Free The Trail of the Screaming Teenager by Blanche Sims

CHAPTER ONE
    D AWN B OSCO PULLED out an ice cube tray. She banged it against the sink.
    Ice cubes flew all over the counter.
    She put one in her mouth.
    She put another under her Polka Dot Private Eye hat.
    “I can’t stand it,” she told her grandmother, around the ice cube. “It’s too hot.”
    “You’re right,” said Noni. She fanned herself with her newspaper. She looked out the screen door. “Even Mr. Ott next door is going to the beach.”
    “Mr. Ott in a bathing suit?” said Dawn. “I can’t picture him without his gray suit.”
    Noni laughed. “Or his fat yellow-striped tie.”
    Dawn spit out the ice cube. “Hey, that’s it. We can go to the beach.”
    She stood up high on tiptoes. She stretched her arms out in front of her. “Perfect dive by Dawn Tiffanie Bosco.”
    “Hmmm,” said Noni. She rattled her newspaper. Then she nodded. “I’ll call Jason’s mother. Jill Simon’s too. I’ll take everyone.”
    “Yahoo,” Dawn yelled. She raced upstairs to her bedroom. She tossed everything out of her dresser.
    Her purple-striped bathing suit was in the bottom drawer. It was still a little damp from Emily Arrow’s pool the other day.
    She fished around for her sunglasses with the mirror eyes.

    She poked them on her nose.
    They made everything so dark, she could hardly see. “Where am I?” she yelled.
    Her cat, Powder Puff, looked up and yawned.
    Dawn looked around. What else did she need?
    She pulled her Polka Dot Private Eye box out from under her bed.
    She blew off the dust.
    Maybe she could solve a mystery today.
    She stuck her pink bottle of No Sunburn, No Kidding in the box last.
    “See you later, Powder Puff,” she yelled. “Sorry. No cats allowed at the beach.”
    She slid down the banister and ran out the door.
    Noni was waiting in the car.
    She was wearing a big straw hat with an orange flower.
    A piece of cardboard was taped to her nose.
    Noni hated to get sunburned.
    Dawn opened the door. It was a terrible car.
    Two fenders were dented. A window was cracked.
    It didn’t have air conditioning. Not one bit.
    “It’s as hot as a firecracker!” Dawn said. She slid into the front seat.
    “I don’t care,” said Jason from the back. “All I care about is getting in the water.”
    Dawn turned around and grinned. “You got here fast.”
    “In about two minutes,” said Jill. She was sitting next to Jason.
    Jill had red bows on her four braids.
    Two in front, two in back.
    Her face was red from the heat.
    She looks like a tomato, Dawn thought. A nice red one.
    Jill was a great friend.
    She was a terrible detective, though.
    So was Jason.
    “Let’s get going,” said Noni.
    The car rolled down the street.
    It rolled slowly.
    Dawn’s bike could go almost as fast.
    “Safe and sound,” Noni always said.
    “Hurry,” Dawn said. “Please.” She had to sit with her detective box on her lap.
    It was big and square. It was heavy too.
    It was filled with great things.
    A pair of snap-on handcuffs.
    Two fake eyebrows and a furry mustache.
    A Polka Dot Private Eye book.
    “I’m going to look for a mystery today,” Dawn said. She crossed her fingers. “I hope I find one.”
    Jill leaned forward. “I’m going to look for things in the sand,” she said. “Old coins and stuff.”
    “Hey. Me too,” said Dawn. “That’s as good as a mystery.”
    Jill tossed her braids back. “Can I use your—”
    Dawn drew in her breath. “Hey.” She grabbed Noni’s arm. “Hold your horses.”
    Noni put on the brakes.
    Her hat sailed off her head.
    “You make me nervous,” she told Dawn.
    “I forgot something,” Dawn said.
    “Oh, no,” said Jill. “Not the—”
    “Yes,” said Dawn. “The—”
    “I knew it,” said Jason. “I’ll never get in the water.”
    Noni backed the car down the street.
    They went from one side to the other.
    They stopped at Dawn’s driveway.
    Dawn raced out of the car and into the house.
    “Out of my way, please,” she shouted to Powder Puff.
    She