The Case of the Lost Boy Read Online Free

wants to find him, we have to go back outside.
    The doorbell rings, and Mom and I hurry to the door. There are two police officers standing on the front step. Mom opens the door to let them in, and I think about running out to go look for Connor some more. But it’s probably better to stay here and see if I can help the police.

    Besides, they smell good. I can tell that one of them had a jelly-filled donut for breakfast. He’s even got a small blob of jelly on his pants. I lick it up and he pats my head. The other officer had a plain donut for breakfast.
    I am not picky about my donuts. Plain donuts. Jelly-filled donuts. Donuts with sprinkles. They’re all my favorite food!
    Jelly Donut takes out a notebook and a pen. “I understand your boy is missing?” he says.
    “Yes,” Mom says. Her voice cracks. “He took our dog for a walk. The dog came back, but he didn’t. I don’t know where he could be.”
    “Don’t worry, Ma’am,” Plain Donut says. “We’ll find him. But first we need to ask you some questions. When did you last see him? What time?”
    “About eight-thirty this morning.”
    “And what time did the dog come back?” Jelly Donut asks.
    I’m not sure what time is, but humans sure talk about it a lot.
    “It was ten after nine,” Mom says. “He’s a new dog. We just got him yesterday. I don’t know if he pulled too hard and Connor couldn’t hold onto his leash or ... if something happened.”
    She means something bad.
    Could something bad have happened to Connor?
    While Mom and the police talk some more, I make a list inside my head of all the bad things that could have happened to Connor:
    He could have gotten hurt.
    He could have run away. He could have gone back to where his dad and his friends live.
    He could have been kidnapped!
    I know all about kidnapping. That’s when a stranger—or sometimes not a stranger—takes you away from your house or your neighborhood and something bad happens. That’s what Uncle Marty did to me when he took me to the P-O-U-N-D .
    Next I try and think of reasons why none of these things could have happened to Connor.
    Here’s why Connor couldn’t have gotten hurt:
    If Connor were hurt, I would have found him.
    Unless a human stopped to help him. Maybe that human had a car. Maybe the human took him to the hospital. That would explain why Connor’s trail disappeared in the middle of the street.
    But if he was at the hospital, wouldn’t someone have called Mom?
    Here’s why Connor couldn’t have run away:
    He hasn’t lived here very long. He doesn’t have anyone to run away to. Not in Four Lakes.
    He might try to go back to where his dad and his friends live. But they live in place called California.
    It would be hard for Connor to go back there.
    California is so far away that Connor would have to drive eleventy-three days to get there. Connor is too young to drive. Or he would have to take an airplane. But there are no airplanes on our block.
    Here’s why Connor couldn’t have been kidnapped:
    I don’t want to even think about Connor being kidnapped.
    But Kayla says a good detective thinks about every possibility. Even the possibilities he doesn’t want to think about.
    I think about that strange man we passed. The one who smelled dangerous. Could he be the kidnapping kind of dangerous? Could he have come back while I was sniffing around Kayla’s house? Could he have come back with his car and taken Connor away?
    The police ask Mom a few more questions. Unimportant things like what does Connor look like? He looks like any other boy. What is he wearing today? He is wearing a shirt and pants, like every other boy.
    These are not questions that will help us find Connor. Here are some better questions to ask:
    Can you describe Connor’s scent?
    Connor smells like bacon, eggs, toothpaste, and dirt.
    Where was Connor last seen?
    Open the door and I will take you there.
    Have you noticed anything unusual in the neighborhood today? Anything that made