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  “She didn’t give me the chance. She started laughing and left.”

  Amos collapsed down to the floor again. “Great,” he said, “just great. Now she’ll never talk to me.”

  Dunc changed the subject. “Did you get enough information for your paper?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I guess so. I was on the Merrimack.”

  “Really? Me too.”

  “I know. I found your note.” He picked up an extra fluffy sweater and started drying his hair. “And I met Melissa’s great-great-grandmother. Her name is—was—Maggie.”

  “How do you know she was an ancestor of Melissa’s?”

  “She had to be. She looked just like her.”

  “That doesn’t necessarily mean she was Melissa’s great-great-great grandmother.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He stood up. “Actually, when I think of it, there’s no possible way she could have been Melissa’s great-grandmother.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because they were far too different to be related,” Amos said. “Maggie liked me.”

  Amos sloshed through the store toward the exit. When they reached the sales counter, Amos put the sweater that he had dried his hair with down next to the cash register. Ramone stared down at him. He touched the sweater the way he might touch a snake.

  “What on earth …”

  “Don’t ask,” Amos said. “Please, don’t ask.”

  “But it’s wet—you’re wet …”

  “He’s had a rough day,” Dunc said. “I’ll take him home now.”

  “Yes,” Amos said. “Take me home now.”

  And Dunc led Amos out of the store and the mall and down the street.

  Be sure to join Dunc and Amos in these other Culpepper Adventures:

  The Case of the Dirty Bird

  When Dunc Culpepper and his best friend, Amos Binder, first see the parrot in a pet store, they’re not impressed—it’s smelly, scruffy, and missing half its feathers. They’re only slightly impressed when they learn that the parrot speaks four languages, has outlived ten of its owners, and is probably 150 years old. But when the bird starts mouthing off about buried treasure, Dunc and Amos get pretty excited—let the amateur sleuthing begin!

  Dunc’s Doll

  Dunc and his accident-prone friend, Amos, are up to their old sleuthing habits once again. This time they’re after a band of doll thieves! When a doll that once belonged to Charles Dickens’s daughter is stolen from an exhibition at the local mall, the two boys put on their detective gear and do some serious snooping. Will a vicious watchdog keep them from retrieving the valuable missing doll?

  Dunc Gets Tweaked

  Best friends Dunc and Amos meet up with a new buddy named Lash when they enter the radical world of skateboard competition. When somebody “cops”—steals—Lash’s prototype skateboard, the boys are determined to get it back. After all, Lash is about to shoot for a totally rad world’s record! Along the way they learn a major lesson: never kiss a monkey!