Free The Chocolate Fudge Mystery by David A. Adler Page A

glasses. She was carrying a large, filled, black plastic bag. When she reached the sidewalk, she turned and walked quickly toward Cam and Eric.

    “Good afternoon,” Eric said. “We’re here to raise money ...”
    The woman didn’t look at Eric. She just kept on walking.
    “Hm,” Eric said again.
    Cam looked straight at the woman. Just as she was about to walk past, Cam blinked her eyes and said, “Click.”
    “Those people were rude,” Eric said. “Didn’t they know I was talking to them?”
    Cam kept watching the woman. Then she whispered to Eric, “That woman is hiding something. She’s wearing dark glasses and it isn’t sunny out. She’s wearing a raincoat and it’s not raining. There’s something in that bag that shouldn’t be there. Let’s follow her.”

Chapter Two
    “ Y ou can’t just follow people,” Eric said. “There must be some law against doing that. And anyway, we came here to sell candy, not to play detective.”
    “I’m not playing. I am a detective and you know it. I’ve already caught a few criminals. You helped me. Now are you coming with me or not?”
    Cam started to follow the woman. Eric grabbed the shopping bag and joined her.
    Crinkle! Crinkle!
    “Shh,” Cam said.
    Crinkle! Crinkle!
    “Shh!” she said again.
    Eric whispered, “I can’t help it. It’s the rice cakes. They make noise when they move around in the bag.”
    Brooom! Brooom!
    A gardener was mowing a lawn across the street.
    Cam and Eric saw the woman stop in front of a blue house, right next to two garbage cans. She looked quickly to the right and then to the left. Then she lifted the lid of a garbage can and dropped the plastic bag in.
    Cam and Eric watched as she crossed the street. She walked quickly past the gardener and into a large white house.
    When the door closed, Cam said, “Let’s see what’s in that bag.”
    “We have no right to look in there. It’s not our garbage,” Eric told her.
    “It’s garbage,” Cam said. “She threw it away. Now it belongs to anyone who wants it. There might be evidence of some terrible crime in there. That’s why she crossed the street to throw it away. Maybe she robbed a bank and the bag is filled with those small paper bands they put around the money.”

    “And maybe the woman had a party last night,” Eric said. “She’s wearing dark glasses because her eyes hurt. She’s wearing a long coat because underneath it, she has on a nightgown. This morning, she was too tired to get completely dressed. And there was so much trash from her party that she couldn’t fit it all in her own garbage can.”
    When Eric finished talking he smiled and folded his arms.
    “Maybe you’re right,” Cam said. “Let’s find out.”
    Cam walked ahead and Eric followed her. They had reached the blue house. Cam was about to lift the lid of the garbage can.
    “Stop!” Eric said. “Don’t lift that lid.”
    “Why not?”
    “It’s not your garbage,” Eric said.
    “Oh, that’s silly.”
    Cam began to lift the lid again.
    “Stop!” Eric told her. “There may be a bomb in there.”

Chapter Three
    C am very gently put the lid down.
    Eric said, “You know, we were told in safety class not to go near strange packages.”
    Cam stepped away from the garbage can. She closed her eyes and said, “Click.”
    “What are you trying to remember?” Eric asked.
    Cam “clicked” again. Then she said, “I was looking at the pictures I had in my head of that woman carrying the bag. She wasn’t holding it like she was afraid it would explode. And she just dropped it in the garbage can. She wouldn’t have done that if there was a bomb inside.”
    Cam lifted the lid again. She opened the bag and looked inside,
    “What do you see? What’s in there?” Eric asked.
    “Lots of apple peels.”
    Cam shook the bag.
    “There’s an empty skim milk carton under the peels and an empty box of oat bran,” Cam said.
    Eric leaned closer.
    “Yuck,” he said. “It stinks.”
    Then