WARNING: If you are a criminal, STOP READING NOW. Just kidding. You can read it. But we will catch you.

My name is Nelson and I am 11 and I am the Chief Detective and founder of the Mystery Squad. At the start of summer vacation I got a whole stack of Encyclopedia Brown books from the library. (If you don't know, Encyclopedia Brown is a boy detective whose dad is the police chief, and he solves cases out of his garage for 25 cents a day plus expenses, and you get to solve each case yourself before you look in the back of the book.) I read nine of them in one week. Then I thought, why can't we do that? So on June 14 I called a meeting in the tree fort and the Mystery Squad was born.

My dad built the tree fort two summers ago in the big maple in our backyard. It has a real door and a window and a rope ladder and a bucket on a rope for sending stuff up. It is the perfect HQ because you can see the whole street from the window but nobody can see in.

We do NOT charge 25 cents a day like Encyclopedia Brown. My mom said we can't charge neighbors. So we do it for free. Sometimes people give us cookies, which is OK.

WHO WE ARE (agent files)
Nelson age 11	Chief Detective. Writes up the case files. Keeper of the magnifying glass. Webmaster (that's me).
Desiree age 11	Observation Expert. She got 19 out of 20 on the observation test, which is the club record. She notices EVERYTHING.
Thomas age 12	Fingerprint Man. He has the steadiest hands. Also the oldest so he is Second in Command.
Heather age 12	Chief of Interviews. She talks to the witnesses and suspects and writes down exactly what they say. Grown-ups tell her stuff.
Kristopher age 10	Codes and Communications. In charge of the walkie-talkies. Can do the shift code in his head.
Copper beagle, age 4	Official Sniffer. Copper is my dog. Beagles have one of the best noses of any dog, that's a fact. He can't climb the ladder so we send him treats in the bucket.

THE OBSERVATION TEST

Detectives have to notice things. So here is the test. I put 20 things on a tray (like a key, a penny, a paper clip, a crayon, a Lego guy, a stamp, a spoon, stuff like that). You get ONE minute to look at the tray. Then I cover it with a towel and you get two minutes to write down everything you remember. You need 12 to pass.

Desiree got 19. I got 15. Thomas got 14. Heather got 16. Kristopher got 12 on his second try, which counts. You can practice at home with your mom or dad. It really works. After a while you start noticing stuff everywhere, like what color car the mail lady drives.

HOW TO DUST FOR FINGERPRINTS

Real police use special powder but cocoa powder works great and if you spill it it's just chocolate. (Do not eat it, it's not sweet. Kristopher found out.)

Step 1. Find a smooth hard surface like a glass, a window, a doorknob or a soda can. Rough stuff like wood doesn't work.

Step 2. Shake a LITTLE bit of cocoa on the spot. Less is better.

Step 3. Very gently brush it with the makeup brush until you see the print show up. Then blow off the extra.

Step 4. Press a piece of clear tape down on the print, rub it with your finger, and peel it up slowly.

Step 5. Stick the tape on a white index card. Now you have the print! Write down where and when you got it.

Step 6. Compare it to prints from your suspects. (Ask them first. People are usually nice about it if you explain.)

Fingerprints have loops, whorls and arches. Nobody in the world has the same fingerprints as you, not even identical twins. Thomas has a whorl on his thumb. I have loops.

OUR FAVORITE DETECTIVE BOOKS

* Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol. The best. Start with the first one.
* The Hardy Boys. Frank and Joe. Thomas has like 30 of them from his uncle.
* The Boxcar Children. Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny. Desiree and Heather like these the best. They are kind of for littler kids but the mysteries are good.