Kate’s Philadelphia Frenzy

by Janice Hanna

  “Look, Sydney! This site belongs to that man, PhilliesFan29. His whole Web site is mostly just mean stuff he wrote about Tony. And now it looks like he’s been traveling around the Web, finding every site that says anything good about Tony, and leaving ugly comments.”

  “The puzzle pieces are starting to come together,” Sydney agreed. “PhillesFan29 is our bad guy, isn’t he? He’s the one who started all of the rumors about Tony, and now he’s really mad because we’ve been saying nice things about him. I guess that got this guy all worked up.” She gripped her hands together. “But what do you think he’ll do? I don’t like to be threatened.”

  “Aw, don’t worry. The worst he can do is hack our site,” Kate explained.

  “Hack our site?” Sydney looked confused.

  “Rewrite it, replacing our words with his. Or remove it from the Web altogether.” She flashed a confident smile. “But don’t worry. I’ll take care of that. I’ll set up the site so, as the administrator, I have to approve whatever anyone wants to post before it’s put online. That should stop him.” She shook her head. “I just wish I knew who this guy was and why he would care so much about Tony Smith, of all people.”

  “Yeah, it’s obvious he’s not really after us. He’s after Tony,” Sydney agreed. “But why? That’s the part we still have to figure out!”

  “Maybe we need to dig a little deeper,” Kate said. “Keep searching the Web for more signs of PhilliesFan29. If we do, we might learn more.”

  Sydney stood and began to do her stretches.

  “What are you doing?” Kate asked.

  “I always exercise when I’m nervous,” she explained.

  “That’s funny.” Kate laughed. “I always eat—Twinkies, mostly. And Ding Dongs.”

  Sydney started doing jumping jacks, and after a couple of minutes Kate’s mother stuck her head in the door. “Everything okay?” She looked at Sydney and smiled. “Ah, that explains it! I felt the floor shaking and wondered what it was.”

  “Oh, sorry!” Sydney stopped, looking a little embarrassed.

  “No, go right ahead. I’m just happy to know everything’s okay.” She disappeared from view and Sydney dropped to the floor and started her sit-up routine.

  Kate continued to browse the Web. After a little more searching, she stumbled across a personal blog site that belonged to PhilliesFan29. She read a few words, then gasped.

  “Look, Sydney! His real name is J. Kenner. Wish I knew what the J stands for. Oh, and look. There’s even a picture of him. He’s not very old, maybe late twenties. I guess the 29 in his name means he’s twenty-nine years old. She stared at the photograph of the man, and a cold chill wriggled its way over her. “Ooh! Sydney!”

  “What?”

  “It’s that man.”

  “That man? What man?” Sydney leaned in to have a closer look. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Oh my goodness!” Kate got up and grabbed her digital camera, opening it to the picture of the man at the stadium. “This is the same man, right? The one with the MP3 player. He’s wearing a different shirt and his hair is a little darker now, but I’m really, really sure it’s the same guy. No doubt about it!”

  “Hmm, I’m not completely sure.” Sydney turned the camera to get a closer look. “It could be him.”

  “No could be about it. This is him! The guy at the stadium is J. Kenner!” Her excitement grew as she spoke. “Watch and see! Tony’s going to talk to his friend at the box office and they’re going to confirm it. I’d bet my hat on it!”

  “Do you own a hat?” Sydney asked and then laughed. “But seriously…why would this guy go to all of this trouble to hurt a Phillies shortstop? It still doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Yeah. Why pick on Tony Smith?” Kate added. “What did he ever do to J. Kenner, after all?” She racked her brain, trying to come up with something, but nothing made sense. “Maybe they were college roommates or something. Maybe…” She paused as an idea struck. “Maybe J. Kenner was jilted in love. Maybe Tony’s wife used to be J. Kenner’s girlfriend or something like that.”

  “You’ve watched too much TV.” Sydney laughed and then began to pace the room. “I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff in my life, you know. Stranger than TV. I live in DC, after all,” she said. “And being so near the White House, I hear about lots of crazy things. People just do random, nutty stuff sometimes. Maybe this J. Kenner guy was a jilted T-ball player as a kid. You never know what makes some people snap. One thing’s for sure—he has to be stopped.”

  “Should we go to the police?” Kate asked.

  “I’m not sure we have enough evidence,” Sydney said. “We need proof that he’s the one who recorded Tony’s voice and changed it. That means…”

  Kate gasped. “Are you saying we need to get his MP3 player? I wouldn’t feel right taking it, even if he is a criminal. That would be stealing, wouldn’t it?”

  “Well, I was thinking of borrowing it,” Sydney explained with a twinkle in her eye. “Not keeping it for long, anyway. Do you think Biscuit might be able to help us get the MP3 player just long enough to pull the audio files from it? He’s so good at helping with things like that.”

  As soon as Biscuit heard his name, he joined them at the computer, whimpering. Kate reached down with her free hand and scratched him behind the ears. “Do you miss us, boy?” She gave him a tender look. “You’re used to helping, aren’t you? But we can’t take you into the stadium, now can we?” She looked at Sydney. “So how could we do it?”

  His tail wagged merrily as if he were saying, “I’d do it if I could.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Sydney said finally. “There’s really no way to sneak a dog into Citizens Bank Park, right? They only allow service dogs.”

  “Service dogs? You mean, like, dogs that belong to people in the army and marines?” Kate asked.

  Sydney laughed. “No, silly. I mean service dogs. The ones who travel with handicapped people. But if you don’t like the idea of actually getting our hands on the MP3 player, maybe we can find a copy of the audio recording online, if that’s possible. That might work just as well.”

  “Oh, great idea! And my dad’s voice-editing software might help us tell where the words were changed. I hope so, anyway.”

  She quickly typed the words “Tony Smith audio clip” into her search engine. It took some browsing, but eventually they found the radio interview online.

  “I feel like we’ve hit the jackpot,” Kate whispered. “This is a gold mine!”

  “Well, we prayed…and God answered,” Sydney said. “Why are we surprised?”

  “I guess I shouldn’t be, but I am.” Kate looked at her friend in awe. “Oh, Sydney, sometimes I just need bigger faith. I need to know that God is going to do what He says He’s going to do!”

  “Well, this whole thing has been a real faith-builder, hasn’t it?” Sydney smiled. “And you know what? Before we do one more thing, before we even listen to that audio clip, I think we need to stop and thank God. We wouldn’t know any of this without Him!”

  “You’re so right!” Kate agreed.

  The two girls bowed their heads, and with a voice as clear as crystal, Kate began to pray—thanking God for all He’d done to help them track down the man who had hurt Tony Smith. On and on she went, telling the Lord just how grateful they were!

  Then, with a heart filled to overflowing with joy, she turned back to her friend. “Tomorrow’s my birthday!” she said, flashing her brightest smile. “And I suddenly feel like celebrating!”

  Born on the Fourth of July!

  On the morning of Kate’s twelfth birthday, she awoke with a smile on her face. “I can’t believe it! I’m twelve! Twelve! Almost a teenager!”

  She thought about all that had happened over the past week and a half. In that short amount of time, her father had received a patent for SWAT-bot. Sydney had come for a visit. And they’d almost solved a major mystery.

  Of course, they still had to track down J. Kenner,
but that part she would leave to the police. She’d done a lot already, after all! She had started a blog site, investigated a suspect at the stadium, and figured out the whole PhilliesFan29 angle. Almost, anyway. There was still that one little matter of learning his first name, but that would come…in time!

  And of course, she still needed to tell her father everything she and Sydney had discovered so that he could contact the proper authorities. They would need all of the correct information to track down the bad guy, and she was happy to share what she’d learned!

  However, she would have to do all of that later. Right now, there were important things to do—like celebrating her birthday!

  Kate sprang out of bed and pulled the covers off of Sydney. “Wake up! Wake up! This is my big day!”

  “Your big day?” Sydney groaned. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, for one thing, it’s my birthday,” Kate said.

  “I know, I know. You’ve told me a thousand times. Happy birthday, Kate!”

  “Thank you!” She giggled. “But there’s something else. Something I’ve been dying to tell you. It’s a project my dad and I have been working on in the basement for months! A huge secret! I wasn’t going to tell anyone until we worked out all of the kinks, but it’s my birthday, so I feel like telling you now.”

  “What is it?” Sydney’s nose wrinkled. “What sort of secrets have you been keeping, Kate Oliver? Better tell me…quick!”

  Kate giggled. “I have been keeping secrets, but they’re good ones! Instead of telling you, it might be easier to show you.” She tugged on Sydney’s arm until her friend sat up in the bed.

  “Okay, okay!” Sydney laughed. “I guess you’re in a hurry, so I’ll do my exercises later.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Kate said. “I have just the thing to help get you moving. Trust me!”

  Kate practically pulled Sydney from the bed. Seconds later, the two sprinted down the stairs, and then down the next set of stairs to the basement. Biscuit followed, almost slipping on the bottom step. “Careful, boy!” Kate called out. She turned on the light and Sydney gasped.

  “Kate! I’ve never seen so much stuff! What is all of this?”

  “My dad’s inventions, remember? I told you! Kind of like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.”

  “Oh yeah.” Sydney looked around with a dazed expression on her face.

  “It’s an electronic wonderland down here,” Kate explained. “Better than an amusement park, and all original stuff!”

  “No kidding.” Sydney squinted, looking beyond the bright light. “So what am I supposed to be looking at? What’s the big surprise?”

  “It’s right here.” She pointed with great joy at the robotic brace she and her father had been working on for children with muscular dystrophy. Picking it up, she explained, “See, it’s a brace. Kids who have muscular problems have a hard time performing everyday tasks with their hands.”

  “Why?” Sydney asked, reaching to hold the brace. She looked it over carefully.

  “Well, their upper arms don’t work very well,” Kate said. “That’s why Dad and I created Robo-Brace.”

  “Robo-Brace?” Sydney echoed.

  “Yes, well, it’s a brace to help kids with their movement. When they strap this on”—she demonstrated, putting it on her arm—”they have more arm strength and flexibility. It helps them lift things, too.” She demonstrated, and Biscuit began to bark and then jump up and down.

  “Seriously?” Sydney stared at her, amazed. “Kate, this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. When are you going to start manufacturing them for the kids with muscular dystrophy?”

  “We need to do a lot more work before we’ll be ready for that. But I’ve been working on this idea ever since I heard Andrew’s dad was a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation. I wanted to surprise him.” She frowned. “And then when I heard they didn’t want him for their spokesperson anymore, it broke my heart! We’ve been working so hard on this secret project!”

  “Let me try it!”

  “Sure!” Kate helped Sydney strap on the brace, and before long Sydney was moving her arms up, down, and all around.

  “Wow, this is giving me quite a workout,” Sydney said. “I can feel it in my upper arms and my shoulders.”

  “Which is exactly where people with muscular dystrophy are weak,” Kate explained. “So now you get it!”

  “I do!” Sydney giggled. “You’re a genius. But what about Tony Smith? He doesn’t even know about all of this? He hasn’t seen Robo-Brace?”

  “No, never.” Kate shrugged. “We were waiting. There’s just been too much going on. I didn’t want to bother him during that whole rumors fiasco.”

  “Well, I hope you’re able to show him soon!”

  “I plan on it,” Kate said. She glanced at her watch and then sprang into action. “But first I have to go to a super-fantabulous birthday party!”

  Later that afternoon, Kate’s parents took the girls, Dexter, and Andrew to Ice De-Lights, a local ‘50s-style soda shop that specialized in birthday parties. They ordered burgers and fries for everyone, along with a beautiful ice cream cake that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY, INSPECTOR GADGET! Kate laughed when she read it.

  They hadn’t been there very long when a familiar ‘50s song started playing. All of the waiters and waitresses gathered in a long line across the front of the restaurant and did a funny little dance. Kate couldn’t stop laughing as she watched them. Then—horror of horrors!—one of the waiters asked her to join them because it was her birthday. How embarrassing! She wanted to crawl under one of the tables or run out the door. Instead, she gave it her best effort. Not that she could dance very well, but she tried!

  After that, Kate just relaxed and had a great time, completely forgetting about J. Kenner or anything having to do with Tony Smith. That was, until her dad’s phone rang. She could tell it was serious by the expression on his face as he talked.

  “What’s that?” he asked. “Are you sure?” His eyes grew very, very wide as he listened to the response from the other end of the line.

  “What is it, Dad?” Kate asked, looking at her father.

  “What’s happened?”

  Kate’s father ended the call and looked at all of them. “Well, that was fascinating. Andrew’s dad was calling with some very interesting news.”

  “Interesting news?” Kate bounced up and down, more curious than ever. “Tell us, please!” she chanted. “Oh, Dad, tell us what he said!”

  “Yes, please, Mr. Oliver!” Andrew added, his eyes now bugging. “Tell us!”

  Kate felt sure she would burst with excitement! What, oh what, had happened?

  The Plot Thickens!

  Kate could hardly contain her excitement. “What did Mr. Smith say, Dad? What did he say?”

  Her father clasped his hands together and smiled. “He found out the name of the man at the stadium—the one you told us about, Kate, in that seat number you wrote down. His name is James Kenner!”

  “James Kenner!” Sydney and Kate stared at each other in disbelief. “Wow, I knew it,” Kate said. “We were right about the Kenner part. And J is for James.”

  “That’s just amazing,” Sydney added.

  “Wait… .” Kate’s father looked confused. “You mean you girls already knew the man’s name?”

  “We weren’t sure, but I found a blogger online with the last name Kenner,” Kate explained. “He was saying lots of bad stuff about Mr. Smith. So I just put two and two together… .” She shrugged. “I wanted to talk to you about it this morning, but I got so busy in the basement I almost forgot!”

  “Well, speaking of busy, Tony and his wife want us to meet them at their house so we can tell the police everything we know.” He winked at Kate. “Do you mind interrupting your birthday party to wrap up this case? After eating the ice cream cake, I mean.”

  “Mind? Of course not!”

  “Well, let’s get this show on the road, then,” Andrew said. He stood and bega
n to sing “Happy Birthday” to Kate. She felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment. First the silly dance and now this? Nothing like being put on the spot in front of a whole restaurant full of people! Kate knew her friend Bailey, one of the Camp Club Girls, would love that kind of attention, but Kate usually didn’t like to be noticed so much.

  After the singing, Kate blew out the twelve candles on the cake, and her mother sliced it into thick pieces. She could see the yummy strawberry ice cream and chocolate cake layers as her mother laid the pieces on plates.

  “Open your presents while I’m serving the cake, honey,” her mother said.

  First she opened the gift from her parents. Ripping the paper was always such fun! When she got the package open, Kate stared at the red Phillies T-shirt. “Oh, how funny!”

  “Well, we figured it was time to start supporting our team,” her father said with a wink. “But we have something else for you, too.”

  Kate opened the second package, stunned to see a necklace with the words INSPECTOR GADGET on it in little red ruby chips, the July birthstone. She stared at her mom and dad, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. “Oh, Mom! Dad! This is the greatest! Thank you so much!”

  Sydney helped her put it on, and then she opened up a small package from Andrew. He watched her carefully. “I really hope you like this,” he said. “I bought it just for you.”

  “Thanks!” She ripped the paper off of the gift and gasped when she saw the tiny electronic baseball game inside. “Andrew, how funny!” She laughed until her sides hurt. “This is great! I can’t believe you did this.”

  “Well, I know how much you like electronics,” he said with a nod. “And I know how much you want to learn about baseball, so I figured it was the perfect gift.”

  “It is!”

  Next she opened the present from Sydney. “Sorry, but I didn’t have much time to get you anything because I left DC so quickly.” Sydney shrugged. “I hope you like it.”

  Kate stared at the framed photograph of the Camp Club Girls and a lump rose in her throat. “Oh, it’s perfect! But I don’t remember taking this picture.”