I could hardly sit still in the SUV on the way downtown. All the cops at One PP seemed surprised to see my mother on a Sunday, but they were on high alert and told us the mayor had already arrived. The Dibbles showed up five minutes later.
“Do you know the mayor?” Liza asked as we rode up in the elevator?
“I don’t know him know him. I met him at my mother’s swearing-in,” I said. “Things like that. He’s a really good guy.”
Mayor Bloomfield was sitting at Teddy Roosevelt’s desk when we walked in. I guess it kind of fascinated everyone who visited.
“Congratulations to you, Devlin,” he said, shaking my hand. “They ought to name a wing of the library after the three of you.”
“No, thank you, sir,” I said, wishing Lulu could be at my side, too, to hear me refuse a suggestion of that kind of honor. “I don’t believe in any of that. We just did what all good citizens would.”
“You must be Liza de Lucena,” the mayor said.
“Yes, sir.”
“We didn’t give you a very gracious welcome to our city, Liza.”
“I like it here a lot, actually. I’ve made two wonderful friends, and it’s a very exciting place to be,” she said.
“I know the commissioner has something to say to each of you, but first, Liza, I want to give you a key to the City of New York.”
I slapped my hand over my mouth so I didn’t burst out with something silly. What an amazing gesture. I thought Liza’s braces would pop off because of the size of her smile and the extra high five from Booker.
“It was your vigilance at our great public library, Liza, and then your courage and perseverance all week—your fearlessness, really—that has helped put an end to the destruction of some of the greatest treasures left in the stewardship of our citizens. I am sure your family and all your countrymen and women are as proud of you and as grateful to you as we are,” the mayor said.
Then Mayor Bloomfield opened a large wooden box, topped with the crest of the city and lined in blue velvet, and presented Liza with a giant-sized gold key.
“I’m pretty much overwhelmed,” she said. “I’m only here today because Commissioner Quick was so generous to offer me a place in her home, and then Booker and Dev were in this adventure with me every step of the way. I owe everything to them.”
“Cred to you, Liza. You saw the crime happen and you never backed down,” Booker said. “And Dev, you’re an awesome private eye. No question about it.”
Liza was full-on blushing. I couldn’t tell whether it was because of Booker or the mayor or the shiny gold key in her hands.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor,” she said.
He took her by the shoulders and kissed her on each cheek.
“Now my favorite police commissioner has some business of her own,” Mayor Bloomfield said. “Blaine?”
My mother took a black suede pouch from Sam Cody. She carefully turned it over so its contents slipped out onto her desk.
This time I gasped. There were three gold and cobalt blue shields—smaller in size than the traditional detective badges—but identical in color and design.
“I can’t do better than Mayor Bloomfield,” my mother said, “but I do have something for each of you. In recognition of your skills of observation, deduction, and detection, with great respect for your bravery, and on behalf of your devoted colleagues of the NYPD, it is my privilege to award each of you the title of honorary detective.”
I was so excited I didn’t know how I could contain my enthusiasm.
“Please step forward, Liza de Lucena,” my mother said.
Liza handed her gilded key to Natasha and moved closer to my mother, who pinned the miniature badge on the collar of Liza’s blouse. “Your courage and fortitude are remarkable, young lady. And one word of advice, if I may? From this moment on, in case you didn’t know it, you don’t always have to take direction from Dev, okay?”
Something about that made everyone in the room laugh.
“Booker Dibble,” my mother said, motioning him to step up.
“Glasses or no glasses?” he asked, nudging me as he passed by.
“No glasses,” I said. “Just be yourself.”
My mother read Booker the same citation she had spoken for Liza. “Thank you also, Booker, for keeping these young ladies—my young ladies—as far out of harm’s way as it was possible for you to do. Your undercover performance at the library, I’m told, was first-rate.”
“Thank you, Aunt Blaine. I’ve got to say you’re the coolest police commissioner on the planet. I’ll wear this proudly.”
My mother pinned the badge on Booker’s shirt.
“Devlin Quick,” my mother said, beaming at me.
“Excuse me, Commissioner,” Sam Cody said, moving in beside her. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I made a promise to Devlin—right in your kitchen—on Tuesday night.”
I threw back my head and giggled with delight. Sam remembered after all.
“You did?” my mother said.
“Absolutely. I told Devlin that if she caught the thief, I’d pin the gold shield on her myself,” Sam said.
“Then the honor is all yours, Detective Cody.”
“Thank you, Commissioner,” he said. “This one’s for you, Devlin Quick.”
I took a few steps closer to Sam and lifted the collar of my Ditchley blazer, right over the school insignia.
Sam squinted to latch the pin of the badge in place. “Now I know you were eyeing the key to the city, Devlin. But in your case, this shield is much more suitable. You already have that kind of key—in the person of your mother. She’s given you all the tools you need—your brains, your heart, your courage, and your gift for friendship.”
My mother was biting her lip. I knew what that was about. We were both on emotional overload today.
“Thanks, Sam. My mom even opened the door to the Puzzle Palace for us,” I said. “I know I’m a very lucky girl.”
“You’re going to be one fine detective,” Sam said. “You’re already a supersleuth. You deserve this badge, Devlin Quick. You’re officially one of us now.”
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