Denny braked his bike to a stop in the alley behind his house. Mr. Valencia stood there, one hand on his hip, the other gripping a baseball. "Denny, did you throw this baseball over my back fence?"
"No," Denny said.
"Well, someone did just a few minutes ago, and broke my bedroom window!" Mr. Valencia pointed a finger. Sure enough, one of the windows on the second floor was broken.
"Want me to find out who did it?" Denny asked.
Mr. Valencia stared. "How would you do that?"
"With detective work," Denny replied. He pedaled off. Detective Denny. Yeah! He liked the sound of that name!
Aha! There was Todd, on his way to the park with bat, ball and glove in hand.
"Did you hear about Mr. Valencia's smashed window?" Denny asked.
"Nope," Todd said.
"It was broken by a baseball," Denny said.
Todd's freckled face reddened. "Meaning what?"
"Meaning, uh, meaning I thought you might know who did it."
"Well, you thought wrong," Todd said.
Denny wasn't so sure. Then he saw Lance and Colin across the street. Two more suspects!
Both wore baseball uniforms and carried gloves and bats.
"Hey," Denny called.
"Hey yourself," Lance called back.
"Someone broke Mr. Valencia's window with a baseball," Denny said.
"Wasn't me," Colin said. He took off his glasses and rubbed them clean on his shirt.
"Me either," Lance said. "I wasn't even in the alley."
"Why don't you ask Todd," Colin said.
"I did," Denny said. This case was turning out to be harder than he'd expected. He watched the boys move on down the street. He needed a clue.
Todd had a ball. He could have done it.
But so could have Colin or Lance.
Wait! He did have a clue. Two clues. One pointed to two of the boys. And the second pointed to only one of those two.
Yes! Denny hoped on his bike, ready to question his suspect.
"I've solved the case," Denny cried, pulling up beside Lance and Colin.
"Case?" asked Colin.
"Yes. I know who broke Mr. Valencia's window.
"Who?" asked Lance.
"You," Denny said.
Lance blinked, then he hung his head. "It was an accident. I was trying to throw the ball over the house to Colin in front and.... Say, how did you know it was me?"
"Two clues. First, Todd had a bat, glove and baseball, but you and Colin only had your bats and gloves. Meaning maybe the ball thrown through Mr. Valencia's window belonged to one of you two. Second, Lance, you said you weren't in the alley, but why would you say that - unless you knew the ball was thrown from there?"
"Wow!" Colin said. "That's slick detective work, Denny."
"Yeah," Lance mumbled. "What do I say to Mr. Valencia?"
"How about 'I'm sorry'," Denny said.
So Lance apologized to Mr. Valencia. Then he promised to weed his garden as payment for the broken window.
Mr. Valencia smiled at Denny. "Great detective work."
Denny smiled back. "Thanks. I guess you could say I was really on the ball in this case, eh?"
Mr. Valencia chuckled. "Oh, uh, yes, you were indeed."
