Free Monsters and Mischief by Dan Poblocki

suspicious looking lurking around?” Woodrow asked.
    “I don’t think so,” said Sylvester. “And the two women were standing in completely different areas. That’s why, when one of them suggested that the clown had performed a trick to make their money disappear, people in the crowd agreed with her. They’d seen him pull the stunt on my grandmother, and now they thought he’ddone the same to them. And they were mad that he wouldn’t admit to it.”
    Viola shook her head. “To do a disappearing trick, I’d assume the clown would have had to be up close to the victim. That’s why he pulled your grandma out of the crowd. Unless he was using real magic, I don’t think he could have stolen money from anyone else in the audience — much less two people standing in two different spots.”
    “Unless he was using an accomplice,” said Rosie.
    “My grandmother didn’t think he was using an accomplice,” said Sylvester. “In fact, she didn’t think the clown was guilty at all. There was something about the victims that clued her in. Something they had in common. Do you know what it was
?”

“They were both moms?” said Woodrow.
    “They weren’t
necessarily
moms,” said Viola, “but Sylvester mentioned that they both had baby carriages with them. That’s what they had in common.” Sylvester nodded. “But what would that have to do with the clown’s guilt?”
    “The clown wasn’t close to the carriages, where the purses were hanging,” said Sylvester. “
But who was
?”

Viola, Woodrow, and Rosie glanced at one another as the answer came to them. “The kids!”
    Sylvester smiled. “That’s what Hal-muh-ni noticed. She’d seen a couple of the toddlers reaching into some of the bags, looking for treats or toys or something, when their parents weren’t watching. As the crowd started getting more riled up, demanding that the clown empty his pockets, my grandmother went up to one of the victims. She asked her to check her son’s pockets. The woman was taken aback. But when she searched her precious baby, she found a wad of cash stuck in his pants!”
    Viola laughed. “Wow, they’re starting early in Highcliff.”
    “Of course, the kid didn’t realize that what he’d done was wrong,” said Sylvester. “Today, he got his first lesson in making things disappear. If he wants to grow up to be a magician, he’s going to have to get a lot better at it.”
    “Yeah,” said Woodrow, “and I bet that clown will think again before performing for such a difficult audience.”

15
ANOTHER MYSTERY CLUB
     
    A few days later, Viola was coming out of the girls’ bathroom when she felt someone grab her arm. When she turned, Viola was shocked to find Rosie clutching her sleeve.
    “Oh my goodness, Viola,” said Rosie, panicked, “have you heard?”
    “No! What?” Viola reeled. Had Principal Dzielski been kidnapped? Did the old Reynolds house finally collapse? Were they giving away free ice cream in the cafeteria?
    “Clea Keene is starting her own mystery club!” Rosie proclaimed.
    Viola felt as though she’d been knocked against the wall. All of her “let’s give Clea a chance” feelings suddenly vanished. “She doesn’t even like mysteries.”
    “Well, she says she does. She’s also mentioned that she thinks the Question Marks Mystery Club hasn’t been dependable lately and that someone else needs to stand up for the students of Moon Hollow Middle School.”
    “What’s she talking about?”
    Rosie simply raised an eyebrow.
    “The thing with Mickey and the graffiti?” Viola asked. Rosie nodded. “Granted, that wasn’t a nice thing for Woodrow to do, but he came clean. And we
did
get Mickey to change.”
    “But she’s telling everyone that Woodrow changed in the process. She’s calling
Woodrow
a bully. And now, she says, the Question Marks can’t be trusted. If she keeps this up, people might start to believe her.”
    “Not if I can help it.”
    “We’ve got to tell the boys,”