by David Lewman
A tall, balding man had entered the shop. “Any customers while I was gone?” he asked.
Then he saw Officer Inverno. He froze.
“Mr. O’Brien?” the policeman asked.
Instead of answering, the man turned and ran out of the store.
Chapter 20
Hold it!” Officer Inverno shouted at the man. The police officer ran through the store, knocking a bag of dog food off a shelf as he passed, and out the front door.
Without even thinking, Corey took off running after them. He may have walked a long way that day, but his legs still had some running left in them. His coach would have been proud.
Molly started to run out too, but Hannah stopped her. She didn’t want to risk losing her dog again. Soon Molly and Pepper were much more interested in the spilled dog food than the chase outside.
Mr. O’Brien wasn’t in great shape. After a couple of blocks, he was huffing and puffing. He stopped running in front of a bakery. He bent over and put his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.
As customers in the bakery watched through the windows, Corey caught up with Mr. O’Brien. Officer Inverno was right behind him.
Corey thought Officer Inverno might pull out his gun from its holster, tell Mr. O’Brien he was under arrest, and handcuff him. But he didn’t do any of those exciting things. Instead, he put his hand on Mr. O’Brien’s arm and helped him to stand up straight.
“Well, I guess we’ve had our exercise for the day, Mr. O’Brien,” Officer Inverno said. “Now let’s head back to your store for a little talk.”
Hannah, Ben, Lauren, and Molly were waiting out in front of the pet supply store. Officer Inverno led Mr. O’Brien inside, and the others followed.
“He isn’t talking,” Officer Inverno said. “On the way back here, he didn’t say a word.”
“Why should I say anything?” Mr. O’Brien asked. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Then why’d you take off running when you saw Officer Inverno?” Ben pointed out. “Did you suddenly get the urge to exercise?”
“Maybe I forgot to feed the meter,” Mr. O’Brien replied, sneering.
“He didn’t put any money in a parking meter,” Corey said. “I watched him the whole time—on the run out and on the walk back.”
“He doesn’t have to feed the meter,” Lauren said. “He’s got his own parking place in back of the store.”
Mr. O’Brien glared at Lauren. “Do you like your job here, Lauren? Do you want to keep it?”
Lauren glared right back. “I used to like it, but I don’t think I do anymore. As a matter of fact, I quit!”
She crossed her arms and stood there defiantly.
“If you quit, why don’t you leave?” Mr. O’Brien grumbled.
“Because I can’t wait to see what happens,” Lauren said.
Pepper walked over to where the group was standing, crunching on one last piece of spilled dog food. “Do you know this dog, Mr. O’Brien?” Corey asked.
Mr. O’Brien glanced at Pepper. “I don’t think so.”
“Then why was he in a cage in the back of your store?” Ben asked.
The man shrugged. “How should I know?” he said, sounding bored. “Maybe Lauren put him there.”
Lauren’s jaw dropped. “I did not! I can’t believe he’s trying to blame this on me!”
“Blame what?” Mr. O’Brien said innocently. “I really don’t see anything wrong here. Except for some brown mutt wandering around my store when he should be in a cage.”
While she listened to Mr. O’Brien deny everything, Hannah had been getting madder and madder. She stepped forward.
“Do you remember me, Mr. O’Brien?” she asked, looking him right in the eye. He looked away. “My dog, Molly, won your contest.”
Hannah put her hand on Molly’s head. Molly sat right by her side.
Mr. O’Brien looked back at Hannah. “Yeah, I remember. Your dog did the agility tricks. Very well trained.”
“Did you steal her?” Hannah asked point-blank.
Mr. O’Brien snorted. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I steal your dog?”
“I don’t know,” Hannah said. “But whoever did left behind some good, strong evidence that they broke into our backyard and took Molly.”
Mr. O’Brien’s eyes narrowed slightly when Hannah said “evidence.”
Hannah reached into Ben’s backpack and pulled out a jar with broken glass in it.
“We collected this glass from the safety light the dognapper accidently broke,” she said. Mr. O’Brien looked unimpressed.
Hannah pulled a plastic bag out of Ben’s backpack. “We also collected these crumbs from a broken dog biscuit in the yard.”
Ben chimed in, “When we analyzed the crumbs, they perfectly matched the organic peanut-butter treats you gave away at the contest.”
A muscle in Mr. O’Brien’s jaw tightened. Hannah reached into Ben’s backpack again and removed the plastic bag with the square of red fabric in it.
“We found this scrap of red fabric stuck to the back gate at our friend Ryan’s house. His dog, Pepper, was stolen. And we found Pepper here in your store.”
Mr. O’Brien’s shoulders slumped a little.
Corey joined in. “The piece of fabric matches the tear in that red sweatshirt Lauren’s wearing—the one she left overnight in the store.”
Hannah turned to Lauren. “Do you think Mr. O’Brien could have borrowed your sweatshirt, Lauren?”
“Definitely. Dogs always love me, and I bet he figured my sweatshirt would help lure the dogs to him because it has my scent on it,” she told Hannah. Then, looking at Mr. O’Brien, she said, “Dogs can also always smell a rotten person!”
Mr. O’Brien gave Lauren an angry look. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” he said. He looked back at Hannah. “It sounds as though you kids have had a grand time playing detective—picking up pieces of glass and dog biscuits and red cloth. But none of this has anything to do with me. You haven’t proved anything.”
He shot a quick glance at Officer Inverno. The policeman was looking slightly doubtful.
“Actually,” Ben said. “The dog biscuits do have something to do with you. You gave them out at the contest. You also gave out stickers saying ‘A Dog Lives Here.’ The houses Molly and Pepper were stolen from both had those stickers.”
Mr. O’Brien shook his head and smiled. “So what? You’ve got a real active imagination.”
Hannah pulled one last plastic bag out of Ben’s backpack. “Here’s something we didn’t imagine.” She took the flour plaster cast of the shoe print out of the bag.
“What’s that?” Mr. O’Brien asked.
“The dognapper left a shoe print in Hannah’s backyard,” Ben explained. “We made a plaster cast of the shoe print.”
Mr. O’Brien looked worried.
Corey leaned down and peered at Mr. O’Brien’s feet. “I’d say you wear about a . . . ten D?”
Mr. O’Brien did have pretty large feet that looked like they could’ve been a size 10D. He was wearing brown work shoes—comfortable shoes for someone who was on his feet all day.
Officer Inverno stepped forward. “What do you say, Mr. O’Brien? Should we compare this plaster cast to your shoe? See if the tread matches?”
“And the wear pattern?” Hannah added.
Mr. O’Brien looked trapped. He took a deep breath and let it out. “Look,” he finally said. “Business has been terrible. I thought maybe the contest would help bring in new customers. But then, right after the contest, three of the companies I owe money to all wanted to be paid. Right away. Or I’d lose my business.”
He nervously rubbed his neck as he spoke. “I thought reward money would be a quick way to raise some cash. I planned on paying it back someday.”
He looked at Ben, Hannah, and Corey. “I’ve gotta admit, you kids are smart. You figured it all out. I went to the houses with the stickers in the windows. And I tempted the dogs
out with the treats.”
Mr. O’Brien looked down at Molly. “Unfortunately, Molly here didn’t like the treats. I had to grab her, and as I left the yard, I broke the light. She was too athletic to hold on to, though. The first chance she got, she broke free and ran off.
“I didn’t want to have that kind of trouble with Pepper. I remembered he liked Lauren’s dog at the contest, so I borrowed her sweatshirt when I went to take him. I figured maybe the sweatshirt would smell like Princess, and Pepper would like that, so he’d be easier to grab. And I was right. He was no trouble at all.”
“That reminds me,” Hannah said. “I’ve got to call Ryan and tell him we found his dog.” She pulled out her cell phone.
“All right, Mr. O’Brien,” Officer Inverno said. “You need to come down to the station with me.”
The policeman led Mr. O’Brien away. Hannah finished talking to Ryan on the phone. She turned to Lauren.
“I’m sorry we suspected you of being involved,” she said. “Thanks for helping us find the real dognapper.”
“Well,” Lauren said, “I’m sorry too. Sorry I called Molly a dingo.” She leaned down and petted Molly, who thumped her tail on the floor. “I was wrong about you. You’re not a beast. You’re a sweetheart!”
At the park that weekend, Molly and Princess had a great time playing together. The other stolen dogs had been returned to their families, who were thrilled to see them again. It had been a very satisfying case to solve.
As they watched the two dogs run and tumble in the grass, Ben said, “You know, Molly was a big help. She was the one who ran into the back room and found Pepper and the other dogs. Maybe we should make her the fourth member of Club CSI.”
Hannah laughed. “Maybe,” she said. “But I don’t think Miss Hodges will let her into the forensic lab.”
“And I’ll tell you one thing,” Corey added, “I’m not sharing my treats with her!”
David Lewman gets most of his ideas from his dog, Pirkle, whose favorite trick is making dog treats disappear on command. David has written more than sixty-five books starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron, the Fairly OddParents, G.I. JOE, the Wild Thornberrys, and other popular characters. He has also written scripts for many acclaimed television shows. David lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Donna, and of course, Pirkle.
Jacket illustration by Chris King
© 2012 CBS and Ent. AB Funding LLC.
All Rights Reserved.
CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
in USA is TM CBS and outside USA TM Ent.
AB Funding LLC.
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