Snaggle

by PD Kiernan

  The next day Suzie and Cassidy decided to round up as much of the gang as they could and head back to Lillian’s for ice cream and some serious thinking. They could get Pete, Dwayne, and Roberto to swing by. When they came in they saw Suzie’s mom and then ordered the usual: double scoops of chocolate, vanilla, with fudge and whipped cream, finished with cherries on top, of course.

  Suzie brought her map and when everyone was sitting in their corner booth waiting for the ice cream she unfurled it across the table. Wayne and Roberto had not seen it, so they immediately leaned over to take a close look.

  “Wow, that’s a lot of bikes!” Dwayne said.

  “Yeah, I got a bunch more from Sergeant Joe on the phone yesterday. The new ones seem to be all taken in the early morning, which helps, I think,” Suzie said.

  The map had little red dots that signified overnight thefts. They lined up on a definite path around the neighborhood, same as before. Suzie had written little dates next to each one, but now all of the red ones were old. The yellow dots were the early morning thefts, and were newer, but they all seemed to be randomly spread out around the neighborhood.

  “It looks like they changed, or maybe it’s two people?” Roberto asked.

  “Naaa. I still think it’s that one creepazoid, creeping around our neighborhood with a creepy hoody on,” Cass said.

  “You’re creepin’ me out!” said Peter.

  “I think it’s the same guy too,” Suzie said. “We need to figure out the pattern.” She looked over the map again and slowly moved her hand over the yellow dots. “The answer is right here. We have to crack the code.”

  “Well, we can start with some ice cream, right?” Peter asked.

  “Zeesh, Pete. Give your stomach a rest for once!” Cass said.

  “My mom said she would be over in a little with it all. So hang tight,” Suzie said. “I was thinking maybe we try to figure this out first. Hold on a sec.”

  She grabbed one of the long ice cream menus and took out her short pencil and laid them down on top of the map.

  “Cass, where exactly did you say the guy disappeared?” she asked.

  “Well, let’s see. I was riding up Lefferts, here,” Cassidy said, tracing the boulevard with her finger on the map. “And, he ducked between these two buildings, here, and whammo, he was gone.”

  “Over near the railroad yards,” Suzie added.

  “Yeah, that’s right. But he didn’t go in there, or else I would have seen him for sure,” said Cass.

  “Did you look carefully around those buildings?” Roberto asked.

  “Yes. I rode all around them, and back,” Cass said with a twinge of anger towards Roberto. “I think that was his getaway plan all along, to get over there if he was chased. There must have been a trick he knew, or something.”

  “Well, that’s as good a place as any to make our center point. So, do you remember when we had to plot out points in Mrs. Degrom’s math class?” Suzie asked.

  “You mean, like, on graph paper?” Dwayne asked.

  “Exactly. They would give us the numbers and we draw points on the graph paper. Only this time, we’re going to put the graph paper over our points, watch,” Suzie said.

  She took the straight edge of the menu and meticulously started tracing out straight lines, one after the other over the map. Then she turned the map the other way and start doing the same thing in the other direction, ending up with little square boxes all across the entire map. It made for a very neat looking grid, like a large sheet of graph paper.”

  “Wow,” Cass said, “Mrs. DeGrom would be proud.”

  “Thanks,” Suzie said. “Now, see, all of the yellow ones are the ones we were looking at. Notice how they are all to the right, or east, of where Cass saw the guy last.”

  “Yeah, so what. Put the center at my house and they are all to the left,” Dwayne said.

  “That’s true,” Suzie said, “but now we have the place of his escape. It’s a place he knew well. A place he felt safe to run to. That is important.”

  “I still don’t see anything. So what, they are all on one side?” Dwayne asked.

  Suzie looked at the grid with the yellow dots for a long moment. Then something clicked in her head and she excitedly picked up the menu again. She started tracing lines, connecting the different points.

  “If we connect the ones on the cross streets only, that are near the same long blocks, let’s see,” Suzie said as she continued to work, picking up the pace. Everyone else leaned up a little to try to get a better view.

  “So, wait, what are you doing?” Roberto asked.

  “The cross streets would be on their own, see? So we can connect those,” she said as she continued to trace out the lines. “Easy, see, and then we connect these up top.” She quickly slid the menu along the top of the map, moving her arms furiously along the edges. “And if we follow each of these paths.”

  Suzie took the menu and carefully extended each line with her pencil back near the starting point. One by one she traced them back past the origin of the graph. And one by one they crossed over each other at one place on the map.

  She leaned back and the ice cream menu fell from her hand and onto the floor with a spat. She quickly grabbed her pencil and took a deep breath. She drew a big star with a circle over the area on the map where all of the lines crossed each other.

  “Here is where that creepazoid lives. I’m sure of it!” she said proudly.

  Everyone stared at the map in amazement. Cassidy leaned over the star and looked over the lines and back to the star. Dwayne joined her. The circle was a location on the eastern edge of Richmond Hill, in a group of houses on the other side of the railroad yards.

  “Wait, so how do you know this?” Dwayne asked.

  “It makes sense. Think about it. If he is venturing out, stealing bikes, he is not going to do it right near his house. But he still wants to grab a bike, and get out quick, so there really is no wasting time, or space. So he sets off, gets a bike, and comes back, probably not all the way back home, but close enough. We trace the points back further, and there it is.”

  “Yeah, but, that is a pretty big area there. It’s not like you found his house or anything,” Roberto said.

  “True,” Suzie agreed. “But we’re close. Close enough to wait him out!”

  “Wait him out?” Peter asked.

  “You mean-” Cassidy added.

  “Oh yeah,” Suzie said.

  “Stakeout!” said Cass loudly.

  “Uh oh,” said Peter.

  “What, uh oh?” Dwayne asked.

  “You don’t watch TV? Those never end well,” Peter said.

  “That’s why it’s called TV, Pete,” said Cass. “This is real.”

  “Exactly!” Peter said with a worried look.

  “You have a plan?” Roberto asked Suzie.

  “I’m thinking of one, yes,” answered Suzie.

  “Okay, count me in,” Roberto said.

  “Me too,” Dwayne said.

  “Great, thanks,” Suzie said.

  “Ya know I’m there,” Cassidy said.

  There was silence and everyone looked over at Pete. He looked down, then over at the other tables, and finally back at everyone staring at him.

  “What?” he finally asked.

  “We need a bike, Pete,” Suzie asked.

  “Why?” Peter asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious? We need bait!” said Cassidy.

  “No, that isn’t obvious. And there are other people still with bikes, ya know. What about you, Cass?” Peter asked. He looked nervously around and added, “Where’s that ice cream?”

  “We need another bike, or else how do you think we catch him?” Cassidy asked.

  “Cass is right, Pete. We need another bike to follow him, but we aren’t going to catch him,” Suzie said.

  “We’re not?” Cassidy asked.

  “No, we’re going to find out where he is taking the bikes, and call Sergeant Joe. Then we let the police ta
ke over.”

  “Well, when do you want to do this? There’s like a week and a half before school starts,” Roberto asked.

  “Aww, man, really? Is that true?” Dwayne asked disappointedly.

  “Well then, as soon as we can,” Suzie answered. “He stole most of these latest bikes sometime between 4:30 and 6 am, so I’m thinking we pick a spot. Cass and I will scout out a good place, and meet up at a little after four, and plant the bike. Then we wait nearby.”

  “Like four in the morning, four?” asked Peter.

  “Yes. C’mon, Pete. I want my bike back!” Dwayne said to Pete.

  “Well, can we at least get our ice cream before then?” Pete asked, and then Suzie’s mom showed up as if she heard him and placed a large tray on the table. The double scooped desserts helped everyone forget about the bikes, the plan, and especially the danger that lay ahead.

 

  Chapter 15