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The Case of the Beagle Burglar Page 5


  I looked over at the Brainiac. My partner. I guess sometimes the person who helps you solve mysteries is the one you least expect, too.

  “I’m glad Scout didn’t know I blamed him,” Leo said.

  “How do you know he didn’t?” I asked him.

  “Come on,” Leo said. “Dogs aren’t that smart.”

  Not that smart? Was he kidding? If it hadn’t been for Scout and his friends, Leo wouldn’t have his plans for a science project at all.

  But I didn’t tell him that. Instead, I said, “You’d be surprised. Dogs are pretty smart. Trust me.”

  CALLING ALL DETECTIVES!

  Be sure to read all the Jack Gets a Clue mysteries!

  Here’s a sneak peek of

  The Case of the Tortoise in Trouble …

  Suddenly, I glanced down at my backpack. It was squirming in the bus seat next to me. I did a double take. Backpacks aren’t supposed to move.

  Weird.

  “Hey! Who turned out the lights?”

  Double weird. Backpacks don’t talk, either.

  But animals squirm. And they talk. At least to me. I reached into my bag and pulled out a very frightened tortoise.

  “Mia!” I shouted angrily.

  “Why did you bring Mia’s tortoise?” Leo asked me.

  “I didn’t,” I told him. “She must have shoved him in my backpack this morning.”

  Mrs. Sloane looked back to see what the commotion was about. “Jack! Why would you bring a tortoise on a school field trip?” she asked. She sounded angry. Not that I blamed her. I was angry, too.

  “I didn’t,” I said.

  Trevor started to laugh. “Uh, hello? You’re holding a tortoise right now.”

  Everyone on the bus giggled.

  Grrr …. Trevor can be such a jerk.

  “Trevor does have a point,” Mrs. Sloane told me. “Do you mind explaining this?”

  “I didn’t bring Tut on purpose,” I insisted. “My sister must have snuck him into my backpack when I wasn’t looking.”

  Luckily, Mrs. Sloane smiled. “I have a little sister, too,” she said. “They can be pains sometimes.”

  Sometimes? Mia was a pain all the time. But I wasn’t going to let her ruin my day.

  HAVE YOU READ ALL OF THE

  JACK GETS A CLUE MYSTERIES?

  #1: The Case of the Beagle Burglar

  #2: The Case of the Tortoise in Trouble

  About the Author

  NANCY KRULIK has written more than 150 books for children and young adults, including three New York Times bestsellers. She is the author of the popular How I Survived Middle School, Katie Kazoo Switcheroo, and George Brown, Class Clown series. Nancy lives in Manhattan with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser, their two children, Ian and Amanda, and a beagle named Josie.

  Copyright

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  Text copyright © 2011 by Nancy Krulik

  Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Scholastic Inc.

  Cover art by Gary LaCoste

  Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, July 2011

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

  e-ISBN: 978-0-545-38898-6