Milo’s scrunched-up nose suggested he had no idea why someone might want the briefcase that badly—never mind the recent fight over who got to play with it.“Why?”
“It might have something important in it,” Jem said.“Did you take it from Gerald’s bedroom?”
“No,” Maeve said.
“Where’d you find it?”
“It was in our room,” Maeve said.
Milo nodded.“Where Brigitte put it.”
Jem met Tean’s gaze; behind the glasses, the doc’s eyes were dark.
“Was it open like this when you found it?”Jem asked.
“Brigitte couldn’t get it open,” Maeve said.“She kept trying, but she didn’t know the code.”
“Maeve threw it,” Milo said helpfully.
“I didn’t throw it!It fell!”
“Yes, you did!You stood at the top of the stairs and threw it because you said you could throw it farther than me!”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did!”
“It fell!”Maeve turned wet eyes on Jem.“It slipped out of my hand when I was doing a dance!”
“It’s fine,” Tean said.“Nobody’s upset about the briefcase.”
“When it hit the floor,” Jem asked, “did the lock break?”
Maeve sniffled and nodded.
“It flew open,” Milo said.
Fingering a scuff on the leather, Jem nodded.It wasn’t like most briefcases were designed for high security.If it landed right, and if the locks were old or cheap or both, the impact might have popped the latches.
“You’re sure Brigitte didn’t open it?”Jem asked.
“She got really mad,” Milo said.
“And then Stephen came over,” Maeve said, “and she put it under the bed.”
“Okay,” Jem said.“That’s great.Thank you.Hey, you know what?You guys didn’t finish your dinner.You still need to eat your pretzels.And if you don’t eat your dinner, then no candy.”
A few minutes later, Maeve and Milo were dunking their pretzels in fresh nacho cheese.And Tean was giving Jem a look.
“What?”Jem said.
“I don’t think ‘Finish your pretzels’ has ever been part of the USDA’s dietary guidelines.”
“They’re good.They’re practically bread.They’ve got lots of salt.They’re dipping them in cheese.”
“Those are all bad things.”
“Well, I’m sorry.It’s not like we’ve got a million vegetables sitting around for them to eat.”
