The Case of the Digital Deception

by Ellie O'Ryan

  As Whitney talked, her voice got higher and higher. Alyssa put her arm around her friend to calm her down. “Hey, don’t get upset,” Alyssa said soothingly. “Club CSI will figure out who made those charges, and then you’ll prove to your parents it wasn’t you and you can still have your party. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

  Whitney was too upset to be consoled. She shrugged off Alyssa’s arm.

  “No, it’s not!” she cried. “Somebody is messing with me online, and I have no idea who it is—or how to stop them! Do they have all my passwords? What are they going to hack next? My e-mail? My IMs? Are they spying on my MyWorld profile? Are they reading my texts? What if they start forwarding stuff from my accounts to, like, everybody in school? It’s, like, it’s this huge, like—this awful—”

  “Violation,” Ben finished. “It’s a violation of your online privacy.”

  “Yes,” Whitney said, looking at him with relief. “That’s what I was trying to say.”

  “So here’s what we’re gonna do,” Corey spoke up. “Club CSI is going to talk this one over and let you know if we can help.”

  “I’ll text you in a bit,” Hannah promised. “And don’t worry—We won’t tell anyone what you’ve told us.”

  “And, you know, you shouldn’t tell anyone else, either,” Ben added. “Let’s keep it between the five of us.”

  “Okay,” Whitney said. She tried to smile. “Thanks.”

  There were still a few minutes until homeroom, so Corey, Ben, and Hannah hurried off to Club CSI’s unofficial headquarters, a little-used hallway behind the gym. It was the one place in the whole school where they knew they could talk without being interrupted . . . or overheard.

  “Well,” Hannah said. “What do you think? Were Whitney and Alyssa telling the truth?”

  “It’s hard to say for sure,” Ben replied. “I definitely think Alyssa is telling the truth—especially when you compare her body language to when we interviewed her about the e-mail.”

  “I agree,” Hannah said. “And I kind of think that Whitney’s telling the truth too.”

  “Really?” Ben asked. “Are you sure this isn’t just another plot to spend time with Corey?”

  “Yeah, I mean, who can resist?” Corey cracked.

  “That isn’t what’s going on this time,” Hannah replied, rolling her eyes. “No offense, Corey, but I think both Whitney and Alyssa have moved on. I heard Whitney is crushing on this guy on the baseball team. And Alyssa is going out with his best friend. Which is probably why they’re both so desperate to keep Whitney’s party from getting canceled.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Whatever,” Corey replied, trying to act casual. “You know what they say. All’s fair in love and baseball.”

  “So assuming Whitney didn’t make those charges, this could be a really interesting case,” Ben said. “I think we should take it.”

  “So do I,” Hannah agreed.

  “Me too,” said Corey.

  “So it’s unanimous,” Ben announced. “Club CSI is on the case!”

  Chapter 9

  Club CSI began their investigation that afternoon at Whitney’s house, as soon as she was finished with cheerleading practice.

  “Hi, Mom,” Whitney called as she walked through her front door and plunked her backpack down on the chair nearest the door. Hannah, Ben, and Corey were right behind her.

  “Hi, dear,” answered her mother, emerging from the next room. When she laid eyes on Club CSI, she frowned. “Whitney, what did we talk about last night? You’re grounded. No one is allowed to come over.”

  “But Hannah, Ben, Corey, and I are just working on a project for school,” Whitney pleaded. “Can they please stay for a little while? We won’t have any fun, I promise. We’ll just do some work.”

  Mrs. Martino sighed. “Fine,” she relented. “But as soon as dinner is ready, everyone has to go home.”

  “Thanks, Mom!” Whitney said brightly as she breezed past her. Hannah, Ben, and Corey each mumbled hi to Mrs. Martino as they hurried to follow Whitney.

  “So, here’s my laptop,” Whitney said when they entered the den. “Do your detective stuff and tell me who hacked my account.”

  “If only it were that easy,” Ben said. “Let’s talk for a little while first.”

  Whitney shrugged. “Sure. Whatever you want.”

  “Tell us about your experience with You Can Draw It!” Corey began as he flopped on to a large beanbag chair. “When did you sign up for an account?”

  “I don’t remember exactly,” Whitney admitted. “Maybe three weeks ago? I was bored one night so I thought I’d check it out. But when I played it, I just didn’t get into it. It seemed like a ton of work to earn enough points for the upgrades, and without the upgrades, all my pictures looked like garbage. So I logged out and kind of forgot I’d even signed up . . . until my parents got that bill.”

  “So you used their credit card when you signed up?” asked Ben.

  “Yeah. You don’t have to put credit card info in when you sign up, but I did,” Whitney replied. “That was before I knew how much the upgrades cost. I would have asked my parents before I bought any.”

  “And did you ever buy any?” Corey asked. “Even just one, to see what it was like?”

  “For ten dollars? No way,” Whitney said, shaking her head. “I’d rather get some nail polish or new earrings or something like that.”

  “When you signed up for the game, did you also sign up for the e-mail notifications they send?” Hannah asked.

  “No, I get enough spam already,” Whitney replied. “I only got one e-mail from the game, ever, and that was right after I signed up. It had my username and password in it, but I never showed it to anybody.”

  “Can I take a look at your computer?” Ben asked.

  “Go ahead,” Whitney said. “Here, I’ll log on to the Internet for you.”

  “Thanks,” Ben said. “Let’s check the browser history to see which websites have been accessed from this computer.”

  With a few quick keystrokes, Ben was able to access a list of every website that had been visited from Whitney’s computer in the last month. He scrolled through a long list of the same sites—Whitney’s e-mail provider, her MyWorld account, the cheerleading squad’s message board, and a few fashion blogs. Then, dated exactly three weeks ago, he found it—one visit to the You Can Draw It! website.

  Club CSI didn’t need to talk about it to know that the browser confirmed Whitney’s story: She hadn’t played You Can Draw It! on her laptop since the first time she signed up.

  “I can’t believe my laptop keeps a record of every single site I’ve been to,” Whitney said as she stared at the screen, and then she looked at Ben. “It’s cool that you know so much about them.”

  “Yeah, computers know a lot,” Corey joked. “Almost as much as Ben.”

  “If you say so,” Ben replied. Then he keyed in a new web address. “Let’s check out your You Can Draw It! account. Whitney, can you log in for me?”

  Whitney leaned across the desk to type in her username and password.

  “Huh. This game does look kind of interesting,” Ben said thoughtfully as he scrolled through the website. “Maybe I should sign up for an account too. Or maybe not, if they’re easy to hack. Anyway, let’s see what’s been going on with Whitney’s account.”

  Ben clicked on the Account Settings tab. When the page loaded, he let out a low whistle. “Well, Whitney, you might not have been using your account—but someone else has,” he said. “According to your account’s usage history, you’ve logged on to your account ten times since you signed up!”

  Whitney’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me?” she exclaimed.

  But Ben wasn’t joking. The proof was on the screen in front of them. And every time the hacker had logged on, they had purchased an upgrade pack.

  “Also, look at this,” Ben said. “There’s a pattern here. The hacker always played sometime after five p.m. and before seven p.m.”

 
“Then it definitely wasn’t me, because I’m nowhere near a computer around dinnertime,” Whitney said. “My mom is really strict about family dinner. It’s always at five thirty. Every day. Nobody’s allowed to use computers or cell phones or anything—not even my dad. And I have to clean up, so I’m not free again till around seven.”

  “Wait. Back on the main page, Whitney’s drawing tools didn’t have any upgrades,” Hannah realized. “So where are the expansion packs?”

  Ben clicked another tab. “Here you go,” he said. “They were immediately gifted to three different players—jojo2020, LOL1234, and Dancer99.” Ben glanced at Whitney. “Do any of those usernames sound familiar?”

  “No,” Whitney answered. “I’ve never chatted or e-mailed with any of those players.”

  “So if you haven’t been playing from your computer at home and you were having dinner with your family when the charges were made, there’s no way that you did it,” Hannah said. “I think we have enough evidence to prove to your parents you’re innocent.”

  “Mom! Dad!” Whitney yelled at the top her voice. “Can you come into the den?”

  A few moments later, Mr. Martino strolled into the room. Mrs. Martino followed him, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

  “Whitney, I have asked you not to yell—Oh hello,” Mr. Martino said when he saw Club CSI.

  “This is Corey, Ben, and Hannah,” Whitney told her parents. “They have this club that solves mysteries, and they can prove I didn’t put any charges on your credit card!”

  Mrs. Martino sighed. “Whitney. We’ve already been through this. Your father and I are not going to—”

  “Please, just listen to what they have to say,” Whitney begged.

  “We’ll be quick, promise,” Corey said, flashing her a smile.

  Mr. Martino shrugged. “Go ahead, then.”

  Ben showed Whitney’s parents the browser history on her laptop, then explained how the account history proved that someone else had been playing the game.

  Mr. Martino put on his reading glasses and squinted at the screen. “Hmm. I didn’t realize that,” he said.

  “Well, I told you,” Whitney said, pouting.

  “Well, then, I’m doubly glad we unlinked our credit card from this game. Now this hacker person won’t be able to run up any more charges,” Mr. Martino said as he sat down at the computer.

  “I’m sorry, Whitney,” said Mrs. Martino as she gave her daughter a hug. “We’ll open a dispute with the credit card company. You’re not grounded anymore.”

  “So I can have my party?” Whitney said hopefully.

  Mrs. Martino smiled at her. “Yes, of course you can.”

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Whitney shrieked. She dove across her dad and started sending an instant message. “I have to tell Alyssa right away so we can start planning again. We are so behind. We lost, like, an entire day!”

  Ben cleared his throat. “Um, Whitney,” he began. “It’s great that you’re not grounded anymore, but the case is still open. We want to find out who hacked your account. After all, this hacker could strike someone else’s account, and we should find them before that happens. So you and Alyssa shouldn’t tell anyone about the hacking or the charges, okay?”

  “Sure, whatever,” Whitney said with her eyes glued to the screen. “I think I’ll just delete my You Can Draw It! account since I’m never going to play it again, anyway.”

  “Actually, could you keep your account for a few more days?” Hannah spoke up. “Just until we finish investigating?”

  Whitney glanced at her parents.

  “I guess that’s okay,” Mrs. Martino said slowly, “since the credit card isn’t linked anymore.”

  “You should change the passwords on all your other accounts, though,” Ben suggested. “Just to be on the safe side.”

  “That’s good advice,” Mr. Martino said. “Whitney, I want you to start changing all your passwords every month.”

  “Cool. Whatever,” Whitney said as she chatted online with Alyssa.

  “You’re certainly welcome to stay for dinner,” Mrs. Martino told Club CSI.

  At the mention of food, Corey’s eyes lit up, but he knew he had to be home for dinner tonight. “Thanks, Mrs. Martino, but we’d better get going,” Corey replied. “Bye, Whitney.”

  “Bye,” she replied, still staring at the screen. Then she turned around in her chair. “And thanks, you guys. I really owe you.”

  “No problem,” Corey said. “That’s what Club CSI is here for. We’ll keep you posted on the rest of our investigation.”

  As the three friends walked toward home, they talked about the case.

  “So what are we going to do next?” Corey asked. “Our only witness is the hacker. We don’t even have any suspects.”

  “Sure we do,” Hannah said. “Alyssa, for one.”

  “But we all agreed she was telling the truth this morning,” Corey pointed out.

  “True,” Hannah said. “But we know for a fact that she went into one of Whitney’s accounts before. So even if she’s at the bottom of the list, she still belongs there.”

  “Hannah’s right,” Ben chimed in. “Is there anyone else at school who might hack into Whitney’s account? Or want to get her in trouble?”

  “What about Whitney’s party?” Corey asked suddenly. “What if somebody who didn’t get invited wanted revenge? Maybe they wanted the whole party to get canceled.”

  “That’s possible,” Hannah said thoughtfully. “And if that’s what’s going on, the hacker might strike again.” She was quiet for a moment. “You know what? Maybe Whitney’s ex-friend Maya should be on the list.”

  “But wasn’t their fight a long time ago?” Ben asked.

  “It was last year,” Hannah replied. “But even if Maya is over the fight, she must know about the party. It’s the eighth-grade event. Maybe she’s mad Whitney didn’t invite her.”

  “We should definitely interview Maya, then,” Corey said right away.

  Hannah smiled at him. “You should,” she teased.

  “What we really need to do is figure out who jojo2020, LOL1234, and Dancer99 are,” Ben said. “Those players are as close to witnesses as we’re going to get.”

  “But everybody who plays You Can Draw It! is anonymous,” Hannah pointed out. “That’s the whole point of having usernames.”

  “I know,” Ben replied. “That’s what makes this case so tough.”

  “So we’re just going to have to step up our game, then,” Corey said confidently. He faked like he was dunking a basketball. “Slam dunk! Game over! Case closed!”

  Chapter 10

  Club CSI met for breakfast the next morning at the school cafeteria to go over some new developments.

  “So I tried to get in touch with Zazzam last night,” Ben began.

  “Za-what?” Corey asked.

  “Zazzam,” repeated Ben. “That’s the company that owns You Can Draw It! So I tried to get in touch with them. Believe me, it’s not easy. It’s like they don’t want people contacting them.”

  “Maybe they get a lot of complaints that their games are too hard,” Corey suggested. “Or that the expansion packs cost too much.”

  “Maybe,” Ben said. “I had to do a lot of digging, but I finally found an e-mail address, so I sent an e-mail asking if they could give me more information about some You Can Draw It! players. There was a response in my in-box this morning.”

  “And?” Corey asked hopefully.

  “And nothing,” Ben replied. He shook his head. “They wouldn’t give me anything, not even the e-mail addresses those players used when they signed up. They said it was confidential information, and it’s part of the user agreement that they wouldn’t release it.”

  “It stinks that they wouldn’t even give you the e-mail addresses,” Hannah said.

  “Yeah,” Ben said. “I guess that’s a dead end.”

  “Well, I e-mailed Maya last night,” Corey said. “She agreed to meet us before homeroom, so she sh
ould be here any second.”

  “Oh good,” Hannah said. “Do you know what you’re going to say during the interview?”

  “I have it all planned out,” Corey said. “I’m going for the kind, gentle Corey. Poor Maya’s been through enough—losing her best friends, having her heart broken, becoming a total pariah . . . ”

  Hannah frowned. “Well, it wasn’t quite that dramatic—”

  “I’m just saying, she could probably use a little friendship right now,” Corey continued. “And then maybe she’ll tell her new friends about what she did. The weight of a guilty conscience is a heavy burden to bear.”

  “Oh yeah?” Hannah asked. “Then where is she? The bell is gonna ring in less than five minutes.”

  A flicker of doubt crossed Corey’s face. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “She said she’d be here.”

  Club CSI waited in the cafeteria until the second bell, just in case Maya was late. Then they had to run to make it to homeroom before being marked late themselves. And by that time, it was very clear that Maya had stood them up.

  Corey was still fuming at lunchtime. “I can’t believe she just didn’t show up!” he complained to Ben and Hannah as they waited in line. “I can show you guys our e-mail exchange. I very clearly asked her to meet us in the cafeteria before homeroom, and she very clearly said yes! You know what? Maybe she is guilty. Maybe she’s the one who hacked Whitney’s account! Maybe we’re getting too close and that’s why Maya never showed! She’s avoiding us!”

  “Or not,” Hannah said. “She’s sitting right there.”

  Corey blinked. “Oh. She is? Well, the interview starts now, then. Or right after I pay for this delicious—What is this we’re eating today?”

  “Empanadas,” Ben said helpfully. “They’re like pastries filled with spicy beef. They smell delicious.”