a hose, then lean way over and drown my head in freezing cold water.
Marissaâs head pops out the back door. âWhat are you
doing?
â
âTaking a shower! Quickâget me a towel!â
She comes back and throws me the towel. âHurry! I think theyâre getting suspicious!â
âWhat do they look like? Is one of them really fat?â
âYeah! And the otherâs really skinny. What is going
on?
â
âI canât explain right now. Itâs too complicated.â I yank off my shoes and put the towel over my shoulders. âLetâs go!â
We go charging through the kitchen and den, and then catch our breath right outside the living room. Marissa opens the door and says, âHereâs Sammy,â then smiles and backs way off into a corner to watch.
Now the McKenzesâ living room is glass. Nothing but glass. Glass tables, glass shelves with little glass figurines, glass lamps, even glass
chairs
. And sitting there in one of those dainty glass chairs is Officer Borsch, looking like an elephant trying to squeeze into a fishbowl.
I smile at them and rub the towel on the side of my head. âHi. Sorry you had to wait. Whatâs up?â
All that leather gear and equipment around their stomachs kind of creaks and jingles as they stand up. âWeâd like you to take a look at a few pictures, if you would.â
âSure.â
I start rubbing the hair on the other side of my head, trying to act casual, but the whole time Iâm wondering why in the world Marissaâs pulling funny faces and jerking her arm back and forth like she is.
Officer Borsch pulls a photograph out of a big envelope. âIs this the fella you saw at the Heavenly the other night?â
Marissaâs pulling faces like a blowfish and slapping at air, and Iâm doing my best to ignore her as he hands me the picture. Then I see Mikey, peeking around the living room door, looking like a bumblebee in a black-and- yellow shirt.
I check out the picture. âItâs not him.â
âAre you sure?â
âIâm sure.â
âYou didnât look at it more than a second, how can you be so sure?â
âI just am. Iâm positive.â
The Borsch-man wants to give me an argument, but Tall ânâ Skinny says, âTry the other one.â
Officer Borsch pulls out another picture. âTake your time.â
So Iâm watching Marissa out of one eye, and Iâm watching Mikey out of the other, and then Mikey decidesâheâs coming in.
I hand the photograph back to Officer Borsch. âItâs not him.â
Mikey pipes up with, âLet me see!â
Officer Borsch looks at Mikey, then back at me. âWhoâs this?â
I smile and say, so Mikey canât hear me, âMy brother.â I look over at Marissa like Help! because I know that any minute Mikeyâs going to give me away and then who
knows
what Officer Borsch will decide to do with me?
So whatâs Tall ânâ Skinny do? He turns to Mikey and says, âItâs all right, son. Weâre just asking your sister a few questions about someone she saw.â
Mikey grins at me like boy, has he got something over on me or what, and heâs about to spout off when Marissa comes flying across the room and yanks him back into the hallway. âMaybe weâll just wait outside...â
Mikey starts screaming and kicking, but Tall ânâ Skinny and Officer Borsch just kind of look at each other and shrug.
I try to distract them by asking, âSo, has any more...uh...evidence turned up?â
Officer Borsch squints at me like he knows Iâm up to something, but Tall ânâ Skinny says, âWeâve just had a purse turn up. It was reported missing almost a week ago and we think itâs somehow connected to the other burglaries on that end of town. So if you remember any details about the man you saw at the
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