Hurray for Ali Baba Bernstein Read online

  “Whose raincoat is this?” asked Margie Upchurch, pointing to the other one that was still unclaimed.

  “We don’t know. It isn’t Rosie Relkin’s,” said Roger. He pulled the envelope with the grocery coupons out of the mystery raincoat. “These could belong to anyone.”

  “Not just anyone,” Ali Baba pointed out. “They must belong to someone who has a cat.”

  “Muriel and Alfred Thomas were at your house last night,” Margie Upchurch told Roger. “And they have a cat,” she added. “I can’t ever go to their house because I have an allergy to cats. They make my eyes tear and make me sneeze, too.” She went off to check the exact address where the Thomases lived.

  Muriel Thomas was just as surprised as Mrs. Upchurch to discover that she had taken the wrong raincoat the evening before. She traded coats with Roger, giving him a coat with a red lining in exchange for the one he carried with a blue lining. And then the boys retraced their steps and returned to Rosie Relkin’s apartment.

  “Thank goodness you found it!” Rosie Relkin said, clutching her raincoat as if it were a very precious item.

  Ali Baba thought that was very funny. It wasn’t as if she had lost something unique. All the coats looked the same — what difference did it make what color the lining was? Once you put the coat on, no one could see the lining inside.

  To the boys the unique coat was the one with the circus tickets in the pocket. Ali Baba and Roger Zucker ran all the way back to the Zucker apartment.

  “I’m glad you got my coat from Rosie Relkin,” said Mrs. Zucker when she saw the boys.

  “We didn’t get it from Rosie Relkin,” announced Roger.

  “What do you mean?” asked Mrs. Zucker.

  “It will take too long to explain,” said Roger. “We’ve got to hurry if we’re going to get to the circus on time.”

  But there was still enough time for Ali Baba to phone home and tell his parents that he was going off to the circus with Roger. They also had time enough to admire Sugar’s chicken pox and to eat a quick lunch. And finally Mr. Zucker, Roger, and Ali Baba were off to the circus.

  “How does it feel being ten?” Mr. Zucker asked his son as the three of them rode downtown on the bus.

  “I don’t know,” Roger complained. “I’ve been too busy this morning to think about it.”

  “We sure solved a big mystery,” said Ali Baba proudly. He felt like a real private eye. Imagine, a mystery and a circus all on the same day. It was super!

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