The Missing Ring

Olivia had worked at the reception desk of the Seagull Hotel for five years, and she thought she had seen everything. But she had never seen Mrs. Harper so angry.

“My ring is gone!” Mrs. Harper shouted. “It was my mother's. I left it on the table by the window last night, and this morning it wasn't there.”

Olivia asked her to calm down and followed her up to Room 12. The room was tidy. The bed was made, and the window was wide open because it had been a hot night.

“The only person who came in this morning was the cleaner,” Mrs. Harper said. “That young man. It must be him.”

The cleaner was Tom, a nineteen-year-old student who worked at the hotel every summer. Olivia knew him well. He was quiet, honest and always on time. When she spoke to him, his face went white.

“I cleaned the room at nine,” he said. “I didn't see any ring. I promise.”

Olivia believed him, but she needed proof. If she didn't find the ring soon, Mrs. Harper would call the police, and Tom would probably lose his job.

She went back to Room 12 and looked around carefully. On the floor under the window, she found a small black feather. She picked it up and looked outside. On the roof across the garden, a big black crow was watching her.

Then she remembered something. Over the last few weeks, other guests had complained about small things that had disappeared: a silver earring, a car key, a spoon from the terrace. Nobody had ever found them, and every time, the window had been open.

Olivia asked the gardener, Mr. Brooks, for a ladder. Together they carried it to the old tree next to the roof, where the crow had built its nest. Mr. Brooks climbed up slowly while Olivia held the ladder.

“You won't believe this!” he called down. In the nest, among the sticks, there were coins, keys, a silver spoon, two earrings, a piece of blue glass and a gold ring that shone in the sun.

Mrs. Harper held the ring in her hands for a long time without speaking. Then she went to find Tom and apologized to him in front of everyone in the dining room. At the end of her stay, she also left him a very generous tip.

That evening, Olivia put a new sign in every room: Please close your windows when you go out. Our crow loves jewelry.