You Be the Detective The Babysitter I could tell my mother was worried about it. "Eric is the best, Mom," I told her. "He's totally responsible." "Don't worry, sweetie. You can go to your party. It's not fair to make you babysit just because I want to go out too. But Eric," Mom sighed. "When he mowed the lawn last week, he mowed lanes through the grass and left it like that." "It was a tricycle trail. The twins loved it," I reminded her. That weekend, when Eric showed up, Mom ran nervously over her emergency list. "This is the number I'll be at," she told him. "I'll be picking Jane up at eleven. We'll be home no later than 11:15 p.m. If we run late for any reason, I'll call. Okay?" "Sure," Eric said. He tossed the emergency number list on the kitchen counter and headed off towards the twins room, where a lot of shrieking was going on. "Eric!" we heard the twins scream delightedly. When we got home, there were police cars everywhere. One of them still had a siren blaring. Eric was standing next to a police car in the driveway. He caught sight of us. "Everything's fine," Eric yelled our way. "The boys are with me." Two small heads popped up inside the police car. Gasping loudly, Mom went tearing off towards one of the uniformed officers. She disappeared inside our house. "What happened?" I asked. Eric grinned. "Some idiot kept knocking on the door, holding a pizza. I didn't order a pizza. So why would I let him in? I called 911 and stayed on the line until the cops came. Turns out the guy is wanted by the police. They think he was planning on robbing your house." He nodded at the police car just pulling away from the curb. "They're taking him away now." My mouth dropped. Mom stuck her head out the door of our house. "Eric?" she called. "Did you, by any chance, drape my best sheets all over the house?" "Secret tunnels," Eric explained. The twins nodded. "I see." My mother smiled. "What a great idea!" You Be the Detective What did Eric do right? Go here to find the answer Free counters by Andale      Illustrations: Clips Ahoy   Story written by Lin Donn