Danica de la Torre, Certified Sleuth

Danica de la Torre, Certified Sleuth — page 5 — By lunch the very smart turtle was lost Step one was obvious gather a search party At the start of recess half the class joined in on our quest Some looked by the portables Oth ers took to the soccer field We even had some classmates pretend to go to the bathroom so they could sneak into the hallways But now with two minutes left in recess there’s no turtle in sight She hates me Jack sighs as he takes a seat on the swings The metal chains creak sadly That must be why she ran away My bag isn’t very cozy and it’s not her usual environment I bet she’ll never like me again That’s unlikely I say sitting in the sandbox in front of him I open my mouth to tell him he shouldn’t bring her to school anymore but stop when I notice the sand in the corner There’s nothing particularly special about it The pile is mostly light and grainy It’s sand But in it sit three dark pebbles I don’t need or want to touch them to understand these are animal droppings I yelp and hop out of the sandbox What Jack asks What is it I gesture to the poop waving my hand My partner follows my gaze and gasps Unless someone’s gotten real desperate I say my bet is Miss Edith recently went to the bathroom right here Guys Guys Watch your step and come here Jack jumps as he beckons our classmates over He scours the grass while I crouch and scan the wood chips by the swing set Did she die Jennifer Lam cries upon arrival Jack’s face loses color at the thought I shoot Jennifer an icy look No But we’ve located evidence I say pointing to the sandbox She’s left us a gift of nature Jennifer and the others loudly voice their disgust YO LOOK AT THIS TURTLE POOP Derek announces I block them from reaching in and tampering with the evidence planting myself firmly on the edge of the sandbox It’s not exactly hygienic to touch animal fecal matter so I’m looking out for them too 2 Mikaela Lucido

Danica de la Torre, Certified Sleuth — page 6 — She must be around somewhere Jack says the hope slipping from his expression once more He’s crawling now moving slow as a you know She’s gotta be I say Then my hand gets pinched among the wood chips I look down ready to swat an insect away But I only laugh Something bit me A bee An ant One of those flaming hot ones You’re thinking of Cheetos Andy Bees sting they don’t Miss Edith Jack rushes to kneel beside me scooping his turtle up with both hands She blinks innocently at us chewing on a blade of grass The sun illuminates grains of sand lodged in the fine lines of her shell Mystery solved I announce standing Miss Edith is safe I high five everyone but stop at Jennifer who doesn’t lift her hand You didn’t really find her she observes My cheeks get warm She just happened to bite you Before I can reply Jack steps forward Actually Dani noticed the poop in the sand If she didn’t notice it we wouldn’t have focused on this area He shrugs She helped way more than you did Now Jennifer blushes I grin and pat Jack’s shoulder leaning in to whisper into his ear Pay me tomorrow morning I hope Miss Edith enjoyed her trip to the toilet Jack smiles and laughs I think she did Being a detective has a lot of rewards You save your friend’s turtle and you get promised a bag of banana chips Technically Tita Mary doesn’t let me have chips case reward or not She says they’re not good for you even if they’re dried fruit It’s why she forbids junk food from our lunchboxes But she does have a sweet tooth 3 Danica Dela Torre Certified Sleuth

Danica de la Torre, Certified Sleuth — page 7 — and she also trusts me enough to put me in charge of our holiday menu It’s a big deal To me at least According to Detective Gray’s Grand Secret Guide to Solving Mysteries and Exploring Enigmas detectives do well with lists And what are menus but fancy lists Detective Gray is my role model in all things work-related Nobody quite knows who she is or where she’s from just that she’s an incred ible sleuth Certified even Three Christmases ago the Grand Secret Guide arrived in the mail It had no return address but I deduced it was from my mom Wrapped in sheer fabric and a white lace ribbon it had her attention to detail Plus it was inscribed on the inside cover with handwriting that matched hers For my dear anak Only three people call me that Tita Mary my mom and my dad Last summer I highlighted this part from chapter four in green Indeed I know more than most how lists help you see things clearer Point A and Point B then Point C A list can lead to something inconsequential so tiny and yet it could very well be the thing the person the detail you’ve been looking for It all adds up And it was right in front of you I sit at the kitchen table after school my notepad in front of me I write the title at the top in bold A Grand Medina-dela Torre Thanksgiving Menu Details matter everywhere not just in a case And they especially matter when it comes to planning holiday meals As usual Ate Anna is in charge of decorations But right now she’s not decorating anything She’s peeking out the living room window A box of yellow white and orange pumpkins lies at her feet I look down at my list then back up at Ate What’s the holdup I walk up to the window She shushes me Look Our new neighbor They’ve got a kid Ate whispers She points Guess the Goldmans really did move I follow her gaze Across the street a boy is riding his scooter up and down the driveway An adult calls for him so he stops to grab a bag that looks like Captain America’s shield I remember asking Tita Mary for that bag when we went to the mall once It cost a lot of money 4 Mikaela Lucido

Danica de la Torre, Certified Sleuth — page 8 — I run back to the table and flip to a new page With all the speed and steadiness I can summon in my left hand I write PROFILE NEW NEIGHBOUR Likes Captain America good taste Rides a scooter without a helmet which is unsafe What are you writing there Dani Doesn’t look like a menu to me Tita Mary has walked into the kitchen It’s classified I say sitting up straight Tita Mary smiles Danica’s being nosy Ate says sing-song She stopped me from decorating because she saw the new neighbor across the street I gasp Liar She was looking first Girls you shouldn’t watch people from the window It’s rude But Tita Mary is looking across the street now too The boy with the Captain America bag has gone into the house There’s only the adult from before sitting atop a pile of boxes He’s wearing a brown leather jacket and a blue baseball cap Oh He’s kind of nice-looking isn’t he Tita Mary muses aloud At least a lot more handsome than old Mr Goldman He looks like a model Ate agrees letting out a wistful sigh Tita flinches and draws the curtains closed Uh-oh Tita Mary tends to invite disaster when she makes obser vations like that This one time she compared Patrick from church to an actor He’s a worship leader which so far I think translates to being a rockstar for God He sings and plays guitar at the front before the sermon And I guess he is nice to look at I’m just not a fan of how he repeats a song’s bridge so many times My feet can only take so much Anyway three weeks after her Patrick kind of looks like that British Andrew who played Spider-Man comment she came home swearing she was never going out for coffee with a man again That didn’t stop her from going out with Amir from our music 5 Danica Dela Torre Certified Sleuth

7

PAGE 7 OF 232

The only kids' eBook subscription service that offers thousands of high-quality books from well known publishers like HarperCollins, National Geographic and others.

JavaScript Required

Whoops! We're sorry but Epic doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Check your web browser's settings to make sure it's enabled.