Read Online A Recipe for Robbery by Marybeth Kelsey - Free Book Online Page B

lover.”
    My ears perked up. Pickles a vegetable lover? Hmm. Very interesting.
    I casually placed my elbows on the table and asked Granny Goose if she had any salt. As soon as she turned her back to look for it, I nudged my plate to the left, close enough for Pickles to get a whiff.
    Oh, happiness.
    In ten seconds flat my broccoli bake was pecked into dust.
    Margaret, Gus, and I doubled over laughing. Granny Goose yelled, “Bad goose!” but Pickles didn’t ruffle a feather. She just sat there looking totally pleased with herself, like she was waiting on round two.
    Granny Goose was all set to cut me another piece when I pushed my chair from the table and hopped up. “Uh-oh. It’s after three. Golly, Mrs. Unger, I’m really sorry, but we don’t have time to finish the snacks. I have to be home by three-thirty to help my mom.”
    Gus’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth. He looked at the kitchen clock, and his eyes lit up withalarm. It was like he’d finally remembered our time crunch and that we were on an information quest, not a picnic. “Three-ten? Already? Yeah, we’d better get going. We’ve got lots to do.”
    Granny Goose wouldn’t hear of our helping clean her messy kitchen. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of this visit,” she said. “I hope you’ll come back real soon.”
    So after Margaret paid her smoochy good-byes to Doris the duck and Pickles, we headed out the front door. We were standing on the sidewalk, waving our final farewell to Granny Goose, when Gus muttered out the side of his mouth, “Only two visitors this morning, so that concludes our suspect list.”
    â€œI can’t believe it,” Margaret said after the front door closed. “We’ve actually got this narrowed—”
    â€œThere’s an egg in the turtle pen,” I blurted out.
    â€œOh…my…gosh,” Margaret said. “You mean Hogjaw laid an egg? I thought he was a boy.”
    â€œNot that kind of egg. I mean, one of the jeweled eggs.”
    â€œWhat?” Gus’s eyes popped way open, and he stumbled backward, like he’d just seen Granny Goose’s alligator slide over the fence. “Are you serious? You actually found a Pitaya in Hogjaw’s pen? How come you left it there?”
    â€œI didn’t exactly leave it. It’s wedged under a log. I couldn’t reach it.”
    â€œWe can’t let the cops find it,” Margaret said. “They’ll arrest her for sure.”
    â€œThat must’ve been the thief’s plan all along,” Gus said. “He was hoping someone would turn the locket in, and then, when the cops came here to search Granny Goose’s, they’d find the egg.”
    â€œWe have to go back for it,” Margaret said.
    Gus spun around. “Come on. You two keep Granny Goose busy inside, and I’ll get the Pitaya.”
    â€œWait a minute,” I said. “Why would François or Leonard—whichever one did it—dump that egg? Didn’t you say it was way more valuable than the locket? Why wouldn’t he want to sell it?”
    â€œThat one little egg doesn’t matter to the perp. He’s got five more, plus all the other loot. The important thing to him is to make Granny Goose the patsy,” Gus said.
    We were still hashing things out when Granny Goose came back outside. She locked her front door before hurrying to the truck in her driveway. “See ya later, kids,” she said, waving to us. “I’m off to the festival again. Just got an emergency call from one of the Tarts. Seems they’re light on help.”
    She backed into the street, then stuck her head out the window. “If you need to be home by three-thirty, you’d better get a move on it, honey,” she said to me. “My dashboard clock says three-seventeen.”
    She took off, and once her truck disappeared around the corner, Gus said,