Free Jacob Two-Two-'s First Spy Case by Mordecai Richler Page A

happened. His two older brothers and two older sisters didn’t tease him. In fact, suddenly, Marfa, Emma, Noah, and Daniel couldn’t do enough for him.
    â€œHow would you like to have a lesson on my two-wheel mountain bike?” asked Marfa.
    â€œBut I thought I wasn’t allowed to touch it,” said Jacob Two-Two twice.
    Emma offered to set the dining-room table for dinner even though it was Jacob Two-Two who was supposed to be on duty. “You just go and watch some TV , you poor thing.”
    Noah insisted on writing Jacob Two-Two’s lines for him. “Miss Sour Pickle will never know the difference,” he said.
    â€œHey,” said Daniel, “why don’t we take in a movie together this Saturday afternoon?”
    Then Daniel, Noah, Emma, and Marfa appealed to their father at the dinner table. “Do something,” they said.
    â€œI have already written a letter of protest,” said Jacob Two-Two’s father, “to Senator Slimy ‘Free-Loader’ Greedyguts, who is chairman of the Privilege House board.”
    â€œA lot of good that will do,” said Jacob Two-Two’s mother. “The Senator just happens to be I.M. Greedyguts’ uncle.”
    â€œLook here, we can’t yank Jacob out of Privilege House in mid-term. He’d lose a year before I could get him into another school,” said Jacob Two-Two’s father. “If my letter doesn’t get us anywhere, I will meet with the fathers of Chris, Robby, and Mickey, whose boys are also unhappy, and take things up from there.”
    Mr. Dinglebat had told Jacob Two-Two that he would require several helpers if his planned operation, whatever it was, had a chance to succeed, so Jacob decided to take a risk. He asked Noah and Emma to meet him in his room after dinner. “I need your help,” Jacob Two-Two said. “I want you both to be watchers.”
    â€œWhat’s a watcher?” asked Emma.
    â€œIt’s a spy,” explained Jacob Two-Two, “who follows and reports on the enemy, being very, very careful not to be seen.” And then he went on to explain that Mr. Dinglebat, the master spy, had come up with an idea for an operation that was risky, but that he hoped would catch both Mr. I.M. Greedyguts and Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse in the same net.
    â€œWhat’s the idea?” asked Noah.
    â€œTell us,” said Emma.
    â€œ
I can’t tell you yet
,” said Jacob Two-Two impatiently. “Now are you willing to help us or not?”
    They hesitated.
    â€œBut I can tell you this,” said Jacob Two-Two, and then he told how, disguised as the World’s Best Midget Photographer, he had accompanied Mr. Dinglebat to Mr. I.M. Greedyguts’ office.
    â€œWow,” said Emma, impressed.
    â€œYou did that?” said Noah.
    â€œHonestly, I did.”
    â€œIn that case,” said Noah, “the intrepid Shapiro is at your service.”
    â€œAnd so is the fearless O’Toole,” said Emma.
    â€œOkay,” said Jacob Two-Two, delighted to have CHILD POWER on his side, “then you are to report to Mr. Dinglebat’s house at five-thirty sharp tomorrow afternoon.”
    â€œCount on me,” said Emma.
    â€œAnd me,” said Noah.
    â€œBut it is my duty to warn you in advance,” said Jacob Two-Two, “that on this mission it’s ‘Moscow rules.’”
    â€œWhat’s that?” asked Noah.
    â€œIf the operation fails, and we are caught,” said Jacob Two-Two, “Mr. Dinglebat will deny we were working for him. In fact, he will say he never laid eyes on any of us.”
    â€œGosh,” said Emma.

CHAPTER 22
    fter his mother drove him home from school the next afternoon, Jacob Two-Two hurried over to Mr. Dinglebat’s house and informed him that he had, as requested by Mr. Dinglebat, recruited several reliable watchers, namely the intrepid Shapiro and the fearless O’Toole, as well as