The Case of the Christmas Caper by Daniel Kenney & Emily Boever

Author:Daniel Kenney & Emily Boever [Kenney, Daniel & Boever, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Age 9-12, Chapter Books, Children's Books, Fiction, Humour, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9781955657518
Google: JJSfzwEACAAJ
Amazon: 1519756321
Publisher: Bakken Books
Published: 2015-12-08T23:00:00+00:00

“Unless what?” yelled Stanley.

But she didn’t answer.

“Charlotte! Unless what?”

The rest of them ran after her, and by the time they caught up she was on her knees in the dirty snow on the far side of the manhole cover. She pounded her fists into the ground.

“So stupid,” she said. “How could I have not seen them?”

“Seen what?” Stanley said as he came up. Charlotte pointed. Plain as day, on the back side of the hill, were two sets of paths cut into the sludge, each set going in a different direction.

Charlotte turned around. “I never saw them. Never even looked. I wasn’t even thinking about more than one path, let alone three. I came out of the manhole, saw the one leading down the hill and I fell for it. Dumb, stupid, me.”

“Charlotte,” said Herman. “I didn’t see them either. None of us did.”

“Three sets of paths?” asked Gertie. “Three directions? What’s going on here?”

Stanley punched his own hand. “The real toys were never on that boat. It was a wild goose chase. We just chose wrong.”

Herman pointed at the new paths. “So one of these two is the right direction? It’s like that game, Three Card Monty. They have you looking three different directions so you don’t know where the card is hidden.”

Stanley nodded. “Well, we know the real toys weren’t on the boat. So the good news is we’ve eliminated one of the three paths. Time to see where these other two lead. Charlotte, Herman, and I will take the one on the left. Felix and Gertie, you take the one on the right. See what you can see and meet back here ASAP.”

Ten minutes later they were back at the manhole cover comparing notes.

“Our path led to the highway,” Felix reported. “From the tire tracks on the shoulder of the road, it looked like a big truck pulled over. It must have been to load the bags because that’s where the large drag marks ended.”

“Which direction were they headed?” asked Stanley.

“West, into the Rondout Valley,” answered Felix.

“And our path led east, deeper into the woods,” said Charlotte. “The footprints and the drag marks ended at the railroad tracks a couple hundred yards from here.”

“I don’t supposed you know which direction the train was going?” asked Felix.

“South,” answered Charlotte.

“And how do you know that?” asked Felix.

“I put my ear against the track.”

“And that works?”

Charlotte shrugged. “Nah. Just a guess. It could have been going north. I have no idea.”

Stanley had heard enough. He flipped open his phone and started dialing. “Felix, you pulling up highways and railroad maps?”

“Already on it.”

“And Gertie?” asked Stanley.

“I’ve got my pencil out and I’m not afraid to use it.”

“And Charlotte?”

“I’m ready to pummel the thieves whenever we catch them.”

“And what about me?” asked Herman.

“Um, well, I’m not exactly sure what you do yet,” said Stanley.

Felix looked up from his phone. “He could tell us Uncle Farley stories. I mean what’s Christmas Eve without stories about show chickens and stuffed critters?”

“My uncle would never stuff a critter,” said Herman.

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