The Case of the Missing Watch

It was a fine day. The birds were singing, the squirrels were chattering; a perfect day. My name is Harold, just so you know. I walked into my house after my morning jog with my favorite watch on. It was a Prescott with pearls around the lens. I set the watch down in my room and went to the kitchen for a glass of water.

“Hey, mom! I’m home!” I called.

“In here, honey! Will you help me put away these groceries?” she asked.

“Sure, mom,” I replied.

In the plastic grocery bags that held the emblem of “Eatsmart: Eat Smart”, there was lots of food. Cereal, celery, apples, yogurt, and much more. We didn’t stop working until all the groceries were put away.

“Where’s Suzy?” I asked.

“At Moon Park with Daisy and Rose,” she replied.

“Oh,” I said.

“Thanks for the help, Harold,” she called to me as I was heading for my room.

“Any time, mom!” I yelled.

When I got to my room, I jumped on the bed, and the cat, then turned on the TV on, after the cat was finished hissing at me. There was nothing good on, so I turned it to “USB” and watched “Detective Shirley”. Today’s episode was about a person’s most prized possession winding up lost. Or stolen? Detective Shirley searched for clues and, towards the end, snatched the villain single-handedly.

‘I wish I could be like that,’ I said to myself, ‘catching villains and getting paid for it. That would be fun.’

I bent over to get my watch that was lying on my dresser, but when I looked on the dresser, I did not find it!

‘Oh, it must have just fallen on the floor.’ I thought to myself.

However, the watch was nowhere to be seen on the floor, or in my bedroom!

“My watch! My watch!” I yelled frantically.

My mom ran up to my room to see what was the matter.

“Someone stole my watch!” I exclaimed.

“Maybe you jut misplaced it, Harold,” she replied, smoothly.

“No! I set it right here on my dresser and went to help you with the groceries. I came back, and now it’s gone! I know it wasn’t you or Suzy and it definitely wasn’t me, so who could it have been?” I asked.

“It wasn’t your father either,” she said,”he’s watching a baseball game.”

I was very baffled about this crime. If nobody in our family did it, then who did? I was going to figure this out, detective style. Just then Suzy came in the house, sweating from her bike ride home from the park.

“Hey, what’s going on?” she inquired.

“Someone stole my watch!” I exclaimed.

“Your favorite watch? Who would do that?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” I said moodily.

As I searched for clues, something hit me. I just remembered that it’s not even baseball season! It’s football season! Mom and dad lied to me!

“Mom, could you calll everybody in the den, please?” I called. About fiveminutes later, mom, dad, Suzy, and I were all in the den for the meeting I called.

“As you all know, someone in this household stole my watch today,” I said in my best SherlockHomes voice,” and I know who did it.”

The family grew fidgety. Mom and dad couldn’t sit still.

“Mom couldn’t have done it because she was putting the groceries away with me. Suzy couldn’t have done it because she was at the park. Apparently, dad could not have done it because he was watchin a baseball game,” I let them suffer a little before talking again, ‘ but I for one know that this time of year is not baseball season, it is football season! So, dad, you did it! You took it when I went downstairs to help mom! Didn’t you? But, why, dad, why did you do it?”

“Because you were being obsessed by that watch, son. If I took it away, I thought you would concentrate on something ele then on your watch.”

“Well, I won’t; so give me my watch now!” I yelled furiously.

“Fine, but I was only doing it for you.”

He threw me my watch and stormed out the door. After that, we were never really close again. Dad and I never talked much after the Case of the Missing Watch. But at least I got it back.

By,

Jonathan G.