reading

chapter one

“That was fun,” Katie Cooper said to her good friend Sarah Owens.

“It was,” Sarah replied, “but I wish I had a bigger part.”

“Are you kidding,” Katie almost shouted, “the Cowardly Lion is a great part, and you’re so good at it.” The play was a school version of the Wizard of Oz.

“You think so?” Sarah asked.

“I know it; much better than my part, the Scarecrow. Anyway, let’s go outside and wait.”

The girls were leaving play rehearsal at Lane Middle School in Westfield. They had been going to the school in Westfield since their school in Lakeview burned down the previous October.

At first it was tough getting adjusted to the bigger school, with new teachers, more students, and different ways of doing things. But there were a lot of activities, and it was fun to meet new people. There were some different kids too. Katie and Sarah ate lunch every day with Michelle Johnson, an African-American girl and Clare Murphy whose parents came from Ireland. Sometimes the four of them got together for outings or sleepovers on the weekend.

It was a Friday in early February, still cold but staying light a little later each day. Play practice ended early. So they were too late for the regular bus, and it was still an hour until the late bus arrived. As they walked to the parking lot, Sarah decided to call her mother to pick them up. There was no answer, and she left a message. A very light snow was falling as they walked toward the parking lot.

“Look at that,” Katie said. Katie was trying hard to be more alert and observant to things around her. She knew that to be a good detective you have to notice a lot of little things.

“What?” Sarah asked.

Katie, without saying a word, walked over and pointed to several ugly scratch marks gouged into the side of a car.

“Wow, that is nasty,” Sarah said.

“It sure is,” Katie responded. Somebody did it on purpose. Look at the pattern; it looks like a big letter ‘Z’.”

“It does,” Sarah agreed. “Or the number ‘2’ maybe.”

“Could be,” said Katie. “I’m going to find out about this. I’m a detective, you know. I solved the case of the school fire in Lakeview. Maybe you heard about it?”

She was joking, but there was some truth to her claim. Everyone in Lakeview remembered the excitement of the fire and the events that led to finding out who started it. Katie, and her brother Joey, provided key evidence in the case.

“Oh yes, I do recall reading about it in the paper,” Sarah said in a similar playful tone. “Yes indeed, what was that headline again: Girl Supplies Clue; Saves Brother, Identifies Offender. I think I remember that story.” Then she laughed.

“You can laugh,” Katie interrupted, “But I intend to solve the mystery of the scratched cars and find out who is responsible for this crime. You can help if you want.”

“Cars?” Sarah questioned. “There’s only one as far as I can see.”

“There will be more,” Katie said. “Count on it. But now I will reenact the crime, just to get a feel for how it was done. Detectives sometimes do that.”

She stepped closer to the car and traced the big ‘Z’ on the door of the passenger side with her finger. She did it three times; then she said: “This isn’t good enough, I have to really feel it.”

“Be careful,” Sarah said.

Katie took her house key out of her pocket and started to move her hand along the side of the car. Then she did it faster, but a little too close. There was a scraping sound as the key hit the door. Both girls looked scared.

“What did you do?” Sarah asked.

“It’s nothing, I just nicked the car a little. Let’s wait inside. It’s cold out.” They started walking toward the school; then they heard a voice from the other side of the car.

“Hold on girls. I’d like to talk with you.”

They walked more quickly toward the school, calling back: “We have to go.”

“I said hold on, girls. Wait a minute,” the voice said more insistently. “This is State Trooper Paul Garvey, and I would like to talk to you about this vehicle. Come back here.”

They walked back slowly, wondering what the trooper had seen and heard.

“Which one of you did this scratching? This is a serious crime. That’s hundreds of dollars in damage. Why would you do something like this?”

“We didn’t do it, officer,” Katie began. “I was reenacting the crime, tracing the scratch marks with my key, and I just got a little too close.”

“Well, you’re a quick thinker,” the trooper said. “I heard one of you scratch the car. You weren’t tracing anything. Now first, I’m going to my car to check the license plate number on the computer to see who owns this car; then you two girls are going with me to the state police headquarters where you’ll need to answer some more questions.”

“Wait a minute,” Sarah spoke a little too loudly. “You have it all wrong. We just came out of play rehearsal, and Katie saw the scratches, and she wanted to reenact how it was done.”

“Now I’ve heard enough about reenacting. I heard you scratch this car. Come over to the squad car with me and wait.”

The girls followed Trooper Garvey to his squad car. In a minute he got out of the car and said, “This car belongs to C. J. Gomez. Do either of you know who that might be?”

“The principal’s name is Mrs. Gomez,” said Sarah. “I think her first name might be Carla.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Trooper Garvey said. “Let’s go into the school and talk to Mrs. Carla Gomez.”

Katie and Sarah didn’t want to go, but there was not much to do except follow the trooper. The school was nearly empty. A few kids who had detention or band practice were getting their books. They looked at the girls and at the trooper and wondered what was happening. The principal’s office was dark. A secretary came out and Trooper Garvey asked if the principal was in the building.

“She went to the superintendent’s office for a meeting. She carpooled with several teachers. She should be back between five and six to pick up her car,” the secretary responded.

“Can you leave her a note to stop at the state police headquarters when she gets back?”

“I’ll do that,” the secretary said, writing the message on her note pad.

“Well, it’s been nice talking with you, officer,” said Sarah. “Hope to see you again.”

“Listen up you two,” the trooper said raising his voice just a little, “you’re both coming with me to the station to be charged with... well we will see what the charge is when we get there.”

“Can we call home?” Katie asked.

“Of course, you should tell your parents we’re going to the station,” the trooper answered.

Sarah dialed home again and still didn’t reach her mother. She left another message. Katie called home and told her mother some of what had happened. Her mother said she couldn’t leave home just yet because she couldn’t leave Joey and Alex. She said Katie’s dad would be home soon and she would send him to police headquarters.