The Fight for Kidsboro by Marshal Younger

gun. “Kind of …well, kind of like this one.” I wanted to applaud.
    Nick brushed a drop of sweat from his forehead. “Lots of people have staple guns.”
    â€œWow, look at this,” Scott said, holding up a screw. “We found these very same screws in Nelson’s house.”
    â€œHa! That’s a lie!” Nick shouted. “His walls are too thick for that screw.”
    â€œBut I thought you said you’ve never been in Nelson’s house.”
    Bravo! Scott looked at Nick, who was breathing hard and appeared to be thinking harder.
    â€œWell, maybe I did go in there once. I don’t remember.”
    â€œSo, you’re saying you remember what type of wood he has for his walls, but you don’t remember if you actually stepped foot in his house?”
    â€œOkay, I’ve been in his house a couple of times. He’s invited me in.”
    â€œSo, you’re friends?”
    â€œYeah, sure.”
    â€œBut I thought you said a couple of minutes ago that you didn’t care anything about Nelson.”
    My chin had dropped to the ground about two minutes before, but now the rest of my body was about to join it. Scott was amazing. Maybe endless hours of watching tough-guy detective shows had finally paid off for him. Scott grilled him for a while longer until Nick finally got sick of getting caught in lies and confessed to breaking into Nelson’s and Marcy’s houses. He also confessed to setting up Roberto. I told him that he would probably be kicked out of town for this. He acted like he didn’t care.
    Scott and I walked away. I felt so proud of him. Scott seemed unaware that he had just done something incredible. He casually told me that he needed to go home for dinner. But as he walked away, I spotted him putting his hat back on.

    Something still bothered me, though. I couldn’t understand why Nick would do it. Scott had tried to ask him about this too, but by that time Nick had had enough and wasn’t about to answer any more questions. What possible reason could he have for breaking into two houses and not taking anything?
    This, of course, led me back to Valerie. Did she hire him? I could understand the first break-in. She was trying to frame Roberto to make me look bad so that she could take over as mayor. But the second house made absolutely no sense. She had to have done it, though. Who else would have anything to gain by breaking into two houses?
    Suddenly, like a message from above, I got my answer. As I was walking back to my office, I noticed Max Darby surrounded by a crowd of people. He was selling insurance. I was pretty sure this didn’t happen in real life—an insurance salesman having to fight people off.
    Of course! Max was getting rich because people were scared of being robbed or vandalized! Max had something to gain! Max must have paid Nick to break into the houses! This would explain how Nick got the money and the wood to build a huge addition to his house. That was it! It was an insurance scam!
    After the crowd around Max dwindled, I approached him. “Selling a lot of policies?”
    â€œFourteen total,” he said. “Seems to be the hot item. Change your mind about it?”
    â€œNo thanks. I’m sure glad someone is benefiting from this rash of crime.”
    â€œOh, I’d never want to benefit from something like that.”
    â€œI’m sure you wouldn’t,” I said, knowing full well he would love to benefit from something like that. “I just found out who did it.”
    â€œWell, partner, I think you’re a little late. Everybody else in town has known for days. It was that Roberto kid you brought in.”
    â€œNo, It wasn’t.” I paused for effect here. I wanted to be able to read guilt in his eyes, so I watched closely as I laid the bomb on him. “Nick did it.”
    He didn’t flinch, blink, or blush. “Really? Never would a suspected him. Good