The Case of the Bad Twin

by Shannon Greenland

  When I’m done talking, Diamond swings her legs around and sits up. “Okay, first of all, you should’ve never gone into that office with Vail. What were you thinking?”

  I throw my hands up. “I don’t know! I stink at this private investigator thing.”

  “You don’t stink at being a private investigator. ‘Practice makes perfect’. You’ve heard that before, right?”

  “Yeah,” I mumble.

  “Second of all, Vail at your house last night? Hello, he’s playing a stupid let’s-scare-Penny-Ann game. You should’ve opened the door and thrown another paperweight at him.”

  I think about that a second, and actually, that would have been pretty great.

  “Vail is a bully,” Diamond says. “And we all know what you do with bullies.”

  “Run?”

  “Stand up to them. Act like you could care less. They smell fear. They’re like animals that way. Don’t show fear and they’ll go away.”

  I know she’s right, but it’s hard to think logical at the moment.

  Diamond looks at my mermaid messenger bag. “I talked to Dad, and I have a couple of other things for you to add to your supplies.”

  “Actually—” I give a meek shrug— “I came here ready to give you the stuff back.”

  “Absolutely not.” She waves that off. “You got this.”

  I’m not sure if her confidence scares me or bolsters me.

  With a grin, she holds up a keychain-sized can of pepper spray. “For you.”

  My eyes widen. “Your dad said to give me that?”

  “No, I’m giving you this. I have two and this is yours.”

  “Is that legal?”

  “Dad told me that as long as it’s not over two ounces I’m allowed to carry one.” She looks at the tiny can. “This isn’t even one ounce.”

  “Um, no thanks. What if I accidentally spray myself?”

  “Yeah, you should avoid doing that.”

  “Sounds complicated.”

  “What’s complicated? You point it at your victim, and you spray. You could have done it to Vail yesterday. That would have been epic.” She points to the bow of the boat. “You need to get over your fear. Go up there, point it away from you, and spray.”

  Gingerly I pick up the spray can, and I give it a good long look. Okay, I can do this. Picking up Clover, I hand her to Diamond. “Stay,” I say, and she cocks her little head.

  Diamond snuggles her in. “She’s okay. Go ahead.”

  With a deep breath, I make my way up to the bow of the boat, holding onto the lifelines the whole way even though we’re docked and not moving. I glance back to make sure Clover is still with Diamond, and she gives me an encouraging nod.

  There’s a quick-release top that sits on the button to prevent a misfire, and there’s a red arrow to show the shooter which direction to point it. Now that I’m looking at it, it really does seem pretty easy.

  I make sure the arrow is pointing away from me, hold my arm all the way out, flip the quick-release top, and then I give the button a tentative press. Spray shoots out, the wind, of course, kicks in at that exact second, and I cough as I squeeze my eyes shut and duck.

  Diamond laughs, and I stay ducked as I crawl my way over the boat and back to the cockpit. She takes the pepper spray from me, puts the cap back on, and sets it aside. “There, now you know.”

  I blink my eyes a few times and cough. Wow and to think that was just from a shift in the wind. If I would’ve sprayed that in Vail’s face yesterday, he would’ve been down for the count.

  Diamond holds up a pair of miniature binoculars and also a small box. “These are on loan from Dad.”

  Ignoring the miniature binoculars, my gaze zeroes in on the small box, and anticipation hops around inside of me. I bet there’s a techy gadget in there.

  “Adhesive listening devices,” she tells me, and I rub my hands together. I knew it.

  Diamond chuckles.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothing.” She takes my phone. “These you’ll love.” She slides her finger over my screen and pulls up the app store and then begins downloading one called LISTEN IN. “You can put these things anywhere: on metal, wood, plastic, it doesn’t matter.”

  Opening the box, she reveals four, one-inch square, clear plastic adhesive patches. She takes one out and turns it over to show me the back. “See that scanner code? You’ll use the LISTEN IN app to scan it, then you’ll place it on the surface, and that’s it. You can pull up the app and listen any time day or night. These are low grade, so they’re good for a few miles. Now, Dad has the supersonic ones, but those are way too expensive.”

  I take the little square from her fingers and hold it up. I see what she means. Once you take the backing off, the clear membrane-like plastic will suction onto anything. “Oh, man, I could’ve placed this in the office at The Pit yesterday.” I would’ve known when Josie arrived. I could’ve heard what she and Vail said to each other about my visit there.

  “Well, look at you. You came on board all ready to give up, and now you’re all-powerful.”

  I’m not sure if I’m powerful, but I’m definitely not ready to give up. I hand her back the patch, and while she puts the lid back on the box, I ask, “Is the P. I. thing a family business? You mentioned your dad. Does your mom help, too?” I press my lips together. “I’m sorry, that’s rude.” I hate when people ask about my mom, and I just went and did it to Diamond.

  “It’s okay. Mom and Dad are divorced. I have a sister that’s one year younger. They let us decide who we wanted to live with. Mom and my sister live out in California, and I live here now with Dad.”

  “What do you do when you help your dad with P. I. stuff?”

  “Paperwork mostly. Although sometimes he lets me go on stakeouts with him.”

  My jaw drops. “Get out. Really?”

  Diamond laughs. “It’s not as exciting as it sounds. It mostly involves sitting in his truck for hours on end, eating junk food, and staring at a building waiting on whoever he’s staking out to emerge.”

  Actually, that sounds fun.

  “What about you?” She asks. “Doesn’t your mom run a Juice Truck?”

  I begin putting all the items inside my bag so I don’t have to look her in the face. “That’s my aunt, actually. Mom, um, travels a lot with work so I live with my Aunt Grace.”

  Usually, that lie comes out pretty easy, but something’s different about saying it to Diamond. I want her to like me. Plus, what if her dad finds out? He’s a P. I. and he might not want Diamond hanging out with a con’s daughter. No, I like that Diamond knows me just as Penny-Ann Piper, the local girl, and her new friend.

  Closing the flap on my canvas bag, I buckle it together and look up at Diamond.

  She smiles. “I love your look.”

  “Uh-huh. Yours is much better. It’s very X-Men.”

  “Black is easy.” Diamond shrugs. “That’s why I do it. But you? I could never wear a sundress, neck scarf, and carry that mermaid bag, and actually get away with it.”

  I love that she loves my look, and here I was digging hers. She’s right, though. Just like I can’t pull off her look, she can’t pull off mine. “The messenger bag used to belong to my grandpa. He hand-painted all the mermaids.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, and Aunt Grace makes my sundresses. I wear them even in the winter with leggings and a sweater.”

  “What’s the story behind the neck scarves?”

  “It was my grandma’s signature. She always wore silk neck scarfs, so now I do, too.”

  “Well, I love it.”

  “Thanks!”

  Clover saunters over to the corner of the cockpit where a beam of sun cuts in at an angle from the Bimini top. With a sigh, she lifts her little face and closes her eyes to soak in the warmth. Diamond and I both laugh.

  “Ya know, I’d love to meet your dad sometime.” I’d love to see what a real live P. I. looks like.

  “Sure. Dad!”
She calls down below.

  “He’s here?”

  “Yeah, he’s doing paperwork.”

  From down below I hear some shuffling, and then footsteps on the ladder that leads up to the cockpit. I see dark hair first, pulled back in a ponytail, followed by a tan and weathered face. A dark tee comes next, stretched over big biceps, and then black camo pants. He steps all the way out and into the cockpit, and I stare in shock.

  He’s a little person.

  With a smile, he holds out a hand to shake. “I take it you’re Penny-Ann Piper?”

  I don’t say a word as I shake his rough hand.

  Beside me, Diamond laughs. “Everyone responds that way.”

  Mr. De Luca just keeps smiling.

  “I-I’m sorry. I-I just wasn’t expecting…” I shake my head. “I’m being so rude.”

  Clover abandons her sunbeam, wandering over to Mr. De Luca, and with a laugh, he scoops her up and gives her belly a rub. “It’s okay. Don’t let my size fool you. They never see me coming.”

  I laugh with him, loving the fact he’s a little person and a private investigator. They never see me coming. He’s right, and those are the exact words I said about my own self.

  People won’t see me coming.

  Continuing to rub Clover, Mr. De Luca asks me, “I take it that it’s not a coincidence your last name is also our island?”

  Pride swells in me, and I grin. “No coincidence at all. My grandparents founded this island. In fact, they used to be private investigators, too. They ran Piper Investigations.”

  “You don’t say!”

  “I already mentioned it to Diamond, but I was hoping maybe one day you’d let me shadow you?”

  “We can probably arrange that.”

  My grin gets even bigger. “Cool, thanks.”

  He says, “tell me about this time capsule you two are looking for.”

  “Basically, it has one item in it that represents each decade the island has been official. From the 1960s, there’s a photo of my grandmother, who was our first mayor, signing the paperwork that made us officially Piper Island. From the 1970s, there’s an old plastic figurine dressed as our school mascot to commemorate the opening of our public school. From the 1980s, there’s a hand-carved mermaid done by my grandfather to memorialize him starting the weekly Craft and Farmer’s Market. From the 1990s, there’s a VCR tape of when the President of the United States came here to vacation. From the 2000s, there’s a small album containing photos of when we were hit with back-to-back hurricanes. From this decade, there’s a national magazine that listed us as a top ten place to visit.”

  Mr. De Luca whistles. “That’s a lot of good history.”

  “Yes, sir. The whole island has been wanting something like this for years, so I decided to do it. ”

  “I imagine a lot of time went into that,” he says.

  “Yes! I spent a year researching, finding the items, assembling it, and organizing the big ceremony next weekend.” A ceremony that won’t happen if I can’t find this thing. “I mean, obviously the capsule is important to my family, but it’s really more to do with the entire island.”

  Maybe, just maybe Mama Garcia, Officer Crawl, and anyone else who knows about my mom will realize I’m not like her. I’m different. I’m not here to stir up drama and cause problems.

  “Did you talk to Officer Crawl?” Mr. De Luca asks as he sets Clover back down.

  I roll my eyes. “He’s worthless.” I cringe. “I’m sorry, that was rude. I should say he has other more important things to do. Plus, everything in the capsule is more sentimental than valuable. He’s writing the whole thing off as a prank.”

  “What’s your game plan for the day?” He asks.

  I look at Diamond. “I’m thinking we need to split up. We need to track down both Josie and Ean.” I turn to her dad. “Ean is Rocco’s best friend, and I got the impression that Rocco might think Ean is involved, too.”

  “Word of advice?” Mr. De Luca asks.

  “Of course.” I wave him on.

  “If you hit a brick wall, go back to square one. It’s not always, but a great many times, the person you originally thought it was.”

  I look over at Diamond again. “Rocco Garcia,” I say, and Clover does an excited full-body wiggle.

  Dang dog.

  Chapter 12

  A quick stop at the marina’s air pump and my back tire is plump once again and ready to be ridden. When I get home later I’ll see if Mr. Taylor has a patch I can stick on it.

  For now, though, full speed ahead.

  Diamond went looking for Ean, and I’m heading straight to Josie’s house, then we’ll meet up at Rocco’s. I’m liking this partner thing.

  Josie lives on the northeast tip of Piper Island in a house on stilts that overlooks the Atlantic. From the marina, I cut a diagonal, skirting past the downtown area and weaving through a few of the older historic neighborhoods. It’s the most direct route to Josie’s place but still takes me nearly twenty minutes.

  So as not to have another unexpected run-in with Vail, I park Lolli under a Cabbage Palm. I used to not know the names of palms and other Florida trees and wildlife, but the first year I lived here, we did a unit about it in class, and now I know the names of everything.

  I was the only student who made an A+ on that unit. Josie made an A-. It was another thing we fought about.

  Clover licks the side of my water canister, signaling me she’s thirsty, and unscrewing the lid, I pour her a little. As I do, I scope things out. One truck sits in the carport under the dark wood house, and from my viewpoint, the place seems empty.

  I want to get out my binoculars and zoom in on the windows but figure that might draw unwanted attention from the neighbors. Josie’s window sits at the top right, and I stare at it, hoping she’ll make an appearance.

  But, of course, nothing happens.

  I have a quick memory of her and I chasing Clover around the beach in front of her house and laughing so hard we nearly peed ourselves. That was during one of our friendly times and a pang of sorrow moves through me. Unfortunately, our roller coaster of friendship seems to have more downs than ups. It’s too bad because the ups are pretty great.

  I try once again with a text. I’M OUTSIDE OF YOUR HOUSE. ARE YOU IN THERE? WHY ARE YOU AVOIDING ME?

  I stare at the phone a good solid minute, but no response comes through. What the heck is wrong with her? Josie is taking this being mad at me thing too far.

  A dark-haired man carrying hedge clippers emerges from the side of the house. The white print across his burgundy tee reads PIPER ISLAND LANDSCAPERS. He tosses the clippers in the back of the truck before grabbing a rag to wipe his face.

  He glances up then and spies me hovering next to the cabbage palm, staring at the house.

  So much for blending in. “Hi,” I say, waving and pushing my bike out into the sun. “Do you know Josie? She lives here. I was hoping to talk to her.”

  Smiling back, the man tucks the rag into his back pocket. “Of course, I know Josie.”

  “Do you know where she is?”

  The man shrugs. “No clue. I’ve been here for the last couple of days.” He motions to the fresh landscaping in the side yard. “But I haven’t seen her.”

  The time capsule goes missing, and Josie conveniently does, too. Let’s just see what her parents think about that. “What about Mr. and Mrs. Hughes? Have you seen them?”

  “Now that I do know. They’re on vacation. The boys have been here, though. I’ve seen them both.”

  Hm. Josie didn’t tell me her parents were going on vacation. I wonder if Josie went with them. She didn’t tell me that either. There seems to be a lot of things Josie hasn’t told me lately. “Who’s running The Pit?”

  “Mr. Hughes’ brother.”

  That would be Josie’s uncle. He lives on the mainland. I’ve only met him once, but he seemed nice enough.

  The landscape man unscrews the lid on an orange Gatorade and takes a few big pulls
, then wipes his hand across his mouth. “Why don’t you just call Josie?”

  “Already tried that.” I climb back on my bike. “Well, if you see her will you tell her Penny-Ann and Diamond are looking for her?”

  “Her brothers will be home in a bit. You can always wait. They might know where she is.”

  My stomach gives a nervous flutter at the thought of Vail finding out I came here. “No, that’s okay.”

  My phone twerps with a text from Diamond. ANYTHING?

  I THINK JOSIE MAY BE ON VACATION WITH HER PARENTS. Either way, Vail lied to me when I was at The Pit. He knew Josie and his parents were gone. He could’ve told me that instead of luring me in and messing with me.

  ANYTHING WITH EAN? I type back.

  I WENT BY HIS HOUSE, BUT HE’S NOT THERE.

  He could be surfing or at the skate park. Or he could be at the ferry. His mom is the captain of the boat there. MEET ME AT ROCCO’S, I tell her. I want to see if she gets an innocent or guilty vibe off of him when I question him again.

  Chapter 13

  Rocco lives almost exactly between Josie’s home and The Pit, and thanks to the ocean breeze that kicks in, I’ve got the wind at my back and it only takes me five minutes to get there.

  While I wait on Diamond, I stand in the same spot I did two days ago, staring at the red brick apartment building and the Garcia door.

  Whatever happened that night on campus is a big fat question, but one thing is for sure, Rocco was there. He admitted it. What I’d really love to do is get Rocco and Josie in a room together, handcuffed, until one of them comes clean.

  In my peripheral vision, I catch sight of a black and white moped buzzing toward me. I turn fully to see Diamond motor up and come to a stop. She unclips her black helmet and tosses her white hair. Of course, it falls into a perfectly straight line.

  I left the marina before her, so I didn’t see her ride. I expected her to be on a bike like me. “Aren’t you supposed to be sixteen to ride a moped?”