by Steve Hansell

Created on: October 10, 2010   Last Updated: March 30, 2011

“My money! It's gone!” Katie yelled to anyone who would listen. “It was Girl Scout cookie money I had to turn in today and it's gone! I just counted it and now the envelope is gone.”

Mac Luther was shaken out of a daydream by Katie screaming. He loved to do magic tricks and was thinking about the new deck of cards that he had bought the day before. You could pick a card, shuffle, and pull that card straight out of the deck, no matter where it was. The magician at the shop showed him how. He had to make the audience look away from the deck for a few seconds while he turned it around. It was called 'Mis-Direction'.

Mac loved a good puzzle, and when he found one, it was all he could think about until he got it solved. His Dad said he had a super-power called "hyper-focus". It didn't always impress Mrs. Dingle, however, because what she was talking about in class usually didn't keep him interested.

When he heard Katie yelling about her money, Mac sat up to hear the whole story.She was panicked and crying. Mrs. Dingle, the teacher,  was trying to help her. The teacher was sure that Katie had just misplaced it or it had fallen out of her purse, so they looked everywhere; in the lunchroom, in the bathroom, on the playground and in her desk, but no envelope. Mrs. Dingle said she was sure it would turn up.

"I'm sure no one would steal your money, Katie, we'll find it." The teacher said, trying to sound reassuring, but secretly, she thought it was gone for sure, too.

“There was 143 dollars in there for the meeting tonight. I just counted it at the lunch table and it disappeared from my purse.” Katie said.

Mac was wondering how the envelope disappeared. How would a magician would make it disappear?

 Mac liked Katie, and he wanted to help her. He didn't have a lot of friends and she was nice to him. Plus, he thought she was pretty, but he didn't dare ever tell anyone that. He would be the laughing stock of the whole class.

“Katie, when did you count your money?” Mac asked.

“Just before we had lunch. Sophie and I counted our money to see how much we made selling cookies.” Katie said.

“Where was your purse?” Mac asked.

“I carried it with me, I was afraid to let it out of my sight. 143 dollars is a lot of money.  Mom said she'd kill me if I lost it.” Katie said, sobbing into her handkerchief.

“Who was sitting around you, beside Sophie?” Mac asked.

“There was

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