“That’s THREE mysteries solved!” Kait exclaimed.
“Hey, does anyone know what time it is?” Javy asked.
Kait looked at her watch. “It’s 3:30.”
“Good.”
“Why ‘good’?” Kait asked.
“Because that leaves me two hours of daylight to get back at you for hitting me in the face with a snowball.”
“You’ve got to catch me first!” Kait squealed as she ran out of the bedroom.
Nugget sprinted after her, excited to finally enjoy the snow day he’d been promised.
One week later, Leila was wiping cookie crumbs off her face in Mrs. Crenshaw’s kitchen as she wrapped up her story. “Mr. Margolis finished the kitchen remodel a few days later, and he even added some extra stuff to Mr. T’s room to make it cooler,” she said.
“That’s wonderful,” Mrs. Crenshaw said. “But you never finished your story. Did he ever catch her?”
“Did who catch who?”
“Did Javy ever catch up to Kait and get her back?”
“Oh yeah,” Leila said. “We had the biggest snowball fight ever that afternoon! Toward the end, Javy used Nugget to lure Kait into a trap behind the shed, then he hit her with a snowball so big it could have been a snowman’s head!”
Mrs. Crenshaw sat back and chuckled. “Good for him.”
“Well anyways, here’s your notebook back,” Leila said as she slid the old “Private Eye” notebook across the table. “It was great.”
“No no, I want you to keep it,” Mrs. Crenshaw said. “You’re the new detective on the block, now.”
“Really?!” Leila asked. “I mean, I don’t know if I’m really a detective.”
“You don’t know if you’re a detective?” Mrs. Crenshaw asked. “Did you solve a case?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Then you’re a detective. End of story. You don’t need someone to give you a title for it to be true. Now, did you read any of the other cases in the notebook?”
“Oh! What? Uhhhh, I mean…” Leila wasn’t normally a snooper like Kait, but if someone hands you a notebook full of real-life mysteries, what are you supposed to do?
“It’s OK,” Mrs. Crenshaw said. “You probably noticed that all of the cases had green check marks next to them except for one.”
Leila had noticed. She flipped back to it. “The Case With No Clues.” While most of the other cases in the book had just a handful of notes written underneath the title, this one had four whole pages of questions, maps, arrows and lots of scribbles.
Mrs. Crenshaw tapped the notebook. “Think you want to give this one a try?”
Leila stared at the title for a second, then looked up, confused. “There aren’t any clues?”
“No clues,” Mrs. Crenshaw said with a twinkle in her eye. “But there is a treasure.”
AUTHORS’ NOTE
Hope you had as much fun reading Leila and Nugget’s adventure as we did writing it! We’re hard at work on the second book right now. You can sign up to get a note when that book comes out, find pictures of the real Leila and Nugget and more at leilaandnugget.com.
If you liked this book, would you consider telling a friend or posting a short review on Amazon? We’d really appreciate the help!
Also, we’d love to hear from you! You can email us about anything at [email protected].
Thanks again for reading our book!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Deserae and Dustin Brady are the parents of Leila Brady (a baby) and Nugget Brady (a dog). They live in Cleveland, Ohio. Dustin wants to buy a turtle. Deserae does not.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
April Brady is a professional illustrator in Pensacola, Florida. Deserae and Dustin feel lucky to have such a talented doggy-drawer as a sister-in-law.
OTHER BOOKS BY DUSTIN BRADY
If you liked this book, check out these other books from Dustin Brady:
Trapped in a Video Game
Trapped in a Video Game Book 2
Trapped in a Video Game Book 3
Superhero for a Day: The Magic Magic Eight Ball
Who Stole Mr. T? (Leila and Nugget Mystery Book 1) Page 4