16. Super Spies

CHAPTER 16 SUPER SPIES The next day at school, Harold stuck close to George. The two boys spent their every free moment spying on Kipper and gathering as much information as they could about their enemy. They wrote down Kipper's locker number and the type of padlock he used. They took note of Kipper's schedule and paid special attention to what he normally did between classes. They took measurements and even stayed after school to spy on Kipper's wrestling practices. By the end of the week, George and Harold knew Kipper's schedule better than Kipper knew it.

Kipper Krupp was a creature of habit. Every day, he did the exact same things at the exact same times. At the end of every school day, Kipper would go to his locker and unlock his heavy-duty padlock with a key he kept on a thick metal chain around his neck. Kipper would place his padlock on top of his locker, then open the locker door. Next, Kipper would empty his pockets, putting his valuables inside the locker. His phone always went on the top shelf, and the money he'd stolen from the kindergartners would always get crammed into a duffel bag at the bottom of the locker. Finally, Kipper would grab his padlock from the top of the locker, put it back on the door, and click it shut to lock it.

After wrestling practice, Kipper would go back to his locker and unlock it the very same way. He'd retrieve his phone, grab his heavy-duty padlock from the top of his locker, and put it back on the door. Finally, he'd click it shut to lock everything back up again. Surprisingly, Kipper usually left all of his stolen money in his locker every night. Perhaps Kipper thought the money was safest in his locker. Nobody could open that locker without a key, nobody but Kipper had the key, and Kipper never took the key off of his neck... not even in the shower!

"We'll never get that key away from Kipper," said Harold, as the two boys walked up the aisles of the local hardware store. "We don't need the key," said George. "We just need this!" George picked up a brand-new padlock from the home security section. "This is the exact same kind of padlock that Kipper uses on his locker," said George. "But it won't have the same key," said Harold. "Each one has a different key!" "I know," said George. "So how is that padlock going to help us?" asked Harold. "You'll see..." said George, smiling.

After the boys paid for their brand-new heavy-duty padlock, they went to the toy shop across the street. Down at the end of aisle three, near the beads and jewelry, George found what he was looking for: a Susie Sunshine Friendship Bracelet Kit. "What is THAT for?" asked Harold. "We've gotta make a couple of friendship bracelets this weekend," said George. "Why? What for?" said Harold. "You'll see..." said George, smiling even more.

That weekend, George and Harold spent a lot of time drawing up plans and designing pranks that would help put an end to the bully situation at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. Then the two boys went through their homes, collecting everything they needed for the job. George found a long roll of shelf- lining paper in his kitchen and measured it carefully. "Hey, Mom, can we have this?" said George. "It's for school." "I suppose so," said George's mom.