Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf Read Online Free PDF Page A

on a shiny green nightgown and a matching robe. Her hair was all wrapped up in this green turban contraption, and her three-inch nails looked like she’d gone down to the body shop and dipped them in sports-car paint.
    Her leg was propped up on a pillow with the cast sticking out past the bottom of her robe, and she was punching buttons on a remote control. And while we’re standing there, gawking from behind her, she says without looking over, “You’ll get in here if you know what’s good for you.”
    We shuffle in, and she points to the TV, saying, “Look at that—there she goes. Try to tell me you didn’t just let her get away.”
    That’s when it hit me that what she’s watching is avideotape of the parade, and she’s wearing out the thirty seconds where Marique jumps off the float.
    “See? You’re just standing there!” She pauses the video, then advances it frame by frame. Sure enough, there I am, standing in the background like a bug-eyed totem pole.
    She snaps, “Why didn’t you stop her?”
    “I’m … I’m sorry, Mrs. Landvogt. I got off the float as fast as I could!”
    She lets the tape go regular speed, and right after the dogs abandon the float, the TV goes fuzzy with static. She presses the rewind button. “You call this fast?”
    “If you play it at regular speed—”
    “Quiet!”
    Marissa and I jump back like we’ve been snapped at by a crocodile and stand there watching Marique jump off the float again, frame by frame.
    Mrs. Landvogt turns to me and hisses, “And don’t try to blame it on the cats!”
    “I’m not, ma’am, but they did—”
    “Stop with the excuses!”
    “But—”
    “Stop!”
    We stare at each other a minute, and when she’s sure I’m not going to say another word, she buffs the nail of a thumb and says, “So …”
    But then there’s a knock on the door. We all turn around and look, and there, standing on the threshold with a piece of folded paper in her hand, is Tina.
    Mrs. Landvogt snaps, “Didn’t I make it clear that I didn’t want to be interrupted?”
    “Yes, but I thought you’d want to see this.”
    She gives Tina an annoyed look, then says, “What is it?”
    Tina steps into the room and hands her the paper. “It was dropped through the mail slot. I ran outside, but I didn’t see anybody. I’m sorry.”
    Mrs. Landvogt takes the paper and says, “This is a …” she flips it open, “a
ransom
note?”
    Tina stands there like a whipped puppy, nodding.
    Marissa and I scoot in a little closer. On the outside of the note there are magazine letters pasted together spelling LILIA LANDVOGT. And inside is: YOU WANT YOUR DOG? I WANT $50,000. CALL THE COPS AND I’LL CUT HER THROAT.
    All of a sudden Mrs. Landvogt turns the color of her decor. “No …!” After a minute she waves a green claw through the air and cries, “Fifty thousand dollars! Are they
insane?
No dog is worth fifty thousand dollars!” She slaps the note with the back of her hand. “What kind of monster would steal my baby?”
    Tina whispers, “You want me to call the police?”
    “No!”
    “You’re not going to
pay
it, are you?”
    “Not if I can help it.” She buffs her thumbnail a minute, thinking. Finally she says, “I need a few minutes with Samantha. Alone.”
    Tina whispers, “Let’s go” to Marissa, and they scurry out, closing the doors behind them.
    So there I am in this big white room, alone with this woman who’s looking more and more like a crocodileevery second. She rearranges her pillows a bit and then smiles at me. “So.”
    Now I’m not sure if she’s planning to eat me whole or just nibble off a few appendages, but I take a deep breath and say, “So …?”
    She gives me that crocodile smile again. “My sources tell me you’re quite the sleuth.”
    I kind of look down and shrug.
    “So it should be no trouble at all for you, finding my dog.”
    I look up at her. “I wouldn’t know where to start. I have no idea who took your