Sixty-Second Solutions 7

The Big Blast.

It was the largest weapon in Theo Casey’s professional fireworks artillery, a red, white and blue phenomenon just waiting to erupt with color and sound, the centerpiece of the town of Sallami’s Fourth of July celebration.

And it was gone!

“Where could it be?” moaned Theo, peering inside his van, pushing sparklers and bottle rockets to the side. His beard and mouth were smeared with the remains of an ice cream cone. “Who could have taken it?”

Samantha Spade and Billy Archer had been helping Theo unload his truck inside the Sallami City Park on the morning of July 4 when the pyrotechnic expert realized that his biggest firework was missing.

“Did you have ‘The Big Blast’ when you left home today?” Billy asked.

“Yes, yes,” cried Theo. “It was in the back of the van, which was locked in my garage. With this much firepower, you’ve got to be careful.”

“What about when you got to the park?” asked Samantha.

“It was here when I unlocked the van,” Theo replied, twirling a set of keys on his index finger.

“And you didn’t leave the fireworks unattended?” Samantha continued.

“Not since you two rode by on your bikes and offered to help me unload,” said Theo.

“And before that?”

“Well, I did go and buy myself an ice cream cone,” Theo said, sheepishly. “I left the van unlocked, but it was only for a minute, and who could resist a vanilla-fudge-chocolate chip cone, hmm?”

“Hmm,” echoed Samantha, staring absently across the park’s access road at the ice cream vendor, who was selling two vanilla cones to Suzette and Melissa Markel, twin students in Samantha’s class.

The grass around the van was still soggy from yesterday’s rain, but Samantha could make out no clues there. She and Billy had trampled the grass flat in their many trips back and forth to the van.

Just then, the park supervisor, Jim Jezquin, pulled up in a refurbished golf cart. Theo, Samantha and Billy quickly filled him in regarding the missing firework and asked if he’d seen any suspicious-looking characters.

“Can’t say that I have,” Jim said. “But I’ve been pretty busy for the last hour posting signs in the park to let people know they have to sit on the west side tonight to watch fireworks. The east side of the park is still too muddy from yesterday’s rain. I guess I haven’t had time to watch for crooks.”

“Don’t bother putting up any more signs,” moaned Theo. “Without the Big Blast, there can be no fireworks!”

Samantha and Billy excused themselves, hopped on their bikes and rode out of the park.

“It’s not like you to give up on a mystery like that,” said Billy.

“Who’s giving up?” Samantha shot back. “We’re going to ride to Mr. Casey’s house to look for more clues.”

Theo Casey lived two blocks away. Everything was quiet around his home, except for three high school boys playing basketball next door. Samantha decided to ask if they’d seen anything suspicious, just in case Mr. Casey was mistaken and somebody really had stolen the firework from his home.

Without mentioning The Big Blast by name, Samantha let the three know that a firework was missing and asked them if they’d seen anyone or anything suspicious around Mr. Casey’s home.

“Nope, nothing suspicious around here, Sam,” said Rob Denver. Rob rode Sam’s bus and knew her by reputation as Sallami’s best amateur detective. “And we’ve been playing basketball all morning.”

The other two boys – Harry Saltpepper and John Crane – agreed. They’d seen Mr. Casey back his van out of the garage, close the garage door and drive off toward the park. They knew he was a pyrotechnics expert and that he was probably setting up for the Independence Day fireworks, as he did each year.

“Did you guys go into the park today?” Samantha asked.

“What’s up, Sam?” said Rob. “We’re not suspects or anything, are we?”

“Not especially,” Sam answered, “although I suppose it wouldn’t be too hard for you guys to get to the park and back, since it’s only a few blocks away.”

“Rest easy, little detective,” Harry said. “We haven’t been anywhere near the park, and don’t plan to go even tonight. It’ll be way too crowded, what with no sitting on the east side.”

“Yeah, I think we’ll stay right here shooting hoops,” said Rob.

“That sounds like a fine idea,” Samantha replied. “But first, you need to return The Big Blast to Mr. Casey.”


HOW DID SAMANTHA KNOW THAT THE THREE BOYS HAD STOLEN THE BIG BLAST?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jim Jezquin said he had just started that morning posting signs telling people that the east side of the park was off-limits to fireworks watchers. The only way the three boys could have known is if they had been in the park that morning, although they said they had been playing basketball the entire time.

Caught in a lie, the three culprits admitted to Samantha and Billy that they had followed Mr. Casey’s van to the park and waited until he went to buy ice cream to steal the biggest firework they could find.

Luckily, they hadn’t yet detonated The Big Blast and returned it to Mr. Casey unharmed. Mr. Casey in turn called each of their parents and reported what their children had done.

That night, the city of Sallami thrilled to the sight of The Big Blast, courtesy of Samantha Spade’s investigative skills.