Meg Mackintosh and the Mystery at the Soccer Match (4 page)

“Let's see what you've got,” Meg said, reaching for Alex's notes. “Hey! You think Carmen and I are suspects?” she added.

Alex grinned. “You said that everyone who was near the table at the end of half-time was a suspect. And everybody heard you and Peter arguing about wanting the medal.”

“Fair enough,” said Meg. “The problem is, everyone is a suspect — but we really don't have enough substantial evidence against anyone.”

She renewed Alex's notes and added a few of her own.

Meg bit her thumbnail, then flipped to the next page in her notebook. “Time to switch tactics. If I can't figure out
who
took the medal, I'll concentrate on
where
the thief could have hidden it.”

WHERE COULD THE MEDAL POSSIBLY BE HIDDEN?

“When in doubt…doodle” Meg said to herself. “If I brainstorm long enough, a good idea might surface.”

“Score!” yelled the crowd.

“Oh, no!” Alex cried.

Meg looked up. It was the Panthers scoring, not the Hawks! She tried to focus on the case.

“Did you take any instant photos?” Meg asked Alex. “Maybe looking at them will help the investigation.”

“Just a couple,” said Alex, pulling them out of his pocket.

“Some nice portraits of Farley,” Meg said with a bit of disappointment.

She'd hardly had a chance to look at them when Coach Lee called out, “Meg, Carmen, you're going back in there!”

“Maybe I'll spy something out on the field,” Meg said to Alex. She handed him her notebook and binoculars and raced back into the match.

The Hawks were playing hard, but the Panthers were relentless. Peter rescued every goal attempt and punted the ball back to his teammates.

“Look who's smiling now, Meg-O,” Peter grinned. “The medal is ours!”

“It's not over yet,” Meg said firmly. “And we'll have to
find
the medal first — unless you already know where it is.”

Peter just gave her a funny look.

A few minutes later, the Panthers scored again. Over on the sidelines Alex groaned, “I can't watch anymore.” He scanned the area. “Where's Farley?” he wondered.

Meanwhile, Meg got control of the ball and blasted towards the goal. She passed it to Carmen, who passed it back. Then, with a magnificent kick, Meg sent the ball over Peter's head and into the corner of the net.

“Yeah, Meg!” cheered the Hawks.

But it wasn't enough. Before the Hawks could score again, the final whistle blew.

“Good game, everyone” said Coach Lee. “We did our best and worked hard. That's what counts.”

“I wish we'd won,” said Carmen. “But we still wouldn't get the medal. I'm going to find my parents. I'll catch up with you later.”

“I want to find it anyway,” said Meg. She looked at Alex. “Any developments?”

“As a matter of fact, I found an important clue,” Alex answered. He pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket. “I found this next to the medal's case and if you ask me, it points straight to the culprit.”

Meg's jaw dropped.

WHO DOES THE CLUE POINT TO?

“A bubble gum wrapper,” said Meg. “But what does that prove? Anybody can chew gum.”

“True,” said Alex, “but Heather is
always
chewing bubble gum. I saw her blow a big bubble right after she and Peter collided in the first half.
And
remember this photo I took of her and Farley while she was on the sidelines.”