I sat frozen on the couch, waiting to hear what Mom had to say.
"I remember saying that I would have to rob a bank," she began.
"I was talking to Mrs. Hill, the real estate agent."
"What's a real estate agent?" I asked.
"Someone who sells apartments," Mom explained.
"She told me about an apartment that costs a million dollars.
I told her I'd have to rob a bank to get that much money.
But I was only joking!"
"See?" Tate said. "You made it all up, Iggy."
"To tell you the truth," said Mom.
"I have been looking for a new apartment."
"Why?" I asked. "I like it here!"
"Me too," said Tate. Then he glanced at me.
"Except that I have to share a room with him."
"You'll just have to keep sharing," Mom said.
"I don't have enough money to buy a bigger apartment."
I felt a lot better now.
I had never really believed that Mom would rob a bank.
But it was nice to know for sure.
"Let's celebrate Jenny's prize and order pizza for everyone," Mom said.
Josh, Jenny, and Molly came over.
We were finishing our pizza when Molly's mom rushed into our apartment.
"Caswell is missing again!" she cried.
"The bell," I thought. If only I hadn't lost it!
We all started looking for Caswell.
"Caswell!"
"Where are you?"
We looked all around the building and in the backyard.
A few of us walked around the block, looking for him too.
Soon it was dark out, and Mrs. O'Donnell was very worried.
"Maybe I should call the police," she said.
We headed back upstairs.
That was when I heard the sound.
In the hallway outside my apartment, a bell tinkled.
"My bell!" I cried. "The one I got for Caswell!"
We went inside and followed the sound to our kitchen.
"I hear the bell," Molly said.
"But where's Caswell?"
I went over to the wall behind the table.
"The sound is coming from here!"
"Caswell, is that you?" yelled Molly.
"Yes!" Caswell called back.
"And I found a really cool place!"
"How did he get in the wall?" asked Josh.
"Look!" said Jenny. "There's a little door in the wall!"
Jenny was right.
There was a door.
I had never noticed it before.
Tate helped us move the table.
Then Mr. Calabria came upstairs and pried open the door.
There was Caswell, inside a tiny room.
And he was wearing my bell!
"Caswell! I'm so happy to see you!" cried his mom.
"How did you get that bell?" I asked.
"I found it on the stairs," said Caswell. "It's treasure!"
"It helped us find you!" I said.
"Iggy, that bell is an amazing invention!" said Mom, hugging me.
"It's the best invention in the world!" cried Josh.
"It certainly is!" said Molly's mom.
My mom was looking around inside the little room.
It had two doors.
One opened up to our kitchen.
The other door opened to the hallway.
That's how Caswell had gotten inside.
Mom looked thoughtful.
"I wonder if we could turn this space into a little bedroom for Iggy," she said.
Mr. Calabria nodded, still looking around.
"I think we could turn this into a bedroom."
"That would be great!" exclaimed Tate.
"I could have a room of my own!"
"Me too!" I was grinning from ear to ear.
No one needed a magic thinking box to know what I was thinking.
I was thinking about all the incredible things I could invent in my new room!