Chapter 12

Chapter 12 An hour later, it was all over. Doc Henry, Grace Lockwood, and Officer Fallon sat with the kids in a booth at Ellie's Diner. "They caught Kurt Striker in Massachusetts," Officer Fallon said. "He's sitting in a jail in Springfield right now, waiting to be shipped back here." "So he took the falcons from the nest?" Josh asked.

"Not only that nest, Josh," Grace Lockwood said. "He took birds from nests in three other states that we know of." Doc Henry smiled. "I think we owe you kids an explanation," he said. "Grace isn't a vet. She's an undercover agent with the Department of Environmental Protection. She was assigned to Green Lawn for one reason: to keep an eye on our falcon population." Josh stared at Grace. "I knew there was something weird about you!" Everyone laughed. "Grace knew about the nest," Officer Fallon told Josh. "And she knew that you were out there a lot with your binoculars." "I watched you watching the falcons," Grace said. "At first I thought you had taken them." "You thought it was Josh?" Dink said. "He thought it was you!" "I know," Grace said, smiling at Josh. "You kept looking at me funny!" "Did you suspect Kurt Striker?" Ruth Rose asked. Grace shook her head. "Not a clue. We have you kids to thank for figuring that out."

"So what was he doing with the falcons?" Dink asked. "You kids were right about that one, too," Doc Henry said. "Striker had a little business going. He was taking young falcons and training them to race." "What will happen to them?" Dink asked. "We'd like to set them all free," Grace said. "But they've had a lot of human contact, so they probably wouldn't make it in the wild. Don't worry, there are plenty of wonderful zoos that keep animals happy and safe." "Maybe Flash could live in the Green Lawn Petting Zoo!" Josh said. "Now, there's a great idea!" Doc Henry said. "I'll talk to them about adopting all three from Flash's nest." "As for Kurt Striker, he'll spend some time in jail," Officer Fallon said. "He'll no doubt rat on a few of his cronies, and they'll join him." Ellie came over carrying a large tray. "Ice cream on the house!" she said. "I brought vanilla for every—" "But I always get pistachio!" Josh said. "You didn't let me finish, Josh," Ellie said.

"You'll have to excuse Josh," Ruth Rose said. "He gets cranky when he's hungry." "And he's always hungry!" Dink added. "As I was saying," Ellie went on, "vanilla for everyone except Joshua Pinto, the boy who saved our falcons!" She set a huge dish of pistachio ice cream in front of Josh. "And I want you to eat every bite," she said, smiling. "Don't worry about Josh," Dink said. "That'll be gone in a flash!"