The Lemonade Crime by Jacqueline Davies Read Free Book Online Page B

courtroom burst into laughter, but David banged his gavel so loudly that everyone quieted right down. Nobody wanted to get sent home before there was a verdict.
    "Did
Scott
go into the house?" asked Jessie.
    "Uh-huh," said Jack.
    "Did he go in
alone?
"
    "Yeah."
    "And how long was he in the house
alone?
"
    "I don't know," said Jack, shrugging.
    "Long enough to run upstairs and steal an envelope filled with money out of Evan's shorts?" asked Jessie.
    "Sure," said Jack. "He was in there for a while. And I know he went into my room, because he came down dressed."
    "Dressed?" asked Jessie. "Why did he do that?"
    "He said he had to go, right away."
    "But did he say why?"
    "No. Just said he had to go."
    "Did he leave in a hurry?"
    "You should have seen him. He went tearing out of there. I don't think he even had both shoes on when he left."
    "I don't suppose you happened to check his pockets before he left, did you?"
    "Uh, no," said Jack.
    "Too bad," muttered Evan. Jessie looked over at her brother. He didn't look happy.
    "That will be all," said Jessie.
    "The witness is excused," said David in his serious judge voice, and when Jack didn't move, he added, "You may step down."
    "Step down?" asked Jack, looking at the ground.
    "You may go back to the witness area," said David, and he gave Jack a look that made Jack close his mouth and do what he was told.
    Jessie called up the witnesses one by one, and each boy said the same thing: Scott had gone into the house to use the bathroom, came out a while later dressed, and then rushed out the door. Hearing the story five times made it seem like it was the absolute truth.
    Jessie was feeling good. So good, she decided to call Evan to the stand. She hadn't planned out any questions to ask him, but that didn't matter. Everyone liked Evan, and Jessie knew it was a good strategy to put a likable witness on the stand.
    But when she said, "For my next witness, I call Evan Treski to the stand," Evan shot her a furious look. He walked up to the judge's podium like he was walking to the gallows. When he turned to face the court, he had both thumbs hooked in his back pockets, and his shoulders were hunched forward. What was wrong? thought Jessie. They were going to win!
    "Mr. Treski," Jessie began. "Can you please tell the court where you were on the afternoon of September fifth?"
    "We already know that!" shouted Taffy Morgan, who was sitting in the second row of the jury box. "Ask him something
different!
"
    "Yeah!" shouted Tessa James from the audience. "Ask him where he got all that money from. That's what I want to know."
    Ben Lesser shouted out the same thing: "Ask him that!" And Nina Lee echoed, "Yeah, ask him that!"
    Slowly, Jessie felt her face turning hot. That was the
last
question she wanted to ask Evan while he was on the stand. If the jury found out that Evan had stolen that money from her—it would be all over. Some of the kids in the jury box started to chant, "Ask him! Ask him!"
    "Order in the court!" shouted David. When everyone quieted down, he said to Jessie, "That's a good question. Why don't you ask him that?"
    "He's
my
witness," said Jessie, "and I get to make up the questions." Jessie knew the rules: She was the lawyer, and nobody could make her ask her witness a question she didn't want to ask. "I'll ask what I want, and I don't want to ask that."
    "What?" said Scott. "Have you got something to hide?"
    "Leave her alone," said Evan.
    "Yeah, leave me alone," said Jessie, looking from David to Scott to Evan.
    "Fine," said Scott, crossing his arms and looking smug. "Don't ask him. I'll just have my mom ask him where he got the money."
    "Your mom's not even here," said Jessie angrily. "And I bet she won't show up, either."
    Scott jumped up to his feet and looked like he was going to take a swing at Jessie. "She will, too. She's just late, that's all. 'Cause she's a
real
lawyer, with
real
work to do. Not like you! You faker!"
    "Order in this court, or I will throw you both out!"