Philip and the Thief (9781619500648) by John (COR) Paulits Read Free Book Online

“that is amazing. You thought this all out by
yourself?”
    Philip nodded.
    “ Well,” said Mr. Greif, “I suppose we
all owe Jason an apology. Jason, both Mr. Ware and I are sorry for
having suspected you. I will call both your parents as soon as I
get back to my office, but you really shouldn’t bring so much money
to school. It only leads to trouble.”
    Jason looked at Philip. Philip noticed and
turned away quickly, hoping the whole mysterious episode had come
to an end.
     
     

Chapter Thirteen
     
    “ What candy bar?” Emery asked, rushing
up to Philip when Mr. Ware dismissed the class at three o’clock.
Philip had been too busy at lunch telling his story over and over
to the kids in class for Emery to get him alone. “What candy bar
did I lose? Do you still have it?”
    “ I ate it,” said Philip. “You left half
a candy bar on my bureau and it fell down behind the back. I
figured out what happened to it. So I found it and ate
it.”
    “ Oh, I remember. I didn’t want it. It
fell under the bed and got all dirty.”
    Philip stopped walking. “Dirty? Why didn’t
you throw it away? Why’d you put it on my bureau?”
    Emery shrugged. “Forgot. Did you really eat
it?”
    Philip nodded.
    “ Yuck,” said Emery and repeated, “It
fell under the bed.”
    “ I cleaned it. It was clean when I ate
it.”
    Emery made a sour face and said, “I doubt it.
Oops, here comes Jason.”
    The three boys paused and stood uncomfortably
quiet for a moment.
    “ Philip,” said Jason. “You can play my
Pearl Quest game tomorrow at lunch if you want.”
    Philip said, “Thanks,” and Jason walked
off.
    “ Now he’s your friend,” said Emery. “He
won’t bother you anymore. I hope he remembers I’m in the detective
agency, too. Then he’ll be my friend.”
    “ You kept telling him you quit.
Remember?”
    “ Oh, yeah,” Emery said
gloomily.
    The boys walked a while, and then Emery
asked, “Did you really figure out the mystery like you said?”
    “ Yeah. Grownups always forget where
they put things.”
    “ I know. My mother was taking care of
the two babies and started looking for her glasses. She looked a
long time. Know where they were? On the top of her head. I had to
tell her where when she asked me what I was laughing about. She got
mad because I didn’t tell her right away, but I thought it was too
funny to tell. She sent me to my room.”
    The two boys reached Emery’s house.
    “ Want to come over later?” Philip
asked. “We can play outside. It’s not so cold today.”
    “ I’ll ask my mom. I’ll call
you.”
    Philip finished the walk to his own house.
When he got inside, his mother hung up the phone.
    “ Hi, Mom.”
    “ That was Mr. Ware, Philip. He told me
you’re quite a detective, figuring out the classroom mystery about
the missing money. Tell me about it.”
    Philip happily told his mother the
whole story; how when he’d awakened in the morning, the answer
popped into his head. He left out the part about spending time
deciding what to do. He knew if he didn’t reveal what happened to the missing money,
everyone would continue to think Jason was the thief and maybe he
and Emery would get their wish—no more Jason in the
class.
    Philip remembered, though, how gloomy
Jason looked when he talked about how his mother and father both
suspected him of stealing the money. Philip knew what that felt like. He didn’t tell his
mother, though, about his not wanting to let Jason feel as badly as
she’d made him feel when she suspected him wrongly. It was too
personal.
    “ Well, this certainly is a proud day,
Philip. Wait until your father hears this story. I’ll bet he’ll
want to celebrate with a dinner at the Shake Shack and ice cream
afterwards.”
    Philip smiled. His father would like the story. After all, his
father had helped him get started in the detective
business.
    “ The Shake Shack and ice cream sounds
good,” Philip said through his smile.
    “ So go get your