Alex stuck his hands in the air. The crazy parakeet flew off with a squawk. But the sheriff wasn't yelling at him. Sheriff Marshall barged past Alex into the pet store.

Alex hid behind Deputy Grimaldi and peeked to see who would come out of the store. A tiny flash went offa flashbulb from a camera. Then a brown-haired boy several years older than Alex stepped outside. He wore nice clothes. A camera hung around his neck. The kid stood in the doorway and squinted at the sunshine.

"Christopher?" Tobias called. "Come over here."

"I'm going to find out who did th is to you, Tobias," the kid said. "I told you those sprinklers in the curiosity shop were no accident. Someone has it in for you. They're trying to run you out of business!"

"You know this kid too, I suppose?" asked the sheriff.

"Of course," Tobias said. "Christopher and I are old friends. He wants to help me find out who did this. Did you discover anything, Christopher?"

"Oh no you don't," warned the sheriff. "We don't need any kids nosing around and getting in our way. You get out. The both of you!" Sheriff Marshall shooed Christopher and Alex away from the pet store.

"Thank you for coming, boys," called Tobias. "Don't you worry about me now. I know God has a plan through all of this. He'll put the pieces together. He always does."

"Sure," Alex muttered as he and Chris-topher backed away from the crowd.

"I know Tobias is right," said Christopher. "But I'd sure like to solve this mystery before he loses the building." He stopped and stared down at Alex as if he'd just noticed him. "I' m Christopher," he said, sticking out his hand.

"Alex." Alex shook Christopher's hand. Then the boys fell into step together.

"Well, Alex," Christopher said, crossing the street to the park, "what do you say we go to Lucas' Landscaping? We can get a soda from the machine and try to figure this thing out."

Something about Christopher reminded Alex of Tobias. Not their looks. Tobias' short, round body and white hair were nothing like Christopher's already tall build or his brown hair. Alex couldn' t quite put his finger on it, but it was as if something on the inside was the same.

A car backfired and Alex jumped. The smell of exhaust mixed with the fresh food smell coming from the market. The boys crossed to Lucas' lot. Lucas was hosing down the pavement in front of his shed. Little streams of water rushed in front of the curb.

"Hey, Lucas," Christopher called.

Lucas nodded at Christopher and Alex, shut off the hose, and went inside. The boys got their cans of soda and sat on the wooden b ench outside.

"How do you know Tobias?" Alex asked.

"We go way back," Christopher said. "Tobias used to work with my dad."

"In the curiosity shop?" asked Alex.

"No, a long time ago, at Hales Market." Christopher took a long drink from his can of soda. "When my dad died, I was only 8 years old. I got mad at everybodyeven God."

Alex tried to imagine what it would be like to lose his dad. He'd be mad too.

"Tobias came to the rescue," Christopher said. "Mom said I might have ended up in real trouble if it hadn't been for Tobias. He told me I still had a dadmy heavenly Father. Tobias told me to tell God exactly how I felt. God was big enough to take it."

Christopher pitched his empty can into Lucas' trash can. It made a loud clank. "We have to help Tobias, Alex. It's like somebody doesn't want him to have his shop there on the square. First, the curiosity shop gets flooded. Now this."

"I thought the sprinklers went off by accident," Alex said. "Isn't that what the sheriff said?"

"Yeah," Christopher admitted. "The day before the alarm went off, it had rained. The ground was still muddy when the accident happened. But the police didn't find any footprints going in or coming out of the shop. I tried to tell them I knew somebody set off those sprinklers on purpose. But Sheriff Marshall told Tobias it was an accidentunless a ghost did it. Otherwise there would have been footprints."

Alex thought that made sense. There would have been footprints. Besides, who would want to put To bias out of business? What could some ghost have against him?

"It's a mystery," Christopher said.

"Braawk! Mystery!" The crazy parakeet from Tobias' Ark darted to Alex's shoulder and perched there.

"Where did you come from?" Alex asked the bird.

"Friend of yours?" Christopher asked.

"Guess so," Alex answered. He figured he could use all the friends he could geteven a batty bird. "He must have followed us from the pet store."

"I thought I'd seen him before," Christopher said. "What's his name?" He petted the bird with his finger.

Alex shrugged, making the bird squawk again. He'd never had a pet before so he couldn't think of a name for one.

Christopher pulled out his camera and took a picture of the parakeet.

"Why do you always take pictures?" Alex asked.

"My dad gave me this camera," Christopher said. "And you never know when it will pick up a clue I missed."

A clue. Alex liked the sound of that. He'd always loved mysteries.

Suddenly, loud voices broke out from inside Lucas' office. "Don't move! I'm calling the sheriff!"

"How dare you accuse me!" said a woman's voice.

"I'm not saying you're crooked," said Lucas. "This money's crooked!"

Christopher ran into the office. Alex trailed behind, the parakeet hanging onto his shoulder.

"What's the problem, Lucas?" Christopher asked.

Lucas held a $20 bill to the bare lightbulb that hung from the ceiling. "It's some of that phoney money I heard tell of," Lucas said. "You know counterfeit, they call it . Hales Market got some yesterday. Last week Manny had a fella give payment on a car with it. I've been checking every bill."

Christopher took the bill and looked for himself. "You know," he said, "the color of the ink looks wrong, if you ask me."

"I knew it!" Lucas said.

"Well, I didn't," said the woman.

Alex didn't recognize the tall, gray-haired woman, but she didn't look like a crook.

Somebody reached up and snatched the money from Christopher's hand. "Let me see that," she said. It was the dark-haired girl who had run into Alex that morning!

"You!" Alex exclaimed.

"Braawk! You!" said the parakeet.

The girl ignored everything but the phoney bill. Whipping out her magnifying glass, she examined one side, then the other.

"That's her," Alex whispered to Christopher. "That's the girl I saw near Tobias' store this morning!"

"The one the sheriff was looking for?" asked Christopher.

Alex nodded.

"Who are you?" Lucas asked, putting out his hand for the money.

"I 'm Korina," she said. "And this is a counterfeit bill. Where did you get it?"

Lucas pointed to the woman.

Korina raised her eyebrows at her. "And where did you get it?"

The woman stammered. "Why why why, I don't know."

"Think," commanded Korina.

The woman frowned in concentration. "I had a cup of coffee at the corner shop. No, no. Before that, I had to pay for my new refrigerator from the hardware store. That's it! I got the change from there, when "

"Hold everything!"

The r oom fell silent. Everyone turned to face the door. Deputy Grimaldi stood there, notebook in hand. "What's going on, Lucas?"

"I think I got me one of those phoney bills," Lucas said, waving the twenty.

Deputy Grimaldi studied the bill. "I don't know. It looks real to me, Lucas."

Korina pushed her way between the men. "I believe you will find it to be counterfeit," she said. "See the third number?" She pointed to the faded number 3 on the bill. "It's just like the three other bills from the same c ounterfeit plates."

"Who are you?" asked Deputy Grimaldi.

"My name is Korina," she answered.

"She's the one I told you about, Deputy," Alex said. His voice cracked and he cleared his throat.

"Ah," said the deputy. He turned to Korina. "This boy says he saw you near Tobias' Ark earlier this morning."

"That's ridiculous," she said. Korina glared at Alex with a look that sent shivers down his spine. "And besides," she said coldly, "I never saw that boy before in my whole life."