by Casey Lyall
I stopped in my tracks. “What is that?”
“Oh, this?” Ivy grinned. “The checks.”
“How?” I lifted them out of her grasp and held them up in awe. “Where? When?”
“All the classic detective questions.”
“Ivy.”
“Found them while I was tidying up Delia’s stuff,” Ivy said. “She was too busy yelling at you to notice.”
I opened up the package and peered at the checks inside. “Where were they?”
“In the back of one of the picture frames that fell off the table.” Ivy did a jazzy little celebration dance down the sidewalk. “It’d busted open a bit. The corner was peeking out, I spotted it and voilà!—checks.”
It was official. I had the best partner ever. “I didn’t even see you take them.”
Ivy added some complicated hand moves to her dance. “I put my nimble shoplifting fingers to good use. Still got it!”
“I don’t endorse stealing, but . . . good job!”
“So we got her!” Ivy held up her hand for a high five, and I frowned. We weren’t in end-zone dance territory yet.
“Right, Howard? My hand is waiting.”
“No,” I said. “We have to clearly connect her with the checks.” My brain was already working over every angle of this fresh glitch.
“I know that face,” Ivy said. “That’s your crazy-plan-making face.”
“Crazy opponent calls for a crazy plan.” I stuffed the checks into my pocket and high-fived Ivy’s waiting hand.
“You heard the girl,” I said. “We’ve got twelve hours before school tomorrow. Let’s get to work.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Monday morning came at its leisure despite my attempts to hurry it along. Ivy and I had plotted and schemed our little hearts out last night. I could only hope it would pay off. There was still one piece of the puzzle that had to fall into place.
By seven-thirty, I was in the garage, hauling Blue out to start her warm-ups. She was in high spirits, zipping around the driveway. New treads agreed with her. We had barely done a couple of turns before she darted down to the sidewalk, raring to go.
We traveled up to Maple Street. The sun was rising over the trees, and I could see Tim and Carl silhouetted at the top of the hill.
Waiting for me.
“Fingers crossed, Blue,” I said. “It’d be a real shame if I got pulverized before seeing this through.” We trucked up the hill to meet my possible doom.
“Got a lot of nerve coming back this way, Howie,” Tim said as he stuck out his foot to stop Blue’s front wheel.
Planting my feet on the sidewalk, I gave Blue a reassuring pat on her handlebars. “Not so much nerve as a lack of good sense,” I said. “But why should we let that stop us, right, Tim?”
“I could knock some sense into you if you like.” He took a step forward, cracking his knuckles.
“Not today, thanks,” I said. “In fact, I have a proposition for you boys.”
“A propo-what?”
“An offer,” Carl said.
“A job offer, to be exact,” I said.
“What’s it pay?” Tim was a man of priorities.
“I’m getting to that,” I said, holding up a hand.
Carl shot a sideways look at Tim. “That means it pays nothing.”
“Let me explain.” The odds of my face meeting the sidewalk were increasing the longer I stood here. I needed to make my pitch, and I needed to make it fast.
Tim and Carl rocked back on their heels, arms crossed, listening.
“You’ve heard rumblings about problems with the student council, yes?”
“Newbie member screwup,” Tim said. “Lisa’s been going nuts.”
“Yes, good old cousin Lisa,” I said. “She’s in a bit of a pickle.”
Tim looked pleased at that. The Grantleys were a close-knit and notoriously competitive family. I was counting on that working to my advantage.
“I’m closing in on solving this case,” I said. “And I could use some extra muscle. That’s where you come in.” It was our genius brain wave last night: if you can’t beat ’em, hire ’em.
I outlined my plan and what their role would be as hired goons. Tim and Carl stepped away to talk it over, but before you could say “Brute Squad,” Tim was back.
He gripped Blue’s handlebars and leaned in. “What would we get for our trouble?”
“A favor,” I said.
Tim snorted.
“From Lisa.” It was the ace up my sleeve and the only chance I had of this working.
“A favor from Lisa?” Tim’s mouth dropped open and then snapped shut. “Miss ‘Don’t-talk-to-me-Tim-I’m-the-president’ Lisa?”
“I don’t think that’s her exact title,” I said. “But yes.”
Carl moved into my line of sight, eyes narrowed as he watched the exchange between me and Tim. If I had to take a stab at the expression on his face, I’d say it was amused. Which was odd, but I had too many balls in the air to add puzzling out Carl to the list.
“I will take that deal,” Tim said, offering his hand. We shook on it, and I gave them their final instructions before leaving.
Favors may be a P.I.’s best currency, but lies run a close second. Lisa would flip her lid over my promise of a favor to Tim. It was the only thing I could think of to get him to fall in line. She’d never agree to it, and then I’d be left holding the bag of debt to Tim. It was going to end in tears, most likely mine, but that was tomorrow’s problem.
Today’s were just beginning.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ivy was already waiting at the school bike racks, locking up a scooter.
“Ivy, a scooter?”
“What?”
“I believe the rule is blend, not stick out like sore thumb.”
“Says the guy with a bike three times older than he is.”
I let that slide. Blue was in fine form for her age, and Ivy and I had a case to wrap up.
“Ready, partner?”
Ivy hesitated, fiddling with her lock. “Are you sure everything’s in place?”
“Yes,” I said. “What’s up?”
She kept an eye on the sidewalk, watching for our target. “What if Delia has a better plan?”
It was the same question I’d been asking myself all night. I kept coming up with the same answer. “I’m putting money on our plan over anything Delia can come up with.”
“We’re putting our trust in a lot of shady people,” she pointed out.
“Yes,” I said. “But we know they’re shady, and they’re giving us just the right amount of leverage. Did you check in with everyone this morning?”
She nodded. “They’re still in.”
“See?” I said to myself as much as Ivy. “Our plan is good. It follows the rules. We’ve got our people in place. All that’s left is—”
“Actually pulling it off?”
“Exactly,” I said.
“You’re sure he’ll show up?”
“Positive,” I said. “Then we’ll have her in the bag.” I pulled a pack of Juicy out of my pocket and passed it to Ivy. She popped out a piece before gesturing across the yard with the pack.
“Incoming,” she said.
I spotted Tim and Carl hovering by the walkway. “Right on time.” Ivy stayed in position by the racks while I went over to speak with our hired muscle.
“Gentlemen.”
“Howie,” Tim said. “Fancy meeting you out here in the yard for no particular reason whatsoever.”
Carl groaned softly.
You get what you pay for.
“Here they come.” Carl managed the heads-up without moving his lips while Tim whipped around to look. Delia and Meredith were laboring up the sidewalk, carrying a large box.
“Should I bother reminding you that this is all fake?” I rolled my shoulders and secured my backpack.
“Sure,” Tim said, cracking his knuckles. “But we’d hate for it to be unconvincing.”
He put me in a headlock and lugged me over to the sidewalk. I was walking blind, but Carl was good enough to direct from a safe distance. “Look out for that rock. Now there’s a dip. Tim, let him breathe.”
Halfway down the sidewalk, I tapped Tim’s arm. “Here’s good.” He released me, and I staggered as the blood flow returned to my brain.
“Can’t stop now,” Tim said. With an ease that could only be attributed to lifelong practice, he and Carl began shoving me around.
“Watch where you’re going, Howie.” Tim grabbed me by the collar and tossed me over to Carl. “What did we tell you about getting in our way?” I nearly face-planted before Carl caught me by the elbow and nudged me back toward Tim.
“Put some oomph into it, Carl,” I whispered. He shrugged.
“Remember that you asked for it, Howard.”
One big push sent me flailing into the box Delia and Meredith were holding. All three of us went down, and the box went flying.
“Howard!” Meredith yelled.
“How is this my fault?” I asked from my prone position on the ground.
“Are you guys okay?” Ivy came rushing over as Tim and Carl skulked back into the shadows. “What a couple of jerks.”
I risked a peek at my partner. She was helping Delia up and winked at me while grabbing Delia’s bag.
Pulling myself up, I spotted the most unexpected of treats on the sidewalk: a little white spaceman. Meredith and Delia were busy bemoaning the state of their space diorama, and Ivy was flitting about helping to pick up the rest of their stuff.
I whipped open my bag and stuffed Spaceman Joe inside. Dusting off my pants, I sidled up to the girls. “Everyone okay?” Meredith and Delia glowered at me while Ivy gave a thumbs-up.
“Whatever you’re up to, it won’t work.” Delia was at my side, hissing in my ear.
“I guess we’re going to have to find out,” I whispered back before turning to Meredith and Ivy. “Meredith, you good?”
“No, I’m not good, Howard,” she yelled. “Our project is—”
“Great, happy to hear it.” We had to move this show along. “Sorry about that.”
“We should go, bell’s going to ring,” Ivy said. “Can’t be late.”
I hustled inside without a backward glance. “All set?” If she hadn’t managed to complete her part, our odds of success were sliding down to zero.
“Mission accomplished,” Ivy said. “Glad that part’s over.”
“You and me both. Time for phase two.”
... .- -- -..-. ... .--. .- -.. .
Ivy and I sat waiting in our classroom, antsy with anticipation. Including so many people in the plan added an uncomfortable level of unpredictability. I was used to working with a party of one, and I always held up my end of the bargain. The emergency alliance we’d thrown together last night was shakier than Blue attempting a speed bump. I passed the time by imagining the thousands of ways this could go wrong.
There was a crackle over the loudspeaker as the morning announcements began. Our illustrious president had been on board last night, but this was the moment of truth.
Mrs. Rodriguez opened with her list of announcements.
“And now here’s Lisa Grantley with today’s student news.”
“Good morning, Grantleyville Middle School,” Lisa said. “As your president, it is my duty to keep our school safe and free from corruption—to root out injustice and bring it to light.”
I snuck a glance at Ivy. Her eyes were as big as saucers, and she smothered a laugh.
Lisa was on board all right.
“So, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you we have a traitor in our midst.” Kids around us began shifting in their seats, murmuring to each other, and Ms. Kowalski sat up straight in her chair. “Delia Potts has stolen the council checks and is using them to blackmail our treasurer, Meredith Reddy, into leaving the council.”
The noise level rose as Lisa’s declaration began to sink in. I could hear Mrs. Rodriguez speaking up in the background.
Lisa was arguing with her. “The students need to know—”
Her voice cut off abruptly. High-pitched screeching erupted from the classroom next door. If I wasn’t mistaken, someone was shouting my name.
Our own class had devolved into chaos. Kids were piled together, sharing theories about what was really going on. Ms. Kowalski tried to settle everyone down, but it was useless. Nobody could remember the last time something this exciting had happened at G.M.S.
The speaker crackled back to life, and Mrs. Rodriguez’s voice came through loud and clear. “I need to see the following students in my office immediately: Delia Potts, Meredith Reddy, Bradley Chen, Ivy Mason, and—” She paused for a weary sigh. “—Howard Wallace.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The number of guilty parties involved meant we couldn’t squeeze into Mrs. Rodriguez’s office, so we were neatly packed into the teacher’s lounge, a poorly lit room that smelled of burnt coffee. We sat on hard plastic chairs and waited for the parents to arrive. The teachers were playing things close to the vest, but the most telling bit of news was when we were told to bring our bags. Someone was getting suspended today.
I sat beside Ivy, trying to avoid the flaming daggers Delia’s eyes were shooting at me from across the table. Meredith was next to her, furiously whispering in her ear while Bradley and Lisa made their case to Mrs. Rodriguez and Mr. Vannick.
“I still don’t understand why I’m here,” Lisa said. “I brought the problem to your attention.”
“I’m not discussing this with you right now, Lisa,” Mrs. Rodriguez said.
The door squeaked open, allowing a slender man with wire-rimmed glasses to slip into the room. He picked his way through the crowd and chose a seat beside my mother.
“Who’s that?” I leaned over to whisper at Ivy.
“My dad.”
I couldn’t have stopped my double take if I had tried. “Didn’t you say your dad was a cop? He looks like an accountant.”
“That would be because he’s an accountant,” Ivy said. “I told you he was a cop so you’d let me be your partner.”
I never knew you could be proud and annoyed in equal measure.
“How’d you do it, Howard?” Delia leaned across the table, hissing at me under the flood of conversation and ruining my moment. “How’d you get Lisa to turn?”
“Same way you got her involved in your little scheme,” I said. “Appealing to her ego.”
“We told her there was still a way to end up on top of this mess,” Ivy said.
“If she was the one who discovered your crimes,” I said. “And she was the one who exposed them . . .”
“Then she would be the hero who saved the school,” Ivy finished.
“All future dances will be dedicated to Lisa.” I swept a hand through the air, and Ivy checked off an imaginary box. “She’ll have a drink named after her at the coffee bar.”
“Probably a statue someday,” Ivy said dreamily.
Delia looked over at Lisa in disgust. “What an idiot. She’s been in this mess from the beginning. If I go down, she’s coming with me.”
“That’s the plan,” I said. On paper, anyway.
When everyone’s parent representative was finally accounted for, Mrs. Rodriguez sat down at the head of the table. “This is a fine mess,” she said. “Howard, why don’t you start with all the information you neglected to share with us on Friday.”
Delia was on her in an instant, holding up a hand. “Why does he get to go first?”
Mrs. Rodriguez paused long enough that even I felt uncomfortable. “Excuse me?”
“I’m the one being accused.” Delia shifted in her seat. “Shouldn’t I get to defend myself?”
This was an interesting change of pace. I hadn’t expected Delia to be so bold. Her twelve hours of planning must have paid off as well. I eyed the clock. A Delia-sized roadblock would slow things down nicely, and I could use the extra time for phase thr
ee. There was also the added benefit that I would appear to be the kind and generous party.
“I don’t mind if she goes first,” I said, the very picture of selflessness.
Mrs. Rodriguez shot me a look. “I’m glad you approve.”
“I can’t believe I even have to say this, but I’ve done nothing wrong,” Delia said. “I would never hurt my friend like that.”
Meredith didn’t look too confident about the truth of that statement.
“It’s obviously a cry for attention from Howard,” Delia continued. “He prides himself on knowing all this P.I. stuff, including breaking into lockers. He must have stolen the checks himself so he could have a big case.”
“That’d be a shoddy way to run a business,” I said.
“I bet you brought the checks with you as ‘evidence.’”
Ah. That was her game. She must have realized we took the checks from her room and thought she could spin it to her advantage. Not today.
“Search his bag,” Delia said. “That’ll put an end to this right now.”
Mrs. Rodriguez shook her head. “Delia, I—”
“It’s okay,” I said, holding out my bag. “You can look.”
“Mine, too,” Ivy said.
“It might move things along,” Mrs. Rodriguez said. “Mr. Vannick, would you please?”
He didn’t have to be asked twice. Mr. Vannick lifted our bags onto the table and dug in. He found fifteen packs of gum between the two of us, but no checks. The level of sheer disappointment radiating from him was heartbreaking. This was already turning out better than I’d hoped.
Delia had had her fair shake, and now it was time for the main event. I tucked my bag under my chair. “May I speak?”
“Go ahead,” Mrs. Rodriguez said over Delia’s protests.
“Last week Meredith hired me to find the missing student council checks and figure out who was blackmailing her,” I said. Meredith nodded in agreement while the adults sat forward in their seats. They knew we were getting to the good stuff.
“I took Ivy on as a partner at the same time.”