Philip and the Thief (9781619500648) Read Online Free Page B

real mad because
his mother came to school. I never thought of him.”
    “ Go on. What happened next?” Mrs.
Moriarty asked.
    “ Then Mr. Ware came back inside and
couldn’t find the envelope with the money.”
    “ What kind of envelope was
it?”
    “ Just a regular white one. Hey! Emery
walked past the teacher’s desk, too, earlier. Mr. Ware sent him
next door to Mr. Lerner’s class to get a big brown manila envelope.
Emery went next door and asked for a vanilla envelope. Mr. Lerner told him they were
all out of vanilla but he could let him have a chocolate envelope
if he wanted. Emery believed him. He believes anything. Emery took
the envelope back to class and asked Mr. Ware whether the chocolate
envelope would do. Everybody laughed.”
    “ Was Emery upset at being laughed
at?”
    “ He got grumpy is all.”
    “ Grumpy enough to take the teacher’s
money?”
    Philip shook his head. “No, not that grumpy.
Emery is goofy sometimes, but he wouldn’t steal anything. No, not
Emery. Anyway it happened way before the money disappeared.”
    “ Get me my purse, Philip,” said Mrs.
Moriarty. “See it over there?”
    Philip got the purse and handed it to Mrs.
Moriarty. She opened it, reached inside, and pulled out a
five-dollar bill. “Take this for your detective work, Philip.”
    Philip started to say no, but Mrs. Moriarty
stopped him. “Detectives should be paid. They have expenses, too.
If you solve mysteries for anyone else, be sure to charge them
something. You shouldn’t work for free. Here, now. Take this.”
    Embarrassed, Philip took the five-dollar bill
and shoved it into his pocket. “Thanks,” he said and left.
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    When Philip got over his discomfort at
Mrs. Moriarty’s giving him so much praise and money, he felt like
telling somebody about his success. His father was at work and his
mother had the baby to take care of. Ha!
Emery! It would feel good to tell Emery what he’d
missed. It would show him the detective agency really could solve
mysterious cases and even make money.
    Emery opened the door when Philip knocked and
said, “Shhh. Both babies are asleep.”
    Philip tiptoed inside. He waved to Mrs.
Wyatt who put her finger to her lips and startled Philip with a
loud, “ Shush!” Emery motioned
him upstairs and the two boys went to Emery’s room.
    “ I hate it when the babies are
sleeping. I can’t do anything,” said Emery. “But I hate it when
they’re awake, too.” He shrugged hopelessly.
    “ Listen, you should have stayed in my
detective agency. I just earned five dollars.” He held up Mrs.
Moriarty’s five-dollar bill and told Emery the story.
    Emery thought a moment. “I think I’ll be a
detective again.”
    “ You can’t have any of this five dollars.” Philip jammed the
money back into his pocket. “I solved the case myself.”
    “ I know. I know,” Emery
agreed.
    “ You’re sure you want to be a detective
again? You don’t care about stupid Jason teasing you?”
    “ I don’t think he’ll tease anyone for a
while. He’s worried about getting caught for stealing the teacher’s
money.”
    “ You think he took it?”
    “ Who else? He’s the only one who would
do it.”
    “ Maybe not,” said Philip, and he went
over the morning of the crime with Emery as he had with Mrs.
Moriarty.
    “ Tyler,” said Emery. “I never thought
of Tyler. You’re right. He did walk right by Mr. Ware’s desk, and he was real mad at him for telling his mother he
didn’t do his work. Yeah, I think he took it.”
    Philip looked quietly at his friend for a
moment. “A minute ago you thought Jason took the money.”
    “ Right. Jason took it. Or
Tyler.”
    “ You’re sure?”
    “ Absolutely.”
    “ But not Emery?”
    “ Emery! Me?”
    “ You walked by the teacher’s desk with
your chocolate envelope.”
    “ Mr. Lerner said it was chocolate, not
me.”
    “ You believed him.”
    “ Why can’t there be chocolate and
vanilla envelopes? The one he