Chapter 1 Who’s That I pushed the dry white turkey meat and watery brown gravy around my lunch tray This was supposed to be our special Thanksgiving lunch at Edwin West Elementary The crunchy mashed potatoes and the runny cranberry sauce were mixing together I dropped my fork into the mess in front of me and shoved it away The cafeteria was more festive than usual that day It wasn’t Thanksgiving yet No that was coming on Thursday And boy will that be a day I thought All the Gummyshoeses would arrive in town from around the country including my 8
uncle Nicky Gummyshoes Uncle Nicky is a world-famous detective from Los Angeles My mom Joan Gummyshoes cooks all of the classics for us turkey homemade mashed potatoes and corn on the cob My bug-eyed Boston terrier Little Ricky celebrates too He eats the leftovers on the table once we all pass out in the living room But I had to wait a few more days for that In school the cafeteria walls were covered with paper handprints made to look like turkeys The kindergartners made them the week after Halloween The fourth graders were tasked with putting on the annual Thanksgiving play about the first celebration of the holiday Acting has never been my gig My interests are in sleuthing I’m a flatfoot a sneaker Whatever you want to call me I’m an all-around detective just like my Uncle Nicky The play we were going to perform was about the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth Colony and enjoyed their Thanksgiving lunch with Native Americans I sure hope that what they had to eat was a lot better than this slop 9
The table I was sitting at had the whole gang I looked around to get the count Across from me was Frankie Flats He was building a hot-air balloon out of his mashed potatoes Down the line was Amber Holiday my former flame We had not spoken much since I put her brother Donny away for a scheme a couple months back But that’s a different story altogether Between Frankie and Amber was Amber’s best friend Becky Lipgloss She was the resident pretty girl and the object of my best pal’s affection Sitting to my right was said best pal Larry MacGuffin He was staring not at his lunch but at Becky MacGuffin had not been at Edwin West too long but we had already been on quite a few adventures together I had a sneaking suspicion that Becky was the only reason MacGuffin came along on the cases with me I glanced at the tray that I had pushed away and tried not to get sick MacGuffin finished the sandwich his mother made for him He read the note she left on his napkin smiled and then wiped his mouth with it What’s the big idea Mac How come you 11
