Mystery #17: Dawn and the Halloween Mystery
Dawn is living it up on the West Coast and prepping for Halloween… so, naturally, she witnesses an armed robber fleeing the scene of a crime while she and Carol are out shopping. The robber was wearing a clown mask and Dawn is extremely freaked out. The kids in Palo City are also pissed, because until the robber is caught the town has issued a curfew and they’re afraid that Halloween is going to be cancelled. (LOL, how quaint, amirite?) Dawn gives the police all the info she has… the description of the robber’s mask, shoes, car, and Frank’s Franks bumper sticker. The police officer mentions the robber was only 5’4’’… short for a guy.
“I said we should find him… I mean, I know what I’m doing when it comes to detective work. If we caught him, it wouldn’t be the first time I helped solve a crime.” - Dawn, page 34
Dawn and her We <3 Kids Club cronies start investigating by trying to track down the person who bought the creepy clown mask from the local Halloween Shoppe - their leads are a dude from the hardware store, a high school track star, and a blonde woman. They immediately dismiss the woman as a suspect. (In the meantime, they’re planning a Halloween party for the Palo City kids in case Detective Dawn fails and actual Halloween gets cancelled.) Dawn has also befriended Timmy, a sad little kid who lives across from the DeWitts with his broke dad, and Mrs. Stevens, a quirky sales clerk at the variety store who is wearing a different Halloween costume every time Dawn shops there. Dawn and Sunny track down the hardware store guy, who bought the mask for his young daughter, and the track star, who is apparently the nicest high school boy ever and a literal saint.
Next they go to Frank’s Franks, where a tired-looking blonde woman is working behind the counter. (HMMMM.) She seems unamused by the We <3 Kids Club’s “investigation.” Sunny thinks she’s sus and an undercover cop. Soon there’s a report of another robbery, though, so the W<3KC party is on and Halloween seems to be dunzo. Suddenly, though, Dawn thinks she’s solved the case — she sees what she thinks is the getaway car in poor Tommy’s garage, and footprints made by the shoes the robber was wearing in his yard. Tommy’s dad must be the robber, right? Dawn runs across the street to the DeWitts’ and calls the police. Mr. Ford is arrested and Halloween is back on.
On Halloween, though, Dawn is taking some charges trick-or-treating in the neighborhood when she sees the robber in Timmy’s backyard, digging. Yikes? His dad’s in jail, so who is it? Dawn and her charges run across the street and Dawn calls the police again. Turns out Mr. Ford, Timmy’s dad, had an airtight alibi for the time of the robbery. Classic Dawn, accusing an innocent man of a crime. Turns out, the robber is actually… Timmy’s mom, the blonde woman from Frank’s Franks. (Duh.) She robbed the stores because she was desperate for money to take care of Timmy. Turns out she was in the backyard digging up the gun — I’m not sure why she was dressed in the robbery costume though. Seems… not well-thought-out. But I’m sure this collar will give Detective Dawn some ego fodder for months to come.
