Free On the Case (From the Files of Madison Finn, 17) by Laura Dower

met Penelope two minutes ago, and she already had her pegged as the great criminal of Far Hills. Major DeMille would have said that that wasn’t so smart. Madison could almost hear his voice.
    A good detective would wait to gather stronger evidence before flinging around random accusations.
    So Madison needed more evidence. She had to be 100 percent sure Penelope’s bag and Mr. Olivetti’s bag were one and the same.
    Madison walked on toward home as quickly as she could, stopping only once, to tie her shoelaces.
    When she arrived at her house on Blueberry Street, Mom and Phin happened to be outside on the front porch, watering the mums in the planters that lined the porch steps.
    “Rowwrororrooooo!” Phin barked when he saw Madison.
    Madison dropped her bag on the sidewalk and ran to pick him up. His curlicue pug tail was wiggling fast.
    “How was school?” Mom asked as Madison grabbed her stuff again and climbed onto the porch.
    “Fine,” Madison said, sounding as noncommittal as possible. She wasn’t sure she was ready to tell Mom about the day’s super snooping just yet. Madison needed more evidence to solve the crime and to prove to Mom that her detective work was the real deal.
    “How did the math test go?” Mom asked.
    “Math test?” Madison said with a blank look.
    Mom laughed. “Yes, the one you said you were up all night studying for!” Mom exclaimed. “Was it hard?”
    Madison gulped. She’d told Mom the night before that she had been studying. That way she’d been able to chat online and send e-mails for a longer while.
    “It was a breeze,” Madison lied.
    “Good,” Mom said. “You had a flute lesson this afternoon, too, right?”
    Madison nodded. “It was good,” she said.
    “See where all this hard work gets you?” Mom said. “I’m so proud of you!”
    Madison thought about her sleuthing. Where would that hard work get her? She patted Phin on the head but then went indoors without him. He was staying outside in order to go for an evening walk with Mom. Madison went upstairs and set herself up in front of her laptop. Since she had been able to finish two of her assignments during a free period, Madison didn’t feel as guilty about jumping online before finishing the rest of her homework.
    No sooner had she logged on and started to surf around than a message appeared in a corner of the screen.
    : WHere were u after school???
    Madison was happy to hear from Aimee, especially after they’d shared a bad moment in the hall earlier that day. But she also knew she couldn’t tell Aimee what she had really been doing after school.
    <
MadFinn
>:
nothing
    Aimee asked Madison to go to a private chat room called DANCRS. Madison met her there.
    : Sorry about 2day
    : me 2
    : I know I acted a little krazy
    : :-(((
    : I’m over it already don’t worry
    : I know that was SUCH a wrong thing 4 me 2 say. I’m sorry!!!!
    : QW I understand y u got upset
    She understood? Madison was relieved to hear that. Maybe Aimee would understand if Madison explained the new mystery she was trying to solve?
    Madison typed quickly.
    She told Aimee about the scrap of paper, Mr. Olivetti’s odd behavior, and Penelope. Of course, Madison was careful (as any good detective would be) to use only initials when referring to her “suspects” online.
    Aimee took a moment to write back.
    : r u kidding me? That is so weird
    : plus I think P. is stealing things from school I swear she is b/c she was acting WAY too nice
    : u think she’s guilty b/c she is nice and wears sneakrs with pink laces?
    : and she has Mr. O’s bag don’t 4get!
    : u can’t suspect people with only that can u? Maybe she’s just being nice.
    : I know it’s not a lot of evidence but
    : sounds 2 me like maybe ur jumping to conclusions a little
    : u really think so? I just have this gut