Read Mystery of the 19th Hole (Taylor Kelsey, Mystery 1) for Free Online Page A

“You know police codes?” asked Taylor.
                  “All of them.  I have a good memory, as you, your parents, and my parents only know.  Oh, and my teachers.”
                  “That’s true.  So what should the codes be?”
                  Susan thought about it.  “How about 10-3 if the joke is dumb.  10-3 means stop transmitting .”
                  “Sounds good.  If the joke is good, then I just won’t say anything, okay.”
                  “Fair enough.”
                 
                  Two minutes later the girls pulled into the parking lot of the police department.  The building was huge: three stories tall and a quarter of a block long.  Large reflective office windows lined every level.  A few stairs with wrought-iron railings on either side led the way to the glass double-door entrance.
                  It was all very daunting, but Taylor, who’d wanted to be a detective for as long as she could remember, was shaking with excitement.  Susan spoke first, “Who do you think we’ll be allowed to talk to?”
                  “If we’re lucky, a sergeant.”
                  “Why not a lieutenant?” asked Susan.
                  Taylor just laughed and turned toward Susan.  “What do you mean?”
                  Susan, squinting under the bright sun, looked over at a black Dodge Charger from which a man was emerging.  Taylor followed her gaze.  “How do you know that’s the lieutenant?”
                  “Easy.  Badge on the belt.  Dress clothes.  Gun draped over shoulder.  Exempt license plates.”
                  “Yeah, but he could be the captain or a sergeant.”
                  “No, he can’t.  I read a newspaper story,” Susan explained, “about a patrol officer who accidentally ran his car into the ocean and lived.  The guy was promoted to a lieutenant for doing accidental daring things though he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.  And that’s him.  I recognize the picture.”
                  The man was slightly overweight and uncouth.  His hair was combed over in an awkward way, and his face was unshaven, stubble poking out noticeably on his chin and cheeks.  But despite the discrepancies, he didn’t look bad.  It actually rather suited him.
                  “Well, then, let’s talk to him,” said Taylor.
                  The two girls fast-walked to the lieutenant and Susan spoke first, in an English accent.  “Hey, Lieutenant, good work running your car into the ocean while avoiding that Chinese couple.”
                  The lieutenant looked confused.  He tentatively responded, “Thank you…”
                  Taylor spoke next before Susan had a chance, “My name is Taylor Kelsey, and this is my best friend Susan Beckette.  We go to a private school a few blocks from here, and—”
                  Susan interrupted, “Well, I go to a boarding school near hers.  It’s actually a division of hers.  I live in England with my family during the summer, though.”
                  “Not the winter?” asked the lieutenant.
                  Taylor and Susan both responded at the same time—Taylor said, “Yes in the winter, too,” and Susan said, “I live in Japan in the winter.”  Their words got jumbled together and didn’t make any sense.
                  The lieutenant just stared at them a few moments before asking, “And you guys are best friends?”
                  “Well, we’re not sure,” said Susan.  “We were pen pals for fifty years minus forty-six.”
                  “Four years?” said the lieutenant.
                  “Exactly.  But when I arrived in America everyone from her class