Ann Martin - Mystery At Claudia's House

"But we can't just keep following her around," I said. "She's bound to catch us if we do that."

"You need a plan," said Dawn, rubbing her

hands together. "Let's figure out a good one."

"You're sitting for .Derek on Thursday, right?" asked Stacey. "Well, what if you thought up some reason for Janine to have to come over to the house — "

"Like saying Derek needed help with his homework?" I asked eagerly. "Great idea. Janine's helped me out like that before, so she wouldn't suspect a thing."

"Right!" said Stacey. "Then, once she's there, you and Derek can trick her into talking. About her secret, I mean."

"How do we do that?" I asked. That part of the plan sounded tough. Everybody else seemed to think so too, since the room was silent for a few moments.

"I know!" said Kristy, suddenly. She leaned toward me and started to talk in an excited voice.

"Hi, Janine?" I said, into the phone. "It's me, Claud." My heart was beating fast. Derek, who was standing beside me, made an encouraging face. "Listen, I've got a problem. ,I'm sitting over at the Masterses'. And Derek has this civics homework that's giving him a lot of trouble, and I can't figure it out either. So I was wondering — "I stopped to listen for a second. "You will?" I asked. "Really?

You don't mind?" I grinned at Derek. "Okay, we'll see. you soon, ,then." I ,hung ,up, and Derek held his hand out .for a high-five. "All right," he said. "She's on her way!" ' I nodded. "She must feel guilty for being so cold to me recently. She said she'd be right

over,”

"Okay, let's get set up," said Derek. He had understood Kristy's idea right away, and he couldn't wait to try it. "Remember, just follow my lead and this is guaranteed to work. You too, Todd," he said to his little brother. "Just do whatever I tell you, okay?" .

"If I do, you'll let me play with your G.I. Joe, right?" Todd asked. "You promised."

"That's right," said Derek. "You can play with my Turtles, too. Just do what I tell you." Derek had led me and Todd into the rec room by then. "Now, let's see," he said. "I think if we move these two chairs over there, and set up the TV table as kind of a podium — "

The doorbell rang then, and I ran to answer it. "Hi, Janine," I said, as I let my sister in. "Thanks for coming. The boys are in the rec room." I was pretty nervous. My heart was beating like a drum, and my palms were sweaty. But if Kristy and Derek thought the plan would work, who was I to question it? I pointed Janine toward the rec room and then

stopped in the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face.

"So, the thing is," Derek was saying when I joined them in the rec room, "I'm supposed to stage a courtroom drama, and then write up what happened. We're studying the legal system, and my teacher wants to make sure we understand it."

"Sounds like fun," said Janine. "How can I help?"

"Well, I thought you could act out one of the parts, and also kind of guide us through the process," said Derek.

"I don't know," said Janine. "I mean, I'm glad to help, but I don't know that much about legal procedure. I've only taken a couple of courses in it."

"Well, you know more than I do," Derek assured her. "Me and Claudia know some stuff from watching Citizens' Court on TV, so between us, we should be okay."

"Claudia and I," said Janine.

"Claudia and you what?" said Derek.

"You said 'me and Claudia,' " said Janine. "You should have said 'Claudia and I.' "

"Oh, right." Derek was smiling. "Whatever you say." He raised his eyebrows at me, and I gave him a little smile and a shrug. "Okay, let's get started," he said. "Todd, I think you

should be the judge. Janine and me can be witnesses, and Claudia can be a lawyer."

Todd picked up the hammer from his LIT Carpenter set and started to bang on the TV stand. "All rise, please," he said.

I giggled. "I guess he's watched Citizens' Court, too," I said.

Janine was just standing there, frowning. "Janine and I," she said.

"What?" asked Derek.

"Not 'Janine and me,' " she said. " 'Janine and I,’."

"Oh, right," said Derek. "Sorry." He turned to pick up a pad of paper and some pens.

"Janine," I whispered. "He's only a little kid. If you correct him every time he makes a grammatical mistake, we'll never get finished."

She nodded. "All right. I'll try to resist the impulse."

Derek handed me the pad. "Okay, Ms. Lawyer," he said, grinning. "Let's get started."

In case you're wondering, Kristy's idea had been to set up this courtroom atmosphere in order to force Janine into telling us her secret. She figured that enough talk about truth and honesty would cause Janine to break. So now it was up to me to get the ball rolling.

"Ms. Kishi and Mr. Masters," I said. "This court is now in session. You are both extremely important witnesses. Have you been sworn in yet?"

They shook their heads. "Is this really necessary?" asked Janine. "Maybe you should just get started on telling us about the plaintiff and the defendant."

"No!" said Derek. "We have to do it right, or else it won't count."

"Oh, all right," said Janine.

"Put your hands on this book," I said, holding out a copy of Charlotte's Web. Janine and Derek touched the book. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" I tried to sound very serious, and kind of threatening.

"I do," said Janine, smiling.

"I do," said Derek. He sounded subdued all of a sudden, and he looked very nervous.

Todd was sucking" on the end of his hammer. "Okay, judge," I said to him. "We're ready to start the questioning."

"I think you're supposed to call him 'Your Honor,' " said Janine.

"Oh, right," I said. "Anyway, here goes. First, I want to repeat how important it is for you both to tell the truth. Remember, once you begin to tell lies, it's hard to stop." I glared at Derek and Janine. Derek had a funny look on his face. "Once you start to lie," I continued, "you keep digging yourself in deeper,

and the lies begin to ruin your life. Lies are very, very dangerous." I looked straight at Janine as I said this, hoping to make an impression. But then I heard a strange noise, and I realized Derek was crying.

"I can't stand it," he said. ."I have to tell somebody the truth. I told a lie and now it's ruining my life, just like you said."

"Derek!" I hissed. "What are you doing?" I nodded toward Janine.

"I don't care," he sobbed. "I just can't stand it for another minute. Here's the truth: I'm not a kissing: expert. I haven't kissed lots of girls. In fact, I've never kissed a single girl in my life! And now I have to, and I'm scared."

I rolled my eyes. Derek wasn't telling me anything new. The members of the BSC had already figured out how scared he was, and why. Why did he have to pick now to break down? He'd blown our whole plan. Then I saw Janine kneel to hug him, and I felt ashamed of myself. Poor Derek! He'd really been suffering. I gave him a big hug, too, and I could see that on top of everything else, he was upset about ruining the plan. "It's okay," I whispered in his ear. "We'll get her some other way.”

Chapter 12.

I was so frustrated by how our plan to trap Janine had failed. And what made things worse was that Janine had no idea the afternoon had been a total waste. She kept saying she was sure Derek had gotten some "wonderful material" for his class, and that she felt sorry for Derek because his lies had gotten him into such a mess. She didn't seem to realize her lies had gotten her into a mess, too.