11 Ch11-Playing Dumb

Chapter 11 Playing Dumb "Miss Daisy!" we all shouted. "You're not dead!" "Of course I'm not dead," she said, blow- ing her nose. "I had the sniffles. There's something going around, you know." Even though Miss Daisy was sick, we all got up and hugged her. I was

glad she was back so we could stop learning stuff. "Where did Ms. Todd go?" asked Emily, like she was all worried. "I have no idea," said Miss Daisy. "Somebody in the office said she freaked out. What did you kids do to her?" "Nothing!" we all lied. "It was like she just disappeared," I said. "We didn't chase her with scissors or anything." "Ms. Todd never even said good-bye," said Andrea. "That wasn't very nice." "I think she went to try out for the Olympics," said Michael. "Ms. Todd was a terrible teacher," said

Ryan. "All she wanted to do was teach us stuff." "It must have been horrible!" said Miss Daisy. Suddenly I figured it all out. It was like in the cartoons when a lightbulb appears on top of somebody's head so you know they had a great idea. Well, I had a great idea. I finally figured out what really hap- pened. It wasn't that Ms. Todd murdered Miss Daisy. It was that Miss Daisy murdered Ms. Todd! Now it all made sense. Everything fit together. Miss Daisy probably suspected that Ms. Todd knew a lot of stuff to teach

us. She was afraid that Ms. Todd knew so much stuff that Mr. Klutz might hire her to take over Miss Daisy's job. So Miss Daisy murdered Ms. Todd. She was just

playing dumb so we wouldn't suspect her. Very clever! Only a kid who is gifted and talented could figure out complicated stuff like this. "Miss Daisy," I said, "you're under arrest." "What for?" she asked. "For the murder of Ms. Todd!" I said. Everybody in the class gasped. "Are you out of your mind, A.J.?" said Miss Daisy. "Why would I murder Ms. Todd?" "Because you thought she was going to take your job," I said. "That's ridiculous, A.J.," said Miss Daisy. "You've been playing dumb for too

long," I told her. "We're onto you. You're a murderer!" "I am not!" "Oh yeah?" I said. "It's funny how you walked in here just a few minutes after Ms. Todd ran out," I said. "You must have murdered Ms. Todd right in the parking lot!" "I wasn't even in the parking lot!" said Miss Daisy. "I walked here." "Tell it to the police," I said. "You lie like a rug. But we've got the goods on you. You're going to the slammer. Give me your hair. We've got to do a DNA test on it." Miss Daisy sighed. "I need some bon- bons."