Ann Martin - Mystery At Claudia's House

I took him into the kitchen and we looked around in the breadbox, in the refrigerator, and in the cupboards. I didn't see anything even resembling a cake. "How about a cookie?" I suggested.

"No!" cried Todd. "Cake!"

Four-year-olds can be very stubborn. "Here's a nice banana," I said, picking one out of a fruit bowl on the counter. "Wouldn't you like a banana?"

"Cake," insisted Todd.

"But there isn't any cake. I was beginning to panic. Any minute, Todd could throw a tantrum. Then a light bulb went off in my head. "How about a Popsicle?" I asked, smiling.

"Yea!" said Todd. "A blue one!"

At that moment, Derek ran into the kitchen. "I've got it,” he said. "Janine was abducted by aliens and brainwashed. Then they brought her back to Stoneybrook. She's like a totally different person now. That's why she's acting so strange."

"Derek,” I said, "that doesn't sound like something you learned from Kid Detectives. That sounds like something you picked up from reading those magazines in the checkout line at the supermarket."

"Okay, okay," he said. "I've got another theory. How about this? Janine is a kleptomaniac. She's stealing all the time. She can't help herself, but she knows she should disguise herself when she goes into certain stores."

"Hmmm ..." I said. "I like that idea a little better. It would explain the clothes and the makeup." Then I thought for a second, and realized it was ridiculous. A kleptomaniac? Janine? "I don't think so," I said.

"I could prove it if we could follow her," persisted Derek.

"Yeah, let's!" said Todd, licking his Popsicle and looking up at his big brother.

"Not today," I said. "It's pouring." It was, too. The rain was coming down in sheets outside the kitchen window. "Plus, Janine's

grounded and she's not leaving the house today. Anyway, we need to think of some more realistic ideas about what she could be up to." We spent the rest of the afternoon playing around with every wild and not-so-wild idea we could imagine. For every idea, Derek had a plan: how to follow Janine, how to catch her in the act, how to prove she was a bank robber, or a jewel thief, or whatever. I was impressed by how much Derek knew about detecting. Maybe we couldn't do much that rainy day, but we had a good time.

Chapter 10.

Just as school was ending on Wednesday, Mary Anne reminded me that she would be sitting for Derek and Todd that afternoon. "I'm looking forward to it," she said. "Maybe we'll play detectives, since they seem to like that so much."

''Believe me, they do," I said. "Well, have fun. Say hi to Derek and Todd." I headed home. I was planning to work on stringing those beads again.

When I entered our house, I found Janine in the kitchen. She was eating rice cakes and reading a thick, boring-looking book. I pulled my after-school snack — a Devil Dog — out of my backpack, and sat down with the latest issue of Seventeen, Janine and I didn't seem to have much to say to each other lately. She wasn't ready — or willing — to tell me what she was up to, and I was tired of asking.

The kitchen was pretty quiet. "Is mom still mad at you?" I asked, finally. The night before, Janine had come home late for dinner again, and Mom had been furious. Janine hadn't been grounded this time, but I knew that, for her, Mom's being mad at her was almost worse.

"No, not really," said Janine. "I apologized again this morning, and she said she forgave " She turned back to her book after she

answered me, as if to let me know that she didn't want to talk.

I stood up, feeling a little mad at her, and went to my room. "Sisters aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other," J muttered to myself, as I set out my bead boxes. "Sisters are supposed to be best friends, and tell each other everything." But I knew that Janine and I were different. Oh, we get along most of the time. In fact, lately we've been getting along better than ever, except for the past couple of weeks. But the two of us are very, very different, and I know we always will be. So I had to get used to the idea that Janine wasn't about to tell me her secrets.

But boy, was I dying to know what they were! As I sat stringing beads, I couldn't stop thinking about what could possibly get perfect Janine in so much trouble. "Green, white, blue," I said out loud as I strung. "Green, white, blue." Then suddenly I threw down the necklace. I couldn't take it anymore! Janine's secret was making me crazy. I grabbed the phone and dialed the Masterses' number. "Mary Anne," I said, when she answered, "it's me, Claud. Can I come over?"

"Sure," she said. "We're kind of bored."

"Perfect," I said. "I know just what to do about that!"

I raced over to the Masterses' house and

banged on the door. Mary Anne, Derek, and Todd let me in, and immediately I began talking. "Okay," I said. "Here's the situation. Janine is at home now, but my bet is that she won't stay there much longer. Are you guys ready to tail her?"

"Yeah!" yelled Derek and Todd.

"Um, okay," said Mary Anne, a little nervously. "But what if she sees us?"

"She won't," said Derek, sounding confident. "I know all the tricks. Just watch me and do what I do."

"Are we ready to go, then?" I asked.

"Just a minute," said Derek, holding up one finger. He ran to his room. When he returned he was wearing a hat like the ones detectives wear in old movies. "I got this when I was on the show," he said proudly. "The director gave it to me."

"Nice," I said. It really was a neat hat. The only thing was that it didn't exactly make Derek look inconspicuous. You don't see too many eight-year-olds in fedoras wandering the streets of Stoneybrook. But it didn't matter. If Derek wanted to wear the hat, it was fine with me.

"Let's go!" he said.

Mary Anne glanced at me and started to say something. "Maybe we shouldn't — "

"Oh, come on, Mary Anne," I said. "It's

just for fun. We'll have a good time!" Sometimes Mary Anne is too timid for her own good.

"Yeah, come on!" said Todd, grabbing her hand. Derek took her other hand and gave her that Waldo grin.

"Oh, all right," said Mary Anne. She couldn't help grinning back at Derek. "But I hope you really do know what you're doing!"

"Trust me," he said as he led the way out the door and down the street.

We walked all the way around the block, so we could approach my house from the side where the bushes are the tallest. (That was my idea.) When we got there, Mary Anne and Derek and I squatted down. Todd didn't have to squat, since he's still pretty little. "Shhh!" said Derek, putting his finger over his lips. "Now we just wait for a while. This is called a stakeout."

"Are we having a barbecue?" asked Todd.

We were all confused for a minute. Then I giggled. "Not steak like meat," I said. "This is different. We're watching for Janine to come out of the house." Mary Anne and Derek were giggling, too. We put our hands over our mouths to muffle the sound.

"Oh," said Todd. "Well, isn't that her?" He pointed toward the front door. Janine had just walked through it!

"Oh, my lord!" I whispered. I ducked down 'to make sure I was completely hidden, and pulled Mary Anne along with me. "What's she doing?" I hissed to Derek.

"Looks like she's waiting for somebody," he whispered. "She keeps looking down the street."

I peeked through the bushes. Janine was standing on the front steps, and sure enough, she was watching for something. , "It's the mailman," whispered Mary Anne suddenly. She sounded excited. "That's who she's waiting for," Mary Anne's eyes were bright. She certainly wasn't feeling timid any more.