Serina K. and the Case of the Missing Recipe Read online

  Chapter Eight: Special Delivery

  By lunch time, everyone had gotten over the anger with Sara and me. In fact, mostly everyone was glad they were detained since it got them out of their first period class. A few people even volunteered to take part in our investigation by letting us interrogate them. The lunch lady, however, was not quite as receptive when I asked her about her alibi.

  I ran home as quick as I could after school. Today was the day that Mr. McCarthy would be delivering Suzy’s present and I wanted to be there to see Suzy’s expression when Mr. McCarthy gave it to him. In addition, I needed the plan to work to ensure myself that I could still solve problems by thinking outside of the box. After the setbacks I’ve had in the investigation, I’ve had ounces of doubt about my ability to solve the case. A reconciliation between Suzy and Mr. McCarthy would provide me a boost of much needed morale.

  I made it home with a few minutes to spare before the time Mr. McCarthy usually made his rounds. Since I had a few minutes before he would arrive, I decided to make myself a quick snack. My stomach was growling pretty fierce. I devoured a bologna and cheese sandwich and gulped down a glass of cherry Kool-Aid in record time.

  After I finished eating, I peered out the window and saw Mr. McCarthy at my neighbor’s house dropping off their mail. It would be a just a few more moments before he was arriving with Suzy’s present. I fed Suzy the bread crust that I had peeled from my sandwich and told him to follow me outside.

  We stepped onto the front porch just as Mr. McCarthy stepped into our yard. Suzy had his eyes on some sparrows flying over and didn’t seem to notice. I gave him a nudge and pointed him in the direction of the approaching Mr. McCarthy.

  “Grrrr, Grrrr,” he growled.

  I tried to reassure him that Mr. McCarthy was on a mission of goodwill, but he must not have been listening. He stared directly at Mr. McCarthy and snarled ferociously.

  “Grrrr, Grrrr, Grrrr,” he snarled ferociously.

  Sensing the impending danger, Mr. McCarthy pulled the gift from his mailbag and attempted to win Suzy’s affections by flashing the gift wrapped box of dog biscuits in the air. His strategy seemed to work. In a mad dash, Suzy leaped off the porch and sped toward Mr. McCarthy.

  Mr. McCarthy held the present in front of him with both hands as if he expected Suzy to grab it from his hands. Instead, Suzy tackled him with a flying leap. I thought he was just excited and overreacted when he saw the present, but he made no effort to snatch the box that landed on the grass after it flew from Mr. McCarthy’ hands. His eyes and teeth focused solely on Mr. McCarthy’s neck as he stood atop his chest.

  Get this dog off me,” Mr. McCarthy screamed. “Help!”

  Suzy backed off and clamped down on Mr. McCarthy’s mail bag. This allowed Mr. McCarthy to get to his feet. He grabbed the strap of his bag and began a tug of war with Suzy.

  “Let go of my bag, you mutt!” Mr. McCarthy yelled.

  Suzy’s teeth remained clenched to the bag as Mr. McCarthy yanked on the strap. A winner could not be determined as the contest eventually ended in a draw. Mr. McCarthy fell to the ground as Suzy’s grip ripped the side pocket from the bag. With the fabric dangling from his mouth, he disappeared into the field behind our house. Meanwhile, Mr. McCarthy had gotten to his feet and was patting the dirt off from his uniform.

  “Are you ok?” I asked.

  “No, I’m not ok. That dog of yours attacked me. Look at my mail bag! He tore the pocket completely off of it.”

  “Uh, sorry about that,” I said. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “You can tie that dog up is what you can do. Mr. Brady told me to bring this stupid present for that dog of yours. That was the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. I can’t believe I went along with it. Mr. Brady thought it might work. He said your dog was special. I should have known better. My job is to make sure the mail gets delivered no matter what. It’s not to make friends with stupid dogs. You better make sure that dog isn’t around tomorrow when I come by, or you’ll be picking your mail up from the post office from now on.”

  After finishing his tantrum, Mr. McCarthy picked up his bag and continued on his route. I was about to walk back into the house when I saw the pretty green bow from the present poking through the grass. I’m not sure why Suzy reacted the way that he did. He must not have noticed the present. I think he would have showered Mr. McCarthy with a tongue bath if he had noticed it. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice it and the perfect plan had turned into a catastrophe.

  I knew that Suzy would still be enamored with the present when he saw it. I picked it up from the grass and called his name a few times, but he never came. Thinking that Suzy might have a change of heart when he eventually saw the gift, I took it inside and placed it on the kitchen table.

  The day’s events had thrown a monkey wrench in my plans. I was hoping that Sara’s plan would have solved my problem with Mr. McCarthy, but the situation only worsened. So far, I hadn’t made any progress in my investigation either. I was at my wit’s end. What would Nancy Drew do? I wandered.

  I needed some time to meditate to ease my mind. A nice bubble bath would provide me the serenity I needed. I decided to spoil myself and put my problems on hold for now. A rested mind and body would help me attack my problems more effectively the next day. That’s what my dad would say. He so wants to be a philosopher.