Jason Morgan opened his front door and found Liz Perez and her younger brother, Carlos, on the doorstep.
“We're sure glad you're home, Jason,” Liz said.
Jason grinned, but when neither Liz nor Carlos smiled back he asked, “What's wrong?”
“It's awfully hot out here,” Liz said. “Do you think we could come in for some water?”
“Sure.” Jason led the way to the kitchen and poured two glasses of water. “Supposed to get to a hundred today.”
Carlos emptied half his glass in a gulp, and Liz nodded. “Yes. And it's already hotter than that at Will Baker's house.”
“What do you mean?”
“Will left his father's old autographed baseball outside for a minute and when he returned it was gone.”
“Gone?”
“Yes. And that awful Dexter Downey is accusing Carlos of taking it.”
Jason raised his eyebrows and looked at the seven-year old boy.
“I didn't take it, Jason.” Carlos said. “Honest.”
“Why does Dexter say you did?”
Carlos shook his head. “He says I was the only one who could have. He says he's gonna call the police if I don't give the ball back. But I can't give the ball back because I don't have it.” Several tears started rolling down the boy's cheeks.
Jason clapped a hand on his shoulder, and looked at Liz. “Are they both at Will's?”
Liz nodded.
“Then let's go solve the mystery.”
It was only a two block walk, but it seemed longer in the heat. Will opened the door to their ring, and Blackie, his Labrador retriever, greeted them with wet kisses.
“I hear you've got a problem, Will,” Jason said.
“I'll say! My Dad's going to blow his stack when he comes home from work tonight if I don't get his baseball back.”
“And you think Carlos took it?”
“Nah. I mean, at first I thought maybe he did, but now after thinking things over....”
“That's not what you were saying earlier,” Dexter Downey said, joining the group in the entryway. He gave Carlos a hard look. “Come on, kid, confess. Return the ball and we'll forget all about it.”
“But I don't have it,” Carlos said.
“Not on you, maybe, but—”
“I never even saw it. I was just walking by and stopped to pet Blackie. Then Will came out and couldn't find his ball. That's all I know.”
Dexter scowled. “So you say.”
“But that's the truth. I—”
“Why don't we start at the beginning,” Jason cut in. “Will, show me where you were when the ball disappeared.”
“We've already been through all that,” Dexter said.
“Yeah, but Jason wasn't here then,” Liz said. “He's figured mysteries out before, and I bet he can solve this one, too.”
Dexter snorted, but he didn't say anything.
Will led the way through the house and out the back door. “I should've never taken Dad's ball out of that case in our living room,” he said when they stood on the lawn.
“But you did,” Jason said. “Now, what did you do then...after bringing the ball out here?”
“Just tossed it in the air a few times. I'd brought my glove along – thought it'd be pretty cool catching a ball that had famous players' names on it.”
“Why'd you leave it outside?”
“I was thirsty. But I was only gone a minute. I left both the ball and my glove right here on the grass. When I came back the ball was gone.”
“And you” – Dexter stared at Carlos – “were here.”
Carlos stuck out his chin. “Doesn't mean I took it.” He turned away from Dexter's glare and scratched Blackie behind the ears, saying, “Too bad you can't talk, boy. You'd tell Dexter I didn't do it.”
“Could the ball have rolled into the those bushes?” Jason asked, pointing.
“I looked there,” Will said. “So did Dexter, Liz and Carlos.”
Jason turned to Dexter. “When did you get here?”
“Me?” Dexter blinked.
“Yeah,” Liz echoed. “How do we know you didn't take it?”
“I wasn't anywhere near here when the ball was stolen,” Dexter yelped. “I had swim team practice. Call my coach if you don't believe me.”
“Maybe I will,” Liz said.
Dexter's face reddened, and Jason hurriedly cut in. “Now let's not throw accusations around. Carlos...Will...think hard. Did either of you see anyone else?”
Both boys shook their heads.
“Carlos and I looked for the ball awhile,” Will said. "Then Dexter showed up, and we looked again.”
“And,” Dexter said, “when I pointed out the only possible solution Carlos went running home like a baby.”
“No!” Carlos cried. “That's not fair. You two were ganging up on me so I went to get Liz.”
“Same thing,” Dexter said.
“Is not. I—”
“Hold it!” Jason interrupted. He looked around the group. “There is a second solution, you know. One which by working together we just might be able to prove.”
What is Jason’s second solution?
Dexter said, “If you're going to say someone else took the ball....”
“I am,” Jason said.
“Who?” Dexter asked. “And how come no one saw him?”
“If my theory is correct several people did see the thief.”
“Several people?” Will asked.
Jason nodded. “Yes. You, Dexter, Liz and Carlos.”
“But I...we didn't see anybody, Jason,” Carlos protested.
Jason reached down to give Blackie a pat. “Carlos, you made a comment earlier about how it was too bad Blackie couldn't talk, that he could have been a witness. Well, I'm going to take that thought one step further. What if Blackie's the thief?”
“Blackie?” Carlos, Will, Dexter and Liz asked together.
“Yes," Jason said. “Does Blackie like to play ball, Will?”
“Sure but—”
“Does he have a place outside that he takes his stuff-- bones, dog toys...balls?”
“Uh, sure. Yeah! Around the side of the house there's a tree he likes to go under.” Will broke into a run, with Blackie and the rest of us on his heels.
“Eureka!” Will pulled a baseball out from under the tree. “It looks okay. No teethmarks or anything.”
Dexter shook his head. “I don't believe it. I just don't believe it.” He looked at the rest of them, sighed, and gave Carlos an apologetic look. “Guess I really deserve to eat crow for being so mean, huh?”
“You do indeed,” Liz said. “However, I think we'd all much rather have something cool to drink.”
Everyone laughed, and they headed inside out of the hot sun.
