The Case of the Piggy Bank Thief Read Online Free Page B

drawer was open, her bedding was flung everywhere and two chairs had been tipped over. There were still crayons and paper on the floor by the love seat, too.
    I had a scary thought. What if Tessa had a fever and it had gone to her brain?
    I haven’t been around a lot of crazy people, but from movies I get the idea that you’re supposed to stay calm so you don’t upset them.
    So, very quietly, I said, “Uh . . . Tessa? Could you tell me what you’re doing?”
    Tessa didn’t look up. “Sure, Cammie. I’m putting my clothes away.”
    So far, so good.
    â€œUh, okay. But did something happen?” Then I had another idea. “Wait, was it Hooligan?”
    Tessa shook her head. “For once, you can’t blameHooligan. How ’bout if I said I had an irresistible urge to tidy up for Mrs. Hedges? Would you believe that?”
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “No.”
    Tessa sighed and folded another T-shirt. “Didn’t think so,” she said. “So okay, the truth is I was looking for my piggy bank, but I can’t find it anywhere! And now I’m pretty sure for real it must be stolen.”
    â€œHow much money was in it?” I asked.
    â€œTwo dollars and twelve cents,” Tessa said. “Plus a little more.”
    â€œI don’t think that’s enough for anyone to steal it,” I said.
    â€œDo you think someone could’ve really wanted the bank part?” Tessa asked. “Do you think it could be, like, an antique?”
    â€œNo way,” I said. “I mean, no offense, but with the paint flaking off, it looked like a piggy bank with pimples.”
    Tessa dropped what she’d been folding. “You take that back!”
    I shrugged. “Fine. But only because I have to meet Zach, Nate and Dalton. We might have a new mystery to solve.” Tessa had been there when we found out about the gold, but I had to explain about the holes. “Do you feel better?” I asked. “Do you want to help us?”
    Tessa shook her head. “I’ve got my own mystery to solve: the case of the piggy bank thief.”

CHAPTER NINE

    NATE, Zach and Dalton were waiting for me in the West Sitting Hall. “Is Tessa any better?” Nate wanted to know.
    It was too much to explain about the piggy bank.
    â€œShe looks better,” I said, “but she isn’t up for solving a mystery yet.”
    â€œWhat is it we’re doing, again?” Dalton asked.
    I had gotten my notebook from my desk, and I held it up for him to see. “I write,” I explained, “and everybody else talks.”
    Zach, Dalton and Nate totally took that last part seriously. I mean, I had barely sat down before they all started yakking at once. I wrote as fast as I could to keep up:
    â€¢
New gadget shows gold buried under northwest corner of dig site
.
    â€¢
Gold was found Friday afternoon by Wen Fei (student) when she surveyed the site
.
    â€¢
Saturday afternoon when Zach, Nate, Cammie, Dalton went to look, no gold, only hole
.
    â€¢
Mike found at least seven holes around dig site
.
    â€¢
Professor Mudd says gadget is probably wrong, probably no gold
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    â€¢
Wen Fei and Stephanie mad because Professor Mudd doesn’t believe in gold
.
    â€œCan we put questions on the list?” Zach said.
    â€œSure,” I said.
    â€œOkay, I want to ask how we know if any gold is really missing,” Zach said.
    I wrote that down, then added two more questions:
    â€¢
Who dug the holes?
    â€¢
Why did they dig the holes?
    â€¢
Was it because they expected to find gold?
    So much writing made my fingers tired. Now I stopped for a second and shook them out.
    Nate said, “We should mention the fat, waddling cat.”
    Zach said, “Why? That doesn’t have anything to do with the missing gold.”
    â€œGranny says to write down anything strange, even if we don’t see how it’s related,” I