Freddie Ramos Stomps the Snow (5 page)

“Mr. Vaslov!” I tugged on his arm. “Can I show you something?”

He followed me right away. Mr. Vaslov wasn’t like some grown-ups who didn’t listen to kids. “I’m glad you came for me, Freddie.”

And I was glad I had Mr. Vaslov by my side as we tiptoed down the darkest hall of the school. Mr. Vaslov switched on the light in the boys’ bathroom.

“The window is open,” Mr. Vaslov said. “Looks like somebody made a getaway.”

We looked around for other clues.

“Look!” I pointed. “A blue ski mask!”

Mr. Vaslov picked it up. “This could be important!”

“Does anyone at Starwood Park wear a ski mask?” I asked.

“Not that I know of,” Mr. Vaslov said. “Let’s go ask around.”

In the hallway, we heard shouting again.

“My purse! Who took my purse?” It was my mom’s voice. I’d forgotten she was coming to Starwood Elementary to bring food to the people of Building D. Did the thief get her purse too?

The police came to investigate the purse stolen from Erika’s grandmother and found out about Mom’s missing purse too. They got a two-for-one deal.

“My bag was there,” Mom told Officer Sanchez. She pointed to the wall near the door. “I put it down to fix the food on the table.”

Mom stood beside plates of enchiladas, refried beans, yucca, and guacamole. Neighbors at Starwood Park had made all those dishes for the people of Building D.

“Was there money in your purse?” Officer Chen asked.

“Yes,” Mom answered sadly. “One hundred dollars. Money collected to buy more food for the people of Building D.”

“The thief stole charity?” Officer Sanchez asked.

Mom nodded. “It’s in a brown envelope.”

“And what color was your purse?” Officer Chen asked.

“Yellow.” Mom pulled on her long black ponytail, something she always did when she was upset.

Officer Sanchez turned to the crowd gathered around them. “Did anyone else see anything?”

“Freddie did.” Mr. Vaslov stepped up and showed the officers the blue ski mask.

“Where did you find this?” Officer Chen looked excited.

Mr. Vaslov and I rushed down the hall with the officers to the boys’ bathroom. We all looked out the open window. There was a set of snow prints leading to a shoveled sidewalk.

“Look at those three houses over there.” Mr. Vaslov pointed. “Do you think the thief lives in one of them?”

“Maybe,” said Officer Sanchez. “We’ve been tracking a school purse snatcher for months now. He’s hit six other schools already.”

“We call him the Serial School Purse Snatcher,” Officer Chen said.

“Keep your eyes open. Let us know if you see something suspicious. We’d really like to catch this thief.” Officer Sanchez waved as he and Officer Chen left the school.

The police needed someone to snoop! I grinned. My super zapatos made me the perfect guy for the job.

In half a blink, I was outside, looking at the three houses we saw from the bathroom window. The first one had a white porch. The second one had green shutters. And the third one was red brick. All three houses were quiet with no lights on.

This was like the footprints.

How can you tell a crook’s house from an honest person’s house? If I jumped, could I see more through the windows? I pressed the second button on my wristband, the one that gave me super bounce.

I bounced up and down the sidewalk, my Zapato Power smoke swirling around me. The smoke didn’t just make me invisible; it gave me special vision, like looking through a telescope. If a crook was counting stolen money in one of those houses, my Zapato Power eyes would spot it.

In the house with the porch, I saw two bedrooms. Both of them had blankets and sheets thrown every which way. The house with green shutters had dirty dishes all over the kitchen table. The brick house had clothes on the floor of the living room. Some people don’t have moms who make them clean up.

Just because my mom liked things clean didn’t mean the police would arrest someone for being messy. They needed something more suspicious, and I wasn’t finding it just jumping around.

This job needed more than Zapato Power—it needed brainpower too. I sat on the school steps to think.

What did the Serial School Purse Snatcher want? That was an easy one. He wanted purses! What if I left one out on the sidewalk?

Wouldn’t that be like putting cheese in a mousetrap?

It was a good idea with one big problem. I pressed the button on my purple wristband to solve it.

Two blinks later, I was knocking at 28G. Maria answered the door.

“Can I borrow a purse?” I asked.