West Meadows Detectives: The Case of the Berry Burglars
The garden was near the fence It had been planted by the garden club a few weeks ago Now it was the middle of June so the tiny seedlings had grown into leafy green vegetable plants and colorful flowers But something was wrong At one end of the garden leaves had been trampled and stems snapped in two Something or someone had damaged the plants Other kids gathered around One girl was moving around the flattened plants snapping pictures with the camera on her phone Glitch got here a few minutes ago Hajrah said Hey Myron Glitch looked up from her phone and waved Her real name is Danielle but everyone calls her Glitch because she is so good with computers I figured you guys 10
would want a closer look at this mess when we get to class Hajrah leaned in close and spoke quietly I’ve asked around but nobody knows what happened and none of the garden club members are here right now That’s odd I pulled my notebook from my backpack You’d think one of them would be here to check on the plants in the morning Hajrah shrugged It could be important or it could be nothing I made a note in my book anyway This early in an investigation it was hard to tell the difference between important and nothing The school bell rang What’s going on here a loud voice boomed We spun to face Mrs Rainer our school 11
principal She was thin and wrinkled but her voice was big and loud Her tiny eyes went wide at the sight of the plants What happened to our beautiful garden She shook her head I told Ms Hemenway she needed to protect the plants from raccoons I don’t think it was raccoons Mrs Rainer I said Not this time The principal smiled I’m sure you’re 12
convinced there’s a mystery afoot Myron It was definitely a foot or maybe a bunch of feet Hajrah hopped to the principal’s side We can’t be sure but look at all the footprints in the dirt That’s not what I meant Principal Rainer said We’re gathering evidence Hajrah continued and putting together a list of suspects for our report She saluted Mrs Rainer I would prefer it if you just went to class the principal said sighing Ms Hemenway and the garden club can deal with this mess And we don’t have to write a report Hajrah I said We aren’t police officers and this isn’t a TV show It’s also not a mystery It’s simply the 13
