Sly the Sleuth and the Food Mysteries

by Donna Jo Napoli

  “Why keep it a secret?” I said.“Lots of people have allergies.”

  “Yeah. But kids think you’re sickly if you tell them,” said Princess. “I know. They treat me different once they find out. So I keep it to myself.”

  “Well, I think you should tell your friends,” I said. “Otherwise they get confused by what you do.”

  “You mean Kate?”

  “And Melody. And Brian too. Even Jack and Noah. We’re all your friends, Princess.”

  Back to Cheerleading

  Princess told Kate she was allergic to wheat. So Kate said the cooking club could change. No more pasta.

  But Princess said she really wanted to be a cheerleader. She said cheerleaders get on TV too.

  Kate said it wasn’t the same thing. Who ever heard of a cheerleading channel? But her ankle feels okay now, and she really likes Princess. She said managing the cooking club was a lot of trouble, anyway. Besides, her mother wanted her to go back to cheerleading for the exercise. Kate’s mother is on a health kick. She has been for months.

  We’re a cheerleading squad again.

  Kate wanted to celebrate that Princess didn’t hate her. So she invited Princess and Melody and me to a sleepover.

  Brian was sad because he had no place to wear his MASCOOK T-shirt. But Kate told him he could wear it to basketball games. So he got happy again.

  Jack was sad because he liked being a taster. Kate didn’t say anything to that. After all, what could she say?

  And all our parents were glad to have us back for family meals.

  So the mystery of Princess was solved. And it was all about food. Wow. Kate had been right when she said something was cooking with Princess. Words are funny like that. They mean so many things. Ha, ha.

  Case #3: Sly and Something seedy

  The Smell of Apples

  Princess stood at my living room window. “January is cold here.”

  “This is worse than usual,” I said.

  “It snows too much,” said Princess.

  “I like it, though,” said Melody. “It makes ice-skating fun.”

  Melody is good at ice-skating.

  “I love ice-skating,” said Brian.

  Brian is bad at ice-skating.

  “What about you?” asked Princess. “Do you skate, Sly?”

  “Not much. I like it inside. Nice and warm.”

  “I’d like something warm right now,” said Princess. “Something to make us feel cozy.”

  “Let’s bake apples,” I said.

  We trooped into the kitchen.

  Melody and I washed apples.

  “I’ll cut the cores out,” said Princess. “It’s important to get rid of all the seeds.”

  So Princess cut out the cores.

  Brian filled the holes: sugar, cinnamon, and a pat of butter.

  We put them in the oven.

  “We have apple cider too,” I said.

  “Let’s heat it,” said Melody.“Hot cider is best.”

  “With cinnamon sticks and cloves,” said Princess.

  So we made spicy hot cider.

  “Apple party,” said Brian. “Apple, apple, apple party.”

  I love all fruit. But apples are my favorite. They smell great. My father says I’m the apple of his eye.

  Cooking together like this made me miss the old cooking club.

  We went back into the living room. We sipped our cider and waited for the apples to bake soft.

  I smiled at Brian and Melody and Princess. It was funny. Earlier this morning, I had taken out my sleuth sign. I was bored. I was going to put it up.

  Brian came over and added more hearts to it. But we never put it up because then Melody and Princess came.

  And look what a nice morning this was turning out to be. Who needed sleuthing?

  Seedy

  Thud. The noise came from the porch door. Thud, thud.

  “Jack!” screamed Brian.

  Jack would have to be crazy to be kicking his soccer ball around in this snow.

  I opened the door.

  A snow-coated ball sailed past me. It hit the inside wall.

  Jack was crazy.

  And his jacket was covered with snow and mud. “Jack, you look like a bum.You look seedy.”

  “I have a case for you,” said Jack.

  “Magic magic magic,” sang Brian.

  I had to admit it. That sign sure seemed magic.

  I looked at the snowball mess. “My mother won’t like that.” I got the mop and handed it to Jack.

  Jack groaned. But he cleaned up the puddle.

  Princess peeked in. “Hi, Jack.” She gave a quick wave and disappeared into the kitchen.

  Jack sniffed the air. “Apple pie?”

  “Cider and baked apples,” I said.

  “Come have some,” said Melody. She stood beside me now. Melody seemed to like feeding Jack.

  “Sure.”

  “Take off your dirty jacket,” I said.

  Jack took off his jacket.

  “What’s your case?” I asked.

  “Shhh,” said Jack. “I can’t tell you now.”

  “Then why did you come over?” I whispered.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Jack whispered back.

  “You can come in now,” called Princess.

  What was she talking about?

  We went into the kitchen.

  Our mess was gone. Princess had wiped the counter clean. She’d thrown the apple cores in the compost bin.

  Before I could thank her, the phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Sly. This is Mrs. Monti. I need to talk with Princess a minute.”

  “Sure.” I handed the phone to Princess. “Your mother,” I mouthed.

  “Hi, Mamma.” Princess nodded. “Now?” Princess turned her back to us. “All right.... Okay. . . . Bye.” She hung up and turned to us. “I have to go. My mother needs me to pick up cheese for her.”

  “Can’t you wait till after the baked apples?” I asked.

  “She’s in the middle of cooking. Sorry.”

  I waved my arm around the kitchen. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to do all that work yourself,” I said.

  “I didn’t mind. And see? Everything’s nice and safe now.”

  Safe? “Is something wrong, Princess?”

  “I just have to hurry. Bye.” Princess pulled on her jacket and left.

  Thief

  “Good,” said Jack. “Now I can tell you about my case.”

  “You mean you couldn’t tell with Princess here?”

  “Nope.”

  This was interesting.

  I went to the drawer and got my special pencil. And special pad of paper.These are tools of the trade. I sat on the couch. “Give me the details,” I said.That’s sleuth talk.

  “You have to catch a thief.”

  I put away the paper and pencil. “Sleuths aren’t the police.”

  “I don’t mean you have to put him in jail. Just find out who he is. Then I can stop him.”

  “Have you told your parents?” asked Melody.

  “Hey,” I said. “I’m the one who asks questions.”

  “You already put away your paper and pencil,” said Melody.

  “That doesn’t matter,” I said.

  “Why not?” said Melody.

  I couldn’t think of a reason. “Because.”

  “You’re acting like Kate,” said Melody.

  That hurt. I turned to Jack. “Well? Are you going to answer Melody’s question?”

  “No,” said Jack.

  “No, you’re not going to answer or no, you didn’t tell your parents?” I asked.

  “You’re the first one I’ve told,” said Jack.

  “And the second and the third,” said Brian.

  “What?” said Jack.

  “You told Melody and me too. First, second, third,” said Brian. “If you tell someone else, that will be fourth. After that, fifth. Like fingers.”

  Jack looked bl
ankly at Brian.

  “Why didn’t you tell your parents?” I asked.

  “It’s the sort of thing only you would understand.”

  Jack sometimes said smart things, even if he was wacky.

  “Tell me more.”

  “It’s about fruit.”

  “Someone’s stealing your fruit?” I asked.

  “Sort of,” said Jack.

  “Sort of ?” asked Melody.

  “It’s complicated,” said Jack. “Are the baked apples ready?”

  Oranges

  We sat at the table. Steam came out of the baked apples.

  “Careful, Brian,” I said. “Blow first.”

  Brian blew on his apple. He put a spoonful in his mouth. “Ow!”

  “Blow more.”

  “So,” said Melody, “tell us the details, Jack.”

  That was one of my sleuth lines. I kicked Melody under the table.

  “Ow,” said Melody.

  “Blow first,” said Brian.

  “That’s not why I said ‘Ow,’” said Melody. “I haven’t even taken a bite yet.” She glared at me.

  “Go ahead, Jack,” I said. “Talk.”

  “For the last three days I’ve gone to Princess’s house—”

  “What?” said Melody. Her face fell.

  “—to talk with Mr. Monti—”

  “Oh,” breathed Melody.

  “—and he chose the right orange for me from his sunroom and gave it to me—”

  “Why were you talking to Mr. Monti?” asked Melody.“And what do you mean, he chose an orange for you? Why didn’t you choose one yourself?”

  Those were the obvious questions. I kicked Melody under the table again.

  “Ow!”

  I felt bad. It wasn’t nice to kick. But I was the sleuth.What was the matter with Melody? In the future I would question my client in private. For now, though, I was stuck.

  “Well?” I said.

  “I like to meet Mr. Monti as he gets home from work,” said Jack. “We talk.”

  “Talk about what?”

  Jack stuffed his mouth with baked apple.

  “Are you trying to avoid answering?” I asked.

  “Blllmgr,” mumbled Jack.

  “Stop eating long enough to answer.”

  “Well ... ” Jack looked down. “I can’t tell you.”

  I frowned. “Jack, this is dumb.Why can’t you tell us something so simple?”

  “Because then you’ll know why I want the oranges. And it’s a secret.”

  “What do you mean?” said Melody.“There’s only one reason to want oranges. To eat them.”

  “That’s not my reason,” said Jack. He stuffed his mouth with baked apple.

  Melody and Brian and I waited for Jack to say more.

  “Tell us,” said Brian at last.

  “No. But you have to believe me: It’s a good reason. Anyway, I put the orange in my backpack. All three times. But when I got home, it was gone.”

  “Gone,” said Brian sadly. “All gone.”

  “Right.” Jack took another bite. “I never even got the chance to use the orange. Someone stole it from me. Every time. Find out who, Sly.”

  Use the orange? How does someone use an orange?

  “Did you check your backpack the instant you got home?”

  “Of course,” said Jack. “And it was gone.”

  “Did you stop anywhere on your way home?”

  “Nope.”

  “Did you bump into anyone?”

  “Nope.”

  “Does your backpack have holes?”

  “I already thought of that.” Jack held his chin up. “None of them are big enough for an orange to fall through.”

  This seemed like an easy problem to solve. “Next time Mr. Monti gives you an orange, hold it in your hand all the way home.”

  “But then Princess will see. She always comes out to say good-bye when I leave.”

  One missing orange, that was an annoyance. Two missing oranges, that was a pity. But three missing oranges? That was a pattern.

  I looked out the window at the clean, white snow. I got an idea. It was unlikely. But a good sleuth checks every possibility. “Stay here. All of you. I’ll be back.”

  Snow

  I stood outside Princess’s house.

  Should I take Jack’s case? Princess was my friend. I didn’t want to spy on my friend’s house.

  But Jack was really upset.

  A little investigation couldn’t hurt.

  Princess’s front walk had not yet been shoveled. Good.There were many sets of footprints in the snow. Some of them were on top of others. So it was hard to be sure how many.

  There were no footprints in the snow on the front grass.

  I looked along one side of Princess’s yard. Then I looked along the other side.

  There were no footprints in the snow on the side grass.

  I walked around the block to the house behind Princess’s. It was big and blue. I had no idea who lived there.

  It is not a good idea to walk through the yard of strangers. They might get mad. Or they might get afraid. They could call the police.

  I rang the doorbell.

  A man answered. He leaned on a cane. “What can I do for you, little lady?”

  “Could I please go in your backyard? I want to look at the rear of my friend’s house. She lives behind you.”

  “She’s your friend, huh? So why don’t you just walk around the side of her house to look at the rear?”

  “I don’t want anyone in her house to see me.”

  “That sounds suspicious,” said the man.

  “I’m a sleuth,” I said. “I run a detective agency. So the things I do sound suspicious. But they’re not really.”

  The man pursed his lips. “What’s your name?”

  “Sly.”

  Now he pulled on his earlobe. “What’s your real name?”

  “Sylvia.”

  “I had a cat named Sylvia once. Okay.” He shut the door.

  Okay? Did he mean it was okay for me to go in his yard?

  My father laughs at the funny things kids say. But adults say funny things too.

  I ran around to the back of his yard. I peeked into Princess’s yard.

  There were no footprints in Princess’s backyard.

  Misting

  I went home. Jack and Brian and Melody were playing dominoes in the porch.

  “Did you find out who the thief is already?” asked Jack.

  “No. Come with me.”

  “Can I come too?” asked Brian.

  “There might be sleuthing to do. Stay with Melody.”

  Melody looked crushed. I knew she wanted to come. But then she perked up. “We can go ice-skating.”

  “I love ice-skating,” said Brian.

  Melody and Brian left through the porch door.

  Jack and I went out the front door.

  “Where are we going?” asked Jack.

  “To Princess’s. You went there yesterday, right?”

  “I told you. After school Noah and I kicked around the soccer ball a while. Then we split and I went to talk to Mr. Monti.”

  “Was it snowing when you left Princess’s house?” I asked.

  “No. It had already stopped.

  “Good,” I said.

  “Good? Sometimes you don’t make sense, Sly.” Jack kicked his soccer ball into a mound of snow. Then into another. Then into another.

  I led the way up Princess’s front walk. Jack stashed his ball beside the door. I rang the bell.

  Princess’s father answered. He was tall. And he had a long mustache. And a lot of spiky hair. He looked sort of like an upside-down broom.

  “Hello, Mr. Monti,” I said. “Is Princess home?”

  “Come in, come in.” Mr. Monti smiled big. He stepped aside so we could pass.

  “Hello.” Princess came running to the door. She held a bucket. “Oh, it’s you. I thought it was Noah.” She handed me the bucket. “It’s m
y job to do the trees. You’re just in time to help.”

  She got another bucket for Jack. And she took one too. She led us to her front yard. “Fill your buckets with snow.”

  We filled our buckets with snow.

  I had no idea what was going on. But this was fun.

  We followed Princess back inside.

  She dumped the snow into a pot. She heated it on the stove. The snow melted.

  Cooking snow was batty. But it was still fun.

  Next she filled plastic bottles with the melted snow. The bottles had little hoses on them. And a squirter at the end.

  We went into the sunroom armed with our squirter bottles. Princess squirted an orange tree up near the top.

  Jack walked over to a pot. He put his finger in the dirt. He squirted the dirt.

  “Stop,” said Princess.

  “But it’s dry. And, hey, you don’t know so much, Princess. Plants drink through their roots. Not their leaves.”

  Princess laughed. “We’re not watering. We’re misting. In winter we water once a week. But we mist every day. Like this.” She squirted high in a tree. “Try to get the whole tree.Top to bottom.”

  “What good does misting do?” asked Jack.

  “They need humidity,” said Princess.

  “Why use melted snow?” asked Jack.

  “There’s salt in tap water. It’s bad for the trees.”

  “What happens when there’s no snow?” asked Jack.

  He sure was full of questions.

  “We use distilled water. But after we finish misting today, we can fill lots of buckets with snow. That way we’ll have enough for the whole week.”

  I looked at Jack.

  But he didn’t have any more questions.

  We misted all those trees.

  Then we stood in a little group.We admired our work.

  I finally saw my chance. “Hey, Princess, did anyone visit your house last night?”

  “No. My father went out and got us a video. Our whole family likes to curl up together on the couch when it snows.”

  “What about this morning?”

  “What?”

  “Did anyone visit your house this morning?”