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Perry sat in his favorite chair at the office, counting the money he’d made as the sole proprietor of the Pleasantville Junior Detective Agency. The drawer in his desk, his makeshift bank couldn’t hold any more money. He needed to open an account at a bank.
He counted one-hundred-eighty-one dollars in five’s and one-dollar bills. He grabbed the mason jar and tipped it over letting the quarters, dimes, and nickels scatter across the desk. It took him ten minutes to count and stack the coins in three separate piles. The piles made up 40 quarters, 30 dimes and 20 nickels.
He collected all the money and decided if he needed to open a bank account, he would need some protection from thieves. But who could he trust? His mom was busy making cookies and brownies for a bake sale for a charity he couldn’t remember. His dad was at work at the One Stop Shop. If he wanted to open a bank account, he would need to hire someone to protect him and his money. But who?
Then a thought popped in his head. McKenzie Callahan. Although she was the neighborhood bully, he figured if he paid her for protection, she would keep him and his money safe. After all, who would dare rob McKenzie? She would give them a knuckle sandwich.
Perry stared at his money and weighed his options. Wait to open an account on another day with the possibility of being robbed. Or hire McKenzie. Thoughts swirled in his head as he contemplated his next move. Hiring McKenzie could be risky but being robbed would be worse.
He grabbed his crime scene kit and emptied the contents into the top drawer of the desk. Next, he scooped the money into the bag and decided to hire McKenzie.
Perry hopped on his bike and raced to McKenzie’s house. He needed to get there before any robbers knew of his plans.
McKenzie opened the door. “What do you want pip squeak?”
Perry swallowed hard. He wondered if he’d made the right decision to come here. She could easily pummel him on the porch and take his money.
She growled. “Well, are you going to just stand there, or did you want something?”
Perry clutched the bag to his chest. His heart raced and he could hear the pounding in his ears. He wondered if she heard it too. Perry took a deep breath. “I want to hire you?”
“What for?”
“I want to open a bank account and I need some security to make sure I don’t get robbed before I get there.”
She gave a crooked grin. “How much money do you have?”
“That’s none of your concern.” Perry couldn’t believe he just told her that. He decided to be brave. “But I will gladly pay you five dollars to get me to the bank without getting robbed.”
“Make it ten and you got a deal.”
Perry sighed. “Okay.”
It seemed his plan to hire the neighborhood bully might pay off. They still had to make it to the bank, but he felt safer knowing McKenzie would be there to thwart any would be robbers.
They got on their bikes and headed toward the Pleasantville Bank.
Perry looked for any hiding places where someone could jump out and take his money. There were plenty of alleys as they rode their bikes down Main Street. A big dumpster sat near the corner of Baker Lane. As they turned down Market Street, no big thugs jumped out. But there was a boy of about Perry’s age sitting on the sidewalk crying, his bike lying on the ground next to him.
“Don’t stop,” McKenzie said pedaling past the boy. “It might be a trap to steal your money.”
Perry could see the whites of the boy’s eyes when he looked up at him. He squeezed the brakes on his handlebars and stopped next the kid.
“What happened?”
Just then, another boy appeared from around the corner. He was bigger than McKenzie. Next to him was a police officer. The big kid pointed at McKenzie. “That’s the one who stole our money.”
“Stop!” the officer said to McKenzie. Her bike skidded on the sidewalk, leaving a curved trail the size of a black snake as she stepped on the brakes.
The police officer gestured with his hand. “Get back here.”
“Okay, what’s this about you taking this boy’s money?”
McKenzie rolled her eyes at Perry and whispered, “I told you not to stop.”
“The money is mine,” Perry said. “We were on our way to the Pleasantville Bank.”
“That’s a lie,” the kid on the ground cried out. He stood and walked to the officer. He shook the policeman’s hand. “Thank goodness you arrived when you did. These two came out of nowhere and forced me off the road. My bike hit the curb of the sidewalk and I crashed. I’ve been crying because I scraped my hands.”
The man stared at McKenzie. “You need to give the money back, or I will have to arrest you for stealing.”
“We didn’t do it,” she insisted. “These two are lying, officer.”
“Can you prove it?”
Her eyes stared at the sidewalk. “No sir.”
Perry gave a crooked grin. “I can.”
Did you figure out how Perry could prove to the Police Officer the boys lied? If not, turn to the next page to find out.
The boy sitting on the ground told the police officer Perry and McKenzie ran him off the road and he crashed onto the sidewalk scraping his hands. If the boy scraped his hands, he wouldn’t have shaken hands with the police officer.
In addition, the boy stated he’d been crying, yet when Perry saw him, his eyes were white. If he’d been crying, his eyes would be red.