"Who stole my money?" Maggie yelled loudly.
"Maggie," Henry warned, "you have to have proof before you start accusing people of stealing."
He looked into the cashbox that Maggie was holding.
It was completely empty.
"Are you sure you didn't take the money out and put it in your pocket or something?" he asked her.
"Yeah," Cole said. "You probably put the money somewhere."
"No way!" Maggie looked really upset now.
"There was a lot of cash in here five minutes ago when Mrs. Martin paid for little Marty's lemonade."
She pointed to the woman standing nearby, who was still talking on her cell phone.
The little boy, Marty Martin, had dropped his mother's hand.
He was staring at Maggie and banging a toy suitcase against his knees.
"Okay," Henry said.
"Then maybe the money blew away when you opened the box."
"It's not even windy today," Maggie said. She shook her head.
"I think someone stole my horseback-riding money.
And I want to know who it was!"
By now everyone except Mrs. Martin was staring at her.
The two teenage girls giggled and whispered to each other.
Maggie looked at them.
"Was it you two?" she asked. "Did you take my money?"
"No," one of the girls said. "We're not crooks.
Come on, Jill, let's get out of here."
"Yeah." Her friend giggled. "Before she accuses us of something else!"
The two of them laughed and walked off.
Maggie glared at them, and then looked around again.
"Maybe it was Ryan!" she said. Ryan had finished chugging his lemonade.
Now he was jumping his skateboard on and off the curb.
"Did you steal my money when I wasn't looking?" Maggie asked.
He stopped and stared at Maggie. "Dude, I didn't take your money.
Maybe you should have watched it better," he said.
Then he skated off down the street.
"Hey! Get back here!" Maggie yelled.
But Ryan ignored her, skidding around the corner.
Nathan and his little sister Nora were listening to everything.
"It wasn't me," Nathan said before Maggie could say anything to him. "I promise."
"Are you sure?" Maggie said. "It had to be someone!"
Nora poked her brother. "I think I hear Mommy calling us," she said.
"I didn't hear anything," Henry said.
"Me neither. But I'd better go check," Nathan said.
"Come on, Nora, let's go home."
"No!" Nora said. She loved to argue. "I don't want to!"
Nathan was used to her, so he just ignored her.
But when he rushed off toward their house, she hurried after him.
Maggie was looking around for more possible thieves.
"Where did Mrs. Martin and Marty go?" she asked.
"They left." Cole pointed down the block.
Henry looked and saw Mrs. Martin wandering away.
Her cell phone was still pressed to her ear.
Little Marty was skipping along after her.
"I don't think you need to accuse Mrs. Martin of being the thief," Henry said.
"She's a police detective, remember?"
Cole nodded. "She catches thieves—she's not one herself," he said.
"Maybe you're right." Maggie frowned.
"But someone stole my money, and I want to know who it was."
"Calm down," Henry told his cousin.
"You're not going to figure it out by yelling at everyone."
"How else am I going to get an answer?" Maggie asked.
"Think about it logically," Henry said.
"Whoever took that money is a thief, which means he or she is probably a liar too."
"Good point," Cole said with a nod.
"Guess you'd better say good-bye to that money, Maggie."
Maggie scowled at him. "Be quiet, Cole!"
"She doesn't need to give up," Henry told his friend.
"We just need to think like detectives.
I bet if the three of us work together, we can figure out who took the money."
"We're just kids," Maggie said.
"How are we supposed to think like detectives?"
"I know!" Cole said. "I watched a mystery movie on TV last week.
The detective started by figuring out who the suspects were."
"We already know that," Maggie interrupted.
"It had to be someone who was nearby when the money disappeared."
Henry smiled. "See? We're already thinking like detectives," he said.
"Okay, so we know approximately when the money disappeared.
Who was nearby during that time?"
"You just saw them," Maggie said.
"Nathan and Nora, Mrs. Martin and Marty, Ryan, and those two teenage girls.
Oh, and you two of course."
"Nobody else stopped by before Henry and I got here?" Cole asked.
"Like a stranger or a suspicious-looking deliveryman?"
Maggie shook her head. "Nope. Just the people you saw."
Cole bit his lip. "That means the thief had to be someone we know."
They all looked at each other.
"It's someone from our very own neighborhood!" said Henry.