The Incredible Polly McDoodle (The Polly McDoodle Mystery Series Book 4) Read online

  The restaurant was playing music from the musical Cats. It smelled of ice cream and sugar. The walls were decorated with photographs of European cities.

  “Did you get those mid-term tests marked?” Alice asked her husband as he dug into his banana cream pie.

  He reached across and sampled her strawberry shortcake. “All but three. I brought them home to finish.”

  Kyle had a chocolate mousse moustache. He licked his top lip with a smile.

  Polly read Isabel’s letter to herself and then out loud to the Clays. Isabel was having a wonderful time but she missed George and the gang at the co-op. She wondered whether they had solved another mystery yet and what they were doing on Halloween.

  Evidently in Mexico the people celebrated November the First, the day when they honoured all the saints. They called it the Day of the Dead, carried around skeleton dolls dressed in costumes, ate skeleton candy, and picnicked beside their ancestors’ graves. Isabel was looking forward to having a wonderful time, even if she was missing Coffee Crisp chocolate bars.

  The sweet taste of the cheesecake couldn’t ease the sad feeling Polly had inside. She didn’t want to find out that her friend Tommie Lee was involved in something dishonest. The Disheartened and Downcast McDoodle rode home in Clay’s quiet car not talking, not even drawing. It was dark and she felt chilled to the bone.

  “I hope Tommie Lee isn’t doing something bad.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions, Polly,” Kyle whispered as they pulled into the parking lot behind their building. “We don’t have all the facts yet.”

  11. The Saskatchewan Connection

  “So how do you like being an only child?” Shawn flopped on the couch in front of the television in their hotel suite in Regina. If anything his muscles were thicker in his arms. He was even sprouting a few whiskers. His tousled, black curly hair was still damp from the shower he’d had at the arena.

  Polly yawned. It was too late to go back to sleep, after being out so early to watch Shawn practise. She switched channels looking for something on Saturday morning that wasn’t childish, dreary, or dreadful. She settled on an old movie with the sound low.

  How do you tell your brother you miss him without sounding stupid? “Mom has one less kid to pick on so she doubles up on me. She’s always on my case about not getting enough exercise, not being tidy, being too loud, you know.”

  “The same old same old, eh?” There was a pause. “I kind of miss it myself. The Browns are nice people. They not only give me room and board, they kind of act like a foster family. The other player who stays with them is older and he’s always out with his buddies. It’s all right, though. In between school and hockey I don’t have much time.”

  “Mom and Dad will quiz you about how much ice time you are getting and what position you are playing. I just wish you were there, you know, looking in the fridge, banging weights around in your room, giving me a hard time.” Polly went into the kitchenette and grabbed a cola out of the small fridge. Her ears were burning and her face was hot.

  Ted and Jan had gone for a run along Wascana Creek. The McDougalls had driven in last night and picked up Shawn at his hockey family’s house. They’d gone for stacks of pancakes at Smitty’s Restaurant and laughed and talked until midnight. Polly had gone with Shawn to his 6 a.m. early practice. Her parents were going later.

  “Kyle and I are working on a new mystery.” Polly threw herself in a side chair near the bed.

  Shawn flicked off the TV. “Tell me about it.”

  She told him about the first mail robbery that she had seen. About Darrell and Sydney and their convict dad. About weird Mr. Stone playing blackjack. Then she told him about Mrs. Dobson and her credit card and Mrs. Kim’s missing keys. “I don’t know how many robberies have taken place since.”

  “Who would you ask? You don’t want the police to stop you from investigating, do you?” Shawn asked.

  “Kyle and I are just poking around.”

  “If I recall you have poked around fairly effectively on several occasions.”

  “Well, yes.”

  “One of these days the police are going to figure out you are detectives.”

  “Maybe.”

  “But the truth is you don’t want Mom and Dad to worry, right. So you keep quiet.” Shawn said. “I think it’s kind of neat having a detective for a little sister. Keeps me from getting too arrogant.”

  Polly blushed. “The thing is, I think there may be a Saskatchewan connection this time. The Dell boys’ dad is in prison here.”

  “The prison is in Prince Albert.” Shawn stood by the patio doors looking out onto the balcony. “I think I played hockey against Sydney Dell. Maybe in Midget.”

  “They’re going to Cool School.”

  “For kids who drop out.” Shawn opened the glass doors and strolled outside.

  Polly joined him at the balcony railing. “Mr. Stone and his sister come from Saskatchewan. His parents had a farm.”

  “Any other suspects?”

  “Not from Saskatchewan. Tommie Lee and her mother come from Texas.”

  “Are you going to follow up on leads while you are here?”

  “I can’t very well. Mom and Dad told me to stay at the hotel while they go with you to the rink, and they would worry if I did anything dangerous.”

  “Well, there’s the phone book, and there’s Internet access downstairs,” said Shawn. “That might help. I’ll ask around and see if any of my friends know about the Stones.”

  “Thanks, Shawn.”

  “Good luck, Polly.” Shawn stood up.

  Polly glanced at her sturdy older brother in his T-shirt and sweats. He looked like a younger version of her dad, only taller.

  “If you ever make it to the NHL I’ll never see you,” she said with a sigh.

  “That’s a big if, kid. It’s a tough climb, a lot of work, and no guarantees.”

  Polly didn’t say anything, she just studied his broad grinning face with flashing blue eyes.

  “Besides,” he told her, “I’ll still come home. No one plays hockey all year. And you don’t play hockey forever. It’s not like art. You can be an old artist but you can’t be an old hockey player. Maybe you chose the best route, Polly.”

  Polly blushed and studied her hands. She picked up her sketchbook. “At least I don’t have to haul around a heavy hockey bag to do my work,” she laughed. “It’s good to see you, Shawn.”

  Just then the door of the suite opened and their parents bounded in.

  “What a great run,” Ted panted.

  “It’s a nice path.” Jan leaned against the closet door doing stretches. “Too bad you didn’t come, kids.”

  “I get enough exercise, Mom.” Shawn winked at Polly.

  “Me too, in gym class,” said Polly.

  “I worry about your little sister, Shawn. All she does is walk George. She even walked him over by her school last week.” Their mom grabbed her clothes from her suitcase and headed towards the bathroom. “ I just hope she isn’t chasing some other dead-beat.”

  Polly was about to say she had just been helping at the bookstore and going for cheesecake, but her mother closed the bathroom door and the shower started to run. Her dad went into the kitchen and got a bottle of juice from the fridge.

  Her dad came over and tousled her already wild hair. “Let’s go for a swim the three of us. Then your mom and I can take Shawn to his practice.”

  Polly dived into her suitcase for her swimsuit. The hotel had a neat slide and she wanted to try it.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the practice? Are you going to be all right here on your own this afternoon?” Dad asked as they headed down to the pool. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll watch one of the in-room movies. And I’ve got to write an essay or story for this dippy Language Arts teacher who dresses like a rubbish heap.”

  Shawn and her dad headed into the men’s change room and Polly strolled to the women’s. She wished Mrs. Robins
on would come back to school. Something about Mr. Stone bothered her. His voice always sounded like he thought he was smarter than any of them and he looked down his nose at everyone. What made him such a snob? He couldn’t be much over twenty. He claimed he’d gone to university when he was sixteen. But he sure hadn’t mastered the art of getting along with other people, especially students. He’d had a tough break when he was a kid though. She sure wouldn’t like to lose her home and everything in it. That could really scar you. It had been bad enough losing the tree fort.

  She slipped into the pool at the shallow end and let the warm water slide over her body. She contented herself with short laps as the pool wasn’t very long. Her father and brother were in the hot tub talking about hockey. She could hear their voices above the sound of a family in lifejackets cooing over a baby going for its first swim.

  She climbed out and padded across to the bright blue slide, her wet feet making dark marks on the shiny tan ceramic tile floor. The moist air smelled of chlorine and green plants. A young gardener with pale eyes and paler skin was watering the fig trees. A maid trundled by with a supply cart in the direction of the suites that opened onto the pool atrium.

  Maybe Flora and Tommie Lee had been doing something really innocent when they went into that apartment building. Tommie Lee had said she and her mom were working to raise enough money to go home to Texas for Christmas. Polly hoped they were getting it honestly.

  Polly chewed her lip as she climbed the slide and slid down into the warm blue water. Shawn passed her doing the butterfly stroke. She swam away and flipped over the ledge into the hot tub with her dad.

  They sat in the steam and talked about sneakers and the newest styles in running shoes. He was going to get her a really smashing pair cheap because he managed the Sports store. She splashed her dad with water as he pulled up to the ledge that separated the hot tub from the pool.

  “Race you,” he said as he took off to the other end. They did a few laps. Then slowed down. Shawn was stretched out on a green plastic lounge chair.

  Polly sighed. “I miss Shawn.”

  “We do too, honey,” her dad said. “He’s got to follow his dream.”

  Polly sighed.

  “You’ve never liked change Polly, ever since you were a little girl.”

  “I guess,” Polly said.

  “I know. I watched you. When we moved into the co-op apartment building from our tiny townhouse you cried for two days.”

  “But I was only four.”

  “So. That’s one reason your mom and I have stayed put so long. You have enough changes what with changing schools and having friends come and go.”

  Polly sat on the steps at the shallow end of the pool. The family with the baby had gone. “I’m glad you don’t work in Africa like Mandy’s folks. That’s got to be hard.”

  “Seems like a nice kid.”

  “I’m worried about her. She doesn’t eat.” Polly let her hands dance on the water in front of her.

  “You should talk to your mom. She knows all about that.” He tossed a small pink dinosaur float to the far side of the pool. “ Sometimes she gets people in her exercise classes who worry too much about their bodies. They don’t eat or if they do they try to bring it up.”

  “Can’t that be really dangerous?”

  He nodded. “Mandy is lonely. Just be her friend, Polly. You’re good at that.”

  “She misses her folks.”

  Her dad grinned. “I really admire people like that but we’re pretty low risk-takers, your mom and I.”

  “What about Shawn?” Polly asked.

  “His drive to play well covers a pretty shy boy.”

  “And me?”

  “You’re a funny combination. You want the safety of home and family along with the excitement of doing new things. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. You may surprise us all, Polly.” Her dad launched himself from the steps and swam away. Polly paced him. Ted grabbed the ledge between the pool and the hot tub. “Whatever you do, kid, your mom and dad think you are incredible. Don’t forget that.”

  Polly did a couple of more laps then climbed out of the water and strolled over to the lounge chair next to her brother. She grabbed her towel and stretched out. She felt calmer about things than she had for weeks. It wasn’t every day your dad called you incredible.

  She hadn’t really wanted to come to Regina but she had wanted to see Shawn. Being here with her whole family would give her the space she needed to do some serious thinking and drawing. She was looking forward to being on her own this afternoon while her family went to the rink.

  What was she going to do about Mandy? Her mom might have some suggestions. Maybe she could talk Mandy into seeing a counsellor. Polly didn’t want anything to happen to her new friend.

  12. Hotel, Hockey, and Homemade Ice Cream

  Polly sat at the small table by the window of their hotel suite. She had paper, pens, crayons, ruler, and sketchbook spread everywhere—on the spare chair, on the bed and the couch. She was drawing a map of the neighbourhood around her school, complete with doodled squirrels.

  The phone rang.

  Who could that be? Maybe her folks checking up on her. She was under strict orders not to answer the door or go out on her own. Two weeks ago a girl had disappeared from a parking lot in a Vancouver suburb. Just thinking about it made her stomach and throat tighten and taste bad.

  She picked up the receiver. “Hello.”

  “Oh, good, it’s you Polly,” Kyle said. “You said you’d call.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Small Shadow Lake, where else?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. You sound closer.” Polly shoved the debris off the chair and sat down.

  “Perhaps by fibre optics but geographically no. I’ve got news.” Kyle paused. “I’ve been poking around over at the bookstore and at the pharmacy next door.”

  “What is it? What’s the news?” Polly leaned forward in the chair and plastered the receiver to her ear.

  “I have to hurry. My mom and dad have gone for a walk by the lake. They warned me not to get too involved. But I figure we aren’t doing anything dangerous. We are just listening and watching, right.”

  “Right. What did you discover?”

  “Several things. Do you want them in order of importance?”

  “Kyle, for Pete’s sake, tell me what you discovered, you big baboon.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment. They are fascinating creatures. Highly developed.

  “Anyway Mr. Stone’s sister and her boyfriend have mountain bikes. I saw them loading them onto the back of an old pickup. The three of them were heading away for the long weekend I guess. Maybe they went home to Saskatchewan. They could be in Regina for all I know. I watched them load the bikes from a garage backing on the lane behind the bookshop. They live on the top floor of that house with the grey wooden stairs coming down the back way.”

  “The one the dogs wanted to climb?”

  “That’s right. And there’s more. I saw the Dell boys on their bikes. They were parked behind the school, close to that ugly green apartment building with the metal balconies. That’s not their place.”

  “Maybe they have friends in there,” Polly said.

  “Then why were they both carrying green garbage bags and sneaking in between that place and the little house next door?”

  “Anything else?” Polly asked. “Any other strange movements around the neighbourhood?”

  “Nothing, I guess.” Then he chuckled like a vampire with a sack of blood. “I saved the best for last. Flora threw a bag of shredded documents and envelopes into the recycle bin behind the IGA. She looked like she’d been crying. Her mascara, or whatever you call that goop women put on their eyes, was running down her cheeks making black smudges.”

  “Kyle, that could be important, you goofus.”

  “I know. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.”

  “When is your family heading back into
Edmonton from the lake?”

  “Monday afternoon early enough to beat the traffic. Thanksgiving everyone takes off. Travelling the highways can be hazardous for your health. Oh, oh, here come my parents back from their perambulation.”

  “See you Tuesday morning bright and bushy-tailed. Let’s take an early bus so we can scout the block, in case something more has happened. Bye.”

  “Maybe I’ll do some research on the Internet about the Stones when I get back to town They might have a web page.” Kyle whispered. “Too bad you couldn’t do something about the Regina connection.”

  “What do you suggest?”

  “Bye!” Polly heard Kyle’s parents in the background as he hung up.

  She needed to put down everything they knew so far and what her questions were. She opened to a fresh page in her sketchbook.

  Clues:

  Missing postal keys.

  Two robbers on bikes with black tear-away trousers and grey hoodies.

  Mail discarded in school recycle bin and perhaps in box behind the pharmacy.

  Suspects:

  Tommie Lee and Flora—Flora hadn’t wanted to answer questions about who had been in the pharmacy. She was seen shredding documents and letters. They go out at night to apartment buildings. They like to dress cool and want to take a trip to Texas. Would be expensive. That is a possible motive.

  The Dell boys, Darrell and Sydney. Their father is in jail. They might be criminals too. They were school dropouts (they have gone back). They have mountain bikes, a cart and wear black tear-away trousers. Like all the other suspects they live in the neighbourhood. They have been seen lurking around an apartment building with green garbage bags. They want money to go and see their dad in Saskatchewan.

  Mr. Stone, his sister, and her boyfriend. He gambles. They have bikes but we don’t know much more about them.

  Here Polly paused. She checked the bedside table under the telephone and radio alarm. The Regina directory was stacked on a shelf with a slim volume called Tips and Treasures for Travelers in Saskatchewan. She leafed through the white pages until she came to the S’s. Under Stone she looked for W. There were twenty Stones and three of them were W’s. None of the W’s had used their full first name. There were W. J., W.M., and W.T. listed.