THE SECRET INTRUDER
By: Candace Jeffries
MEET THE AUTHOR… Candace Jeffries is a ten-year-old girl who’s currently attending LaCroft Elementary in the fourth grade. She enjoys art, music, studying, reading, watching movies, and playing on the computer with some computer games. Candace likes school, and also enjoys being with her family and friends.
THE SECRET INTRUDER By Candace Jeffries
Creak! What was that? I was watching TV at my house and too obsessed with the show to think much of the creaking noise at first. But then I kept hearing other strange noises, likes cabinet doors opening and pots and pans crashing. Now, things were getting spooky. A stranger was in the house; an intruder or a robber. I could feel it. They were working secretly, or so they thought. Did they know I was here? I heard another CREAK and then a SLAM. The intruder was gone. Slowly I got up and went through the bathroom, then to the kitchen. I stood in the doorway, unable to move. As I looked around the kitchen, it seemed as though everything was out of place; dishes broken in the oven, for example. I was terrified! What would Mom say?
I quickly cleaned
everything up, including closing doors and drawers, turned off the TV, and went upstairs.
I glanced in my sister Vicki’s room and checked on Vicki. As I got ready for bed, a thought occurred to me. Could Vicki have messed things up? I went to bed and fell asleep quickly. The next day, I got up. I had thought of four more suspects overnight besides Vicki; my mom who was out last night, Andrea Smith, Sarah James, and Alexis Parkington.
I decided to work on the mystery right away.
Once I’d showered, dressed, and eaten my breakfast, I checked the cabinets for fingerprints
and got two sets of them! Perfect!
I knew that Sarah and Alexis always went out on Friday mornings during the summer, and their mothers didn’t work, and they were always together. I went to the James household. Both women were there. They smiled when they saw me. They don’t hate my family and me. “Come in, Courtney, dear,’ said Mrs. Jones. “I just have a question for you and Mrs. Parkington, I don’t need to come in,” I said quickly. “Where were your daughters last night at midnight?” “In bed,” said both women at the same time. “Okay,” I said. “I’m solving a mystery, that’s all I needed. Thanks! ‘Bye!” That cleared Sarah and Alexis out of the picture. I’d thought Sarah might’ve done it since she hates my family and I. Alexis could’ve been sent by Sarah to do it. Or they could’ve done it together. I ran home and saw something small and red by the sink that wasn’t there before the scene last night! I looked closer. It was blood near where we keep our glass dishes. Then I noticed a small piece of paper nearby. It was a note. I picked it up and read:
This is only the beginning of what I’m going to do next.
The note was written in cursive writing. I took my three clues to Dad’s laboratory. I tested the blood. The blood was O Positive in type but the fingerprints and writing I’d need samples to test. I got Vicki, Andrea, and my mom’s handwriting samples. Then I need to talk to my mom, a doctor.
“What’s your blood type?” I asked my mom. “A,” said my mother, “A positive (+).” That worked – almost. I wanted to ask Mom about Vicki, but I didn’t think Vicki would do that, even though she had been mad that she had to eat something she didn’t like at dinner.
I took Andrea’s fingerprints. negative (-).
They didn’t match the ones I’d found. Then I called Andrea and found her blood type was B
My mom had been out last night, but she could’ve done it because she’s always wanted to move. Andrea had been watching TV last night and her mother had seen her at midnight. It had to be Vicki. I tested all of the evidence. I asked Mom what Vicki’s blood type was. It was O positive (+); that matched. The handwriting samples matched. And the fingerprints matched! That night at midnight, water was turned on. I grabbed my dad’s fishing net and went downstairs. Vicki was there, her back to me, so I threw the net over her and tied it so Vicki couldn’t run. “Courtney! You know I didn’t do this!” cried Vicki. “You were baby-sitting!” I shut off the water. “Maybe I believed that at one time, but I don’t now,” I told my sister. I turned Vicki into my mother, telling her what happened. That was how I solved the case of the secret intruder.