Chapter Three
Another Accusation

Rob walked with Jamal on the semi-busy sidewalk, about one block away from the Alex and Gaby's family store. He glanced ever so slightly to the right as they passed Tina's house, but he assumed that the Vietnamese girl would not be there.

A few blocks away from Dayton, Jamal had asked Ghostwriter to send a message to the others they were done with their part of the investigation. Lenni had responded that Gaby and Tina had finished and were with her at a library branch. She and Alex were almost finished, and had stated to meet her at her loft.

Rob quickly followed Jamal up the steep steps to Lenni's loft in the somewhat gusty wind. He wondered what the team had discovered about his doppelganger, and what he had stolen. What had the other found out from looking in the places where the robberies had occurred, anyway?

They quickly ran up the narrow staircase to Lenni's loft, and the brunette girl quickly answered the door when Jamal knocked.

"Hi. Come on in," she invited them.

They went through the door to find the rest of the team sitting on the corner couch, obviously waiting for them. Rob and Jamal put their backpacks next to the others below the tiled kitchen counter. A small breeze fluttered in through the open window nearby corner couch, probably since it was a hot day outside.

"So did you find out anything at Dayton?" Gaby asked excitedly once they were situated on the couch. "Did you find the doppelganger?"

Jamal spoke. "Well, no, we didn't find the doppelganger," he started.

"You didn't?" Alex echoed, obviously disappointed.

Jamal raised an eyebrow. "Hey, even though we didn't find him, we did find out what the names of his friends are," he stated. "And something that might be close to the doppelganger's name." He grinned. "Also, we found out two other important things. First, things have also been stolen from Dayton, but we don't know what. And second, the doppelganger doesn't go to school there."

"He doesn't?" Alex exclaimed, his face shocked. "But I saw him with those two people at the basketball game. They definitely were wearing Dayton jackets."

"Well, he doesn't go to Hurston either," Lenni recounted, looking up from writing in her notebook.

"Then why was he at the basketball game?" Alex wondered, completely baffled with his hands in the air in a confused gesture.

Jamal shrugged. "He could be visiting from out of town," he pointed out. "Maybe he was with his friends and happens to like basketball, even though it's not a team from his school."

Alex scoffed. "Some friend he is, stealing stuff from town while he's here."

"Maybe they don't know?" Jamal put in.

Tina was frowning. "Why would he go and steal stuff when he could be spending time with his friends, or whoever he's visiting with?" she asked. "It just doesn't make too much sense."

"Unless he always steals things," Alex stated. "Maybe they just don't know he's a thief. And therefore, a criminal." He rolled his eyes. "Great, we could even have an escape thief artist from California, or even Russia, or something else way out there."

"Did anything else happen?" Tina asked.

Rob nodded. "Well, I we don't know if it's related to anyone stealing things from Dayton, but someone broke a window of one of the cars in the parking lot. While we were in it."

"You didn't see anyone?" Alex asked, while Lenni jotted something about the car window.

Rob shook his head. "No, I guess they ran off after doing that."

Alex frowned, but then shrugged. "Yeah, for whatever reason, the bad guys never want to get caught."

"I wonder who else has been stealing things from stores with the doppelganger," Tina stated. "He's not the only thief."

Lenni shrugged, and set her chin on her left hand. "I don't know," she said. "The places that we went to didn't know who the people were, either, and couldn't give any more clues on who the other people were other than the facts that were already printed in the newspaper."

"But you did get what was stolen, right?" Jamal asked.

Lenni nodded. "Right."

"I want to know what the doppelganger's friend's names are first," Gaby stated.

"And the doppelganger's," Tina put in. She frowned. "But you said that you only had something close to it."

Jamal nodded, while Lenni readied her pen. "Yeah, someone told us that his friends are Travis and Daiki, and he had also said that the doppelganger's name is 'Branson or something.'"

"Branson or something?" Gaby repeated, while Tina looked thoughtful.

"That could his first name, but it can also be a last name," she stated, tapping a finger on her chin.

Gaby's face looked excited. "Like Gary Branson in our grade," she recalled, then made a face. "He's really annoying."

Jamal didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. "Maybe, but it wouldn't really make much sense, if Travis and Daiki are first names."

Lenni was nodding. "They sure seem like they might be," she said.

They then came up with a variety of possible names for the doppelganger, first starting with more common ones like Braydon or Brendan, then some random, more outlandish sounding ones, such as Gaby's contribution of 'Bainbridge' from a book that she had read once.

Lenni found a names book from a closet across the room. Gaby and Tina, the latter of which was usually a bit more serious, were giggling over 'Baelfire' when Jamal intervened again.

"Okay, let's get serious, guys," he said.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, we haven't even told Jamal and Rob what was stolen yet."

Gaby reluctantly handed Lenni the name book, who placed it on the table near the cordless phone. She then sat down again, and put a finger to the still open notebook.

"The compass and rulers from the department store," Lenni began.

"They were wooden ones," Gaby interjected. "Don't forget that the type could be important."

Lenni nodded. "Right. There are three types of things from the toy store. First, there are around two small light-up bears- one with a hat that can glow if you push a button on the back of it; second, four black kitty kitty kittens, regular size-"

"A toy cat that makes a purring noise if you move it," Gaby explained.

"Third, two ten inch magna doodles-"

"Things you draw on," Gaby interjected.

Alex scoffed. "I know what a magna doodle is," he said, scowling a bit.

Tina was looking a little confused. "Why would they want those toy cats?" she asked.

Alex merely rolled his eyes. "Who knows why they're stealing from a toy store from the first place. Since they're black, maybe they want to use them to scare store people by pretending that they're spiders before they steal something else."

"I think that would be ruined by the noise they make," Rob pointed out. "Gaby said they make a purring sound when you move them, right?"

The Latino boy shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Lenni continued listing the items stolen. "Next is the dollar store- three bungee cords, red and blue striped, half an inch thick."

"Who'd want bungee cords from a dollar store?" Alex wondered. "I mean, they can't really be the good kind if you get them from there."

"You'd be surprised what type of good things you can for low prices from stores like that," Jamal pointed out. "Sometimes even for lower prices than other places, even something like a hardware store, and it's the same exact thing."

Lenni nodded. "Some things aren't so good, but other things are. My dad once got a phone cord that would have cost a lot more at another store."

The Latino boy shrugged. "Well, it's not like they even bought them, anyway."

"That's true," Jamal responded, nodding.

Gaby was looking a bit confused. "Why would they want a bungee cord?"

Next to her, Tina was looking thoughtful. "You can use them to hold things shut," she said. "Like the trunk of a car that has a lot of things in it, and it can't close all of the way. You can even put one in a fridge door, to get the things on the shelf to stay on."

Alex suddenly grinned. "Hey, Papa did that once, before we got another fridge. Remember that, Gaby?"

His sister was not looking amused as she scowled. "Yeah, and you opened the fridge, somehow unhooked the cord, and the chocolate syrup fell down straight onto the box that had a new shipment of some things for the store."

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm not the one that put the box there."

"But you were they one that had left the lid of the chocolate syrup open in the first place."

Jamal spoke up before the siblings could argue any more. "Okay, let's get back to the case, guys."

Beside Alex, Lenni nodded. The brown-haired girl continued listing items, including several metal replications of stone arcs and a large bag of colored glass marbles.

Gaby was suggesting that a lot of the items could be separated into two main groups- cleaning supplies and toys- when they heard a loud shout from outside. The voice was soon joined with a couple of others.

Tina made a face. "I hope someone is just arguing, and there's not real trouble," she stated hopefully.

Beside her, Gaby's face suddenly lit up. "Maybe the thieves stole something again!" she said excitedly.

She then practically jumped off of the couch to peer out the window screen. Rob saw Jamal shrug, obviously not content with Gaby's explanation, but he followed Jamal and the others are Gaby motioned them over. Rob was crouched beside Alex and Jamal, when the voices started up again, and this time, he could hear more clearly what they were saying.

"You stupid idiots!" yelled some grown-up male, out of view of the small window. "I know I saw them- and that one of them had my rare first edition books! Worth a fortune, they are!"

Someone else shouted something else, but they looked at each other, with Gaby's face set in a large grin.

"They did steal something!" she exclaimed. She then turned to Rob. "And if the doppelganger did it and is still around somewhere, then they would know that Rob didn't do it!"

Beside Rob, Jamal was frowning. "But if he's not there, then Rob could get into more trouble."

Gaby was not to be deterred, though. "Maybe not." She stood and motioned for them to follow her. "Come on, already!"

Rob hesitantly followed the others, a bit more slowly, out of the loft and down the narrow steps onto the wide sidewalk. He briefly saw Lenni's father, Max, as they rushed past, but even Lenni did not stop to greet. Rob looked around as he ran, but did not see anyone yelling anymore, nor anyone that resembled him or seemed to be a thief. After walking down the sidewalk a little way, he did see a slightly familiar slightly tall male with a frustrated scowl on his face.

"I know him," Alex said suddenly. "He's the owner of that book shop near the bodega. I get a lot of mystery books from there."

Rob nodded, as he now recognized the Mexican owner that had greeted him sometimes during the many times that he had frequented the small store. Hopefully the man did not actually remember him now, of all times, though.

He hung back as Gaby, Lenni, and Alex ran toward the owner- Mr. Garza, if he remembered correctly- and watched as Gaby instantly started talking to him.

"Did anyone steal something from your store?" she asked him hopefully.

He nodded, sighing as he stopped. "Probably all gone by now, though I should hope that my assistant was able to reach the police just fine," he replied.

"My friends and I heard something about rare first editions," Gaby pressed. "Do you know which ones?"

The man nodded somberly. "Yes, they were going to be on display, but there had been signs for them going to for a week now." Rob then knew what the books were, and Alex spoke up.

"I remember those," the Latino boy said. "It was first editions of famous kid's books, like The Secret Garden, and other things like that."

Mr. Garza nodded again. "Yes, that was the theme," he responded. "Someone had donated those a while ago, and I had no use for them. Maybe someone in Brooklyn would have liked them- for actual money later, of course, but that chance is gone now."

"Did you see the thieves?" Lenni asked him.

The store owner nodded. "Two of them, if I was correct. Maybe someone else, but I'm not sure."

"Did anyone else see them?"

Mr. Garza nodded. "Well, I know my assistant claims she saw someone, but they're kind of iffy with their memory most of the time for things like-"

"Oy, you!" a new female voice shouted.

The store owner turned around to greet a female with a long, tan ponytail running toward him. "Eh, now what is it this time, Franziska?" he asked wearily. "Did you make the call, or not?"

Franziska frowned, seeming angered. "Yes, but that's one of the thieves- right there!"

"Eh?" the store owner asked again, looking rather bewildered.

He turned around in the direction that the woman was pointing. Rob looked around a bit to maybe see the thief- or the doppelganger- when he realized that the female was pointing straight at him.

He winced as Mr. Garza's eyes suddenly widened. "Hey, it is!" he shouted. He lunged toward Rob with long, thin fingers. "You better give those books back, wherever you stashed them!"

Instantly, Jamal and Tina stood in front of Rob, with Gaby tugging on the man's arms. "It wasn't Rob," she insisted.

Alex was now in front of Rob as well. "Yeah, he was just with us until we heard you shouting about the rare editions being stolen."

Unfortunately, Mr. Garza was looking anything but satisfied. "Even thieves can change clothes and pretend to hide in the crowd," he snarled.

Rob had never seen him look so angered, and definitely not at him. Perhaps Mr. Garza really liked those rare edition books more than he had said, but he supposed that something getting stolen would make anyone angry. The store owner tried to lunge toward Rob again, with Gaby and Alex barely keeping him back.

Jamal turned toward him. "Maybe you can hide out in the bodega until things settle a bit," he suggested in a low tone. "Mr. Fernandez would tell that you wouldn't steal anything-"

Lenni's eyes suddenly widened. "My dad!" she exclaimed. "I know we went past him just a bit ago."

Without further ado, she dashed off behind them. Rob sure hoped that he had seen him specifically, instead of just the others in the group. A police siren wailed in increasing tones as it neared them. Tina pointed to the officer getting out of the car.

"Lieutenant McQuade might be able to help, too," she said, sounding relieved.

Rob nodded, still anxious as the familiar officer headed toward through the growing crowd. The officer frowned at the sight of three kids holding the angry store manager. Even though he knew Rob and his friends, there was no guarantee that he would stick up for him, especially with no solid evidence to help this time.

"Hey, what is going on here?" the officer asked authoritatively.

Gaby let go of the man and pointed to Rob. "That guy thinks that Rob stole his books!" she stated, her face quite frustrated.

Mr. Garza frowned deeply. "He did," he spat. "I saw him, and also Franziska before he ran off."

"Lieutenant McQuade!" Rob heard Lenni shout from behind him.

He turned around to see Lenni with her father, who was looking a bit baffled at the scene.

Lenni ran right up to the officer. "Lieutenant McQuade, my dad saw all of us, including Rob, just before we saw you," she said breathlessly. "It wouldn't be enough time for Rob to have stolen something from the book store and then hide it somewhere."

Lieutenant McQuade looked quizzically at Max Frazier. "Did you really?" he asked.

Lenni's father nodded. "Well, I know I saw them all running right past me when I was about to go up the steps to my home," he responded. "I'm not sure what exactly is going on here, but I know Rob was with them- just like Lenni said." He frowned a bit, thinking. "And I don't think they were carrying anything."

Gaby stepped nearer them. "We weren't," she stated firmly.

Lieutenant's face raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's better that you all have this witness here with you, even if I know you all to be good citizens," he said sternly. "Especially with two accusations."

Mr. Garza huffed. "Well, I know I saw someone that looked like him," he spat, crossing his arms.

"That's the doppelganger," Tina spoke up.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, there's this thief going around that looks like Rob. No one has caught him, but I saw him once, at the Hurston basketball game against Dayton."

Lieutenant McQuade had on a thoughtful look. "Has anyone else seen this doppelganger?" he asked, while Mr. Garza's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You really expect me to believe some rather convenient, farfetched story about a look-a-like?" he asked, incredulous.

The officer merely held up a hand to let Alex continue. Rob saw Mr. Garza huff again and walk away, shaking his head, followed by Franziska. She opened the door, and the store manager stomped through. Rob turned back to Alex.

". . . but this officer saw this tape in a store that had the doppelganger, but Rob was in school when it happened, and the teachers gave proof that he was," the Latino boy finished.

Lieutenant McQuade nodded appreciatively. "Thanks for the information about the doppelganger," he said. "I can check with the officer-"

"Officer Gwerson," Rob quickly supplied.

"Right, I can check with Officer Gwerson about that tape, and see if there is any other definite suspicious activity," Lieutenant McQuade stated. He turned to Rob. "Meanwhile, you had better watch out for more trouble. I'm sure that there would be plenty that wouldn't even begin believe anything about a doppelganger." He briefly looked at Lenni's father, then to the team again. "And you all were sure lucky that someone else happened to see Rob this time."

Rob nodded. "Yes, sir," he replied. "I will."

"Good then," the officer responded. "I'll have a little chat with the store owner there, and see if we can find anything else about those thieves he saw."

"Including what the other one looks like," Gaby stated. "He saw two, but we only know what one of them look like. And that's the doppelganger."

Lieutenant McQuade nodded again. "Right, I'll do that," he said.

He lifted a hand in farewell, and went inside the small store. Rob then turned back around, surprised to see that a small crowd had gathered around them. Maybe the yelling had to do with it, though, plus Lieutenant McQuade being there. He saw a few people, then more start to head away, but with a small wince he noticed that several of them were looking at him as they doubted the "tale-tell" of his thieving look-a-like.

He was more than glad to walk back with his friends to Lenni's loft. Alex turned back to Rob as they went down the wide sidewalk.

Lenni's father spoke up. "Well, that was an unexpected thing to happen," he said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Lenni replied. She frowned a bit as she folded her arms.

Max Frazier smiled some at his brunette daughter. "Well, I guess I'll catch you guys later. I was just going to stop for a few minutes at the loft to pick up some music."

He waved to the group, and headed on toward the narrow steps to the loft. Rob turned back to the group to see Alex also frowning.

"Man, that was crazy," the Latino boy said, shaking his head slightly. "I mean, talk about a troublemaker. That doppelganger guy has got to be caught before something else goes weird on us."

"And before Rob gets arrested," Lenni added seriously just before they went up the narrow steps near the bodega.

Lenni's father went out the door just after they had settled on the corner couch. They then tried to think about more things about the case, without success. Lenni and Gaby even went to see if Lieutenant McQuade was at the store and if the Mr. Garza or Franziska would tell them any more information, but that was all negative.

"Mr. Garza even slammed the door in our faces," Gaby reported as she slumped on the couch next to Tina.

"I don't think he would tell us anything for the next month, if this keeps up," Lenni gloomily added, her chin on one hand while the other was tapping her pen against the notebook. Tina nodded, making a face.

Unfortunately, a few minutes and a couple of phone calls later, Tina, Alex, and Gaby soon had to leave.

"Inventory," Alex muttered, as he stood up from the couch. "Man, I hate doing that."

His sister nodded with the same glum look. "It takes so long," she complained.

They soon said their good-byes, and Rob was soon zooming long past Jamal on the sidewalk. He was not sure what he would do if he saw the doppelganger. Then again, maybe the look-a-like would just steal something again practically right under his nose and run off, without him ever being the wiser.