point. I started to speak.
But I was speechless.
Remember about a million pages back how I said I had made a mistake by looking up the 1909 coin instead of the 1909-S? It was right at this moment that I saw my error.
“What?” Goon demanded.
I’m sure Georgie didn’t know why I wasn’t answering, but he jumped in anyway, pointing at the monitor. “See. 1909. Three bucks. Give me my receipt.”
Goon looked at the screen, made a face, and pulled the torn receipt out of her pocket. (Some hiding place!) She crumpled it into a wad, threw it at my head, and left, slamming the door behind her.
Georgie retrieved the wadded receipt, took the other half out of my hand, pieced them together, and put them on the desk. He sat back on my bed and began tossing the tennis ball again. “Your sisteris a jerk.” Then he noticed my weird expression. “What?”
“The penny is worth more than three bucks.”
Still tossing the tennis ball, Georgie asked, “What do you mean?”
“I forgot the San Francisco thing when I looked before. The mint mark. The
S
. Omigosh, Georgie. You’re not going to believe this. It’s worth ninety-five dollars!”
“What?!” Georgie flubbed his catch and knocked over my bedside lamp. The room went dark except for the eerie light from my computer screen.
One second later there was a knock on the door.
I yelled, “Go away, Goon!” Then the knock repeated, and so did I. “Go away!” We sat in the dark for a few seconds, then the door slowly opened. Silhouetted in the doorway stood a man I did not recognize. (I am not making this up!) It was like in the movies where the crazy guy with the chain saw comes in to murder the dim-witted teenagers who stay in the old farmhouse way longer than any intelligent people would have.
Then the man stepped forward, and the light from my computer lit one side of his face. It was Officer Crompton.
My brain went completely blackout for a second and then started thinking at super speed:
Since Officer Crompton was not in his uniform, he was doing some kind of undercover mystery investigation.
Since he was at my house, the mystery involved my family.
Since he was in my room, and Georgie and I had been sort of arrested by him earlier today, he was investigating us.
Since the only thing we had done that might be mysterious was to mention in the note we gave to the old lady that there was something in the envelope we found, she must have called the police.
Therefore, Officer Crompton was here to find out what was in the envelope.
“Hello, boys. Remember me?”
I nodded. Georgie also nodded, but he was in deepershadow than I was, so Officer Crompton probably couldn’t tell.
“I’m guessing you don’t know why I’m here.”
We both shook our heads. But we were not thinking the same thing. I was pretty sure that Georgie’s head shake was agreeing that he
didn’t
know. My head shake was
dis
agreeing because I was pretty sure I did.
Without thinking, I reached toward my backpack. In the light that came in from the hall and from my computer, I could clearly see the old yellowed envelope sticking out of one of the pockets. Then I realized that a policeman on an investigation would probably be watching me for suspicious movements, so I kept moving my arm until I was petting Deeb. Then I looked back at Officer Crompton.
“I know you told us to stay away from The Toad—I mean, G. J. Prott’s house,” I said. “But tomorrow, we—I mean, the envelope and stuff was lost in Georgie’s house for over fifty years and even though, as Georgie says, finders keepers, we’re going to—”
Officer Crompton put up his hand, so I stopped talking.
“I was on duty this afternoon. Now I’m here playing cards with my friends.” He gave a sly grin. “And to remind you two to keep out of trouble.” He tossed off a sloppy salute—Dad showed me the Navy way years ago—and walked down the hall, leaving my bedroom door open.
Neither Georgie nor I said a word until
But I was speechless.
Remember about a million pages back how I said I had made a mistake by looking up the 1909 coin instead of the 1909-S? It was right at this moment that I saw my error.
“What?” Goon demanded.
I’m sure Georgie didn’t know why I wasn’t answering, but he jumped in anyway, pointing at the monitor. “See. 1909. Three bucks. Give me my receipt.”
Goon looked at the screen, made a face, and pulled the torn receipt out of her pocket. (Some hiding place!) She crumpled it into a wad, threw it at my head, and left, slamming the door behind her.
Georgie retrieved the wadded receipt, took the other half out of my hand, pieced them together, and put them on the desk. He sat back on my bed and began tossing the tennis ball again. “Your sisteris a jerk.” Then he noticed my weird expression. “What?”
“The penny is worth more than three bucks.”
Still tossing the tennis ball, Georgie asked, “What do you mean?”
“I forgot the San Francisco thing when I looked before. The mint mark. The
S
. Omigosh, Georgie. You’re not going to believe this. It’s worth ninety-five dollars!”
“What?!” Georgie flubbed his catch and knocked over my bedside lamp. The room went dark except for the eerie light from my computer screen.
One second later there was a knock on the door.
I yelled, “Go away, Goon!” Then the knock repeated, and so did I. “Go away!” We sat in the dark for a few seconds, then the door slowly opened. Silhouetted in the doorway stood a man I did not recognize. (I am not making this up!) It was like in the movies where the crazy guy with the chain saw comes in to murder the dim-witted teenagers who stay in the old farmhouse way longer than any intelligent people would have.
Then the man stepped forward, and the light from my computer lit one side of his face. It was Officer Crompton.
My brain went completely blackout for a second and then started thinking at super speed:
Since Officer Crompton was not in his uniform, he was doing some kind of undercover mystery investigation.
Since he was at my house, the mystery involved my family.
Since he was in my room, and Georgie and I had been sort of arrested by him earlier today, he was investigating us.
Since the only thing we had done that might be mysterious was to mention in the note we gave to the old lady that there was something in the envelope we found, she must have called the police.
Therefore, Officer Crompton was here to find out what was in the envelope.
“Hello, boys. Remember me?”
I nodded. Georgie also nodded, but he was in deepershadow than I was, so Officer Crompton probably couldn’t tell.
“I’m guessing you don’t know why I’m here.”
We both shook our heads. But we were not thinking the same thing. I was pretty sure that Georgie’s head shake was agreeing that he
didn’t
know. My head shake was
dis
agreeing because I was pretty sure I did.
Without thinking, I reached toward my backpack. In the light that came in from the hall and from my computer, I could clearly see the old yellowed envelope sticking out of one of the pockets. Then I realized that a policeman on an investigation would probably be watching me for suspicious movements, so I kept moving my arm until I was petting Deeb. Then I looked back at Officer Crompton.
“I know you told us to stay away from The Toad—I mean, G. J. Prott’s house,” I said. “But tomorrow, we—I mean, the envelope and stuff was lost in Georgie’s house for over fifty years and even though, as Georgie says, finders keepers, we’re going to—”
Officer Crompton put up his hand, so I stopped talking.
“I was on duty this afternoon. Now I’m here playing cards with my friends.” He gave a sly grin. “And to remind you two to keep out of trouble.” He tossed off a sloppy salute—Dad showed me the Navy way years ago—and walked down the hall, leaving my bedroom door open.
Neither Georgie nor I said a word until
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