Novel - Half Moon Investigations Read Free

arm. It felt like I had been steamrolled. Surely my arm was cartoon flat.
    “You better start thinking, Half Moon,” said Herod. “Otherwise we’re going down to the office together.”
    “Yeah, Half Moon,” chimed in Bella. “Get your thinking cap on.”
    Apparently I was the bad guy now.
    There was a simple solution. Simple but not very macho. However, I had little time and no options. With my free hand, I grabbed Herod’s left heel and tugged off his hiking boot.
    “Hey!” he shouted. “What are you doing? He’s stealing my shoe.”
    I wasn’t, of course, stealing his shoe. What I was doing was much less dignified. Before Herod could figure out what was going on, I grabbed his foot, and with my index finger, began tickling the sole.
    “What?” squealed the ten-year-old. “Not fair! Stoppit!”
    To give Herod his due, he held on for a few seconds before wriggling off Bella’s back and out of range. He was on his feet with tears of anger in his eyes.
    “What kind of fighting is that? That’s baby fighting.”
    He was right, of course. But I was a thinker, not a fighter.
    I stood up, coughing. “Listen, Herod. I’m willing to look into this organizer thing, but you have to let me follow proper procedure.”
    I picked up Herod’s boot, holding it out, mainly to show everyone that I wasn’t trying to steal it.
    Things could have calmed down then. A lot of kids were drifting away for line-up. Bella was up but winded, and Herod was having a teary moment. The whole thing was running out of steam, and would probably have turned into a Hold-Me-Back, if Red Sharkey hadn’t arrived.
    Red burst into the center of the circle on a mountain bike, scattering bystanders like skittles. Red Sharkey had always been at the center of the rowdy crowd. Red made his points with fists and jibes. He was tall and wiry, with flaming red hair that had earned him his school-yard name. Most of the children and staff at Saint Jerome’s didn’t know Red’s real name, and wouldn’t use it if they did. Red was the oldest kid in middle school. He should have moved on to high school a year ago, but he hadn’t attended much early on and had been held back.
    For a moment, Red’s eyes were wide and worried, then he saw his brother upright and apparently not bleeding. He jumped off his bike, kicking the stand with his heel during the dismount. I couldn’t pull off a move like that if I practiced for a year.
    “Roddy?” he said, with a casual nod.
    Herod scowled at his brother. “I don’t need you, Goody Two-shoes. I can handle this.”
    “So I see. Can’t you stay out of trouble for a minute?”
    Bella caught her breath. “Your brother stole my organizer. Brand new.”
    “I did not!” objected Herod.
    Red frowned. “Whenever anything goes missing in this school, the nearest Sharkey gets the blame.” He glanced at his brother. “You didn’t take it, did you?”
    “No.”
    “Are you sure?”
    Herod took a second to think back over the past few days.
    “Yeah. Certain. No organizer.”
    “Right, that’s it. He didn’t take it. End of story. Nothing to see here, let’s move it along.”
    Good idea, I thought. Red has more sense than his brother.
    But Bella wasn’t backing down for anyone, even Red Sharkey.
    “ He’s going to prove Herod did it.”
    Oh no, I thought. I’m he . He’s me.
    “Who’s going to prove Herod did it?” demanded Red.
    “He is!” shouted several dozen people. Most of them pointed, too.
    Red turned, following the fingers. His accusing gaze settled on me.
    “Hey, Red,” I said, trying the friendly approach. “How you doing?”
    Red smiled mirthlessly. “Half Moon. The man with the badge. This is not lost cats, this is the actual world. People could get in trouble.”
    I shrugged. “Tell your brother. He invited me.”
    “Doobie is always going on about his partner, the qualified detective, with the actual detective’s badge,” said Herod. “So let the nerd prove I’m