Addison Addley and the Trick of the Eye Read Online Free PDF

three steps up the driveway and then jumping back to the sidewalk.
    I decided that was enough. We’d done our bit for crime solving. The crimes would have to solve themselves. We were just about to head home when I noticed something white fluttering in the shrub next to the garage. It looked like a piece of garbage, but I decided to send Sam over to get it anyway. I was sure he wouldn’t mind. It might have been a clue to the break-ins.
    â€œHere,” he said, shoving the crumpled up paper into my hands. “Next time let’s do this when it’s light,” he whispered. “When it’s daytime. When we can see.”
    I flattened out the paper as much as I could. I shone my flashlight on it. It was just a shred. We could only make out two words.
    Sam 11
    Those two words jumped off the paper and into our throats. We gasped because we couldn’t scream. And then we ran.

Chapter Six
    If I’d known that I could run that fast, I would have tried out for the track team. I would have been the hands-down winner. I left Sam in the dust.
    I made it back to my house in record time. I waited on the porch for Sam because I’m a nice guy. That and the fact that I’d given him my keys to hold while I read the note.
    I took the keys from him and fumbled with them to open the door. We’d really have to get a better light on the porch, because it was hard to see the lock. It didn’t help that my hands were shaking, probably from the cold night air.
    Once inside, we turned on every light in the house. I could feel the creepiness of the street seeping in through every cracked window and crooked door.
    We sat down at the table and looked at the note again. It wasn’t Becky’s neat writing. These were scrawled letters, even messier than mine. We looked at that note so hard that we didn’t even feel like having any root beer or chips.
    The note was about Sam. The intruder must have been watching him. He even knew that Sam had just turned eleven. What else did he know about him? He must have gotten Sam’s street mixed up with Becky’s. Now Sam’s street was going to be the unsafe one. Hopefully Sam’s mom wouldn’t want to move now too.
    When Mom got home, we showed her the note. We weren’t going to at first, because I didn’t want her to be any more scared than she already was. I knew I should show her for Sam’s sake though. My mom would tell his mom about it and then he’d feel better. Sam’s mom would take care of it. She’s very logical, almost as logical as me. Sometimes you’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
    Mom didn’t seem too concerned. She said that the note could have been anything. Maybe one of Sam’s friends wrote it a while ago as a reminder about Sam’s birthday. Maybe the man from the corner store was keeping track of all of the kids’ ages in the neighborhood. He always gave out free packs of gum on our birthdays. It could have blown there from anywhere, especially in the storm we’d had the week before. She smiled and said not to worry about it. I couldn’t tell if it was her “It’s really nothing to worry about” smile or her “It’s nothing to worry about too much, but I’m a bit worried anyway” smile. I hoped it was the first one. Finding a note about Sam in the schoolyard is one thing. Finding a note about Sam at the site of the break-ins is another story.
    Sam decided to go home. Mom made us some chamomile tea, but he didn’t feel like drinking it. I downed mine in one fell swoop. It always made me feel sleepy, and that’s all I wanted to do. Sleep. Nice and safe in my own room. I’d think about the note tomorrow.
    When we got back from driving Sam home, I went to bed. It was nearly midnight. That chamomile tea didn’t seem to be working. I had too many ideas swirling through my head. The note was bad enough, but I was running out of