The Case of the Illegal Bubble Letters(Charlotte Chan) The Case of the Illegal Bubble Letters


Tonda Willis and Lee Adams were sitting in homeroom listening their classmates share their weekends. “Thank you, Kelly. That sounds like an exciting weekend,” Mr. Hernandez said. “Who else would like to share what fun things they did this weekend?”

Michael Palamara’s hand shot up. “Go ahead Michael,” Mr. Hernandez prompted. “Somebody vandalised my Granny Carrie’s house. They wrote THE WITCH LIVES HERE on the side of her house,” blurted Michael. “Oh Michael, that’s terrible. Has your Granny Carrie called the police?” Mr. Hernandez asked. Michael shook his head. “Granny Carrie says she doesn’t care, but I know she does,” Michael said softly.

During lunch, Tonda and Lee carried their lunch trays over to Michael’s table, where he sat alone. “Hey Michael,” Tonda said breezily, plopping down next to him. “Sorry about your Granny Carrie’s graffiti,” she said. “Thanks guys,” Michael said mournfully.

“I think we can help you figure out who vandalised the property,” Tonda said helpfully. Michael’s head snapped up. “You mean it?” he asked hopefully. “Sure as cheddar,” replied Tonda. “Michael, can we come over after school to investigate?” said Lee. Michael bobbed his head up and down. “See you 5:15 after school See you there,” he said happily as the bell rang.

“This is Michael’s grandma’s house, correct?” inquired Mrs. Adams, who was dropping them off. “If it’s 43 Bayberry Boulevard, yes,” said Lee, reading the address off a slip of paper Michael had given them. The two hopped out of the car. “Bye Mrs. Adams,” called Tonda. “Bye Mom,” Lee chimed in.

Tonda and Lee walked up to the door and pressed the doorbell. Diiiiiiiiiing Dooooooooong, it sang.
Michael opened the door. “Hi guys, thanks for coming,” he greeted. “This is Granny Carrie,” he said, spinning around. Granny Carrie was very wrinkly and both could understand why people thought she was so old.
“Hello. Mikey told me you were Tonda and you Lee. I’m Carrie Palamara, but call me Granny Carrie,” she said, her wrinkled face breaking into a smile. “Hi, Granny Carrie. Absolutely delighted to meet you,” Tonda said politely. “Uh, pleasure to meet to too,” Lee added hastily. Granny Carrie laughed and turned to Michael. “Mikey, your friends are such dears,” she said.

“Please, come to the kitchen where we can talk,” Granny Carrie said. She moved so swiftly for her age Lee expected her to tumble at any moment. All of them sat down at a round table. “Care for some freshly baked blueberry muffins?” Granny Carrie offered lightly. Tonda preferred not but Lee and Michael accepted quickly. Granny Carrie served her muffins and Tonda began to absorb her surroundings. The kitchen was painted yellow and was airy and cheerful. It had wooden cupboards and furniture. There was a list taped to the wall Tonda squinted. It said:
Gardening Group @ 10:40 Agnes’s House
Go to Lunch with Pam @ 12:00
Drop off Mikey at Hockey Practice @ 3:45
Pick up Mikey from Hockey Practice @ 5:00
“Tonda?” It was Granny Carrie. “Are you sure you don’t want any muffins?” Tonda shook her head. Granny Carrie followed her gaze. “Oh, my schedule. I forgot to post todays. That’s yesterdays,” she said. Granny Carrie clasped her hands and smiled. “Where do we began?” she asked.

Lee chewed and swallowed. “When was the last time you saw you wall clean?” he asked. “At 12:00 was the last time I saw it empty. I had lunch with my friend Pam and when I returned at about an hour t-those words were there,” Granny Carrie said shuddering.

“’Kay. Do you have……. Any enemies that might do this?” Tonda questioned. Michael frowned. “Granny Carrie used to be a lawyer, so she has tons,” Michael said. “Well, I do have three major enemies,” Granny Carrie said eagerly. “There’s Justine Ng, my lawyer rival and Flash and Troy, two brothers whose drivers license I took away. They took it personally. But that was ancient history,” Granny Carrie said uncertainly.

“Whatever. Granny Carrie, why don’t you show call ‘em? But first, show Tonda and Lee the wall,” Michael suggested. “Great idea, Mikey!” chirped Granny Carrie. Granny Carrie opened the door and led them along the side of the house. There was a huge mural spread across the wall. In vast puffy orange bubble letters it read THE WITCH LIVES HERE. Granny Carrie turned away. Lee could see why. Each letter seemed to be mocking her.

“Wow,” Lee said finally. “I’m in shock. May we go in? You know, to make the calls?” he added. Granny Carrie nodded and led them back in. She picked up her phone and phone book and handed the phone book to Tonda and the phone to Lee. Tonda flipped to Justine Ng’s number and read it out loud. Lee punched in the number.

“Hello? Oh, may I speak to Justine Ng please? Thanks,” Lee said. “Her secretary is getting her,” he whispered. “Hello? This is uh Connor Johnson and I’m thinking of hiring you. Well, the requirements have to be for me to know what you’re doing between 12 and 1 yesterday. Oh, that’s usually the time they hold trials? Thanks. I needed to know because um my daughter Tonda has ballet……… okay, thanks. I need to consult my wife first. My cell’s 905-554-3466. Thanks again. Bye,” Lee finished and Tonda and Michael burst into a fit of giggles.

“Your daughter Tonda?” Tonda asked, laughing. “Connor Johnson, I didn’t know you had a wife,” choked out Michael. “You do the next call,” announced Lee, tossing the phone to Tonda, who caught it neatly. She began to look up Flash’s cell and Granny Carrie wrote down what Justine had said. “Here it is,” said Lee, jabbing his finger at Flash’s number. Tonda dialed it and held it to her ear.

“Hello? Hi, this is Chantelle Rivers. I was uh wondering what you were doing yesterday between 12 and 1pm. Weren’t you that man at the mall kiosk who wanted the black skull phone cover? No? Didn’t you give me your number? Oh, then what were you doing? Working out at the gym? Okay. I thought you were the one at my kiosk yesterday who told me to call him back. Sorry, wrong number. Bye,” Tonda said. Granny Carrie jotted it down.
“Tonda dear, you’re not bad at improvising! I plan to call Troy and use the same mall kiosk plan!” Granny Carrie said, grabbing the phone book and phone. She looked it up and dialed it. Granny Carrie talked quickly “He said he was taking his son Elliot to Hockey,” responded Granny Carrie, writing down Troy’s alibi.

“I KNOW WHO DID IT!” Tonda yelled. “Who?!” Michael screeched. “Tell us,” Lee said greedily. “Yes dear, please!’ Granny Carrie pleaded. Tonda took a deep breath.

“It was Troy,” she said. “Troy?” Michael said dubiously. “Yup, It’s Troy. You know Elliot, right Michael?” Tonda asked. “Yes, Elliot is very good. He’s on my team,” concluded Michael. “Well, if both of you are on the same team then both of you know that team practices are at 3:45 to 5:00, not 12 to 1,” Tonda explained.

“Tonda, you’re brilliant!” exploding Granny Carrie. “When I get my hands on that man he’s going to scrub the whole thing off my wall!”

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