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Solve this mystery and get the chance to win the prize!

How to join: 1. Read and solve the mystery.  2. Email your answers. 3. All entries with the correct answers get into the raffle for the chance to win the prize.

It’s that easy!  Now get those sleuthing skills sharpened and enjoy the mystery!

“In Search of Sherlock Holmes”

It was a quiet Wednesday afternoon in Bright Books where Melissa Honors worked part-time after school. She had just finished doing inventory of all the fiction books displayed on the shelf when four teenage boys came in. Oh no, she thought. These boys look like trouble to me. She knew these boys from school and they were popular bullies.  Oh no, she thought again.

“Can I help any of you?” she called out as she walked back to the counter.

“Not at the moment. We’ll just take a look around,” replied one boy with a baseball cap. Harry Parker. He’s been known to have been to Principal Higgins’ office many times for all sorts of school misdemeanors.

Melissa watched the four disperse and roam around the store. As she watched Jim Madison browse through the fiction books, she caught him sneaking a look at her…twice. Melissa felt a slight chill down her spine. She’s had a crush on Jim since she was a freshman but because he seemed to be hanging with the wrong crowd, she has chosen to ignore him.

She saw Darwin Rodriguez in the culinary books section, leafing through pages of a big book on Italian cuisine. Melissa wondered if  Darwin was really interested in cooking. The thought made her grin.

Pete Manson walked passed Jim then stopped over at the travel books. With his head tipped sideways, he was scanning at titles on European travels.

The sudden ringing of the telephone jumped Melissa. She turned her back to answer the phone. It was Mrs. Babble asking if the book she had ordered already arrived.  Melissa put her on hold and checked the computer. She then got back to Mrs. Babble saying that it was not expected till two more days.

As she hung up, she heard Harry call out to his friends, “I’m hungry. Let’s get some pizza over at Pizza King next door.”

By then he found Darwin by the computer books, Jim at the magazines, Pete at the travel books section and Harry at the comic books section. All four friends started out the door. Jim Madison, before leaving though, took another glance at Melissa and smiled.

She smiled back, but Jim didn’t see it as he was already out the door. Within seconds, her smile turned into a frown when she saw a gap between books over at the display of fiction books. She went over to that section and found mud on the floor.  Melissa gasped when she realized that one of the Sherlock Holmes book was missing. She double checked the inventory and indeed the book was missing. Knowing that it was only those four boys who have been in the store, she immediately called the police for assistance.

Two police officers arrived within 5 minutes and Melissa narrated what happened. The officers went to Pizza King and sure enough, they found the four friends there having a snack. The four were informed that something was missing at the store and they were invited back to Bright Books for questioning.

Melissa was present when each of the boys, now suspects, were interrogated. One of the officers brought each one to the corner while the others were contained by the other police officer at the other side of the store.

“I didn’t steal anything!,” Harry said immediately when the police officer sat him down on a chair. “I knew you would think I did it just because I was always getting into trouble at school. But let me tell you that I’ve changed. I haven’t even been called to Principal Higgin’s office since the start of the school.”

Pete was next. Calmly, he explained himself. “We were really going to hang out at Jim’s place after school but Darwin insisted on coming here first. Why would I steal that book? I never cared for mysteries. I prefer books of facts, non-fiction.You should ask Darwin why he wanted to come here. We were all just tagging along.”

Darwin was already explaining himself as he sat down. “Hey, I may be big and a bully at times but I’m no thief. Yes, I was the one who got my friends into the bookstore but only because I needed to find out what type of pasta was good to use for Seafood Marinara that I wanted to cook for my grandma.” When she looked to face Darwin’s piercing eyes, he added,”Now don’t you tell anyone about this okay? I don’t want anyone thinking I’ve got a thing for cooking. If this gets out, I’ll know you squealed about it.” A true bully, Melissa thought.

Jim seemed nervous as he sat down. “Yeah, it was Darwin who wanted to come here and we just tagged along. ” He looked at Melissa with pleading eyes and continued, “While waiting for Darwin, I went to check out some novels and magazines. I love to read but I swear, I didn’t steal anything. Stealing is wrong.” Melissa felt a rush of sympathy but reminding herself not to show any emotion, she looked down. She saw Jim’s mud-covered shoes.

The police officer that was at the interrogation shook his head, confused.  He asked Melissa, “I don’t know what to make of this. Do you have a security camera? Maybe we can find the thief from the video.”

Melissa shook his head and replied, “No, this store doesn’t have a security camera.” She then smiled at him and said, “But don’t worry, officer, I can identify our thief.”

Answer these questions-
1. Who’s the culprit – is it Jim Madison, Darwin Rodriguez, Pete Manson or Harry Parker?

2. How did Melissa find out?

SOLUTION WILL BE RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 29 AFTER THE DEADLINE OF SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES.

Join the Mystery Contest and win the Prize!

Here’s how-

1.  Read and answer the questions to the above mystery story.

2. Email your answers in the following format –

To: info@schoolkid.ph

Subject: Schoolkid.Ph Mystery Promo

Body/Message:  Who is the thief? ___(write your answer) ___

How did Melissa find out? ____(write your answer)___

Submitted by:_(write your full name)___

3. You must submit your email entry on or before November 28, 2010 11:59pm (Philippine Time)

4. Only entries with the correct answer will be included in the raffle.

5. Only one entry will be picked out from the raffle to win the prize.

6. A list of all entries with correct answers will be posted and the name of the prize winner will be announced on November 30, 2010.

7. The winner will also be notified by email.

8. The mystery contest promo is open to all residents of the Philippines. Those who live outside the Philippines but wish to join the contest must have a valid Philippine address to ship the prize to in the event they win the raffle.

10. Submission of entry means that you agree to these terms and conditions of this promo.

The Prize –

Schoolkid.Ph Red Logo Sticker
Schoolkid.Ph Folding Fan
Who-Dun-It Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle
Kids/ Whodunits: Catch the Clues Book by Hy Conrad

UPDATE (Nov. 26): A clue has been released! Find out what the clue is here.

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