Mr. Pin: The Chocolate Files (4 page)

“He was very interested in Mr. Pin,” said Luigi. “So I told him all about his famous cases. I said Mr. Pin was the best one to call when there was a crime of chocolate.”

“Really!” said Maggie. “This is very interesting.”

“I hope that helps,” said Luigi, wiping flour off his hands. “If you're interested in fossils, I'd be happy to take you over to the fossil shop. It's on my way to a delivery.”

“That would be great,” said Maggie. “But first, I need to talk to Mr. Pin. Do you have a CB I can use?”

“No problem,” said Luigi. “There's one in the kitchen on top of the piano.”

5

“Breaker, breaker,” said Maggie into Luigi's CB. “This is Orphan Annie at the pasta shop.”

“Roger, Maggie,” said Mr. Pin from Smiling Sally's. “This is Mr. Pin.”

“I have some news,” said Maggie. “Luigi collects fossils.”

“That sounds suspicious,” said Mr. Pin.

“Right,” said Maggie. “But he wants to help.”

“He may be trying to throw us off the trail,” said Mr. Pin.

“Luigi also has a customer who just bought a case of chocolate,” said Maggie.

“Who's that?” asked Mr. Pin.

“The fossil man,” said Maggie. “Luigi said he'd take me to the fossil man's store if I were interested in fossils.”

“You are,” said Mr. Pin. “There may be a connection between the fossil man and the stolen dinosaur eggs. But have Luigi meet you there. Tell him you'll get a ride with Smiling Sally. And by the way, did you get the chocolate?”

“Yes,” said Maggie. “Luigi said he had a case he was saving for Smiling Sally.”

“Good,” said Mr. Pin. “Can you bring it by the diner on your way to the fossil shop?”

“We're on our way,” said Maggie.

“And one more thing,” said Mr. Pin.

“What's that?” asked Maggie.

“Be careful at the fossil shop. It could be trouble. So stall for time. Over and out.”

Maggie wasn't sure why Mr. Pin wanted her to stall for time, but he was already off the line. So she hurried back into the front of the pasta shop, where Luigi was putting on a heavy raincoat.

“I'll meet you at the fossil shop,” said Maggie to Luigi. “I have to go back to the diner to drop off the case of chocolate.”

“So there's a case of chocolate
and
a case of eggs,” said Luigi.

“Right,” said Maggie. “Two cases.”

6

It was raining hard when Sally pulled her truck in front of the diner. Sally kept the motor running while Maggie ran inside with the case of chocolate. Within a few minutes, Maggie came back outside and announced, “Mr. Pin said he would think a lot about chocolate,” said Maggie.

“Sounds all right to me,” said Sally as she sped away from the curb. Then Maggie read the directions Luigi had given her to the fossil shop.

It was a short ride from the diner. Sally drove her truck next to the river to a dark street underneath Michigan Avenue. Maggie spotted the shop sandwiched between a hot dog parlor and a shoe repair store. It was a small place with fogged windows and a chipped sign:
MORT CHISEL
'
S FOSSIL SHOP
—
WE BUY AND SELL YOUR VALUABLE FOSSILS
.

Sally parked in front of the shop behind Luigi's pasta truck. Sally and Maggie went inside.

The fossil shop was dark and small. There were several glass cases around the walls and one in the center. Behind that was a thin man with a sharp nose and darting eyes. Luigi was in a corner looking at onyx bookends. Sally stood next to Maggie.

“I'm Mort Chisel,” said the thin man in a rasping voice. “What can I do for you?”

“I'm Maggie and I'm interested in old bones, preferably fossils.”

“Fossils,” said Mort, raising an eyebrow almost to his hairline. “How much can you spend?”

“A lot,” said Maggie.

“She's starting a collection,” said Luigi from the corner.

“I have just the thing,” Mort Chisel said quickly. He went through a beaded curtain into a back room.

“Do you think he has a case of eggs?” asked Luigi.

“I don't know,” whispered Maggie.

Mort returned shortly, carrying what looked like a large rock.

“Here it is,” said Mort with a thin smile.

“I'm sorry,” said Maggie. “But this is not a fossil. It's a geode.”

“Looks like you know more about fossils than I thought,” said Mort. “Would you be interested in a dinosaur egg?”

“Thanks,” said Maggie. “It'll look great next to my gerbil cage.” Mort went into the back room and returned again, this time carrying what also looked like a large rock. Maggie looked at it carefully, turning it around in her hands.

“Do you have any more?” she asked.

“For a price,” said Mort Chisel. “How many do you want?”

Maggie thought quickly. “Six,” she said.

Smiling Sally coughed.

“Is that a case?” asked Luigi.

“I have them in the back room if you have enough money.”

“Sure,” said Maggie, trying to stall.

“Now what are you going to do?” asked Sally.

Just then, a black-and-white figure staggered into the shop. It was Mr. Pin, holding a drenched umbrella with one wing and his side with the other. He leaned against the doorway and said, “I'd like to see those eggs.”

“Not a chance,” said Mort, starting to back into the beaded curtain.

“That's right,” said Mr. Pin. “You don't have a chance of escape. I called the police. The fossil shop is surrounded.” Mr. Pin picked up the dinosaur egg Maggie was holding and announced, “This is a protoceratops egg, one of six eggs stolen from the Field Museum.”

“Is Luigi in on this?” asked Maggie.

“The chocolate in the eggs at the museum and the chocolate that made me sick are the same,” explained Mr. Pin. “It came from Luigi's pasta shop.”

“Then Luigi helped Mort steal the dinosaur eggs!” shouted Maggie.

“No,” said Mr. Pin. “But Mort wanted you to think that. He framed Luigi. Mort put grit into the chocolate he used to make fake dinosaur eggs. He also slipped grit into the chocolate that went to Smiling Sally's diner. That chocolate ended up in her chocolate cream pie that made me sick.”

“Mort did all of that just to make Luigi look guilty?” asked Maggie.

“Right,” said Mr. Pin. “And to keep me off the case.”

Maggie looked directly at Mort and fumed. “You thought you could keep this fake chocolate egg operation going if you framed Luigi and disabled the only detective in Chicago who could spot your crime. Well, I have news for you, you fake fossil maker. I had you figured the minute I walked in here.”

“There's one more thing,” said Mr. Pin, coughing slightly. “The case of chocolate you brought by the diner did not contain grit. You said Luigi was saving it for Smiling Sally in case she needed it. If Luigi and Mort were working together, that chocolate would probably have been bad. But it wasn't. In fact, it was quite good, and I am happy to say I have proven that I am not even slightly allergic to chocolate.”

“Smart detective work,” said Luigi to Maggie and Mr. Pin.

“Great chocolate,” said Mr. Pin.

Chicago was a big city, with slick streets when it rained hard. There were plenty of tough cases to solve. But it would take more than a little grit to stop a detective who knew his chocolate as well as he knew his city.

Dear Reader
,

Now that you have enjoyed these stories about the incredible Mr. Pin, penguin detective from the South Pole, consider these questions about some of Mr. Pin's previous cases:

1) What flavor ice cream plays an important role in Mr. Pin's efforts to save Smiling Sally's diner from gangsters, in the story “Detective Pin”?

2) What does shrewd Mr. Pin find on the museum wall that leads him to identify the thief in “Mr. Pin and the Picasso Thief”?

3) What kind of pigeon does Mr. Pin use to bait the trap in “Mr. Pin and the Monroe Street Pigeon”?

Hint: All three questions have the same answer, to be found in THE MYSTERIOUS CASES OF MR. PIN, the first book about this clever detective and his sidekick, Maggie
.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Originally published by Atheneum.

Copyright © 1990, 2007 by Mary Elise Monsell

Illustrations copyright © 1990, 2007 by Eileen Christelow

ISBN: 978-1-5040-2956-8

Distributed in 2016 by Open Road Distribution

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New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com