“How exactly do you expect us to get into that place to look around?” Henry asked.
I found myself trying to think of some type of disguise that might help us gain access to Camp Phoenix. But nothing was popping into my head.
“Well, I guess we could just break the law and get thrown in jail. That’s one way,” Henry said with a chuckle.
I was only listening to Henry with half an ear. I kept trying to think up a plan that might get us into that boot camp. It had to be good—really good. And we had to make sure that we could get in and out of there safely. The last thing we’d want would be to get caught while searching for Josh. I kept racking my brain with the hopes of…Wait a minute…wait just a minute.
“Henry, what did you just say?”
“Um…I don’t know.”
“Something about going to jail?”
“Oh yeah. I said if we get ourselves arrested and thrown in the clink, then when the Camp Phoenix bus pulls up, we can just climb on board with the other delinquents. That’s one way to get in.”
“That’s a brilliant idea,” I said. “That’s exactly how we’re gonna do it.”
“Wait a minute. I was only kidding,” he said.
I patted him on the back. “Kidding or not, you nailed it.” I put my arm around him. “Who would have believed it? You and me—a couple of jailbirds.”
“Charlie, you’re absolutely crazy,” he said. “You’re not really thinking about getting yourself arrested just to get into that camp, are you?”
I was a little disappointed in Henry. By now, he had to have known that every once in a while, a good P.I. was forced to take desperate measures.
“Why not? It’s the only way,” I said. “Have you got a better idea?”
“But consider the downside. If you think your parents get on your case when they find out you’ve been taking on clients, just imagine what they’ll do if you get arrested.”
It was time for a bold move. I couldn’t worry about being grounded. I had to think about solving this caper no matter what.
“I’ve made up my mind,” I said. “I somehow have to break the law, get caught, get tossed in jail, and get picked up by the Camp Phoenix bus.”
Henry was beside himself. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Who in his right mind would go to jail just to solve a case?”
“I’ll tell you who,” I said. “Sam Solomon—in Episode #29—The Write a Wrong Caper.”
I proceeded to enlighten Henry. I told him about this reporter who was subpoenaed to appear in court and who was eventually thrown in jail for refusing to identify one of his sources in a newspaper story. Most people believed that the source in question was an organized crime kingpin, but there was no proof. And here’s where Sam fit in. He had been hired by the daughter of one of the victims of the unnamed Mafia chief. Sam desperately needed to talk to this reporter, but since he was locked up, no one had access to him. That’s when Sam decided that the only way to get to the newsman was to get tossed in jail himself. He threw a punch at a police lieutenant one day and got his wish. While incarcerated, the master detective questioned the reporter, who reluctantly gave up the name of his source.
“Charlie, don’t confuse fiction with real life,” Henry said. “You do what you want to do, but I don’t want any part of this. It’s crazy. Do you want to go around with a record for the rest of your life?”
“Once I get into the camp and solve the case, I’m sure they’ll drop the charges.”
“And what if they don’t? If I’m not mistaken,” Henry said, “you can’t get your private detective license if you’ve been convicted of a felony.”
“Who said anything about a felony? I’m thinking misdemeanor at best. I just need to make a nuisance of myself, that’s all.”
“What do you have in mind?” Henry asked.
“I don’t know yet. I need some time to figure things out,” I said. “Hey, you’re with me on this, right? Partners? Till the end?”
Henry folded his arms. He had a stern look on his face. He was about to take a stand.
“Charlie, you can risk your future if you want to, but I want no part of it. I may want to go into law enforcement someday—the secret service, the FBI, or maybe even the CIA. I can’t afford a blemish on my record. They’d never take me.”
We continued walking. It had suddenly gotten very quiet. Henry seemed bothered by all of this jailbird business.
“All right,” he said. “Let’s just say that you somehow manage to pull this off. Aren’t your parents going to wonder where you’ve disappeared to? Who knows how long it’ll take once you’re in there? And what if you can’t get out?”
“You know, Henry, I appreciate your concern. But instead of telling me how dangerous this might be, can’t you just help me figure out a way to pull it off?”
Henry shook his head as if he were clearing the cobwebs. “Okay, I just want to go on record that I think this is a really bad idea. There, I’ve gotten it out of my system. Now we can figure out how to make this happen. I’ll give it some thought tonight. We can compare notes tomorrow at school. Are you happy now?”
I smiled. I knew he’d come around. And even though I planned to do the dirty work myself, I would need an accomplice on the outside just in case something went wrong. The more I thought about what was ahead, the more I realized that Henry was probably right. This was real life, and it was a little crazy and maybe dangerous to boot. But I had made up my mind, and since no one else had an alternate plan, I was now destined to become a juvenile offender.
The next day at school, I waited for recess to drop the bomb on Scarlett. Like Henry, she was completely opposed to my idea of getting arrested and incarcerated.
“Are you crazy?” she said.
“That’s exactly what I told him,” Henry said. “But he’s too stubborn to listen.”
“My mind’s made up,” I said. “And I’d appreciate a little help from both of you…but if I have to do this thing myself, I will. Tell you what—let’s meet in my garage after school. My mom’s headed to the supermarket today. All right?”
“I don’t think I can,” Henry said. “We’re having a new couch delivered, and I got to be there when the guy comes ’cause my mom won’t be home.”
Since when was a new couch more important than solving a case? Where were Henry’s priorities anyway?
“What time is the guy coming?” I asked.
“Between four and five.”
“Perfect,” I said. “You can come over for a little while.”
“Ten minutes—tops,” he said.
I turned to Scarlett. “How about you?”
“All right,” she said impatiently. “But I might be a little late. You can start without me.”
As Scarlett walked off, I began to wonder just how badly she really wanted to be part of our little agency. In the past few weeks, I had become convinced that she did indeed have something to offer, but it just didn’t seem that her heart was in it.
“Why the long face?” Henry said. “Trust me, we are more than capable of thinking up some way to get you into that camp. We don’t need her.”
“But she should be there—and on time,” I said. “She’s an official member of the agency now, and she can’t treat it like some minor inconvenience.” I wasn’t sure if I was more upset about the fact that she didn’t take the agency commitment as seriously as I did or just that I was losing out on spending some quality time with her.
“If you want her there, I can make that happen,” Henry said. “And I can’t believe I just said that.”
“Well, of course I want her there.”
“Okay, then, watch this,” Henry said. “Hey, Scarlett,” he yelled out to her.
She was just about to enter the front door of school when she stopped.
“Don’t worry about this afternoon,” Henry said. “Charlie and I can figure this thing out by ourselves. You don’t need to rush. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Scarlett
was now marching in our direction. “I’ll be there, okay? And I’ll be on time. Are you happy now?” She spun around and headed back to the front door.
Henry smiled at me and raised his eyebrows. He was pretty proud of himself at that moment. And he should have been. For a long time, Henry had been the bookkeeper, business manager, and muscle at the agency. But it now seemed that he was being underutilized. This guy was a great psychologist.
And just as she had promised, Scarlett met us in the garage only minutes after Henry and I had gotten there.
“All right,” Henry said. “So, here’s the plan. Whatever you decide to do to get yourself arrested, it would be best if you did it on Friday afternoon.”
“Why?” Scarlett asked.
“Because we have no idea how long Charlie will be gone,” he said. “If we can come up with a great excuse to give his parents, it buys us time.”
“I was actually thinking about what I could tell them,” I said. “It’s got to be a lot better than a simple sleepover. Let’s tell them that you invited me on a camping trip this weekend with your family.”
“A camping trip? Are you serious?” Henry said.
“What’s wrong with that?” I said. “It’s the perfect way to kill a weekend. My parents would buy it.”
“It’s a bad idea, and I’ll tell you why,” he said. “My mom is not what you’d call a nature lover—if you know what I mean. She’s allergic to anything that’s green—leaves, grass, shrubs, moss. Heck, she’s even allergic to leprechauns.”
“Yeah, but she’s not really going camping. What difference does it make?”
Henry held up his hand. “Charlie, don’t you think that your mom will call my mom and talk about what we should pack? It won’t work. We’ll get busted.”
He was right. He was absolutely right. Our moms talked to each other all the time. I think they compared notes on what we were up to each day.
But before we could continue the debate, there was a knock at the door.
“Who’s that?” I said. “Henry, did you book someone?”
He grabbed the clipboard from the workbench. “Nobody,” he said.
“We’re too busy for a walk-in today,” I said. “See if you can get rid of them.”
Henry shuffled over to the door and threw it open.
Standing in the entryway was Bethany Nesmith. Bethany was a classmate of ours. She was in one of the inner circles at school. You know the type—dressed to the nines, not a hair out of place, and a killer smile. She was also Scarlett’s biggest rival. The two were polite to each other in public, but when no one was around, the gloves came off.
“Hi, Bethany,” I said.
Scarlett didn’t say a word. She just stared. Better make that glared.
“Charlie, have you got a minute?” Bethany said.
“Well…” I wasn’t sure how to answer.
“Bethany, we’re kinda busy,” Scarlett said. “Big case and all.”
“Oh, this should only take a minute—for Charlie, that is.” And then she flashed that smile.
Henry, never one to miss out on landing a new client and collecting a fee, slid in between us.
“I’m Charlie’s partner,” he said. “What can we do for you?”
“I have a little problem I’d like to talk to him about,” she said.
“It’ll cost you,” he said.
“It’s just a little problem,” Bethany said. “I’m sure Charlie wouldn’t charge me for it…would you, Charlie?” Another smile. Boy, did she have straight teeth.
“To tell you the truth,” I said, “I usually let Henry handle all of the money matters.”
Henry crossed his arms and grinned.
“How about if I just tell you about it,” she said, “and then you tell me if it’ll cost anything. What do you say?”
“Sorry, Bethany, it’s just not a good time,” Scarlett said.
Bethany turned to me and pouted. I knew that we should just reschedule her. It would certainly make Scarlett happy. And we only had a few minutes before Henry had to leave. But I have a really hard time saying no to a girl—especially one like Bethany. Sam Solomon and I were both victims of the same curse. We were suckers for a pretty face. I can’t tell you how many times Sam got himself into trouble whenever he let his emotions do the talking. And yet, knowing all of that, I still caved in.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt just to listen, right?” I directed my comment to both Henry and Scarlett.
Scarlett rolled her eyes and looked away. I knew she didn’t approve.
“We’ll just find out what her problem is,” Henry said. “But if she wants a solution, it’s gonna cost her.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “Okay, Bethany, what’s up?”
“There’s a thief on the loose,” she said. “And I need you to find him.”
“A thief?” Scarlett said. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s true,” Bethany said. “And I know who it is. Well, actually, it’s one of two people. I guess I don’t know for sure who’s the culprit.”
“When and where did this happen?” Henry asked.
I opened up a lawn chair and set it down next to Bethany. “Please, have a seat,” I said.
“It was in the school library this afternoon,” she said. “I was sitting at a table with Sean Morrison and Jeremy Guthrie. And one of them is the thief. I know it.”
I pulled the card table down from behind a ladder. “Henry, can you help me with this?” We proceeded to open the table and then set up chairs around it for the rest of us. This was starting to get interesting. “Go on,” I said to Bethany.
“Well, I remember opening my purse and seeing if I had enough money for the snack machine. I took out a five-dollar bill and a single and set them down on the table. Then I checked to see if I had any change. But since I didn’t have enough, I grabbed the bills and went into the lobby to buy a bag of chips. When I got there, I discovered that I only had the one-dollar bill. By mistake I had left the five on the table.”
“You’re sure about that?” I said.
“I’m positive.”
“Okay, so what happened next?” Henry said.
Bethany leaned forward in her chair and lowered her voice. “When I went back into the library, the money was gone, and so were the boys.”
“So, did you try to find them to see if they remembered seeing the money?” Scarlett said.
She nodded.
“What’d they say?” I asked.
“Sean said that he remembered seeing the five-dollar bill on the table but assumed that I’d be coming back for it, so he just left it.”
“And Jeremy?” Scarlett said.
“He told me that he saw it too. But he was afraid to leave it there, so he stuck it in a book for safekeeping.”
I slid my chair out, stood up, and began to pace. It always helped me think things through when I was on the move.
“Did he remember which book he put it in?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Bethany said. “He said he looked for the bookshelf closest to the table and found a book called Nineteenth Century Russian Literature.”
“He remembered that specific title?” Henry said skeptically.
“Not only that,” she said, “he even told me he put it between pages sixty-three and sixty-four.”
“Did you go and try to find the book?” Scarlett said.
“Of course. Duh,” Bethany said. “But when I found it, the money wasn’t there.”
There was something about what Bethany had just said that bothered me. But what was it?
“I’m afraid your money’s gone,” Henry said. “Somebody else obviously picked up that book, paged through it, found the money, and kept it.” He stood and began folding up his chair. “And that’s about as much help as you’re going to get without paying.”
“Somebody else in our school picked up a book called Nineteenth Century Russian Literature?” Scarlett said. “What are the chances?”
“It
’s possible,” Henry said.
“Wait a minute,” I said. I leaned over and grabbed my backpack from the floor. I unzipped it and pulled out a few of my books. I then began to page through each one. “I knew it.” I set the books on the table, each one opened to page 63. “Bethany, you’re absolutely correct. The thief was one of the boys sitting at the table with you—and I know which one.” The others all stared at me. “It was Jeremy.”
“How do you figure that?” Henry said. “How do you know he didn’t put it between the pages of the book like he said?”
I sat back down and smiled. “Because it’s impossible.”
“Huh?” Bethany said.
“Look at these books,” I said. “Look at how the pages are laid out. When you open a book and lay it flat, the even-numbered page is always on the left and the odd-numbered page is on the right. That’s the way that all books are printed.”
“I never knew that,” Scarlett said.
“It was physically impossible for Jeremy to have stuck that five-dollar bill between pages sixty-three and sixty-four—because they share the same page—sixty-three is on one side of the page, and sixty-four is on the other.” I turned to Bethany. “You better go have a long talk with Jeremy.”
“That rat,” she said.
Henry made a beeline for the cash jar on one of the shelves. He returned shaking it for Bethany’s benefit.
“Now, that’s gonna cost you,” he said.
“I don’t have any money,” she said. “But when I get my five dollars back from Jeremy, then I’ll be sure to stop by and pay up.” She smiled, flicked her hair, spun around, and disappeared.
When I turned back around, I noticed that Henry and Scarlett were both scowling at me.
“I thought you were the one in a hurry,” Scarlett said.
“Well…”
“And you knew darn well she wasn’t going to pay,” Henry said. “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
“Well…”
“What a complete waste of time,” he said. “And we’re no closer to a solution than when we got here.”
The Camp Phoenix Caper Page 12