The Burglar Who Bit the Big Apple Read online

  “Just like at the museum,” Gum pointed out. “What are they flashing when they run in?”

  Mr. Spade stopped to talk to the zookeeper. I looked around. Then I spotted her. The girl from the museum!

  “Look,” I said quietly to my friends. “There’s that girl again.”

  She was right up by the entrance gate, standing very close to Mr. Spade and the zookeeper.

  Mr. Spade turned toward the group. “Okay, everyone come on in,” he said. “Our guide, Jeffrey, is going to take us through all the exhibits, starting with the penguins.”

  Jeffrey waved at us and smiled. “Follow me, kids!” he said.

  Just then, the girl in tattered clothes noticed I was watching her. She turned quickly and ran into the zoo.

  “Don’t run ahead, please,” Jeffrey called after her. He started heading after her, but none of the other grown-ups had noticed.

  I grabbed Jeffrey by the arm. “She’s my friend,” I said. “I’ll go get her.”

  The girl dodged around a cotton candy seller, and then around the back of the souvenir stand. I tried to cut her off on the other side, but she was too quick. Before I could grab her, she ducked into the reptile house.

  I turned to see where my class was. They were standing around the penguins, and Jeffrey was going on about climates and the difference between penguins and puffins.

  I had a few minutes to catch up. My friends would stall our group until I got back. So I ran into the darkness of the reptile house.

  It was quiet, and very warm. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized there were a few other people inside. I looked carefully, but I didn’t see the girl in the tattered clothes.

  The reptile house was a long, winding hallway. On both sides were thick windows, separating the viewers from the creatures in the cases. Some of them were lizards, or frogs, and others were huge, deadly snakes.

  I moved slowly down the hall, keeping my eyes peeled in the hopes of spotting the mysterious girl. In the low light, I knew she would be easy to miss.

  Before long, though, I reached the exit. I’d gone through the whole reptile house, and I hadn’t seen her.

  Suddenly, there she was. She was in the corner next to the exit, in the darkest spot in the hall, crouched down. Hiding.

  “Aha!” I shouted, pointing at her. “You’re cornered now.”

  I lunged for the girl, but she was quick, and got away from me. Her back was to the exit.

  “You can’t run anymore,” I said. “Why don’t you just give it up? Give back the plaque from the museum, and the planet from the planetarium!”

  She looked at me, confused. Then she spun around and burst through the exit doors.

  I was so shocked that I forgot to run. By the time I made it outside, she was gone.

  “Darn it,” I said under my breath.

  My friends walked up. “This just got weirder,” Egg said. He then announced loudly, “Jeffrey, look at the big sign over the entrance.”

  Everyone turned to look.

  “Oh no!” Jeffrey said. “The ‘Z’ is missing from the words Bronx Zoo!”

  CHAPTER SIX

  ANTON’S ALIBI

  That night, Gum and Egg hung out in my and Cat’s room. Ms. Duran was there, so no one could throw a fit about boys hanging out in a girls’ room.

  Egg scrolled through his photos. He had a whole bunch of the mysterious girl, plus some of those older kids who had pushed past everyone at the museum and the zoo.

  “They’re college students,” Egg said. “See? They hold up their IDs when they go in.”

  “Why?” Gum asked. “Do they think anyone cares that they’re in college?”

  “I saw a sign about that,” I explained. “College students with an ID don’t have to pay to get in.”

  “Do you have any pictures of Anton and his dad?” Gum asked.

  Egg flipped through the pictures. “Here’s one,” he said, holding up his camera.

  We all looked. It was a shot of the Gutmans near the zoo’s exit. Anton and his father had their backs to the camera, and were glancing over their shoulders.

  “What are they up to?” I asked. “They look like they’re hiding something.”

  Gum formed a sneaky smile. “Finally,” he said, “the evidence we need. Let’s go, Egg.”

  “Where?” Egg asked.

  “Down to our room,” Gum explained. “We’re going to confront Anton.”

  With that, the boys left. We didn’t hear anything from them until the next morning.

  * * *

  Cat and I hurried down to the lobby at seven the next morning. We spotted Anton right away. He and his goonish friends were hanging out near the pay phones, probably making prank calls.

  “There you are,” I said, walking up to Anton. “So, what do you have to say for yourself?”

  Anton looked at me like I was crazy. “Um, how about ‘Good morning, dork’?” he said. His friends cracked up.

  “I mean about the vandalism,” I said. “The stolen planet, and plaque! And the missing ‘Z’!”

  Anton looked at me like I was a nut, then looked at his friends and said, “Cuckoo! Cuckoo!”

  The three of them walked off.

  Cat frowned. “Do you think he really didn’t know what you were talking about?”

  The elevator dinged, and when the doors opened, Egg and Gum stepped off. They both looked tired and depressed.

  “Gum!” I called out. Cat and I ran over to them. “What happened last night?” I asked. “Aren’t Anton and his dad the culprits?”

  Egg shrugged. “We don’t know,” he said.

  “I tried to make Anton talk,” Gum said. “We showed him the photo of him and his dad. I really interrogated him. You’d have been proud, Sam.”

  “I’m sure,” I said. “So what did he say?”

  “He finally admitted that he and his dad had bought ice cream cones,” Gum explained, “and they didn’t want to share.”

  “How rude!” Cat said.

  “Let me see that picture again,” I said. “I don’t believe it!”

  Egg flipped through the photos again.

  “What’s that?” Gum asked, pointing at one photo. “Sam, when did you pose with two cops?”

  I laughed. “That was at the airport,” I said. “Anton’s dad nearly murderized me and Egg for taking so long.”

  “Aha!” Egg said. “Anton and his dad aren’t the ones behind all this! Remember that call the two police officers got, Sam?”

  “Great thinking, Egg,” I said. “Ralph Kramden’s lunchbox — another clear case of tourist attraction vandalism, and it happened when we were still at the airport!”

  Egg and I explained about the walkie-talkie call we overheard.

  “So if something was stolen at Port Authority, then it couldn’t have been the Gutmans,” Cat pointed out.

  Gum seemed disappointed Anton hadn’t been the crook.

  Just then, Mr. Neff came up to us. “You kids better get on the bus,” he said. “We’re off to the Statue of Liberty!”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CAUGHT!

  The bus’s brakes squealed as we stopped. “Here we are,” the driver yelled. “Ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.”

  Everyone got off, and Mr. Spade and Mr. Gutman guided us through a turnstile toward the ferry dock.

  The class walked slowly down a ramp toward the water. As we did, a group of people pushed past us, holding up their student IDs.

  “Those people are everywhere!” Cat said.

  Egg took more pictures of them. “Hey,” he said, taking his camera away from his face. “Look who’s here.” He pointed down the line. It was the mysterious girl again.

  “She won’t get away this time,” I said. “Once she gets on the boat, there’s nowhere to run.”

  After half an hour or so, the ferry started taking on passengers, including our class and the mysterious girl. The four of us prowled the ship to find her.

  It didn�
��t take long. She was sitting near the snack bar, eating a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips.

  I walked right up to her and said, “Hey, Cat, do you think that girl paid for those?” I said it loud enough so the girl would hear me.

  “Oh, it’s you again,” the girl said. “Why don’t you leave me alone?”

  “This is what I do,” I said. “Catch snakes and thieves.”

  “I didn’t steal anything!” the girl said. She got to her feet, like she was ready to fight me.

  Mr. Spade heard us arguing and came over to us. “What’s going on here?” he said. “Are you kids picking on this girl?”

  “Mr. Spade,” I said, “this is the person responsible for all the vandalism that’s been going on.”

  Mr. Spade scratched his head. He turned to the girl. “Look, I don’t know what this is all about, but I do know you’re not in my sixth-grade class. Are you alone on this ferry?”

  “Why have you been following our class?” Egg asked.

  Suddenly, the girl put her face in her hands and started crying. She looked up at me with tears on her cheeks. “I didn’t steal anything,” she said. “I thought you were chasing me because you knew I wasn’t with your group.”

  “What were you doing?” Mr. Spade asked.

  The girl shrugged and looked at her feet. “My mom has to work so much,” she explained. “She works all weekend. We never get a chance to do anything fun, like going to museums or to see the Statue of Liberty.”

  Mr. Spade looked at me, Gum, Egg, and Cat. Then he looked back at the girl. “Is there any way I can get in touch with your mother?” he asked.

  “She’s at work, like I said,” the girl explained. “At the hotel where you’re all staying.”

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Tilly White,” the girl replied.

  Mr. Spade got up and took out his cell phone, then walked a few paces away so we couldn’t hear him.

  I looked at the girl. She was still looking at the floor. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry I thought you were a crook.”

  She nodded.

  When Mr. Spade came back, he was smiling. “Well, Tilly, looks like it’s our lucky day,” he said. “I spoke to your mom, and she said we get to hang out with you the rest of the weekend. That is, if you want to, of course.”

  Finally Tilly looked up. The tears on her cheeks had dried, and she was smiling. “Yes, I do want to,” she said.

  Mr. Spade added, “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

  Tilly nodded, and Mr. Spade walked off.

  She looked at me and my friends. “I’m sorry for ruining your trip,” Tilly said.

  I waved her off. “Nah,” I said. “You just made it more exciting!”

  Tilly laughed.

  “We still have a case to crack,” Gum said. “Maybe Tilly can help.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  LADY IN THE HARBOR

  When the ferry reached Liberty Island, everyone ran to the exit to watch as we pulled up to dock.

  And who was up in front? Three older kids, with those student IDs around their necks.

  I gathered my three best friends, and our new friend, around me. “Listen,” I said. “Since we know the Gutmans aren’t the vandals, and since now we know how cool Tilly is …”

  Tilly smiled at me.

  “… there’s really only one more lead we need to follow,” I finished.

  Gum chewed thoughtfully. “Are you keeping evidence from us?” he said. “Because I didn’t think we had any other leads.”

  “There’s one other thing that links all the crimes together,” I said.

  “Our class?” Cat suggested.

  Egg shook his head. “Can’t be,” he said. “Remember, the lunchbox?”

  Tilly nodded. “That’s right. Ralph Kramden’s lunchbox got stolen!” she said. “I heard about that on the radio. People are pretty mad about it.”

  “So what’s the last clue, Sam?” Gum asked.

  “The IDs,” I said, crossing my arms. “Let’s see your camera, Egg. Do you have any pictures of the other kids we saw with IDs?”

  Egg turned on his camera and flipped through the photos. He had quite a few pictures of the college kids.

  “Can you zoom in more on the IDs?” I asked.

  Egg clicked a couple of buttons and we could see a close-up of the IDs.

  “Aha!” I said. “They’re all the same color: purple.”

  “Purple?” Tilly said. “That’s New York College’s color. They must be students there.”

  “Then there is a connection,” Cat said. “All the kids we’ve seen with IDs must know each other.”

  “And for some reason,” Gum added, “they’re all crooks.”

  The ferry docked. Everyone hurried onto Liberty Island.

  The awesome statue loomed over us, holding her famous torch and her book.

  “Wow,” Egg said, looking up and taking photos. “That’s something, huh?”

  “I can’t believe how big she is,” I said.

  Anton came up next to me. “Yeah, it’s almost as tall as you, beanstalk,” he said.

  I just rolled my eyes. Then I spotted the kids with IDs.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE GAME IS UP

  “Let’s follow them,” I said.

  The college kids were hurrying around the statue. We tried not to attract any attention as we went after them. But Ms. Duran spotted us.

  “Cat!” she yelled. “Cat, where are you four — I mean, five — going?” She came running over and counted us. “And since when are there five of you?” she asked.

  We introduced Tilly, and Cat quickly explained to her mom why we were tailing the college students.

  “This sounds dangerous,” Cat’s mom said. “I’d better tell Mr. Spade what’s going on.”

  Just then, I spied a uniformed policeman walking on the path not far away. “That’s all the help we’ll need,” I said to Ms. Duran.

  Then I ran over to the cop. “Hey, flatfoot,” I said. “My partners and I are tailing a mob of hoods trying to make off with some hot items, get me?”

  The cop tipped his hat back and looked down at me. He was an older man. After his shocked look wore off, he started laughing.

  “Well, I haven’t heard anyone talk like that since I was about this high,” he said, holding his hand at knee level.

  “So you’re after a bunch of redhots, huh?” the cop said.

  I smiled. “You got it,” I said. “They’ve lifted from the last three places we’ve been, and I think they’re also behind the Ralph Kramden lunchbox theft.”

  The cop looked serious. “I heard about that,” he said. “Where’d they get to?”

  I pointed to the far side of the statue. “That way, officer,” I said. “We better hurry. Who knows what they’re planning to do here!”

  “You stay way behind me, young lady,” the cop said. “These crooks could be dangerous.”

  Ms. Duran and the others joined me as I followed the policeman. We walked over to the three college kids. They were standing around a copper plaque, and one of them had a crowbar.

  “I don’t suppose that’s going to budge,” the cop said. The kids jumped, and the one with the crowbar dropped it. It clanked loudly as it hit the ground.

  “What are you doing?” the cop asked.

  “N-n-nothing, officer,” one of them said.

  “You better come with me, and we can talk it over,” the cop said, leading them away. “What do you kids know about Ralph Kramden?”

  CHAPTER TEN

  THE LONG GOODBYE

  The view from the top of the Statue of Liberty was amazing. But it wasn’t as amazing as what happened the next morning.

  The policeman I’d met at Liberty Island got the ball rolling, and soon the college kids’ stash of stolen goods was found.

  It turned out some silly club at New York College was doing an illegal scavenger hunt. Now the city wanted to thank me and my friends
for saving some important tourist attractions.

  So, with a little time to spare before we had to be at the airport, Mr. Spade took me, Cat, Egg, and Gum to the Port Authority bus station in midtown.

  “So that’s Ralph Kramden,” Gum said, walking up to the statue. “Nice to meet you!”

  “He’s a character from an old TV show,” I explained. “On that show, he drove a bus. That’s why the statue is at the bus station.”

  Cat laughed. “I bet he’s glad to have his lunchbox back,” she said.

  “There you are,” Tilly said, walking up to us. “This is pretty cool, huh?”

  Some reporters were there, and they took pictures. Egg, of course, took pictures of them right back! All the reporters laughed about that.

  Then the mayor came. He gave us each a firm handshake and a special paper thanking us for solving the crime.

  Once the excitement had died down, the four of us went over to Tilly.

  “Well, Tilly,” I said, “it was great to meet you.”

  “You better email us!” Cat said. I think she was about to start crying.

  As we walked off with Mr. Spade to join our classmates and head to the airport, we all waved to Tilly, and she waved back.

  “You know what they say,” I said to my friends. “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”

  “And this case is cracked,” Gum said. “So I’d say, we made it!”

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  MYSTERIOUS WRITER REVEALED!

  Steve Brezenoff lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife, Beth, their son, Sam, and their small, smelly dog, Harry. Besides writing books, he enjoys playing video games, riding his bicycle, and helping middle-school students work on their writing skills. Steve’s ideas almost always come to him in his dreams, so he does his best writing in his pajamas.

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