Following The Clue
Marek was in the playground, kicking a small stone in a small circle. Marek did not look like a thief. But Pim knew that thieves don't always look like thieves.
"Marek," said Pim. "I think you have my lunchbox."
Marek looked up. He looked down at the lunchbox in his bag.
He took it out.
It was a blue lunchbox with a yellow lid. The lid was — yes — the right shade. There was a rocket sticker on the side. The sticker was peeling at one corner.
"Oh," said Marek. "I thought this was mine."
"That's because they look the same," said Pim, who had been thinking about this. "Mine has a name written underneath, but really small. Did you see it?"
Marek turned the lunchbox over. There it was — *PIM* — in tiny letters where Pim's mama had written it months ago.
"I'm sorry," said Marek. "I wasn't paying attention. I just took the one near my hook."
"That's alright," said Pim. "It was an accident. That's most of these cases."
He swapped the lunchboxes. Pim got his back. Marek got his back. They opened them and ate at the same picnic table.
Pim's notebook said, by the end of break:
*Case 4: SOLVED.*
*Cause: nobody was paying attention.*
*Lesson: write your name where you can find it.*
He closed the notebook. He felt very satisfied. The ham sandwich was good. Mama had put a small chocolate biscuit in too.