out at Quint’s, guess what I saw? A police car, parked in the street in front of the building next door. The building where they had been having their argument!

"It's been there all morning," whispered Quint, when I mentioned it to him. He and I had escaped from his family as quickly as possible and were alone in the TV room.

"Maybe the police are already on to those guys," I said. "Maybe they're staking out the apartment."

"Maybe," said Quint, sounding doubtful. "Listen to this, though," he went on. "My dad told me at breakfast this morning that the phone rang in the middle of the night. When

he picked it up, whoever was on the other end hung up. It happened twice!"

A shiver ran down my spine. "Do you think they were calling to check up on you?" I asked.