CHAPTER 36

CHARLIE BROWN

     I gotta admit, I was pretty tired by the time I got to the other side of the Circle. And hungry. When I approached the vendor site, the hot dog cart was gone.

     The ice cream guy was still there, so I went over to see if I could find any kind of a clue. I really didn't have much choice other than to act dumb . . . like Columbo.

     The ice cream guy seemed a bit nervous with my poking around. He was creeping me out because he kept looking at me and nodding as if he knew what I was doing. If it was up to me, I would've hightailed it out of there, but I knew that Bones was counting on me, and he never would've left without talking to this guy, as weird as he seemed.

     I stepped up to his cart and cleared my throat. "Excuse me, do you know where the hot dog cart went? I was get- ting kind of hungry." That wasn't a lie—I was starving.

     He looked at me and kept on nodding. "Would you like an ice cream?"

     I told him I didn't have any money, but he reached into his cart and handed me an ice cream sandwich anyway.

     "No charge today, CJ."

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