“They got along just fine today,” Mrs. Cragg said.
Now I was wide awake and mad. “Why won’t Abby be nice to Purrkins when I’m there? And why does Daisy make me feel bad about it? It’s not fair.”
Mrs. Cragg laughed. “You know, Jimmy, pets feed off their owners quite a bit. If Abby and Purrkins sense tension between you and Daisy when you get together, well then, it’s likely that they’ll have a bit of tension between themselves as well.”
“But they started it!” I protested. “Daisy and I only started fighting after Purrkins and Abby started fighting!”
Mrs. Cragg shrugged. “Sounds like everyone needs to be doing a bit of making up.”
As Misty and Mrs. Cragg went back into the kitchen to fix a snack, I looked at Abby, who was still sitting on top of me.
“Is that true?” I asked her. “Well, I promise to make up with Daisy today, okay? Deal?”
But Abby didn’t answer.
Maybe because she’s a dog.
SINCE WE ROTATED houses for our after-school activities, I had to get a ride over to Irwin’s house for the study group. Mrs. Cragg drove me, which was fine, although it meant having to listen to that goofy radio station where the lady gives people advice about their boyfriends and girlfriends the whole time.
“How can you listen to this?” I asked.
“How can I not?” she answered, which made no sense, but I wasn’t about to argue.
“You seem a little down, Jimmy,” Mrs. Cragg said. “Everything okay?”
“Sure,” I said. Then I paused, trying to decide how honest I should be. “I’m a little mad at Abby and Daisy, I guess.”
“Well, I completely understand,” she said. “But I have a feeling everything will work out. Just when things seem at their worst, something happens that will restore your spirits. Life is funny that way.” Mrs. Cragg turned into Irwin’s driveway. “Have fun. Call me when you’re ready to be picked up.”
“I will. Thanks, Mrs. Cragg.”
She smiled, and it seemed so hard to believe that way back when, we started out as enemies. If I could become friends with Mrs. Cragg, I could definitely make up with Daisy!
When I walked into Irwin’s house, Baxter was already sitting at the kitchen table, working on a math problem. Irwin was on one side of him, and Daisy on the other. Irwin waved. Daisy didn’t.
“Hello, Jimmy!” chirped Irwin’s mom. “Would you like a glass of juice?” She was a bit of a health nut, so I had no idea what would be in that juice, but I was really thirsty.
“That would be great, Mrs. Wonk, thanks.”
She handed me a greenish-orange liquid, and I took a sip. Not bad. Not good, but not bad.
I went over to the guys. Baxter was scratching his head. “This stuff is so HARD!”
“You’re getting the hang of it, you really are,” Daisy said. Then she looked up at me. “Oh, hello.”
Oh, hello?
FACT: Saying “Oh, hello” to someone is like saying “You smell bad.”
“Oh, hello to you too,” I said.
Irwin giggled.
“I don’t want to work on math anymore,” Baxter said. “Can we go outside and jump on the trampoline?” Irwin had this amazing trampoline that he barely ever used, because he said it sometimes made him seasick. What a waste.
“Not yet!” Daisy said. “You need to study! Do you want someone like Kermit Klondike passing this test and you failing it?”
“That can’t happen,” agreed Irwin. “That kid is such a jerk.”
“And he was acting even jerkier than usual today,” Daisy added.
“Maybe he did it,” I blurted out, before realizing it.
Baxter, Irwin, and Daisy all turned to me.
“Maybe who did what?” Baxter asked.
“Maybe Kermit stole the answer sheet,” I answered.
“Are you crazy?” Daisy said. “His dad’s the vice-principal.”
“So what?” My heart started racing as I realized I might have just solved the case. “That actually makes him more likely to do it, because he would think he could totally get away with it.”
Daisy still looked skeptical, but Irwin nodded. “Hmmmmm. It’s true that that was our plan all along,” he said. “To talk about the quiz at recess and see who reacted oddly? Well, Kermit sure did.”
“There’s something else,” I said. “His first and last names both start with the same letter.”
Everyone looked at me, confused.
“Just like Barnaby Bratford,” I added.
We all stood there awkwardly. Barnaby was Baxter’s dad, the jewelry thief we’d caught in our first case, before Bax became our friend.
“That’s not a very nice thing to bring up,” Daisy said.
“Sorry,” I said.
Baxter didn’t seem to mind though. “It’s okay. Just help me pass this test, and you can say whatever you want.”
“So we have a suspect,” I said. “We will pursue this tomorrow at school. Are we all agreed?”
Everyone looked at Daisy. It was clear that she had to say yes before anyone else dared to.
“We’re agreed,” she said. “Thank you, Jimmy, for your expert analysis of this case.”
I smiled. I’d made a breakthrough on the case, and Daisy was being nice to me again!
Mrs. Cragg was right.
Life is funny that way.
AFTER BAXTER ANSWERED three straight problems correctly, we decided that was enough math for one day, and we went outside and jumped on the trampoline for a half hour.
FACT: Trampoline is a lot more fun than math.
Finally, Mrs. Wonk came outside. “Jimmy? Your dad is here.” Then she offered me a brownie that had what looked like pencil shavings on top.
“Gluten-free carob sprinkles,” she explained.
“No thanks,” I said. And also, eeeewwww.
FACT: When you have a brownie, there’s no need to mess it up with other stuff.
I went out to the driveway and saw my dad sitting in the car, with Abby in the backseat. I felt both happy and worried, which is what happens whenever I see my dad during the day. Happy, because he’s home. Worried, because that might mean his job fell through. That’s what happens when you have a dad who has been working on and off for a while.
“Dad? Is everything okay?”
He grinned. “Everything’s great! Hop in!” As I climbed in the passenger seat, he added, “Had a meeting nearby and decided to play hooky for the rest of the day. I’ll drop you at the shelter.”
My heart soared with relief. “Awesome!”
I turned around to say hi to Abby. She gave me a big wag and a slurpy lick on my nose. “Yuck!” I groaned, but it was a happy groan.
“Everything go okay in there?” my dad asked.
“Yup. We did some work with Baxter on his math, and then we jumped on the trampoline.” I almost told him about Kermit and the stolen answer sheet, but for some reason I just decided not to. I think because I knew he would have asked a million questions and I didn’t really feel like giving a million answers.
When we got to the shelter, I noticed that it looked totally different already. There were a bunch of boxes all over the place, with labels like TOYS and BONES and COLLARS and FOOD.
“What’s going on?” my dad said. As we walked over to Shep and Kelsey, who were loading up boxes, I realized I hadn’t told my parents about the shelter. Maybe because I didn’t want to believe it myself.
“The shelter has to close, Dad,” I said. “Someone bought it and is turning it into a shopping center.”
“Oh no! That totally stinks.”
“Yup,” Shep grunted, huffing and puffing as he and Kelsey lifted a giant dog bed into a box that said RANDOM STUFF. “Getting ready for the big sale.”
“What big sale?”
“The big blowout everything-must-go sale!” Shep sighed. “Thank God for eBay.”
“I’m gutted over this whole thing,” Kelsey said to me. “Simply gutted.”<
br />
“Me too,” I said, even though I had no idea what she was talking about.
FACT: English English is a totally different language than American English.
My dad grabbed a side of the bed and helped them stuff it into the box. As soon as they were done, Abby proceeded to jump into the box and lie down in the bed.
“Abby likes small, dark places,” I said.
“And I don’t think she wants you to go,” my dad added.
Shep laughed sadly.
Dad reached into the box and pulled Abby out. “I’m really sorry to hear about your shelter, Shep,” he said. “This is a terrific place. I can still remember coming here last year and picking up this crazy little dog. She sneezed all over me!”
“I remember that,” Shep said, smiling.
“Me too,” I said. “And Dad, remember when we were filling out the paperwork, you asked me what I wanted to name her, and I said Happy, but you heard me wrong and wrote down Abby?”
“I sure do.” Dad put Abby on the floor and turned to Shep. “I don’t suppose there’s anything we can do to help?”
“Not unless you got a couple of million dollars lying around,” Shep said.
“Let me check the car,” my dad said, and for a split second I actually thought he was serious.
FACT: Hope can make you really gullible sometimes.
“Jimmy,” Shep said, “you’ve been a great help to me these last few months. I really appreciate it. But I’m going to wrap up all training classes this week, and I need to start finding other shelters for the animals.” He bent down to my level so he could look me in the eye. “And frankly, buddy, I don’t think you want to be around here, getting sadder and sadder. That won’t be much fun for either of us.”
My lower lip started to tremble. “Uh … are you firing me?”
“Of course not! You’re my guy!” Shep gave me a big bear hug. “But we should probably start to wind things down, okay? How about you help me out one more week, and then we’ll call it a day, okay? As soon as I figure out my next move, you’ll be right there with me.”
“How are you going to be able to find homes for all the animals?” I asked Shep.
“Not sure,” he said, “but I’ll figure something out.”
I looked up at my dad. “We have to do something! I need to help Shep save his shelter!”
“Really?” My dad raised his eyebrows. “How are you going to do that?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “But I am.”
He gave my shoulder a little squeeze. “If anyone can help you save your shelter, Shep, it’s this guy.”
“No doubt about that,” Shep said. Then he let out a big sigh. “Well, I gotta load up some more boxes. Nice talking to you, Mr. Bishop.”
“Please, call me Richard.”
As we watched Shep walk away, my dad turned to me.
“Thinking you can save the shelter is a tiny bit crazy—you know that, right?”
“Yeah,” I said sadly.
My dad smiled. “But it’s the kind of crazy that makes a parent really proud.”
TWO HOURS LATER, when I was done at the shelter, my dad was waiting for me in the parking lot.
“Wanna go get ice cream?”
“Sweet!”
“How was work?”
“Sad.”
“I’ll bet.” After a few seconds, he turned the car radio on. “How about a little music to change the mood?”
A voice came out of the speakers: This weather report sponsored by the Committee to Reelect Rhonda Murpt.
And then a different voice:
Hi, I’m Rhonda! In my first term as mayor of the great town of Quietville, we’ve seen many great things happen. Our infrastructure is sound, our businesses are thriving, and our community is sleeping safer and sounder than ever before. But as great as the last four years have been, the next four are going to be even better! So I hope you’ll join me on Election Day and vote!
My dad turned the volume down. “Yeesh, we don’t need to be listening to that.”
“Election Day?” I asked. “That’s not until November.”
“In Northport we do it a little differently,” my dad explained. “We hold local elections in the spring so they can be their own thing.”
“Got it,” I said. “What’s an infrastructure?”
“Roads, bridges, construction, that kind of stuff.”
“Well, she seems like a pretty good mayor, right?”
My dad sighed. “I guess so. But you can’t believe everything you hear. Politicians always tell you they’re awesome—that’s part of their job.”
“Oh.”
Dad turned the radio to a different station. “Do you want to talk about the shelter thing some more?”
“Not really.”
At the ice-cream parlor, I ended up getting mocha chocolate chip.
My dad got sorbet.
FACT: Sorbet is just a fancy word for fake ice cream.
We sat on the bench in front of the store and I ate my cone. It was delicious, but not quite delicious enough to make me forget all the boxes I’d just filled at the shelter.
There are some things even ice cream can’t fix.
THE NEXT DAY in math class, all eyes were on Kermit Klondike.
Well, six eyes anyway.
Irwin, Baxter, and I all stared at him as soon as we walked into the classroom. Then, when Ms. Owenby started asking questions about the lesson, we stared some more as Kermit raised his hand. And whenever she called on him, he got every answer right!
Things were getting very suspicious.
Finally, at the end of class, it was time to get our quizzes back. Ms. Owenby made her way through the classroom. “Nice job, Becky,” she said to one kid. “Need to pay a little more attention next time, Jason,” she said to another. She got to Irwin and didn’t need to say anything, because he was amazing at math. She got to me and said, “Good work,” before putting down my quiz—seventeen out of twenty. I’ll take it! When Ms. Owenby walked over to Baxter’s desk, she whispered, “You’re always welcome to come in for extra help before the final test, you know that,” before putting down his quiz. Baxter didn’t even look at it before stuffing it inside his backpack.
Then Ms. Owenby got to Kermit’s desk.
“Well,” she said with a bright smile. “I’m very impressed, young man. Keep up the good work.” She handed Kermit his quiz, and a big grin spread over his face. “YES!” he said loudly. “Perfect score! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Then he high-fived his friend Benjy, who also apparently got a good grade, and the two of them howled like hyenas.
“Easy, you two,” Ms. Owenby said. “It’s just one quiz. But it’s very good work. See what happens when you apply yourself?”
“We sure do,” crowed Kermit.
Irwin, Baxter, and I caught each other’s eye, and it was clear we were all thinking the same thing.
That clinched it.
After class, we huddled in the hallway, waiting for Daisy. As soon as she joined us, we all started talking to her at once.
“Whoa, whoa!” she said. “One at a time.”
“He did it!” Irwin said. “Kermit definitely stole the answer sheet. He knew all the answers in class today and practically danced on the table when he got his quiz back. He’s definitely the guy.”
“Maybe he’s just good at math,” Daisy suggested.
We all howled at that one.
“He did badly all year!” Baxter insisted. “Just like me!”
“Well, maybe he decided to buckle down,” countered Daisy.
I laughed. “Have you met Kermit?”
“Point taken,” Daisy said. “Oh boy. You guys are absolutely, positively, one hundred percent sure?”
“Yup,” Irwin said.
“Has to be,” Baxter said.
They all turned to me. For some reason I hesitated. “Well, I mean, it’s not like we all have actual proof or anything—”
“Oh, come on, J
immy!” scoffed Irwin. “You’re the one who first thought he was the guy! Don’t wimp out now! He did it for sure.”
Jeez. I was right. That sure felt good!
“Let’s just go talk to him one more time,” Daisy said. “To be sure.”
Irwin rolled his eyes but nodded. “Fine.”
We walked down the hall, the four of us, and all of a sudden I actually felt kind of cool. We were a gang, we were the CrimeBiters, and we were about to solve a case in front of everybody. We might actually be heroes!
As we rounded a corner, we saw Kermit standing at a water fountain, hanging out with his friend Benjy and another kid, Derek. The three of them were spitting water at each other. Kermit wouldn’t get in trouble though, because his father was Mr. Klondike.
When they saw us coming, they straightened up and turned in our direction, with nasty grins on their faces.
“Well, hello, boys and girl,” Kermit said. “How can I be of assistance? Did your car need a wash?” Then he splurted some water in Irwin’s direction, but luckily it missed.
“That is so gross!” Irwin cried. “I can’t wait until you get what you deserve!”
“What are you talking about?” snapped Kermit.
Daisy jumped in before Irwin could say anything else. “Hey, Kermit, I heard you did really well on the math quiz,” she said. “That’s great.”
“Yeah, I did,” Kermit said, looking confused. “So what? Since when do you care about my grades?”
“You used to hate math,” Baxter said. “Remember? We used to laugh at all the math nerds, for caring about stupid stuff like numbers?”
“Just because I laughed at them doesn’t mean I couldn’t do it if I tried,” Kermit said. “I’ve always been good at math when I study.” Then he slurped some more water and threatened to spit it, and Irwin ducked out of the way. “Ha!” Kermit said, his mouth dribbling nasty little droplets.
“What do you guys want?” asked Benjy. “Like, what are you doing here?”
Some other kids started to gather around. Mara Lloyd, Daisy’s chipper friend, was one of the first to arrive. “What’s going on, you guys?” she chirped excitedly. “It sounds like you guys are fighting.”
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