The Case of the Rock 'n' Roll Dog Read Online Free PDF

bad.
    Dinner was macaroni and cheese with applesauce and green salad. Usually our dinners come from the White House kitchen, and we eat in the family dining room on the second floor. On special occasions, we eat in the small dining room downstairs, and on
really
special occasions—like if an important queen or a movie director comes to visit—we might get to eat with everybody else in the State Dining Room.
    While we ate, we told Granny about how we met up with Colonel Michaels in the East Room, and he asked us to find the missing baton. After that, we asked for detecting advice.
    â€œI was never actually a detective, you know. I wasa beat cop and eventually a sergeant. Then I went to law school,” Granny said.
    â€œThat’s when Mom was little, right?” I asked.
    â€œAunt Jen was in preschool when I started,” Granny said. “And your mom was in second grade like Tessa here. Your grandpa had been dead a couple of years.”
    â€œWhy did you want to go to law school?” I asked.
    Granny sat back in her chair. “Cops investigate crimes, but they can’t put criminals in prison,” she said. “That’s what prosecutors do. And for that job, you have to be a lawyer. Then—I won’t lie—money mattered. Most of the time, lawyers earn more than police officers. I had two little girls to raise.”
    â€œEven if you weren’t a detective,” Tessa said, “you must have seen mysteries get solved. Plus you saw how bad guys get caught.”
    â€œWait a sec, Tessa. We don’t even know if there
is
a bad guy,” I said. “Probably, the baton is just lost.”
    Tessa frowned. “
That
wouldn’t be very interesting.”
    Granny laughed. “In my experience, most criminals are tripped up by stupidity. Smart people find smarter things to do than commit crimes.”
    Tessa nodded thoughtfully. “So the first thing we should do,” she said, “is look for somebody stupid.”
    â€œWell, detectives first look for anything strange or out of place because it might be a clue,” Granny said. “Then, of course, they interview witnesses.”
    â€œWe already interviewed Colonel Michaels,” Tessa said.
    â€œExcellent,” Granny said. “Who else was a witness?”
    â€œEveryone in the East Room yesterday afternoon,” I said.
    â€œThat includes me,” Granny said, “but I only saw the baton when it was in Colonel Michaels’s hand.”
    I said I thought we should write a list of everybody who was there, then talk to as many as we could. “Does that make sense, Granny?”
    â€œIt does,” she said. “But if you’re planning on doing interviews tomorrow, you’ll have to be quick about it. Your aunt has some kind of dinner going on. Oh, and be sure to take notes. Later, you look through your notes and—” she tapped her head with her finger “—apply logic.”
    â€œI’ll take the notes because my handwriting is good,” I told Tessa. “And you can do the talking because . . .” I hesitated.
    â€œI’m a loudmouth!” Tessa grinned. “I knew someday that would come in handy.”

    After dinner, we wrote our list. We probably wouldn’t be able to talk to the musicians, but we could talk to people from the staff who had been there. The ones we remembered were: Mr. Ross, Mr. Baney, Mr. Patel, Mrs. Hedges and Mr. Kane.
    Mom had a meeting that went late, so it was Granny who came in to say good night. I was sinkinginto my pillow when there was a knock, and the door opened a crack.
    â€œAre you awake?” Mom whispered.
    â€œWe didn’t used to be,” Tessa said.
    Tonight Mom was dressed in her Madam President clothes—stockings, high heels, skirt and jacket. She came in and sat on the edge of Tessa’s bed, but immediately bounced back up. “
Ow!
What was . . . ?” She