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
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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.
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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
