The Mystery of the Missing Cookies 1 The Mystery of the Missing Cookies “Cookies!” my brother yelled as my mom walked into the kitchen. “No Daniel, no cookies until after dinner.” “Awww.” “Maddy,” my mom said turning towards me “ help me with the groceries.” “Cookie time!” Daniel yelled as my dad finished his spaghetti . “Yes Daniel, cookie time.” I said smiling . “ There gone!” Mom shouted . “Ah,well,” I said as Daniel ran around screaming “I’m not hungry,may I be excused?” “ Sure Maddy.” My dad said smiling as my mom shook her head muttering something about bad manners. “ Its gone, how can I read percy jackson if its gone!” I screamed. “Maddy,Maddy,calm down.”My dad tried to reason with me. “ CALM DOWN,CALM DOWN,HOW CAN I CALM DOWN!?” I yelled.“calm down, you can read it on on the kindle or go to the library.” “ B-b-but,” “ Well i’m going to work on my car.” Dad said standinging up and pushing in his chair. “My tools! Where are they?”Dad yelled running back into the room. “I don't know sweetie.” Mom said “ I’m going to freshen my makeup” She got up and went up stairs. “Where is my eye shadow!?” she yelled. “I’m not sure, but I know one thing,” I said “we have to take matters into our own hands.” I ran upstairs, grabbed an overcoat, plopped a fedora on my head and snatched a notebook and pencil from my desk and raced back down stairs. “Okay everybody sit there, there and there.” I Said pointing at three chairs in turn. Everyone sat down. “Daniel what were you doing right before dinner?” I asked. “Just playing with my trucks.” “where?” “in the living room.” He said still sniffling about his poor, poor cookies. “Dad what were you doing, and where?” I asked turning my attention to my dad. “I was reading my car magazine at the kitchen counter,” my father answered. “Why?” I asked him. “Because I wanted to get a snack and saw my new magazine on the counter,” he answered. I turned to my my mom, “Mom, what were you doing before dinner?” “I was pulling out laundry out of the dryer in the basement. And then I took it up to you and your brother’s rooms,” she answered. “Before dinner, I was reading in my room,” I said. “So that means Dad was the only person in the kitchen.” I turned towards Dad and said, “So Dad, did you possibly have a snack before dinner?” “Well yes,” Dad confessed, “I went to the food pantry to see if there was anything yummy to eat. And well, I was going to eat just one cookie, but then they were so good I kept eating another and another.” The Mystery of the Missing Cookies 2 “That solves the mystery of the missing cookies,” I said. “But what about my tools?” Dad inquired. “Hmmm....” I said, “Let me think. Were any of you using tools before dinner?” “No,” everybody said. “Wait before I started reading, I broke my clock. And I went to get some tools to fix it. And I must have taken your tools,” I said to my father. “What about my eye shadow?” Mom asked. “Let’s see,” I said, “What the eye shadow brand?” “It was Revlon. It was a set of blues, purples and green. The summer line” “Oh,” Daniel said suddenly, surprising everyone. “I went to ask Mama and Dada for some paints and markers. I went to look in your bedroom. But all I saw was a paint set of blues, purple and green. And I used that. When I was done I put it away with my craft supplies,” he said proudly, happy that he cleaned up after himself. “Now, all we are missing is my Percy Jackson book,” I continued. “Oh,” Mom said suddenly as if she had suddenly remembered something important. “I picked that up and started reading it. I think I set it down at my desk. It was really good. I couldn’t help myself.” “Okay, this is interesting. Let us all go get what we took from someone else, except for Dad. He needs to give Daniel some other treat.” “Oh Daniel,” shrieked Mom, “You ruined my eye shadow completely.”“I didn’t mean to,” Daniel explained, “I thought it was a paint set.” “It’s just good that everyone got back what they need. This has been a confusing night. I think we should all go to sleep now,” I said. “But going to the library is a good idea. Let’s do it first thing tomorrow morning.”“Yay!” Daniel shouted. And so with that we all tucked in for a good night’s sleep.