Read The Fight for Kidsboro for Free Online Page B

alarm you installed. Did it malfunction often?”
    â€œNo. That’s what’s so strange. I can’t understand why it didn’t work.”
    â€œNeither can I,” Eugene said. “It worked consistently in the trial runs.”
    A voice with a Southern accent came out of nowhere. “Kind a makes you wonder if anybody’s safe, doesn’t it?” I looked up and saw Max Darby. Max had moved to Odyssey from Georgia a few years ago, and hadn’t even begun to lose his accent.
    Max always seemed to be up to something. He wanted you to think he was your best friend—in fact, everybody’s best friend—but his real best friend was himself. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Am I interrupting something?”
    â€œI was done anyway,” Alice said, moving her investigation back to Nelson’s house.
    â€œYou know what you need, friend?” Max said. “You need something that’ll keep you high and dry when the rest of the world is float in’ down the river.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Nelson asked. I wished he hadn’t asked.
    â€œI’m talkin’ peace of mind,” Max continued, “restful nights. I’m talkin’ about preparin’ for the future.”
    â€œOkay, sure, but … what specifically are you talking about?”
    â€œInsurance. The one thing that’ll help you out if this ever happens again.”
    â€œMax,” I interrupted, “this isn’t the time.”
    â€œOh, I disagree. I think this is the perfect time.”
    Nelson said, “Go on.”
    Max knelt down next to Nelson and put his hand on his shoulder. He had him. “You’ll never have to go through this again if you have Darby Insurance. Buy one of my policies at my limited-time, special-price offer, and if tragedy ever strikes again, I’ll pay you enough money to fix all the damages.”
    By the time Max was through with him, Nelson had bought a homeowner’s policy. The way it worked was that Nelson would pay Max a starbill every month, and if something ever happened to his house or furnishings again, Max would pay to replace everything. Leave it to Max to make money off a tragedy.
    But, to be honest, insurance wasn’t such a bad idea for Kidsboro. In fact, Marcy, with her trashed house, probably wished she’d had insurance as well. Apparently, a lot of people saw the benefits of it. Max sold five policies right there at the scene of the crime. He sold one to Scott, and he told him his hat would be insured as well. Scott was already spending the money he was going to make off of me. I didn’t buy one simply on principle. I wasn’t about to give my money to Max.
    While Max introduced Scott to the details of his new policy, I sat under a tree and thought about the situation. The break-in just didn’t make sense. If Valerie was responsible for the first break-in, why would she do this one as well? She would risk getting caught, and she had already made her point. Everyone in town thought Roberto was a crook, and that I was wrong for selecting him. She had already convinced everyone that I had poor judgment. So why would she do it again?
    After the crowd had thinned around Nelson’s house, Scott and I went back in to look around. Alice was off questioning other possible witnesses or suspects, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do some investigating myself.
    Eugene was standing in the middle of the mess, scratching his chin. The place was trashed in an unusual way, but it was hard to put my finger on what was so strange about it. I asked Scott what he thought, and, of course, he had detected nothing.
    â€œThis is very odd,” Eugene began. “The alarm is still set. Not only did it not go off, I don’t believe it was ever even tripped.”
    â€œBut how could somebody get in here without tripping the alarm? The wires are all over the floor, on the door,