Dial Books for Young Readers An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York First published in the United States of America by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2021 Copyright © 2021 by Sarah Pripas-Kapit Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader. Dial & colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC. Visit us online at penguinrandomhouse.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. Ebook ISBN 9780593112304 This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. pid_prh_5.6.1_c0_r0 For Neil CONTENTS Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Chapter One: In Which a New Business Is Founded Chapter Two: Summer School Days Chapter Three: The Case of the Irritable Little Sister Chapter Four: Shabbat Ruckus Chapter Five: In Which a Mystery Presents Itself Chapter Six: Younger Sister Problems Chapter Seven: Cracking the Case Chapter Eight: Words and Worries Chapter Nine: Helena the Zebra Chapter Ten: Of New Friends and Old Sisters Chapter Eleven: Secret Messages Chapter Twelve: The Unexpected Adventure Chapter Thirteen: A Most Unusual Sighting Chapter Fourteen: The Case of the Weird Parents Chapter Fifteen: Unsweet Dreams Chapter Sixteen: In Which the Investigation Resumes Chapter Seventeen: A Crime Most Bloody Chapter Eighteen: The Distraction Chapter Nineteen: The Interrogation Chapter Twenty: In Which Major Evidence Is Located Chapter Twenty-One: An Act of Daring Chapter Twenty-Two: The Case of the Annoying Cousin Chapter Twenty-Three: Vermin Most Foul Chapter Twenty-Four: In Which the Investigation Takes an Unexpected Turn Chapter Twenty-Five: The Case of the Not-So-Happy Holiday Chapter Twenty-Six: Things Said, Things Unsaid Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Mystery of Mistakes Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Many Regrets of Caroline Finkel Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Day of Atonement Chapter Thirty: The Cascade Chapter Thirty-One: The Right Words Chapter Thirty-Two: The Final Mission Acknowledgments About the Author CHAPTER ONE: IN WHICH A NEW BUSINESS IS FOUNDED DO YOU HAVE A MYSTERY THAT NEEDS SOLVING? Finkel Investigation Agency Solving Consequential Crimes Only (FIASCCO) is here to help! Our team of experienced detectives can solve all/most mysteries, including theft, missing pets, and other matters requiring detecting skill and general awesomeness. For more information, talk to Lara Finkel ASAP. NOTE: FIASCCO cannot help find murderers. If you or someone you know has been murdered, please call a grown-up. Lara looked over her flyer with a great big frown. It really was too bad she couldn’t come up with a name that spelled out FIASCO instead of FIASCCO. She was an excellent speller, in addition to being an excellent investigator. She didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about that. But it was too late now to change the name. Her parents had not been pleased with her printing so many copies of her flyer using the family printer, and they’d clearly stated that there would be no second edition. So Lara would just have to live with FIASCCO. Her mother had also insisted that Lara add in the part about not solving murders. At first she’d resisted. After all, Georgia Ketteridge, Girl Super-Detective, would never turn down a murder case if she were lucky enough to find one. But given Lara’s unfortunate tendency to get nauseous whenever she saw even a drop of blood, maybe Ima had a point. Okay, so Lara wouldn’t be solving murder cases straight off. So what? She felt completely, totally, 100 percent certain that detective work was going to be her thing. Her cousin Aviva had math, and her sister, Caroline, had art, and her brother Benny had science-y things. Now, Lara would have detecting. Which just so happened to be way cooler than any of those other things. After having read all four books in the Georgia Ketteridge series, Lara knew she could solve a real-life mystery. If only one would come to her. It’ll come, Lara told herself. The flyers were just step one. With her mission in mind, Lara gathered up the stack of flyers and headed for the door. It was still only the early afternoon, leaving plenty of time to redecorate the neighborhood in blazing-yellow flyers—not Lara’s favorite color, but good for getting attention. Hopefully. For a moment Lara considered enlisting Caroline’s help in the matter. As annoying as her little sister could be—very!—Caroline usually made things more fun. She should get Caroline. Yet something inside her rebelled at the idea. Maybe Caroline was her very favorite sibling, separated by a mere fifteen months, but did that mean they had to do absolutely everything together? No, Lara decided. It did not. Lara paused when she reached the kitchen. Based on the too-loud talk and enticing vanilla scent, she deduced two things. First, her sister and cousin were in there. Second, they were baking cupcakes. Without her. Stupid show-off Aviva and her stupid show-off cupcakes. As if it weren’t enough that her cousin moved in last year and immediately became the smartest kid in Lara’s grade. Apparently, she also had to bake cupcakes several times a week. They were good cupcakes, too. Lara supposed that was one reason why her sister and brothers failed to recognize the fact that Aviva was actually annoying. Lara couldn’t help it. She marched into the kitchen. “Hello, Lara,” her cousin said, not looking up from her mixing bowl. “We’ve already put the cupcakes in the oven. But you can still decorate them with us if you want.” “Pretty please? It will be fun,” Caroline said. She spoke using a computer voice that came out of her tablet. That was
