On the Case (From the Files of Madison Finn, 17) Read Online Free PDF Page A

a flute lesson today. I sounded like a cross between a high-pitched bird and a squeaky brake. I think my teacher actually covered his ears during my lesson. J/K but I do have some serious practicing to do.
    Don’t forget that Crime Time has a repeat of last week’s episode coming up tomorrow. You do watch the show, right? You’d better!!! We can compare notes.
    Yours till the music boxes,
    Maddie
    P.S.: I think I may have a few mysteries of my own brewing in Far Hills. I found this strange paper in the library. ML.
    In an instance of perfect timing (and perhaps an omen of better things to come), Madison saw Dad’s car pull into the driveway just as she hit SEND .
    Dad didn’t even get out of the car. He just honked.
    “Bye, Mom!” Madison yelled as she stuck her head back into the house and placed her laptop on the chair in the hall. “Love you!”
    Mom called out from her office. “Love you, too!”
    Madison leaned down and scratched the top of Phin’s head. He was dancing around her legs, as if to say, “Don’t go!”
    But after a quick kiss to his furry little head, she went, anyway.
    Madison scooted down the porch steps and got into the front seat of Dad’s car.
    “Hello, Miss Maddie,” Dad said, smiling. “Don’t you look fetching tonight! Is that a new ensemble?”
    “Dad,” Madison said. “You should be a fashion critic. You always notice what I wear.”
    Dad chuckled. “It’s your stepmother’s influence,” he said. “She leaves those fashion magazines lying around the apartment.”
    Madison smiled. Dad had finally married his longtime girlfriend, Stephanie, and she had made a difference in his life, and not only by improving his fashion sense. Stephanie had made Dad laugh again.
    “How’s my dog?” Dad asked. Ever since the Big D, Madison had been convinced that Dad missed Phin as much as he missed her.
    “He’s really a pack rat!” Madison chimed in.
    Dad looked confused. “Rat?”
    “Mom and I caught him stealing stuff in the house and storing it in the back of her closet. You know, like a pack rat. He’s been doing it for weeks.”
    “Phin? A thief?” Dad feigned shock.
    “Oh, Dad,” Madison sighed. “He is! He even stole a teeny flash drive out of my orange bag and almost ate it.”
    “What else did he steal?” Dad asked.
    Madison recounted the full list of missing items.
    “Hmmmm,” Dad grinned. “Clever pooch, isn’t he? I think he went through a phase like this once or twice before. I seem to remember losing a pair of cuff links…”
    “Don’t you think I was pretty clever, Dad, for figuring out what Phin was doing?” Madison asked.
    Dad nodded. “Very, very clever.”
    “Cut it out, Dad!” Madison grinned and punched Dad in the shoulder. “I was thinking… maybe I should be a detective when I grow up,” Madison said.
    “A detective, huh?”
    “Like on Crime Time ,” Madison said.
    “What’s that?”
    Madison gasped. “Only the best show on television, Dad. When we get to your apartment we are totally going online, and I can show you their website.”
    As soon as they arrived at Dad’s, Madison dragged Dad into his office and told him to boot up his computer. They opened the website for Crime Time. Major DeMille’s face filled the screen of the monitor and then faded to black. A voice crackled over the computer speakers.
    “ It’s Crime Time! Do you have what it takes to solve critical crimes?” the voice said. All at once, various images flew across the screen: fingerprints, police badges, the chalk outlines of bodies, and even spatterings of blood.
    “Neat, huh?” Madison said, raising her eyebrows.
    Dad chuckled. “Yes, it’s cool,” he said, clicking a few other buttons on the site. “But is this show violent?”
    “No, no, no! That’s why it’s so much better than those other shows. It’s all about the detective work.” Madison leaned over his shoulder. “Press that, Dad.”
    Dad clicked on a magnifying-glass icon, and a text