The Red-Handed Thief

by Stan

  “Evidence,” said Sister. “We need evidence. And who collects evidence?”

  “Uh…laboratory scientists?” said Freddy.

  “No, dummy!” said Sister. “Evidence about crimes!”

  “Detectives,” said Brother.

  “Right,” said Sister. “So who should collect the evidence about the locker thefts at Bear Country School? Come on, guys. Use those high-powered brains!”

  Brother’s face lit up. “Of course!” he cried. “The Bear Detectives!”

  “Right!” said Freddy. “The Bear Detectives rise again! But where do we start?”

  It was a good question. The would-be detectives sat down by the side of the road to think. Minutes passed before Sister had the first bright idea. “Let’s break into Too-Tall’s locker,” she said.

  “Bad idea,” said Brother. “We’d be criminals ourselves. Besides, we’d never be able to break into his locker. Not even with a crowbar.”

  “Maybe we could get the combination,” said Freddy.

  “It would still be a crime,” said Brother. “Besides, that’s the most mysterious part of the mystery. Those combinations are under lock and key in the principal’s office. And anyway, the evidence might not be in the locker.”

  The cubs sat and thought some more.

  “How about this?” Sister said after a while. “Let’s shadow Too-Tall and the gang. You know, follow them like real detectives.”

  “Hmm,” said Brother.

  “We’d have to make sure they didn’t see us,” said Freddy.

  “What do you think we could find out?” asked Sister.

  “Who knows?” said Brother. “Maybe they’re sneaking into school after it’s closed.”

  “Maybe they’ll lead us to where they’ve hidden the stolen goods,” said Freddy.

  “Okay,” said Brother. “We’ve been sitting and thinking long enough. Let’s do it! We’ll drop off our books. Then we’ll pick up Too-Tall and his gang at Biff Bruin’s pharmacy. I’m sure they’ll be there. That’s where they always hang out. And Freddy, bring your bird-watching binoculars. Because these birds are going to need some heavy-duty watching!”

  Sure enough, Too-Tall and the gang were in their regular booth at the pharmacy.

  “Just act cool,” said Brother. “Act like we’re here to buy stuff.”

  But it was hard to act cool around Too-Tall.

  “I’m innocent! I’m innocent!” he screamed when he saw Brother, Freddy, and Sister. He flopped out of the booth onto the floor. “Please don’t beat me! Please don’t throw me into that burning fire!”

  “Just ignore him,” said Brother.

  “He’s pretty hard to ignore rolling around on the floor and screaming like that,” said Sister. She was pretending to read a comic book.

  Biff Bruin came running out from the back room, where he was working on a prescription. “What’s going on here?” he said.

  Too-Tall got to his feet and brushed himself off. “It’s okay, Biff,” he said. “I was just explaining the foundations of democracy to these cubs. Especially one called INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!”

  “It’s okay, Mr. Bruin,” said Brother. “We’re leaving.”

  They could hear Too-Tall and the gang howling with laughter as they left the pharmacy. Sister was steaming. “He makes me so mad!” she yelled.

  “Take it easy, Sis,” said Brother. “This is working out perfectly.”

  “How so?” asked Freddy.

  “We’ll just act like we’re heading home,” said Brother. “Once we’re around the corner, we’ll duck into the bushes. They’ll never guess we’re planning to shadow them.”

  “Hey, that’s right!” said Sister.

  They found a spot with a good view of Biff’s. Then they ducked down and waited for Too-Tall and his gang to come out.

  “They’re coming out!” said Freddy. “Let’s go!”

  “Not so fast,” said Brother. He held Freddy and Sister back. “Don’t let them see us, or the whole thing will be a waste.”

  The Bear Detectives followed Too-Tall and the gang at a safe distance. They kept well out of sight.

  “Look!” said Sister. “They’re headed for the Burger Bear!”

  “So?” said Brother. “There’s nothing suspicious about the Burger Bear.”

  “You never know,” said Freddy. He looked through his binoculars at the Burger Bear’s big front window. “Aha!” he cried.

  “What are they doing?” said Sister.

  “They’re…drinking milk shakes,” said Freddy.

  “Drinking milk shakes?” said Brother. “That’s not ‘aha!’ That’s ‘ho-hum.’”

  Suddenly Freddy cried, “Get down! Quick!”

  The cubs ducked down out of sight. “What’s wrong?” asked Sister.

  “They just looked in our direction,” said Freddy.

  “But do you think they saw us?” asked Brother. Freddy poked the binoculars through the bushes. “Well?” said Brother. “DO YOU THINK THEY SAW US?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Freddy after a while. “It’s just that the binoculars make them seem so close. So when they looked over here, I got scared. Wait. They’re coming out. Get ready to follow.”

  “Uh-oh,” said Brother. “They’re splitting up!”

  “What’ll we do?” cried Sister.

  “We’ll split up,” said Brother. “I’ll take Too-Tall, Freddy will take Skuzz. Sister, you take Smirk…”

  “What about Vinnie?” said Sister.

  “Hey,” said Brother, “sometimes you have to work shorthanded. Now let’s go!”

  Chapter 8

  The Bear Detectives on the Trail

  The Bear Detectives did their best following the gang whenever it split up. But their best didn’t seem to be good enough. Two days later, there was another school-locker theft. The Bear Detectives met at afternoon recess to talk about it.

  “That could mean that Vinnie is the thief,” said Sister. “He’s the one we haven’t followed yet.”

  “Right,” said Brother. “After school I’ll take Vinnie instead of Too-Tall if the gang splits up.”

  But that afternoon the gang didn’t split up. From school they headed straight into some nearby woods. The Bear Detectives had no trouble keeping up with them. That was because Too-Tall was carrying something. He was carrying a heavy box that slowed the gang down.

  The cubs made their way along a narrow trail through the trees. “What do you think is in the box?” whispered Sister.

  “The stolen goods, what else?” Freddy whispered back.

  “Yeah,” said Brother. “I think we’ve finally got ’em.”

  The gang stopped at an old hollow tree and set the box down on the ground. The Bear Detectives hid in some bushes. It was hard to see clearly through all the leaves. Even Freddy’s binoculars didn’t help very much.

  “What are they doing?” asked Sister.

  “I’m not sure,” said Freddy. “Wait…Too-Tall’s picking up the box…Yes! He’s hiding it in the hollow of that old tree!”

  “All right!” said Brother. “Now we’ve got ’em for sure!”

  The cubs waited silently until the gang left. Then they hurried to the old tree. Brother reached into the hollow and lifted out the cardboard box. It wasn’t so heavy after all. “Doesn’t feel like baseball cards,” he said. He shook it a little.

  “Come on, open it,” said Freddy. He tried to grab the box.

  Brother jerked the box away. “Hold your horses, Freddy!”

  But Freddy was so excited he couldn’t wait. He grabbed one of the box’s flaps and yanked. The contents spilled out all over the three cubs’ feet. They looked down. It wasn’t stolen goods. It was…

  “GARBAGE!” the cubs cried out.

  And that’s exactly what it was. Old cans, orange and banana peels, plastic wrappers, and eggshells were lying all over the place.

  Suddenly Too-Tall and the gang leapt out from behind some bushes and shouted, “GARBAGE! That�
�s what your evidence is! GARBAGE!” Then they laughed wildly and ran off through the woods. And they left the Bear Detectives with egg on their faces and garbage on their feet.

  Chapter 9

  To the Thinking Place

  Nothing in the world is worse than chasing after evidence and finding only garbage. It’s especially bad when the garbage winds up all over your feet with the criminals laughing at you.

  It was pretty clear what had happened. Too-Tall and the gang had seen the cubs back at the Burger Bear. Maybe Freddy’s binoculars glinting in the sun had given them away. Or maybe Too-Tall had figured it out as soon as they walked into Biff’s pharmacy. But it really didn’t matter. What did matter was that the idea of shadowing the locker thieves hadn’t worked. It was a bust. A complete bust.

  The Bear Detectives knew that they needed to talk things over. They needed to make a new plan for proving the gang guilty. Brother’s Thinking Place was not far from the old hollow tree. This was the rocky spot in the woods where Brother went whenever he had to think things over.

  The cubs sat on some rocks at the Thinking Place and thought hard.

  After a while Sister spoke up. “I just thought of something,” she said. “Except for Too-Tall and his gang, Brother is the only member of the Foundations of Democracy class who hasn’t been robbed yet.”

  “Hey, you’re right,” said Freddy.

  “They wouldn’t rob themselves,” said Brother. “But then again, they might. Just to throw everyone off the trail.”

  “Yes, but they haven’t,” said Sister.

  Brother kept thinking. His Thinking Place hadn’t failed him yet. And he didn’t want this to be the first time.

  “So,” said Brother, “the big question is, why haven’t I been robbed yet?”

  “Wrong,” said Freddy. “It doesn’t matter why. That’s because we can use it to catch Too-Tall. Here’s what we do. First we rig up a trap in Brother’s locker. Then we spread the word that Too-Tall won’t rob Brother’s locker because he’s yellow-chicken-just-plain-scared of Brother. As soon as Too-Tall hears that, a machine gun couldn’t keep him away from Brother’s locker.”

  “But who’s gonna believe that?” asked Brother. “Too-Tall’s not scared of me. Everybody knows that.”

  “But you did dump him in the mall Dumpster when both of you wanted to take Bonnie Brown to the Spring Dance,” Freddy pointed out. “We’ll say he’s been scared of you ever since.”

  Brother thought for a moment. “It just might work,” he said. Suddenly his eyes lit up. “Especially if I say that I’m going to bring my Babe Bruin rookie card to school to trade. And that I’m going to keep it in my locker!”

  “Perfect,” said Freddy. “Now listen, guys. First we visit Bonnie Brown’s uncle, Squire Grizzly. He’s the president of the Great Grizzly National Bank. The bank uses paint bombs to catch robbers. I’ll bet he can help us rig up a paint bomb in Brother’s locker. Then, when Too-Tall opens the door to steal that Babe Bruin card—SPLATTO! We’ll catch him red-handed!”

  “Yeah!” said Sister. “And red-faced and red-chested and red-everything-else!”

  Chapter 10

  The Mad Bombers of Bear Country School

  Squire Grizzly was a bank president. So naturally he hated robbers more than anything. He was more than happy to help the Bear Detectives with their scheme. Early the next morning, the Squire sent one of his security men to Bear Country School to rig up a red paint bomb in Brother’s locker.

  As the Bear Detectives made their way down the hall to class that morning, they passed the locker. It looked just like all the others. There was no sign that a trap had been set. Quickly, the cubs spread the word that Brother’s Babe Bruin card was in the locker and that Too-Tall was afraid of Brother.

  “All we have to do now,” said Sister, “is wait for Too-Tall or one of the gang to show up in class with red paint all over him.”

  “Great,” said Brother. “Let me put my jacket away.” Brother already had a hand on his combination lock.

  “Stop!” cried Freddy.

  “Huh?” said Brother.

  “Haven’t you forgotten something?” asked Freddy.

  Brother frowned. Then he grinned foolishly. “Oh, yeah…heh heh…the paint bomb,” he said. “My locker looks so normal it even had me fooled.”

  The cubs hurried off to class and waited for the gang to show up. But when they arrived, a few minutes late as usual, not one of them was red-faced. And not one of them was red-faced after lunch or after afternoon recess, either. By the end of the school day, Brother’s locker had not been opened by anyone!

  “Aha!” said Brother. The cubs stood in front of his locker. “They’re not doing it during school anymore. They’re doing it after school. Or maybe even at night.”

  “So what do we do?” asked Sister.

  “Simple,” said Brother. “We go home and forget about it. When we come back to school tomorrow morning, the trap will be sprung. And my locker will be covered with red paint.”

  “And so will one of the gang,” said Freddy.

  The cubs went home and tried to forget about the paint bomb. But it was hard not to think about it. They just couldn’t wait to see Too-Tall or one of the gang all covered with red paint.

  And sure enough, when the cubs arrived at school the next morning, Brother’s locker was wide open. And it was splattered all over with red paint.

  “Yahoo!” cried Brother. “We finally got ’em!”

  “I can’t wait for Too-Tall to get here!” said Sister.

  “Be patient, Sis,” said Brother. “I’ve been thinking about this. It seems to me that Too-Tall, or whichever gang member did it, isn’t stupid enough to come to school covered with the evidence. At morning recess, we’ll go to Mr. Honeycomb and tell him what we did. Then he can call Chief Bruno, who can go pick up the gang.”

  “I don’t think we’ll need to do that,” said Freddy.

  “Why not?” asked Brother.

  Freddy pointed down the hall. “Because here come Too-Tall and the gang right now.”

  Brother and Sister turned to look. Too-Tall, Skuzz, Smirk, and Vinnie were walking calmly down the hall to Teacher Bob’s class. And there wasn’t a speck of red paint on any of them.

  “They washed it off already!” cried Sister.

  “No way,” said Freddy. “That stuff is unwashable. It would take days to get it off.”

  The gang passed the cubs. Too-Tall noticed Brother’s locker and stopped. “Hey, guys, look at this,” he said with a laugh. “What happened to your locker, Brother?”

  “Paint bomb,” said Brother.

  “Cool!” said Too-Tall. “But you didn’t get hit.”

  “Neither did you, I see,” said Brother.

  “Me?” said Too-Tall. He sounded puzzled. “I don’t get it.”

  “Neither do I,” said Brother.

  “Hey, guys,” Too-Tall said to the gang. “Do you know what he’s talkin’ about?”

  “I dunno, boss,” said Skuzz.

  “Beats me,” said Smirk.

  “I think Brother’s gone wacko,” suggested Vinnie.

  “Well,” said Too-Tall, “it sure wasn’t me who broke into that locker, gang. Remember, I’m yellow-chicken-just-plain-scared of big bad Brother Bear! BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK!”

  The gang laughed loudly and strutted off down the hall doing chicken-wings with their elbows. The cubs were left shaking their heads.

  Chapter 11

  Caught Red-Handed

  The Bear Detectives had trouble paying attention in class that morning. They couldn’t get their minds off the red-handed thief. Who was it? Whoever it was surely wouldn’t come to school today. But all the cubs in Teacher Bob’s class were there! Was it someone from outside class? Maybe even someone from outside school?

  Finally, it was time for Foundations of Democracy. Teacher Bob looked at his watch and asked for the cubs’ attention. “I have an important announcement, class,” he said. “There will be no
Foundations of Democracy today. This is a free period.”

  The cubs all groaned. They liked Foundations of Democracy. It was fun and exciting.

  But one cub didn’t groan. He was too busy thinking. Brother Bear looked up at the blackboard at what Mr. Dweebish had written in the corner the day before. “Innocent until proven guilty.” It was the third or fourth time Mr. Dweebish had written that on the board. And this time he had asked Teacher Bob not to erase it. The social studies teacher was certainly trying hard to get that idea across. Maybe, thought Brother, a little too hard…

  When the bell rang for lunch, Sister and Cousin Freddy headed toward the lunchroom as usual. But Brother stopped them in the hall. “We’re not going to the lunchroom today,” he said.

  “Speak for yourself,” said Sister. “I’m hungry.”

  “We’re going to Miz McGrizz’s house instead,” said Brother. He walked swiftly to the front door. Sister and Freddy hurried after him.

  “But I don’t want to have lunch with Miz McGrizz,” whined Sister.

  “Not for lunch,” said Brother.

  “For Bear Detectives work?” asked Freddy.

  “Yup,” said Brother. “I have a feeling we’ll find our red-handed thief there.”

  “Miz McGrizz?” said Sister. “You’ve gotta be kidding!”

  “I’m not kidding,” said Brother. “But I don’t mean Miz McGrizz.”

  “Oh!” said Freddy. “You mean—”

  “That’s right,” said Brother. “Mr. Dweebish is boarding with Miz McGrizz. And he didn’t come to school today!”

  The cubs hurried to Miz McGrizz’s house and rang the doorbell. Kindly old Miz McGrizz opened the door and smiled down at them. “Well, what a pleasant surprise!” she said. “What can I do for you cubs?”

  “We have to see Mr. Dweebish,” said Brother.

  Miz McGrizz looked back toward the stairs. “I’m afraid Mr. Dweebish hasn’t come down from his room yet,” she said. “Perhaps…”