Book 2 — Story 3
Reminders to Presenters: Use the CTRL Key ant the + sign to make the HTML text page bigger for readability........ Mark comes home to find his apartment has been trashed. He calls 911 and with the help of the police, he discovers the culprit.
A Botched Mess
Mark Yung pushed his friend Ryan Ray off of his back. “Who’s the five-year-old here?” Mark asked.
His little sister, Miki, said, “I’m five, Mark.”
Mark patted her little head. “I know you are five, Miki. But, for a minute, I thought Ryan was five, also.”
“You’re silly, Mark,” Miki laughed. “Ryan is a grown up.”
“Well, dear little sister, Ryan is big. But he isn’t very grown up.” As if to prove Mark was right, Ryan grinned. He pushed his nose up like a pig and started oinking.
Mark was laughing so much that he had trouble finding his key. When he finally found it, he unlocked the door and started in. Then he stopped laughing. “What’s going on here?” he asked. He turned to Ryan and said, “Take her to your place.”
“What’s wrong?” Ryan asked.
“My apartment’s been trashed. Take her to your place now,” Mark yelled. Ryan picked Miki up and ran down the hall to his place. Mark shut the door. He called 911 while he waited in the hallway.
Officers Morgan and Tripp came. They told Mark to stay in the hallway. They went inside, looked around, and came back out. Officer Morgan said, “It’s a mess in there, but it’s safe. We are going to dust for fingerprints. You can come in with us. But don’t touch anything.
When Mark went inside, he felt sick. His TV was on the floor. His tax papers were sticking out from under the TV. His desk chair was upside down. He stood there looking around. Then he said, “My rent check is gone. It was with my taxes. Someone must have taken it.” He looked at Officer Tripp and said, “Can a thief cash my check?”
“No, but a thief might try.”
Officer Morgan came from the kitchen. She said, “The thief must have been hungry, but not very neat. Your refrigerator has been cleared out. The empty dishes are on the floor and the door is open.”
Mark went into the kitchen to check it out. He picked up his school application from the floor. He picked a pickle and a piece of bread off of it and threw them into the trash. “Why would anyone need to mess with this? I worked hard filling it out.”
“Thieves aren’t nice people,” Officer Morgan said. “Is there anything of value missing?”
“Well, my TV is there. My laptop is over there.” Mark looked around. “And my MP3 player is over there. I’m surprised those things are still here,” Mark said. “Seems like an odd thief to me.”
Officer Morgan said, “An odd thief indeed. There are no fingerprints anywhere. And, there seems to be a lot of saliva on the refrigerator door. Do you have a dog?”
Mark’s eyes got big. “Yes, I do have a dog. The first floor apartments here have little yards. So, Botch stays out there when I’m not here.” Mark went to the back door. “This door is open a little.” He looked out the door. Botch was sitting there. His fur was matted with barbecue sauce. The empty rib container was on the ground next to him. And, stuck to Botch’s backside was a check. Mark said, “Oh, boy. I think I’ve found the thief. And, a messy thief he is.”
Both officers walked into the back yard. They stood looking at Botch and laughing. Mark said, “But how did he get the door open?”
Officer Tripp studied the door. He said, “The door is still locked. I bet it did not click shut. All Botch had to do was rub against it and the door opened easily.”
“But, why would Botch knock over my TV?” Mark asked.
“Did you have any food by it?” Officer Morgan asked.
“Oh, my gosh!” Mark laughed. “A dog food sample came in the mail. I opened it and smelled it. I left it on the TV table right by my tax papers. I was going to give the sample to Botch tonight.”
Mark continued, “I suppose Botch opened the refrigerator on his own? I’ve never seen him do that. But, he is pretty strong. And, he watches me get food from there all the time.”
The two officers went back inside and walked to the front door. Officer Tripp said, “If you have any more scary threats on your home, please call us again.”
Officer Morgan added, “But make sure to wait for us in the hallway. We don’t want the dangerous thieves to hurt you.”
Mark said, “You are both very funny. I’m sure I will be just fine. I’ve got a great watchdog to take care of me!”
What do you think?
- Mark told Miki that he thought Ryan was five years old. Do you think it is OK to say something like that to a child when a child will likely not understand that it is a joke?
- Mark waited for the police in the hall instead of waiting in his apartment. Do you think that was a good idea? Explain.
What would you do?
- If you were Mark, what would you do in the future to make sure you did not have the same problem again?
