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elevated train rumbling past. Sally had put him up for the night on a cot in the back room.
    Suddenly a little girl with curly red hair poked her head into his room and demanded, “Who are you?”
    â€œWho are you?” asked Mr. Pin.
    â€œI asked first,” said the little girl as she came into the room and sat down.
    â€œVery well,” said Mr. Pin, studying the little girl in the blue plaid jumper. “My name is Mr. Pin, penguin detective from the South Pole.”
    â€œThat’s nice,” said the little girl. “I’m Maggie, and I live upstairs with my Aunt Sally and two gerbils. Have you solved any crimes yet?”
    â€œNot yet, I’m just starting. But I may have a crime to solve right here.”
    â€œReally!” said Maggie excitedly. “I think I’ll be a detective, too. I don’t have school today. Are you hungry?” Maggie had a way of talking all at once.
    Mr. Pin was always hungry, so he quickly said yes and hopped after Maggie through the kitchen into the steamy diner.
    â€œHello,” said Sally. “Have some nice hot cinnamon rolls.”
    â€œThank you,” said Mr. Pin as he hopped up onto a stool between two truckers. They nodded to him as they shoveled scrambled eggs into their mouths. Mr. Pin shoveled cinnamon rolls into his beak.
    â€œMr. Pin’s from the South Pole,” said Sally. “He’s a penguin detective.”
    Mr. Pin nodded. His beak was stuck together with honey.
    â€œThis is Hank,” said Maggie. “Hank delivers ice cream.”
    Mr. Pin’s eyes lit up.
    â€œSally put you up for the night?” asked Hank as he elbowed the hungry penguin.
    Mr. Pin nodded.
    â€œSally takes care of everybody,” said another trucker named George. “She gives people food, puts ’em up for the night. I don’t know what we’d all do without Sally and her diner.”
    Several truckers nodded in agreement as they bundled up in heavy coats. The diner emptied quickly as they left for work. Mr. Pin held up a sticky wing to wave good-bye.
    Sally looked worried.
    â€œIt’s no use,” said Sally in tears as she counted the money. “We just don’t have enough to pay those gangsters.”
    â€œWhat gangsters?” shouted Maggie.
    â€œJake and Mac want your aunt to pay them money by midnight or they’ll blow up her diner,” said Mr. Pin, wiping honey off his beak.
    â€œThat’s terrible,” said Maggie.
    â€œRight,” agreed Mr. Pin. “But don’t worry, Sally,” he said. Mr. Pin wiped Sally’s eyes with a napkin. “I’ll come up with a plan. At the South Pole, penguins have to stick together or they’d freeze.”
    Mr. Pin fanned his feathers and stared at a stack of stainless steel ice cream dishes. “Freeze!” shouted Mr. Pin excitedly. “That’s it. We’ll freeze the gangsters.”
    Maggie wondered what Mr. Pin could mean by freezing gangsters and she meant to find out. Maggie followed Mr. Pin as he hurried off to the back room. Mr. Pin hopped about the room, deep in thought. All of a sudden he said, “We’re going to need two chairs, two very large buckets, and lots of ice cream, preferably chocolate.” Mr. Pin rummaged through his black bag and added, “I have everything else.”
    Maggie wrote down what Mr. Pin needed in a notebook. She liked being organized.
    â€œHow much ice cream are you going to need?” she asked.
    â€œEnough to turn the diner into the South Pole,” said Mr. Pin.
    â€œThat could be a lot,” said Maggie.
    â€œHere’s the plan,” said Mr. Pin. “The gangsters walk into the diner at midnight. We’ll each pull a rope that is attached to a bucket of ice cream. The ice cream will fall on their heads and, presto, the thugs will turn into walking snow cones.”
    â€œWhat happens if the snow cones try to get away?” asked