As they walked away from the apartment building, Hannah turned toward Ben and said, “I do not want to talk to Nick Ross and Alex Gray!”

“Fine,” Ben said. “I’ll do all the talking.”

“Those guys are really scary!” Hannah said.

“She’s right, Ben,” Corey agreed. “Those guys are pretty scary.”

Ben walked on for a few steps, then stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to face Hannah. “You know, you’re the one who originally had the idea to start a Club CSI. The ‘C’ in ‘CSI’ stands for ‘crime.’ And sometimes the people involved in crimes are scary.”

“Okay, first of all, ‘CSI’ stands for ‘Crime Scene Investigation,’” Hannah said. “I’m interested in investigating crime scenes. After the crime has been committed. When the criminals are gone!”

“Right,” Ben said, “but sometimes—”

“And second,” Hannah quickly interrupted, “we’ve already solved this crime! Greg stole the money! Just because you two guys want to buy a Quark Pad for a really cheap price . . .”

“Wait a second,” Corey said. “I’d like a cheap Quark Pad, but I really don’t want to buy one from Nick and Alex. For one thing, I doubt they offer an extended warranty.”

Ben started walking again. “You don’t have to come along to meet with Nick and Alex if you’re afraid.”

Hannah hurried after Ben. So did Corey.

“Afraid?!” Hannah said. “This isn’t about being afraid. This is about being sensible.”

“Because you’re afraid,” Ben said.

“Okay,” Hannah said. “Maybe I am a little bit afraid of those guys. Did you hear about the time when they set the principal’s car on fire?”

“That’s just a rumor,” Ben said, walking on.

Hannah grabbed Ben by the arm and made him stop walking. “Ben,” she said firmly. “Just explain to me exactly why you want to meet with those two . . . Neanderthals.”

Ben shifted his backpack from one shoulder to the other. “I think it’s important to finish a case once we start it. Yes, we found out who took the money. But he took it for a specific reason—to buy one of these Quark Pads from Nick and Alex. For only one hundred dollars. And that seems really suspicious to me.”

“Do you think Nick and Alex are stealing the Quark Pads and then selling them?” Corey asked.

“Maybe,” Ben said. “I’m not sure. But it seems as though more and more kids are showing up at school with Quark Pads. And I don’t think they all just got great jobs or inherited fortunes or won the lottery.”

“Kids can’t buy lottery tickets,” Corey said. “I tried.”

“I bet all those kids talked to Nick and Alex,” Ben said. “And lived.”

The three friends walked in silence till the end of the block. They stopped. This was where they’d go in different directions to get home. Hannah thought hard for a moment, then came to a conclusion.

“Well,” she said, “if you think it’s important to talk to Nick and Alex, we’ll talk to Nick and Alex. Together. We started this investigation as Club CSI, and we’ll finish it that way.”

“Agreed,” Corey said. “Although I have a question.”

“Which is?” Ben asked.

“Can we talk to Nick and Alex one at a time? They don’t have to both be there, do they?”

Ben smiled. “Whenever I’ve seen them, they were together. But if we’re lucky enough to catch one of them by himself, that’ll be great.”

“Okay,” Corey said, relieved. He was an athlete, so he could take care of himself. Or at least get away. But when it came to Nick Ross and Alex Gray, together, he felt a little nervous.

“All right then,” Hannah said. “See you tomorrow.”

 

The next day in Corey’s homeroom, Mrs. Ramirez announced that Club CSI had caught the thief, and the missing money was going to be returned. They’d have enough money for their share of the trip to Washington, DC. The students cheered.

“Who took the money?” Victor asked.

“Because the thief came forward voluntarily, Principal Inverno and I have decided not to release his or her name,” Mrs. Ramirez explained.

“But I thought you said Club CSI caught the thief,” Victor persisted.

“We did,” Corey said. “And he—or she—agreed to turn him- or herself in and repay the money.”

“Was it you?” Victor asked accusingly.

Corey started to answer, but then Mrs. Ramirez answered for him. “The thief was not anyone in this class. That’s all you need to know.”

Corey shot Victor a look of triumph. Victor rolled his eyes and looked away.

 

Between classes, Hannah, Ben, and Corey zipped through the halls of the school together, looking for Nick and Alex. They also looked for them at lunch, but didn’t see them in the cafeteria.

“Maybe they have a different lunch period,” Hannah said.

“Maybe they’re busy strangling puppies,” Corey said.

“Not funny,” she said.

That afternoon they got lucky. They spotted Nick by himself, hanging around one of the water fountains.

“There he is,” Corey said. “And I don’t see Alex anywhere.”

“Perfect,” Hannah said. “This is it.”

After hesitating for a moment, the three of them walked up to Nick. Ben remembered what Greg had told him to say.

“Hi, Nick,” he said. “My name’s Ben. I heard you’re in the electronics business.”

Nick turned his head slowly and stared at them.

“Who are you?” he said.

“Ben,” he repeated. “And this is Corey and Hannah.”

“Where’d you hear I’m in the electronics business?” Nick asked.

“One of your customers told us,” Hannah said.

“Which one?” Nick asked.

“He said not to say,” Ben answered.

Nick nodded, seeming to be pleased with that answer. “That’s right. My customers are all anonymous.”

He was leaning against the wall. He pushed himself off and took a step toward the three friends. Corey stood up taller and squared his shoulders. Somehow, with guys like Nick, Corey did that automatically.

“You eighth graders?” Nick asked.

Ben and Hannah looked at each other. What was the right answer? Greg hadn’t mentioned this part. They decided to be honest.

“Seventh graders,” they declared at the same time.

Nick shook his head. “I don’t sell to seventh graders. In my experience, they get excited, and they can’t keep their mouths shut.” He started to turn away.

Then Corey spoke up. “We’ll pay extra,” he said. Nick turned back.

“For what?” he asked.

“A Quark Pad,” Corey said. “We heard you charge a hundred. But we’ll pay you more than that.”

“A thousand?” Nick said. All three of them looked shocked. Nick laughed.

“You should see your faces,” he said. “Priceless.”

Nick rubbed his chin, thinking. Even though he was only an eighth grader, it looked like he needed a shave.

“Tell you what,” he said. “I’ll sell you one.”

The three friends looked relieved.

“That’s great,” Corey said. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t finished,” Nick continued. “I’ll sell you one if you follow my instructions exactly.”

“We can do that,” Ben said.

“Meet me at four thirty today. Come to the park.”

“At the fort?” Corey asked.

Nick looked disgusted. “No, not the fort. That’s for little kids.”

“Right,” Corey said. “Not the fort. The swings?”

Nick stared at Corey. Then he said, “You know those big rocks? At the edge of the park?”

“Yeah,” Ben said.

“Behind those. Four thirty. Bring a hundred and fifty bucks. Cash.”

Before they could say anything about not being able to get together a hundred and fifty dollars in cash by four thirty, Nick turned and then walked away.