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soap, and then a certain hand towel.
    "Are you disinfected now?" I couldn't resist asking her when she was through washing her hands.
    She gave me a dark look. "I don't know what that means. But at least your dog's germs are off me."
    The phone rang then and Max said, "You get it, Kristy. It's in the kitchen."
    (What? No phone in the bathroom?)
    "Hello, Delaney residence," I said when I'd picked up the receiver. (Hello, Snob residence, I thought.)
    "Kristy? Kristy? Is that you? This is Shannon."
    My heart sank. She must have seen me when I crossed the Delaneys' yard. Had she figured out that I'd sent Mr. Stork to her?
    "I'm baby-sitting at the Papadakises'," she said nervously. "I've been here dozens of times and nothing like this has ever happened."
    "What's wrong?"
    "Sari's crying and I can't get her to stop. She seems to like you, so I thought - "
    "I'll be right over," I said, and hung up the phone. I wasn't sure I could trust Shannon, but I couldn't ignore a crying child. Sari could be sick or in pain. . . . "Amanda, Max, come on. We have to go to the Papadakises'. Now." Amid moans and groans, I rushed the kids out the door, across the Kilbournes' lawn, and to the Papadakises' front steps. I rang the bell and Shannon answered it. One of the bus stop girls (the brown-haired one) was with her.
    "Yes?" said Shannon coolly.
    "Here I am," I said, trying to catch my breath. "Where's Sari?"
    "Why do you want to know?"
    "I'm here to help - "I paused, listening. The house was silent. Shannon and her friend were trying not to laugh. I'd been tricked again.
    At that moment, Hannie and Linny appeared. "Hi, Kr - " they started to say to me. Then they stopped, seeing Amanda and Max.
    Amanda and Max immediately began whispering and giggling. Hannie and Linny frowned. Amanda pointed to her head, then to Linny, and said "Cuckoo" - just loudly enough for everyone to hear.
    "I am not cuckoo," cried Linny. "You are!"
    "Okay, okay," I said. I grabbed Amanda and Max by the hands, and headed for home. I was so mad, I couldn't even think of anything to say (or do) to Shannon.
    The last thing I heard as we left the Papadakises' yard was Shannon yelling after me, "And thanks a lot for pushing me out of my baby-sitting jobs!"
    Uh-oh, I thought.
    Chapter 7.
    Wow. Talk about a different kid. Our even-tempered, unflappable alternate officer was a different person herself. Dawn was really upset. Not only did she write about Jeff in the club notebook, but she called both Mary Anne and me to tell us what had happened.
    Apparently, ever since school began, Jeff has been having some problems. Actually, Dawn isn't sure if the problems are due to school starting again, or to the fact that Jeff got two letters on the first day of school, one from their father, one from Jeff's best friend in California. She thinks it's the letters' fault, though.
    Dawn says Jeff has been acting up in class, and once he even walked right out in the middle of a reading lesson. He's had to stay after school twice, and go to the principal once. And he hasn't been too pleasant at home.
    Anyway, Dawn's mom had needed a sitter on Saturday evening so she could go out with this guy Trip she's been seeing pretty often. Two of us were free that night, but of course we gave the job to Dawn since it was for her own brother.
    The Trip-Man (that's what Dawn and Jeff call their mother's date) was going to pick Mrs. Schafer up at six-thirty. They were going to some fancy party in Stamford. Their evening
    was formal and would involve dinner, dancing, and entertainment. Dawn thought her mother looked very glamorous as she slipped on a long black gown with lots of sequins on the top part.
    "You smell nice, too, Mom," Dawn told her mother as she hung around Mrs. Schafer's bedroom.
    "It's my perfume, I guess. Want some?"
    "No, thanks," said Dawn. "I like it better on you. You always smell like this when you go out. I like to smell the perfume and watch you get ready and dream about what you'll do