"Are you ready?" Henry asked Maggie.
It was later that day.
The Lemonade Detectives were hiding behind a car parked near Nora's house.
They were getting ready to put the first step of Henry's plan into action.
Maggie made a face.
"Why do I have to be the one to distract Nora?" she complained.
"You're the only one who can distract her well enough," Henry said.
"Yeah." Cole laughed. "Nora would never believe it if Henry and I suddenly wanted to play princesses with her!"
"I guess you're right," Maggie said.
"But being a detective is harder than I thought!"
"Good luck." Henry peeked out from behind the car.
"She just came outside. See if you can keep her in the front yard, okay?"
"Okay." Maggie stood up and waved at Nora.
"Hi, Nora! What are you doing?" she called in a super-friendly voice.
"Wow," Cole whispered. "She's a pretty good actress."
Henry grinned. "Mom always says Maggie is very dramatic. I guess she's right."
He looked out from behind the car again.
Nora was twirling on her tiptoes while Maggie watched.
"It looks like Nora is distracted," he told Cole.
"We should be able to sneak through the neighbors' yard so she won't see us."
Cole nodded. "Don't forget the flour."
Henry picked up the bag of flour sitting by his feet.
Nathan had borrowed it from his family's kitchen.
It was an important part of Henry's plan.
"I've got it," Henry said. "Let's go."
That evening Henry and Maggie met Cole at Nora's house again.
They all hid behind the hedge. It was time for step two of Henry's plan.
"Is Nathan coming?" Cole whispered.
Henry shook his head. "I told him to stay inside and act normal.
That might keep Nora from getting suspicious."
"Good idea," Maggie said.
"If he's home when she goes to bed, she'll never think we're still investigating her."
Henry nodded. "Let's get to the tree house."
Soon all three of them were in Nathan's tree house.
Cole went over to the window. "All we have to do now is wait," he said.
"We can take turns watching for Nora to come outside," Henry suggested.
"I'll go first," Cole said.
"You two probably won't even have to take turns.
Last time Nora sneaked out right after she went to bed."
Maggie nodded, looking hopeful.
"Maybe I'll get home in time to see my TV show after all," she said.
"It's not on until eight-thirty."
"I thought you were recording it," Cole said.
"I am," Maggie replied. "But I'd rather see it live."
They all settled down to wait.
Cole sat by the window watching the house while Henry and Maggie played cards.
Half an hour passed. Cole stretched. "I'm bored," he said.
"It's time for somebody else to take a turn."
"I'll do it," Henry offered.
He traded places with Cole. When he looked out, the yard was quiet.
From the tree house, it was easy to see the back door, the playroom window, and Nora's bedroom window.
Another half hour went by.
Henry's eyes were getting tired from staring at the house.
"Maybe Nora isn't going to sneak out tonight," he said.
Cole looked up from flipping through one of Nathan's comic books.
"Or maybe she was telling us the truth," he said.
"Maybe she really was sneaking out to drink soda in that shed."
Henry still didn't believe Nora's story about the soda.
It didn't seem logical. But Nora wasn't a very logical person.
Could Cole be right?
"It's probably after eight o'clock by now," said Maggie.
"I'll have to leave soon if I want to watch my show."
"Let's just wait another few minutes," Henry said.
"Maybe Nora is being extra careful.
Her parents are probably checking on her a lot."
He looked out again.
It was getting darker, and there were deep shadows in the woods.
But it was still easy to see Nora's house.
Finally Maggie stood up. "I'm going home.
There's no point in missing my show if Nora's not going to sneak out tonight."
Henry was disappointed.
He and Cole had spent a long time setting up their special detective trick.
They'd used the whole bag of flour!
"Maybe you're right and she's not going to sneak out tonight," he said with a sigh.
He glanced at the house one more time. Then he gasped.
"Wait!" he whispered. "Here she comes!"
"Really?" Maggie said.
She and Cole rushed to the window.
They all watched Nora climb out her bedroom window and hurry across the backyard.
"She's heading straight for the woods," Maggie whispered.
Cole nodded. "She's definitely not heading toward the soda shed!"
Henry smiled. His feeling had been right!
Now all they had to do was figure out what Nora was really doing.