Amos and the Chameleon Caper by Gary Paulsen Read Free Book Online Page B

“Good afternoon, Ms. Tiffany. Anything I can do for you today?”
    “Not today, Grimes, thank you.”
    Dunc elbowed Amos, whose mouth was still hanging open, and whispered, “I thought you said she was a sissy.”
    Tiffany pushed the button beside the elevator. “Dad’s meeting went long, so he sent me to get you. Boy, am I glad you guys came. Things around here were gettinga little boring. Do you play any sports?”
    Dunc pounded Amos on the back. “Amos here is the checker king of our school.”
    The elevator doors opened. Tiffany held them while the boys stepped in. “No, I mean real sports. Are you on any teams?”
    Dunc frowned. “Not unless you count the debate team. I’m the captain.”
    Tiffany looked disappointed. “How about martial arts? Judo? Kung fu? Karate?”
    Dunc shook his head.
    Amos finally found his voice. “Jim Gots Yu.”
    Dunc stared at him, but Amos ignored him and went on, “I’m really into it. It’s one of those highly specialized forms.”
    The elevator stopped. Tiffany moved to a door with marble columns on either side and put her key card in the slot. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that one. Is it new?”
    She heard a yes and a no at the sametime. Dunc had said the yes. Amos glared at him. “It’s one of those old Chinese ones. Very old. In fact, it’s so old only a select few people in the world even know it still exists.”
    “Sounds neat. Maybe you could show me some moves later.” Tiffany opened the door and scooped up a black-and-white cat. “Spats, you entertain these guys while I get changed.” She pointed down the hall. “Your room is the third on the right. Make yourselves at home. I’ll be right back.”
    Dunc waited until she was out of hearing range. “Jim Gots Yu?”
    Amos shrugged and headed down the hall. “It was the best I could do on short notice. You don’t want her to think we’re a couple of wimps, do you?”
    Dunc put his bag on one of the twin beds. “What are you going to do when she wants to see some of your moves?”
    Amos stretched out on the other bed. “She’ll probably forget all about it, and if she doesn’t, I’ll wing it. How hard can it be?”
    “Look at this view,” Dunc said as he pulled the curtains open. “There’s a courtyard down there. The building is in the shape of a horseshoe.”
    Amos sat up. “Shut the curtains. People from the other side can probably see us.”
    “It’s her!”
    “Who?” Amos jumped off the bed and moved to the window. “A movie star? Don’t tell me—Melissa is in Iowa.”
    “It’s not her—it’s
her
.” Dunc was almost screaming. He pointed to the apartment directly across from theirs.
    “I don’t get it. It’s only a gray-haired little woman.”
    Tiffany burst through the door. “Is everything okay? I thought I heard yelling.”
    Amos moved back to the bed and sat down. “To be fair, I really should explain something to you about my friend Dunc. He’s crazy.”
    Dunc turned. “You don’t understand. The woman in that apartment is the one who claimed she was hit by the cab.”
    Tiffany was confused. “Some woman was hit by a cab today?”
    “That’s just it,” Dunc said. “She wasn’t. She only pretended to be hit. She was dressed in rags as if she was real poor. The cabdriver gave her a whole lot of money so she wouldn’t turn him in. But when I picked up her purse I noticed that it was made from alligator skin, which is really expensive. I think she’s a con artist.”

“Here’s what we have so far.” Dunc made a couple of notes in his pocket notebook. “An elderly woman pretending to be poor who lives in a classy building like this and carries an alligator purse …”
    They had just sat down to lunch. Amos took the first bite of his sandwich. “She’s probably visiting here, and her daughter from Cleveland gave her the purse.”
    Dunc ignored him. “… who only pretended to be hit, when in fact the cab never touched her.”
    Tiffany came back