Snaggle

by PD Kiernan

  It was several days later when they returned to the precinct. Suzie and Cassidy had decided to accompany Roberto when it was time to pick up his bike. Suzie was the first inside and saw the familiar smiling face of Sergeant Joe at his usual post behind the large desk.

  “There she is!” he called out loudly to the other police officers behind him.

  “Hiya, Sergeant Joe!” she responded.

  “C’mon boys and girls,” Sergeant Joe said, turning around to the room. “Give it up. Detective in the house!”

  Then he started to clap and he was joined by all of the officers behind him, one by one. They each stood up at their desks and they started to clap until the entire room echoed with applause.

  Suzie stood there with Cassidy and Roberto by her side. She smiled as her face blushed and turned almost as red as her hair.

  “Okay, okay,” Sergeant Joe said. “Let’s not let this get to her head.” He raised his arms and the other officers sat back down and the usual noise and commotion resumed.

  “I am guessing Mr. Rodriguez wants his bike back, finally,” Joe said.

  “Yes, sir!” said Roberto.

  “Alrighty. Let me make a call and someone will bring it up to you in a few,” he said.

  They were about to walk over to a bench when the site of someone stepping down the rear stairs caused Suzie to stop. It was Detective Rosario slowly making his way down the steps and looking straight at her.

  “Well, well. Here she is, the super sleuth herself,” he said as he approached her. He had his usual hat with a light suit on. The toothpick darted from each corner of his mouth as he continued. “You can’t stay out of the papers, eh? That was some story that guy wrote about you, again.”

  “I really had nothing to do with that. They write what they want to write,” she said and held her hands out while tilted her head and smiling.

  “Spoken like a true celebrity! Well, just the same, thanks for mentioning me. My wife appreciated it. Ya know somethin’, I’ve got to hand to ya. Ya really pulled the whole thing off. That was a big score, kiddo.”

  “Thanks,” Suzie said.

  “It’s too bad they couldn’t get all of the bikes back. That guy at the building,” said Rosario, “the old guy, who tried to run when your friend Peter showed up with the cops. He confessed downtown. Him and his thief buddy stole over fifty bikes. They found parts and bike frames in all the boroughs so far. They had quite the operation goin’ on.”

  “Really?” Suzie asked.

  Rosario continued, “Yeah- and it turned out the guy you followed, the thief, he used to be-”

  “-a garbage man,” Suzie said, cutting him off. She couldn’t resist. “That was how he got the idea in the first place. He saw all of the bikes that kids left out on his route.”

  “That’s right,” Rosario said a little stunned. “Turns out he’s been stealing stuff from the job too, so they fired him a couple of weeks ago. Now he’s gonna go away for a long time. How on earth did you figure out where he worked?”

  “Well, the thefts started on a path,” Suzie continued, “a route of some kind. Given the time of them, it all fit with a garbage collection. He changed that after he was fired, I guess. Then he tried to get more bikes, make more money I would think.”

  “I would think that too,” Rosario said with a stunned look.

  “And,” Suzie continued, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the sliver of green plastic she found and holding it up carefully in her fingers. “This little piece of green plastic got me thinking last night. It is a shard, like it is has been shredded, exactly what they do at the recycling plant. I am sure the thief used to work with that stuff too.”

  “I think you’re right,” Rosario said.

  “See, if we both worked together on this clue, we could have put this together sooner than we did,” Suzie added.

  “Then it was a good thing you held onto it,” Rosario said as he carefully picked it from Suzie’s fingers. “Maybe we can link him to the scene of the crime.”

  “And it’s a good thing we had Suzie, right?” Cass blurted out.

  “That’s right. And a good thing is a good thing,” he said standing up a little taller and taking the toothpick out of his mouth. “I like to think I’m a big enough guy to admit when I’m wrong. So,” he paused, cleared his throat and continued in a lower voice. “Good job-” he raised his eyebrows, “detective.”

  “Thanks, detective,” she said likewise, with a wide smile.

  “It’s too bad they couldn’t find your bike, Suzie,” he said as he walked away.

  Another police officer in a uniform showed up wheeling Roberto’s bike across the floor.

  “Mr. Rodriguez,” she said, holding out a clipboard, “sign here, please.”

  They all filed out of the precinct. Roberto climbed up on his racing bike as Cassidy climbed up on her dirt bike. Suzie walked next to them.

  “Man, it’s pretty scratched up on the sides,” Roberto said as he looked down at his bike’s front wheel.

  “Hey, my mom said to swing by Lillian’s for some ice cream,” said Suzie. “She wants to celebrate again.”

  “Sure. I’ve got no problem with that,” Roberto said.

  After a few blocks they arrived at Lillian’s. They went inside and to their surprise they saw Peter already sitting at their corner booth. As they got closer they saw Dwayne was sitting there as well.

  “Hey, when did you guys get here?” Suzie asked as they all sat down.

  “Thank goodness! We can get our ice cream now!” Peter said.

  “Hello Suzie!” the voice of Mrs. Singleton called out to her daughter from the kitchen. “We have a surprise waiting! Come on out back.”

  She walked through the kitchen with everyone excitingly trailing behind her and out the back door of the restaurant. Standing in an empty space in the parking lot was a beautiful brand new bike. It had a sparkling white and gold paint job, red racing stripes, and large butterfly stickers on the sides of its golden frame.

  “Wow,” Suzie slowly whispered, as her jaw dropped open.

  “Isn’t it wonderful? Mr. Kane saw the article and got in touch with me himself. After he read that they never found your bike, he wanted you to have your own again, especially one from his toy store. You made a lot of kids happy, getting all of those bikes back. He said he wanted to make it right,” her mom said as her eyes started to tear up.

  “Aww, mom,” Suzie said, with tears starting to stream down her cheeks as well. “Now you’re making me cry!”

  “It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s a good cry. The bike is bigger than the other one, so it should last a while. The seat height should fit, we think. Try it out,” her mom said, walking Suzie over to the bike.

  Suzie took her helmet that was hanging on the handlebars, put it on and climbed up, barely reaching the ground with her toes. She looked over the ten-speed shifters, one on each side of the handlebars. The streamers were gone, replaced with handbrakes. This bike was bigger, faster, and stronger.

  “It’s perfect,” she said.

  She kicked up the kickstand and pushed off. It moved like a dream. She moved around the parking lot like she wasn’t touching the ground at all.

  “What about the ice scream?” Pete yelled out to her.

  “C’mon Pete! She’s having a moment, will ya? Zeesh!” Cassidy yelled back at him.

  “Ice cream, yes!” Suzie called out. “Double scoops all around! Start without me, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Suzie said, waving to her mom, who waved back and blew a kiss.

  She bounced off the curb from the parking lot and glided out into the street. She was back, out into the open breeze.

 

  There will be more Suzie Snaggletooth adventures. I invite you to join the mailing list to stay informed on the future releases:

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