The Case of the Fire Alarm (5 page)

A teacher sent him to the bathroom because he had paint on his hand.

He is too short to pull the fire alarm.

Here is what I know about Michael:

He had mud on his shoes.

He had paint on his hands, but he washed it off.

His class was outside when the alarm was pulled, but he came inside to use the bathroom.

He did not have a bathroom pass.

He pulled the fire alarm at his old school.

Here is what I know about Jillian:

She did not have mud on her shoes.

She had paint on her hand.

She was seen coming out of the art room.

Jillian says she wasn’t in the art room, but that is a lie.

Wherever Jillian was, she had permission to leave her class.

Jillian was Kayla’s friend, and she would NEVER, EVER, EVER pull a fire alarm.

I don’t think the mud is going to help me solve this case. Lots of people have mud on their shoes. That mud could have been left by anyone who walked down that hallway.

The paint isn’t going to help me, either. Lots of kids were painting this morning.

So what do I know that will help me solve this case?

I go over everything I know about Zach, Michael, and Jillian inside my head again.

Hmmm ...

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t say Jillian would never, ever, ever pull a fire alarm. I know it, but I shouldn’t say it because it’s an opinion. An opinion is when you THINK something is true, but you have no proof that it’s true.