 
my name is eddie snupe, but i"ve been called everything from "supe" to 
nuts. 
officially, i"m an eighth-grader at benjamin franklin junior high school 
in buffalo, new york. 
unofficially, i"m a private detective, known to my friends as super snupe, 
or just plain snupe, and to my neighbors as "that crazy snupe kid." 
i became a private detective by accident. 
about a year ago a gang of pencil thieves was operating in our school. 
gang members would steal pencils from pupils" desks and rush the loot to 
their headquarters. 
there, the pencils would be repainted a different color, the pink erasers 
would be exchanged for green ones, and the brand name or advertising would be 
changed. 
then the gang would resell the pencils to pupils at half price. 
it was a good racket, and the gang might still be in business if it hadn"t 
been for super snupe. 
one day, about six months ago, when carmen fernandez and i left school, we 
heard a voice from behind the hedge. 
"hey, you two. 
you want to buy some pencils? 
cheap?" 
"it's a pencil thief!" carmen whispered to me. 
(she knew that the school bookstore was on the second floor, not behind 
the hedge.) 
"call the police." 
i was going to follow her suggestion. 
but i quickly realized that arresting this suspect would remove only one 
little minnow from the pond of evil. 
to stop this racket, the police had to catch the big fish. 
"you call the police," i told carmen. 
"i"ll keep this guy busy until they get here." 
