Finally, the final fifth grade bell rang. Annie Kellogg and Aariz Ishmael hurried out the doors of the Eastside Elementary School. They started walking down Elm Street to the Goodman Public Library. Today they had volunteered to help at the library bake sale. It was one of several fundraisers for library renovation. 

“How much money do you think they’ll make this week?” asked Annie. 

“Lots if I get to eat what I want,” laughed Aariz. 

“You’re always hungry,” said Annie. “Well, you’d better hurry. Today’s the last day of the sale.” 

“Do you think they’ll replace the entire bank part?” asked Aariz. Half of the library was converted from the town’s old bank. “I really like all the weathered wooden beams and old brickwork from the 1800s.” 

“I heard that they’re going to replace only part of the building. I think they want to keep all that history.” 

“I hope I have time to browse the new mystery books,” said Aariz. “I wonder if Hidden Staircase is out yet.” 

Annie turned to Aariz and grinned. “Beat you to it. I reserved the last copy online yesterday.” 

Aariz snickered. “Figures. Well, read it fast, then let me borrow it before it’s due. That way I’ll get it faster and you’ll avoid your usual late fee. For now I’ll reread the Sherlock Holmes mysteries instead. There’s nothing like classic whodunits.” 

They walked into the library and were cheerfully greeted by Cathy Roberts, one of the assistant librarians. She sat behind the main desk, organizing returned books.  

“You two are just in time. We can use help to display all these great looking baked goods,” Miss Roberts said. 

She led the children to the community room. On the way, they passed old Mrs. Harrison, the head librarian, who mumbled a greeting as she shuffled a book cart toward the back of the library. 

“Not the friendliest person,” said Annie with a frown. 

Aariz just shrugged. He was eyeing the delicious baked goods on the tables ahead. 

Mr. Lasker, the custodian, had worked at the library for as long as anyone could remember. He was setting up a table.  

“Hello, you two,” he said with a tired smile. “Aariz, can you give me a hand with this last table?”  

Aariz eagerly ran over to help. He liked Mr. Lasker, who often showed him around the old bank part of the library and told Aariz about its fascinating history. Some of the old file drawers and deposit boxes were still there. 

People came to the bake sale throughout the rest of day. Aariz was so busy that he could only sigh as items that he wanted were quickly bought. He did manage to buy a package of cookies just before the sale ended though. 

After the sale, Miss Roberts stood at the front desk and counted the money.  

“Looks like this was a big success. We’ve raised over $1,200 to help expand the library. I’d better put this away in the safe for now.” 

As the library was closing, Annie and Aariz went back out into the warm autumn air. Aariz handed Annie one of his cookies as they walked back to their homes. 

When Annie and Aariz arrived at the library three days later, they saw three police cars in the parking lot. 

“I wonder what’s going on?” asked Aariz. 

Inside, Mrs. Harrison was speaking to a police officer. Annie and Aariz walked over to Miss Roberts at the checkout counter. 

“Why are the police here, Miss Roberts?” asked Annie. 

Miss Roberts forced a weak smile. “The evening of the bake sale, Mrs. Harrison discovered that the bake sale money was missing. I had to stay after the library closed on another matter and she left after me, as she often does.  

“The next morning, the police came to search the library. They left with an old bank deposit box from the basement. This isn’t the first time money has gone missing from the library. A month ago, we had another library fundraiser by the Soccer Club. Afterward, we found that some of that money was missing. The police searched the entire library but had no luck. It’s still under investigation. And now this.” 

Just then a detective appeared from around a corner. Annie overheard him speaking to Mrs. Harrison.  

“Who besides you had the combination to the safe in your office?” asked the detective. 

“Just me and Ed Lasker. We had problems with the safe locking properly. He has locksmithing experience and fixed it, so he knew the combination. You don’t think…” 

“What about Miss Roberts?” continued the detective. “Didn’t she place the money in the safe?” 

“Yes. I saw her go to the safe with the money, but I already had it open on another matter. She doesn’t have the combination.” 

The detective nodded and paused before continuing. “The day after the robbery we found some of the stolen money in an old bank deposit box in the basement. We took it to the station, checked it for fingerprints, and found the custodian’s prints on it. We have every library employee’s fingerprints on file from the Soccer Club robbery. No other prints were on it.” 

A few minutes later an officer appeared with Mr. Lasker in handcuffs.  

Mr. Lasker was shaking his head. His eyes were wide and pleading. “I didn’t take the money,” he said to the detective. “I handled a lot of those old bank boxes. A lot of them were for a historical exhibit for Miss Roberts. I don’t know anything about the missing money.” 

“Looks like we got a break,” said the detective to Mrs. Harrison. He turned to Mr. Lasker. “You can tell us all about it down at the station.” He motioned to the officer to take him away. 

Annie and Aariz couldn’t believe it. They had known Mr. Lasker for years. He was always helpful. He often bought them donuts from the coffee shop. 

“Aariz, we need to talk about this,” said Annie.  

“Then let’s go talk about this at the coffee shop and get something to eat. I’m starving!” 

“You’re always starving. Are you buying?” 

Aariz’s stomach won out. “Yeah, I’m buying. But nothing expensive.” 

They sat at a table in the coffee shop, each with a bagel and apple juice.  

“I think Mrs. Harrison has something to do with it,” said Annie. “She’s mean to everyone. And she was the one who discovered the money was missing. And she also stayed late that night.” 

“But she reported the robbery,” said Aariz. 

“That was to deflect suspicion away from her,” said Annie. “I think we should investigate.” 

“I think we should let the police investigate,” argued Aariz. He knew that Annie’s love of mysteries often led to trouble— mostly his trouble. 

“Mrs. Harrison and Mr. Lasker were the only people who had the combination to the safe,” said Annie. “Mr. Lasker couldn’t have done it. I’m sure of it. Mrs. Harrison knew he handled those deposit boxes. Maybe she hid some of the money there on purpose so the police would find it.” 

Aariz thought a moment. “That’s possible. I also don’t believe that Mr. Lasker stole the money. But we need evidence.” 

“Let’s hide in the library tonight,” said Annie. “Maybe we can find something. Mr. Lasker needs help, and that help is us.” 

“What about our parents?” 

Annie thought for a moment. “If they ask, I’m at your house doing homework and you’re at my house doing homework. We both get great grades. We do homework together all the time.” 

Aariz looked up toward the ceiling, silently pleading for someone to talk him out of this. 

That night, they hid in the library computer room until everyone left. It was dark and eerie, not at all the warm, familiar place it usually was. After fifteen minutes, Annie motioned to Aariz. They slowly tiptoed out of the computer room and over to the library bookshelves. They went quietly from shelf to shelf, carefully looking around as they went.  

Suddenly, Annie jumped and almost screamed when they heard a sharp crack. Aariz turned to Annie and put his finger to his lips.  

“It’s just the wind blowing a tree branch against the building,” he whispered.  

Aariz turned back around and froze. Ahead of them a faint shadow flickered on the wall. They tiptoed around the corner to see where it was coming from. Down the hall they saw Mrs. Harrison in her office with only her desk light on.  

“What’s she doing?” whispered Annie so quietly Aariz could barely hear her.  

“She’s looking through her desk drawers,” whispered Aariz. 

“I bet that’s where she hid the money,” said Annie confidently. “She came back tonight to get it.”  

“We don’t know that,” whispered Aariz a bit too harshly.  

Mrs. Harrison suddenly stopped, snapped her head toward the partly opened door, and peered out. 

Just then the main lights came on and lit up the library. Annie and Aariz jumped and looked around. Miss Roberts walked in and saw Annie and Aariz staring at her with wide eyes.  

“What are you two doing here?” 

At the same time, Mrs. Harrison came out of her office and quickly walked over to all three of them. “What are you all doing here!?” 

“I left my cell phone and came back to get it,” said Miss Roberts, still confused at seeing everyone in the library after hours. 

Annie and Aariz looked at each other helplessly. 

 “We were hoping to find the real robber,” said Annie in a low voice. “It can’t be Mr. Lasker. There must be a mistake.” 

“There certainly is!” said Mrs. Harrison angrily. “And you two made it. I’m calling your parents.”