Ms. Steele looked more nervous than ever as she followed the principal out of the room and closed the door.
Poor Ms. Steele. Sophie almost felt sorry for her. But no! What was she thinking? Sophie tossed that thought away fast.
Then she got a new one. This was Sophie’s chance to get the sub’s bag full of loot and give it to Principal Tate!
Sophie didn’t waste a second. She tiptoed — fast — up to the teacher’s desk.
She bent down beside the big green bag. It was open. Yes! Of course, Sophie knew she’d see Ben’s Tweety Bird, Dean’s cards, and Grace’s shoes. She was sure she’d find Mindy’s lip-gloss phone and Sophie A.’s chapter book, too.
And who knew? There might be more stuff. Stuff no one had even realized was gone yet.
But Sophie didn’t see those things when she looked inside the bag. All she saw were:
a folded-up newspaper — with a crossword puzzle half done
a big red wallet
a silver travel mug
some keys on a keychain that said “I (heart) cats”
a pack of minty chewing gum
a tube of plain old lipstick
Sophie couldn’t believe it. Where was all the stolen stuff? This was even more of a mystery than she’d thought.
That’s when she spied something else, down at the bottom of the bag…
Was it? Yes!
A phone!
And it was pink!
Sophie had to do it. She reached in. And she pulled it out.
Then she sighed one of the biggest sighs she’d ever sighed in her whole life.
It wasn’t Mindy’s lip-gloss phone. It was a real cell phone.
Aw! Too bad!
She started to put the phone back into the bag. Then suddenly, she jumped. The phone began playing a song. And a man’s picture popped up on the screen.
The real phone was ringing!
What do I do? Sophie thought. What would a snoop do?
She knew that a snoop would answer the phone So that’s what she did (in a disguised voice, of course).
Sophie punched the “talk” but ton. “Er … hello?” she said, very low.
“Hi … Sophie?” a man’s voice replied.
Sophie felt her stomach flip-flop. “Um, yes — I mean, no!” she said. “I mean … how did you know?”
“Isn’t this your phone?” asked the man. “Are you okay, Sophie? Do you have a cold?”
Suddenly, Sophie realized something. Ms. Steele’s name was Sophie, too!
“Um …” She tried to think quickly. “Actually, that Sophie is busy right now. Can I take a message?” she asked.
The man paused. At last, he said, “Sure. Just tell her good luck.”
Then he said good-bye and the phone went dead.
Sophie’s heart began to thump.
Good luck?
That was bad!
So! The Case of the Room 10 Thief had taken a turn. Ms. Steele was the thief. But she was not working alone!
This was even bigger than Sophie had thought. She had to tell Principal Tate right away! But before she could even move, the classroom door opened.
There stood Ms. Steele — the thief! — with Principal Tate. But that wasn’t all. The rest of the class was there, too, back from lunch.
They were all looking at her. And most of their eyes were wide.
“Sophie! What are you doing with my phone?” Ms. Steele cried.
Chapter 8
The next thing Sophie knew, she was in the school office — with Principal Tate.
She had planned to go to him, but not exactly like this. Somehow, Sophie had ended up standing there like she was the thief.
“I must say, Miss Miller, I am very surprised,” the principal said, shaking his head. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Sophie stood in front of his desk very calmly. It would all be okay just as soon as she explained.
She took a deep breath. “I am not the thief, Principal Tate,” she said. “The substitute is!”
The principal lifted one eyebrow, then the other. (He was good at that.) Then he leaned forward on his elbows. “Now, this is even more surprising. What in the world makes you say that?” he asked.
“Well …” Sophie bit her lip. Where should she begin? “For one thing, all this stuff was stolen today — the day that Ms. Steele is here. So it’s pretty elementary, don’t you think?” she said.
“But your classmates seem to think that you did it, to be some kind of snoop,” the principal said, looking at her closely. “And the fact is, you were the one caught holding Ms. Steele’s phone.”
Me? The thief? Never! Sophie felt her face get hot.
“Me? The thief? Never!” She crossed her heart. “I swear! I’m not the one who got a phone call telling me good luck with my robbery! Don’t you think that’s suspicious? Plus she reads books about cats who rob banks!” Sophie paused to take a breath. “And her name is Ms. Steele!”
She crossed her arms. He could not argue with that!
“I bet she robs schools all the time, Principal Tate,” she told him. “You should probably call all your principal friends and see if they’re missing anything.”
“Sophie, Sophie, Sophie.” The principal shook his head.
Uh-oh, Sophie thought. Was that good? Or very bad? The principal never used first names. And now he was using hers. Three times. In a row.
“I would be surprised to learn that Ms. Steele leads a life of crime,” Principal Tate said. “As far as I know, she’s working hard to earn her teaching degree. And this is her first day substituting.” He sighed. “Ever.”
“Well, that’s even better!” Sophie told him. She grinned. “Good thing I was in her class! I showed her that she can’t get away with robbing kids. And the judge might be easy on her if it’s just her first time. Do you want to call in the police now? Or should I?”
The principal opened his mouth. But there was a knock at the door before anything came out.
“Come in,” said Principal Tate.
The door opened. There was Ms. Steele … and Toby. What’s he doing here? Sophie wondered.
“Um … this young man has something to tell you, Mr. Tate,” Ms. Steele said.
Sophie felt her jaw drop. She tried to close it. But she could not. This was just like Toby to try to get her in more trouble!
Sophie glared at him and thought hard about sticking out her tongue.
Then Toby took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry. I took all the stuff.”
Huh?
Now Sophie was really confused.
Ms. Steele wasn’t the thief? But Sophie had been so sure!
And Toby was the thief? Wow! That surprised even her.
But not as much as the feeling she suddenly got. She felt bad for Toby. He was going to be in big trouble. She started to wish she hadn’t told Principal Tate to call the cops.
Of course, Sophie was also mad. But not at Toby. At herself. What kind of snoop could be so wrong about so much?
The principal looked mad, too. “Mr. Myers, this is very serious,” he said.
Ms. Steele put a hand on Toby’s shoulder. “Why don’t you explain?” she said to him.
Toby looked at Sophie — and looked away fast. “I wasn’t going to steal the stuff and keep it,” he said.